DĪV

DĪV

“Dīv in Iranian folktales may act as villains, sorcerers, ogres, fools, or helpers of the protagonist. They may be summoned for help when a bit of their hair, which has been left with the hero for this purpose, is put into the fire. Demons of the folktales may be many headed and come in different colors: white, yellow, and black. They have a tendency to alternate long periods of wakefulness and sleep, each lasting several days, and to become sleepy in sunlight. Typically this unfortunate habit proves to be their undoing. They are capable of magic and transformation.”  Mahmoud Omidsalar, Encyclopaedia Iranica

This drawing was inspired by an illustration in Persis Berlekamp's Wonder, Image & Cosmos In Medieval Islam. It's a close up of a page from Qazwini's The Wonders Of Creation featuring a dīv. 

The four legs and face on the butt really reminded me of demons from European art which I love. So I had to work backwards and find a written source afterwards. Dīv does seem to be a general word roughly equal to demon, so maybe I'll wind up doing a bunch of illustrations of these guys if I can find good ones. This one just really jumped out at me. 

Up next is one that I'm sure most of you will know that I'm surprised I haven't illustrated before.