An Alternative Reading of Two Expressions in the Shāh-nāma

With the publication of Djalal Khaleghi Motlagh’s critical edition، the need for editorial work on the entire Shāh-nāma has disappeared. Instead، researchers are now called upon to establish critical readings of the text through careful research and consideration of the textual variants given in Khaleghi Motlagh’s edition، facsimiles of Shāh-nāma manuscripts، insights of other Shāh-nāma scholars and pertinent secondary sources. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to establish an almost final version of Iran’s national epic. Following this approach، the present paper examines the readings āvard gāhi pey āhu and bakhšeš-e kārzār and suggests replacing these variants with āvardgāh-e nar āhu and tokhšeš-e kārzār.