Editing Dragon (section)

===Iran===
[[Azhdaha|Azhi Dahaka]] (Avestan Great Snake) is a dragon or demonic figure in the texts and mythology of Zoroastrian Persia, where he is one of the subordinates of Angra Mainyu. Alternate names include Azi Dahak, Dahaka, and Dahak. Aži (nominative ažiš) is the Avestan word for "serpent" or "dragon.<ref>For Azi Dahaka as dragon see: Ingersoll, Ernest, et al., (2013). The Illustrated Book of Dragons and Dragon Lore. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN B00D959PJ0</ref> The Avestan term Aži Dahāka and the Middle Persian azdahāg are the sources of the Middle Persian Manichaean demon of greed "Az", Old [[Armenian mythology|Armenian mythological]] figure [[Azhdahak (mythology)|Azhdahak]], Modern Persian 'aždehâ/aždahâ', Tajik Persian 'azhdahâ', Urdu 'azhdahā' (اژدها).
The name also migrated to Eastern Europe, assumed the form "azhdaja" and the meaning "dragon", "dragoness" or "water snake" in the Balkanic and Slavic languages.<ref>Appears numerous time in, for example: D. N. MacKenzie, Mani's Šābuhragān, pt. 1 (text and translation), BSOAS 42/3, 1979, pp. 500–34, pt. 2 (glossary and plates), BSOAS 43/2, 1980, pp. 288–310.</ref><ref>Detelić, Mirjana. "St Paraskeve in the Balkan Context" In: Folklore 121, no. 1 (2010): 101 (footnote nr. 12). Accessed March 24, 2021. {{JSTOR|29534110}}.</ref><ref>Kropej, Monika. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=kSKrWkIBB0IC&pg=PA102 Supernatural beings from Slovenian myth and folktales]''. Ljubljana: Institute of Slovenian Ethnology at ZRC SAZU. 2012. p. 102. {{ISBN|978-961-254-428-7}}.</ref>

Despite the negative aspect of Aži Dahāka in mythology, dragons have been used on some banners of war throughout the history of Iranian peoples.

The [[Azhdarchid]] group of pterosaurs are named from a Persian word for "dragon" that ultimately comes from Aži Dahāka.

In Persian [[Sufism|Sufi]] literature, [[Rumi]] writes in his ''[[Masnavi]]''<ref>III: 976–1066; V: 120</ref> that the dragon symbolizes the sensual soul (''[[nafs]]''), greed and lust, that need to be mortified in a spiritual battle.<ref>{{Cite book |publisher = University of North Carolina Press |ol = 5422370M |isbn = 0807812234 |location = Chapel Hill |title = Mystical dimensions of Islam |url = https://archive.org/details/137665622MysticalDimensionsOfIslamAnnemarieSchimmel |last=Schimmel |first=Annemarie |lccn = 73016112 |date = 1975 |author-link = Annemarie Schimmel |access-date = 16 October 2022 | pages=111–114}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Savi, Julio |year=2008 |title=Towards the Summit of Reality |publisher=George Ronald |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-85398-522-8 |ol=23179261M }}</ref>

[[File:Rustam kills the dragon, folio from Shahnameh of Shah Ismail II, attrib. Sadegi (Beg), Iran, Tabriz, c. 1576 AD, view 1 - Aga Khan Museum - Toronto, Canada - DSC06935.jpg|thumb|Rustam kills the dragon, folio from Shahnameh of Shah Ismail II, attrib. Sadegi (Beg), Iran, Tabriz, c. 1576 AD, view 1 – Aga Khan Museum – Toronto, Canada]]
In Ferdowsi's ''[[Shahnameh]],'' the [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] hero [[Rostam]] must slay an 80-meter-long dragon (which renders itself invisible to human sight) with the aid of his legendary horse, [[Rakhsh]]. As Rostam is sleeping, the dragon approaches; Rakhsh attempts to wake Rostam, but fails to alert him to the danger until Rostam sees the dragon. Rakhsh bites the dragon, while Rostam decapitates it. This is the third trial of Rostam's [[Rostam's Seven Labours|Seven Labors]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/inside/gallery/dragon/dragon.html|title=Rakhsh helping Rostam defeat the dragon|website=British Library|access-date=5 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527031848/http://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/inside/gallery/dragon/dragon.html|archive-date=27 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=231078&partId=1&searchText=Shahnameh&page=1|title=Rustam killing a dragon|website=British Museum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/inside/corner/shah/synopsis.html|title=Shahname Synopsis|website=British Library|access-date=5 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501133912/http://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/inside/corner/shah/synopsis.html|archive-date=1 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Rostam is also credited with the slaughter of other dragons in the ''Shahnameh'' and in other Iranian oral traditions, notably in the myth of ''[[Babr-e Bayan|Babr-e-Bayan]]''. In this tale, Rostam is still an adolescent and kills a dragon in the "Orient" (either India or China, depending on the source) by forcing it to swallow either ox hides filled with quicklime and stones or poisoned blades. The dragon swallows these foreign objects and its stomach bursts, after which Rostam flays the dragon and fashions a coat from its hide called the ''babr-e bayān''. In some variants of the story, Rostam then remains unconscious for two days and nights, but is guarded by his steed [[Rakhsh]]. On reviving, he washes himself in a spring. In the [[Mandaeism|Mandean]] tradition of the story, Rostam hides in a box, is swallowed by the dragon, and kills it from inside its belly. The king of China then gives Rostam his daughter in marriage as a reward.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azdaha-dragon-various-kinds#pt1|title=Azdaha|website=Encyclopedia Iranica|access-date=5 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511102415/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azdaha-dragon-various-kinds#pt1|archive-date=11 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/babr-e-bayan-or-babr|title=Babr-e-Bayan|website=Encyclopedia Iranica|access-date=5 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505023908/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/babr-e-bayan-or-babr|archive-date=5 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>