چکیده:
Introduction For many years, especially since the time Theodor Nöldeke published his profound and scholarly theories regarding the national epic of Iran, the discussion concerning the source or sources of the Shahnameh has been considered one of the most complex topics in Shahnameh studies. Nöldeke, citing the ancient preface of the Shahnameh—without realizing that this text is the preface to the Abu Mansuri Shahnameh and not Ferdowsi's Shahnameh—correctly stated that the great poet of Iran built the lofty palace of his verse on the foundation of the Abu Mansuri Shahnameh, but he also noted that Ferdowsi utilized other sources besides this book. Subsequently, Mohammad Qazvini, with an analytical look at the ancient preface of the Shahnameh, after realizing that this preface truly belongs to the Abu Mansuri Shahnameh, confirmed Nöldeke's view. This opinion has been presented to Shahnameh scholars as a more or less accepted principle until the first decade of the twentieth century. However, in recent years, two American Shahnameh scholars, one Ms. Olga Davidson in a book titled 'The Poet and the Hero in the Shahnameh' and the other Dick Davis in an article titled 'On the Sources of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh', have demolished the foundation of Nöldeke's view and proposed a new design upon its ruins. These two researchers, primarily based on the hypotheses of two American scientists named Milman Parry and Albert Lord regarding the structure of oral epics, simultaneously reached the conclusion that the primary source of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh was oral traditions or even oral poetic traditions. Mahmoud Omid-Salār, in a critique of Ms. Olga Davidson's book, rightly rejected her view. In this essay, the author, while discussing the source of the Shahnameh, will proceed to critique and examine Dick Davis's opinion. Furthermore, through evidence and indications, it will be shown that Ferdowsi not only benefited from oral sources but, in all probability, the basis of his work was solely the written prose text of the Abu Mansuri Shahnameh. Even the author, for several reasons, opposes the accepted view that Ferdowsi composed the story of Bijan and Manijeh from an independent source other than the Abu Mansuri prose Shahnameh...
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