Zibelthiurdos is a Thracian god of heaven, lightning and rain, whose name is known mainly from epigraphic monuments. The only known reference to this god so far in ancient literature is in Cicero's speech against Pizon, where he is mentioned under the name Jovi Vrii. According to Cicero, Jupiter Urius had the most ancient and venerated of the barbarian temples, which was sacked by invading armies and resulted in diseases from which those afflicted never recovered.
E Bukura e Dheut is a character in Albanian mythology and folklore, depicted in some traditions as a crafty fairy, and in other traditions as a chthonic/earth goddess, the counterpart of e Bukura e Detit and i Bukuri i Qiellit. In some Albanian traditions she is regarded as the sister of e Bukura e Detit and the consort of Baba Tomor.
Baba Tomor or Baba Tomorr is the name of the father god, used in central Albanian mythology and folklore to refer to the father of gods and humans. Baba Tomor is related to the cult practiced on Mount Tomorr. According to the local tradition his consort is e Bukura e Dheut, a chthonic/earth goddess.
Prende or Premte is the goddess of dawn, love, beauty, fertility, health and protector of women, in the Albanian pagan mythology. She is also called Afër-dita, an Albanian phrase meaning "near day", "the day is near", or "dawn", in association with the cult of the planet Venus, the morning and evening star. Her sacred day is Friday, named in Albanian after her: e premte, premtja. In Albanian mythology Prende appears as the daughter of Zojz, the Albanian sky and lighning god.
Perëndi is an Albanian noun for God, deity, sky and heaven. It is used capitalized to refer to the Supreme Being, and uncapitalized for "deity", "sky" and "heaven".
I Verbti is an Albanian adjectival noun meaning "the blind one", which was used in northern Albanian folk beliefs to refer to the god of fire and wind in the Zadrima region, and to the thunderstorm god in Dukagjin and the Malësia e Vogël; in Shala the thunderstorm god was referred to as Rmoria. These beliefs survived in northern Albania until recent times.
The kulshedra or kuçedra is a water, storm, fire and chthonic demon in Albanian mythology and folklore, usually described as a huge multi-headed female serpentine dragon. The kulshedra is believed to spit fire, cause drought, storms, flooding, earthquakes and other natural disasters against mankind. In Albanian mythology she is usually fought and defeated by a drangue, a semi-human winged divine hero and protector of mankind. Heavy thunderstorms are thought to be the result of their battles.
Albanian folk beliefs and mythological stories comprise the beliefs expressed in the customs, rituals, myths, legends and tales of the Albanian people. The elements of Albanian mythology are of ancient Paleo-Balkanic origin and almost all of them are pagan. Albanian folklore evolved over the centuries in a relatively isolated tribal culture and society. Albanian folk tales and legends have been orally transmitted down the generations and are still very much alive in the mountainous regions of Albania, Kosovo, western North Macedonia, lands formerly inhabited by Albanians like Montenegro and South Serbia and among the Arbëreshë in Italy and the Arvanites in Greece.
Illyrian religion refers to the religious beliefs and practices of the Illyrian peoples, a group of tribes who spoke the Illyrian languages and inhabited part of the western Balkan Peninsula from at least the 8th century BC until the 7th century AD. The available written sources are very tenuous. They consist largely of personal and place names, and a few glosses from Classical sources.
Zana is an Albanian mythological figure usually associated with mountains, springs and streams, forests, vegetation and animals, human vital energy and sometimes destiny. Zana is thought to have been originally a pre-Roman deity, and an Illyrian goddess equivalent of the Ancient Greek Artemis and Roman Diana.
The drangùe is a semi-human winged divine hero in Albanian mythology and folklore, associated with weather and storms. Babies destined to become drangue are born with their heads covered in caul and with two or sometimes four wings under their arms. The drangue hold supernatural powers, especially in the wings and arms. He is made invulnerable by the singular conjunction produced at his birth, and can die only if this conjunction is repeated once again. The main goal of the drangue is to fight the kulshedra in legendary battles. He uses meteoric stones, lightning-swords, thunderbolts, piles of trees and rocks to defeat the kulshedra and to protect mankind from storms, fire, floods and other natural disasters caused by her destructive power. Heavy thunderstorms are thought to be the result of their battles. The drangue and their myth are extensively and accurately portrayed in the Albanian folk tale "The Boy who was Brother to the Drague".
The Kângë Kreshnikësh are the traditional songs of the heroic legendary cycle of Albanian epic poetry. They are the product of Albanian culture and folklore orally transmitted down the generations by the Albanian rhapsodes (lahutarë) who perform them singing to the accompaniment of the lahutë. The Albanian traditional singing of epic verse from memory is one of the last survival of its kind in modern Europe. The poems of the cycle belong to the heroic genre, reflecting the legends that portray and glorify the heroic deeds of the warriors of indefinable old times. The epic poetry about past warriors is an Indo-European tradition shared with South Slavs, but also with other heroic cultures such as those of early Greece, classical India, early medieval England and medieval Germany.
*En or *Enji is a reconstructed name of the fire god in the Albanian pagan mythology, which has continued to be used in the Albanian language to refer to Thursday.
The lubia or ljubi is a water and storm demon in Albanian mythology and folklore, usually depicted as a huge multi-headed female serpentine dragon similar to the kulshedra. In Southern Albanian beliefs, she is a storm deity. She is also referred to as ‘mother lubia’.
Stihi is a fire-breathing storm demon in Albanian mythology and folklore, similar to the kulshedra.
Zojz is a sky and lightning god in Albanian pagan mythology. Regarded as the chief god and the highest of all gods, traces of his worship survived in northern Albania until the early 20th century. The cult practiced by the Albanians on Mount Tomorr in central Albania is considered as a continuation of the ancient sky-god worship. In classical antiquity Zojz is considered to have been worshiped by Illyrians as the ancestors of the Albanians. Albanian Zojz is clearly the equivalent and cognate of Messapic Zis and Ancient Greek Zeus.
E Bukura e Detit is a character in Albanian mythology and folklore, depicted in some traditions as a sea-fairy / nymph, and in other traditions as a sea goddess, the counterpart of e Bukura e Dheut and i Bukuri i Qiellit. In some Albanian traditions she is regarded as the sister of e Bukura e Dheut.
Talas is a sea-storm god in Albanian mythology and folklore. A mythical tale concerning the god Talas has been documented in the early 20th century from the Shala region in northern Albania.
E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit is a character in Albanian mythology and folklore. She is the lightning of the sky which falls everywhere from heaven on the mountains and the valleys and strikes pride and evil. In the legends she helps a hero winning a fight against a kulshedra. Sometimes described with a star on her forehead and a moon on her chest, her victory over the kulshedra symbolizes the supremacy of the deity of the sky over that of the underworld.
Nëna e Diellit is a mother goddess in Albanian folk beliefs. A sacred ritual called "the funeral of the Sun's Mother" was very widespread in southeastern Albania until the 20th century. She has been described by scholars as a heaven goddess and a goddess of agriculture, livestock, and earth fertility, as suggested by the sacred ritual dedicated to her. Nëna e Diellit also features as a deity in Albanian folk tales.