 According to an old, popular legend mentioned by Ferdowsi in the "Shahnameh", however, he was kicked to death by a white horse which suddenly arose from the Chishmih-i Su or Chishmih-i Sabz (the green spring) adjacent to the city of Tus in the eastern province of Abarshahr.The horse was said to suddenly disappear afterwards.German orientalist Theodor Nöldeke surmised that "Ferdowsi had fecklessly grafted this tradition onto traditions of his hometown, Tus", and the murder may have taken place in Gurgan; the legend predated Ferdowsi's work.