Persian (Iranian) Traditionweapon
Ox-Headed Mace of Fereydun
- Overthrowing the tyrant
- Emblem of the royal hero
The mace with the head of an ox that Fereydun had forged to fight Zahhak, in memory of the cow Barmayeh that nursed him; with it he struck down the tyrant before binding him in Mount Damavand.
About Ox-Headed Mace of Fereydun
The cow and the mace
In the Shahnameh the infant Fereydun, hidden from Zahhak, is nursed by a wonderful cow, Barmayeh, whose coat shines with every color; Zahhak later finds and kills her. When Fereydun sets out against the tyrant, he draws the design of a mace with an ox's head on the ground and has smiths forge it. Zahhak had dreamed years earlier of a young warrior striking him with just such a mace.
The blow
Fereydun strikes Zahhak with the ox-headed mace, but before he can kill him the heavenly messenger Sorush tells him to bind the tyrant instead, and he chains him in Mount Damavand. In the Avesta, Thraetaona, Fereydun's older form, is simply the hero who smote Azhi Dahaka; the ox-headed mace is a feature of the later epic.
The gorz
The gorz-e gavsar (ox-headed mace) became an emblem of Iranian heroism, carried by later champions in the epic, including Rostam; ox-headed maces are frequently depicted in Persian manuscript painting.
Origin
Forged by smiths to Fereydun's design before his march on Zahhak (Ferdowsi, Shahnameh, reign of Fereydun).
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Ferdowsi, Shahnameh, reign of Fereydun (paraphrase)
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.