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simurg or simorgh or other transliterations (SIM-urg) - n., in Persian mythology, a wise bird-like creature.
Depictions vary widely, as might be expected for something that's been described and redescribed over thousands of years, but the general agreement is that she -- it's always she -- is very large (and may even be the same thing as the roc), has wings and a long feathered tail, a humanoid face, and a body that's at least partially mammalian (she suckles her young). She is closely connected with the tree of life, in which she roosts. In Middle Persian, the name was sīna-mrū, and in Avestan (but not Old Persian) it was Saēnō mərəγō, the Saēnō bird, where the former was taken to be a proper name but is in fact closely related to Sanskrit, śyenaḥ, eagle, large raptor. The word is first attested in English from 1789.
---L.
Depictions vary widely, as might be expected for something that's been described and redescribed over thousands of years, but the general agreement is that she -- it's always she -- is very large (and may even be the same thing as the roc), has wings and a long feathered tail, a humanoid face, and a body that's at least partially mammalian (she suckles her young). She is closely connected with the tree of life, in which she roosts. In Middle Persian, the name was sīna-mrū, and in Avestan (but not Old Persian) it was Saēnō mərəγō, the Saēnō bird, where the former was taken to be a proper name but is in fact closely related to Sanskrit, śyenaḥ, eagle, large raptor. The word is first attested in English from 1789.
---L.
