Asmodeus
Also called Ashmedai, Ashmadai, Asmodee, Asmodaios.
Asmodeus, or Ashmedai, is the destroying arch-demon of Jewish tradition, king of the sheddim, slayer of Sara's seven bridegrooms in Tobit, and the demon who briefly usurped Solomon's throne.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Jewish folklore
- Trait family
- The Tricksters
Near this figure
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Utility powers
- Information gathering
why
Ashmedai in the rabbinic telling ascends to heaven daily to hear the decrees passed on human lives, and drinks from a cistern he has dug on a distant mountain.
- Shapeshifting
why
The sequel inverts it: Asmodeus tricks Solomon into handing over the ring that binds him, flings the king into exile, and reigns in his shape until the ring is recovered.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Shadow carries both readings
4 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Asmodee."
- Ad de Vries, Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery, s.v. "Asmodee."
- Firdausi, translated by Arthur George Warner and Edmond Warner, The Sháhnáma, p. 271.
- Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, p. 7.
- Trickster carries both readings
4 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Asmodee."
- Ad de Vries, Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery, s.v. "Asmodee."
- Firdausi, translated by Arthur George Warner and Edmond Warner, The Sháhnáma, p. 271.
- Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, p. 7.
- Death meets
4 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Asmodee."
- Ad de Vries, Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery, s.v. "Asmodee."
- Firdausi, translated by Arthur George Warner and Edmond Warner, The Sháhnáma, p. 271.
- Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, p. 7.
- Hero meets
4 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Asmodee."
- Ad de Vries, Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery, s.v. "Asmodee."
- Firdausi, translated by Arthur George Warner and Edmond Warner, The Sháhnáma, p. 271.
- Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, p. 7.