The peri is a beautiful female spirit of Tat and wider Iranian folk belief, dwelling by springs, rivers, and remote wild places, where she bathes and dances unseen. She is ambivalent: she may fall in love with a chosen man and aid him, or she may beguile him and lead him to sickness, ruin, and madness. In the wonder-tales the peri is frequently held prisoner by a div, and her rescue is the object of the hero's quest, so that pari and div stand as the paired bright and dark powers of the tale world.