Simurgh

Simurgh as Zal’s foster mother and helper in Helen Zimmern’s 1883 retelling of Ferdowsi.

Who is Simurgh?

Simurgh is the extraordinary bird who raises the abandoned Zal and later helps him during Rudabeh’s difficult childbirth in Zimmern’s retelling. Read the childbirth episode.

Source status

This profile follows a public-domain literary retelling, not a critical edition of the Persian poem. Zimmern’s The Epic of Kings: Stories Retold from Firdusi was published by Fisher Unwin in 1883. Its English wording should not be treated as Ferdowsi’s exact phrasing. The scope is deliberately limited to two episodes; other texts and traditions require separate evidence. Edition record.

record type
creature
tradition
Persian epic tradition, as retold by Helen Zimmern
source scope
Ferdowsi, The Epic of Kings: Stories Retold from Firdusi, retold by Helen Zimmern (Fisher Unwin, 1883), chapter 3, “Zal,” and the opening of chapter 5, “Rustem”; online text at the Internet Classics Archive.

The source account

Saum orders his white-haired infant abandoned. Simurgh carries him to her young as food, then takes pity and raises him. When Saum returns, she restores Zal to him and gives Zal a feather to burn when he needs her. “Zal”.

In “Rustem,” Zal burns the feather during Rudabeh’s distress. Simurgh arrives, reassures him and explains what to do. He follows her directions, and Rustem is born. This passage leaves those directions unspecified; detailed surgical procedures cannot be attributed to this retelling. “Rustem,” opening.

Description and abilities

Zimmern describes wings and talons, flight carrying Zal, and intelligible speech. She uses feminine pronouns for Simurgh. The passage supplies no measured wingspan or plumage colour. “Zal”.

The childbirth episode demonstrates her response to the burning feather and her effective counsel. It does not establish an unrestricted power to cure every illness. “Rustem,” opening.

Source realm

Her nest stands on remote Mount Alberz, using Zimmern’s spelling. This is a narrative location, not evidence for a zoological range. “Zal”.

Bibliography