Investigating the narration of the story of Rostam and Esfandiar by scops

Orally narrated scrolls are an important component of folk narrative literature. A scroll is a written narrative text compiled by a scop. A scop and his pupils narrate a story based on it. In terms of content, a scroll includes components from Shahnameh stories (usually from the beginning to the end of the Bahman’s story), extracts from heroic poems (continuation of Shahnameh such as Garshaspnameh, Samnameh, Bahmannameh, Borzunameh, Banoo Goshespnameh, Faramarznameh and the like), some genuine oral epic narratives and heroic stories that have long been common among among the people but not written by predecessors, and the stories that have been created by some talented scroll designers In this article, an overview of the history of the oral narrative art is given, and the story of Rostam and Esfandiar is examined from the perspective of scops. Also, the similarities and differences between oral and written modes of narration are enumerated. As the results of the analysis show, a scop’s narration reflects certain perceptions of the story arising from personal or group aspirations and ideals, but the narration is tied to the core of the story. Based on this attachment, the scops who narrate Shahnameh transform what really is into what should be or they wish to be and add it to the main body of the story.