3190 FRAVASHIS

Nyberg, H. S. Irans forntida religioner. Stockholm, 1937. Trans- BIBLIOGRAPHY

lated as Die Religionen des alten Iran (1938; 2d ed., Osna- Bailey, H. W. Zoroastrian Problems in the Ninth-Century Books
brück, 1966). (1943). Reprint, Oxford, 1971.
Widengren, Geo. “Leitende Ideen und Quellen der iranischen Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques. “L’homme dans la religion iranien-
Apokalyptik.” In Apocalypticism in the Mediterranean World ne.” In Anthropologie religieuse, edited by C. Jouco Bleeker,
and the Near East, edited by David Hellholm, pp. 77–162. pp. 93–107. Leiden, 1955.
Tübingen, 1989.
Dumézil, Georges. “Vís: n: u et les Marút à travers la réforme zoroas-
Zaehner, R. C. The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism. Lon- trienne.” Journal asiatique 241 (1953): 1–25.
don, 1961.
Gnoli, Gherardo. “Le fravaši e l’immortalità.” In La mort, les morts
GHERARDO GNOLI (1987) dans les sociétés anciennes, edited by Gherardo Gnoli and
Translated from Italian by Roger DeGaris Jean-Pierre Vernant, pp. 339–347. Paris, 1982.
Hoffmann, Karl. “Das Avesta in der Persis.” In Prolegomena to the
Sources of the History of Pre-Islamic Central Asia, edited by
FRAVASHIS, beneficent and protective guardian spirits János Harmatta, pp. 89–93. Budapest, 1979.
whose services must be secured by means of ritual offerings, Kellens, Jean. “Les fravaši.” In Anges et démons, edited by Julien
are an essential element of the religious structure of Zoroas- Ries, pp. 99–114. Louvain-la-Neuve, 1989.
trianism. They play an important role in the frequency of
Lommel, Herman. Die Religion Zarathustras nach dem Awesta dar-
rainfall and are responsible for guaranteeing the prosperity gestellt. Tübingen, 1930.
and preservation of the family. As the spirits of the dead, they
Malandra, William W. “The ‘Fravaši Yašt.’” Ph.D. diss., Univer-
are the protagonists in a great feast held on the last night of
sity of Pennsylvania, 1971.
the year. They are thought to preexist human beings and to
survive them. Narten, Johanna. “Avestisch frauuasi-.” Indo-Iranian Journal 28
(1985): 35–48.
The fravashis do not appear in the Gāthās. In the Avesta,
Nyberg, H. S. Irans forntida religioner. Stockholm, 1937. Trans-
the first mention of them occurs in the Yasna Haptanhāiti,
lated as Die Religionen des alten Iran (1938; 2d ed., Osna-
and an entire hymn (Yashts 13) is dedicated to them. brück, 1966).
The conception of the fravashi has all the characteristics Schlerath, Bernfried. “Indo-Iranisch *var- ‘wählen.’” Studien zur
of an archaic, pre-Zoroastrian belief that was later absorbed Indologie und Iranistik (Festschrift Paul Thieme) 5–6 (1980):
and adapted by the tradition. Examples of these characteris- 199–208.
tics include their identification with the spirits of the dead Söderblom, Nathan. “Les Fravashis: Étude sur les traces dans le
(Söderblom, 1899, pp. 229–260, 373–418) and their war- mazdéisme d’une ancienne conception sur la survivance des
like nature. morts.” Revue de l’histoire des religions 39 (1899): 229–260,
As the spirits of the dead the fravashis have often been 373–418.
compared to the Roman manes or to the Indian pitarah: ; as GHERARDO GNOLI (1987)
warlike beings, they have been compared with the Germanic Translated from Italian by Roger DeGaris
valkyries or to the Indian Maruts, the company of celestial
warriors. In particular, in the context of the Indo-European
tripartite ideology, the fravashis are seen as a Zoroastrian sub-
stitute for the Maruts (Dumézil, 1953); both are linked to
FRAZER, JAMES G. (1854–1941), was a British an-
thropologist and historian of religion. James George Frazer,
the concepts and ethics of the Aryan Männerbund. Most like-
the eldest of four children, was born in preindustrial Glas-
ly, Zoroastrianism absorbed this ancient concept, typical of
gow, the son of a successful pharmacist. His parents were de-
a warrior society, through its ties to the cult of the dead and
vout members of the Free Church of Scotland, a conservative
reinterpreted the fravashis as combatants for the rule of
sect that in the 1840s had broken away from the (Estab-
Ahura Mazdā. We find such a zoroastrianization in the myth
lished) Church of Scotland on matters of church governance.
told in the third chapter of the Bundahishn (Book of primor-
Accordingly Frazer was raised in an atmosphere of deep
dial creation), which relates that the fravashis chose to be in-
piety, which, be it noted, he later said that he did not find
carnated in material bodies in order to fight Ahriman and
oppressive.
the evil powers instead of remaining peacefully in the celes-
tial world. Frazer early showed academic promise and entered the
The etymology of the word fravashi is uncertain. Origi- University of Glasgow at the then not unusually early age of
nally it may have been used to designate the spirit of a de- fifteen. There, he writes in a genial memoir composed at the
ceased hero who was endowed with *vr: ti, “valor” (Bailey, end of his life, three important things occurred: He con-
1943, pp. 107ff.); or it may have expressed the theological ceived his lifelong love of the classics, he came to see that the
concept, fundamental to Zoroastrianism, of choice, *fra-vr: ti world is governed by a system of unvarying natural laws, and
(Lommel, 1930, pp. 151, 159–163) or that of the profession he painlessly lost the religious faith of his childhood.
of faith (Hoffmann, 1979, p. 91; Schlerath, 1980, Frazer did brilliantly at Glasgow but soon realized that
pp. 207ff.). although Scottish education gave him a broader background

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION, SECOND EDITION