Simurgh

*'I know it’s been a very long time, but they all remember you, and the ones that don’t will soon learn of you. Do you want to look after your forest again?' - Gwyn ap Nudd*

## Physical Description

Their eggs are 'about the size of an ostrich egg'.

The newly hatched simurgh that Gwyn and Ash Glashtyn encountered, once hatched, was a 'tiny, perfectly-formed bird, like a miniature adult. It was blue and red, gold and yellow, with a crest and a flowing tail, and claws like silver.' It also had golden eyes. It made a trilling sound between eating. Before it flew off, it glowed. As it hovered, 'it spread its wings and grew all at once, its feathers and tail lengthening, its beak growing, its whole body unnaturally expanding in size until – on a powerful downstroke that ruffled Ash’s hair – it pushed itself up into the air on its wings. It was larger than any flying bird Ash had ever seen in the human realm.' In 'adult' form, it 'cried out in a deep, mature, melodic voice'.

## Abilities

Simurghs are 'essentially immortal'. Gwyn noted they're similar to, but not the same as, phoenixes.

Gwyn spoke to the egg in a language other than the common tongue, which seemed to prompt the simurgh to hatch. When the biggest crack on that egg was large enough, the egg 'glowed bright honey yellow at the seams, before breaking apart all at once'.

## Characteristics (culture, habits)

Sacred birds 'just want to live their own lives, [and] look after their own places.'

Gwyn unearthed an old legend that a civilization 'used to steal their eggs', which could explain why the one he found was locked away in ruins behind traps.

Simurghs can eat meat.

## Folklore/Mythology

'Simurgh (/sɪˈmɜːrɡ/; Persian: سيمرغ‎, also spelled *simorgh, simorg*, *simurg*, *simoorg, simorq* or *simourv*) is a benevolent, mythical bird in Persian mythology and literature. It is sometimes equated with other mythological birds such as a "phoenix" (Persian: ققنوس‎ *quqnūs*) and humā (Persian: هما‎). The figure can be found in all periods of Iranian art and literature and is also evident in the iconography of Azerbaijan, Georgia, medieval Armenia, the Eastern Roman Empire, and other regions that were within the realm of Persian cultural influence.

. . . The simurgh is depicted in Iranian art as a winged creature in the shape of a bird, gigantic enough to carry off an elephant or a whale. It appears as a peacock with the head of a dog and the claws of a lion – sometimes, however, also with a human face. . . .

Iranian legends consider the bird so old that it had seen the destruction of the world three times over. The simurgh learned so much by living so long that it is thought to possess the knowledge of all the ages. In one legend, the simurgh was said to live 1,700 years before plunging itself into flames (much like the phoenix).

The simurgh was considered to purify the land and waters and hence bestow fertility. The creature represented the union between the Earth and the sky, serving as mediator and messenger between the two. The simurgh roosted in Gaokerena, the Hōm (Avestan: Haoma) Tree of Life, which stands in the middle of the world sea (Vourukasha). The plant is potent medicine and is called all-healing, and the seeds of all plants are deposited on it. When the simurgh took flight, the leaves of the tree of life shook, making all the seeds of every plant fall out. These seeds floated around the world on the winds of Vayu-Vata and the rains of Tishtrya, in cosmology taking root to become every type of plant that ever lived and curing all the illnesses of mankind.'

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 *The Ash and Gwyn Interludes*, Chapter 4: Indiana Gwyn. Accessed 07 June 2021.
2. ↑ "Simurgh". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simurgh. Accessed 07 June 2021.