The Role of Supernatural Forces in the Battle of Rostam and Esfandiyār

On the first day of the battle, Esfandiyār overcomes Rustam with the power of invulnerability, a divine power, and not by use of muscle. This is a blessing given by Ahura Mazda, the strongest god of Zoroastrianism. Rustam has to ask the gods and smaller supernatural forces to help him to overcome Esfandiyār's invulnerability. In Shāhnāmeh, there are numerous signs of the widespread presence of supernatural forces, including gods, demon, fairy, and Rustam calls them to overcome Esfandiyār. The present article attempts to analyze textual and inter-textual evidences of the role of supernatural forces and Rostam's help from them. The results show that a group of supernatural forces came to Rostam's aid in the last battle, and this caused a balance in the supernatural forces on both sides and led to Rostam's victory over Esfandiyār. The research is a qualitative one based on text analysis.