Zahhak

Evil figure in Iranian legend Fictional character Zahhak awakens in terror from his nightmare at the birth of Fereydun. Zahāk is a personification of evil in Iranian mythology[disambiguation needed] and historiography. In the Avesta and Zoroastrian tradition, Zahāk (going under the name Aži Dahāka) is considered the son of Ahriman, the foe (though ultimately subservient) of Ahura Mazda. In the Shāhnāmeh of Ferdowsi, Zahāk is the son of an Arab ruler named Merdās. Etymology and derived words Aži (nominative ažiš) is the Avestan word for "serpent" or "dragon". It is cognate to the Vedic Sanskrit word ahi, "snake", and without a sinister implication. The original meaning of dahāka is uncertain. Among the meanings suggested are "stinging" (source uncertain), "burning" (cf. Sanskrit dahana), "man" or "manlike" (cf. Khotanese daha), "huge" or "foreign" (cf. the Dahae people and the Vedic dasas). In Persian mythology, Dahāka is treated as a proper noun, while the form Zahhāk, which appears in the Shāhnāmeh, was created through the influence of the unrelated Arabic word ḍaḥḥāk (ضَحَّاك) meaning "one who laughs". The Avestan term Aži Dahāka and the Middle Per