The oldest documents of Iranian literature are the seventeen hymns of
Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) known as the Ga ̄tha ̄s. They are transmitted as part
of the Avesta, the corpus of Parsi sacred books. The three largest components
in what has survived of the collection are the Yasna liturgy (Y.), the Ya sˇt s or
hymns of praise (Yt.), and the Vide ̄vda ̄t or Vendida ̄d (Vd.), a book that sets
out (in the words of R. C. Zaehner) ‘dreary prescriptions concerning ritual
purity’ and ‘impossible punishments for ludicrous crimes’. The Ga ̄tha ̄s form
chapters 28–34, 43–51, and 53 of the Yasna. Their language is about as archaic
in Indo-Iranian terms as that of the Rigveda, and this persuades some
scholars to date them to before 1000 ; others put them as late as the sixth
century. The truth very likely lies between these extremes. Next in age is
another section of the Yasna, the ‘Ga ̄tha ̄ of the Seven Chapters’ (Y. 35–41).
The remainder of the Avesta, known collectively as the Younger Avesta, dates
probably from between the eighth and fourth centuries , the Vide ̄vda ̄t
being the latest part.
Zarathushtra lived in eastern Iran, perhaps Drangiana in the south-western
part of what is now Afghanistan, and the Avestan language is east Iranian.
West Iranian is represented by Old Persian, the language of the royal inscrip-
tions promulgated by Darius I (reigned 521–486) and his successors down to
Artaxerxes III (359–338).^35
For anything in the nature of Iranian epic we have to wait for the
Sha ̄h-na ̄ma of Firdawsi, a lengthy verse history of the Iranian empire com-
posed about 975–1010. It does not continue a native tradition of epic, but it
does embody much ancient myth and folktale.^36
From another corner of the Iranian world we have an interesting body
of legend recorded at a still later date. This is the heritage of the Ossetes,
who form an Indo-European enclave in the ethnic mosaic of the northern
Caucasus, speaking a language of the Iranian family. They are believed to
be a remnant of the Alans, who were powerful in the region until the
eleventh century. Their mythology, which is concerned with a legendary
race of heroes called the Narts, was first brought to wider attention by
Dumézil, and collections of the material have been published by others more
recently.^37
(^35) These are cited from the edition of R. G. Kent, Old Persian. Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (New
Haven 1953).
(^36) See Puhvel (1987), 117–25.
(^37) Georges Dumézil, Légendes sur les Nartes (Paris 1930); id., Le livre des héros. Légendes sur
les Nartes (Paris 1965); id. (1968–73), i. 441–575; id. in Wb. d. Myth., i. 4: Mythologie der
kaukasischen und iranischen Völker (1986); Sikojev (1985); Colarusso (2002). See also the
highly erudite and informative chapter by H. W. Bailey in A. T. Hatto (ed.), Traditions of Heroic
and Epic Poetry (London 1980–9), i. 236–67.
14 Introduction