Albanian paganism

The symbol of the Sun ( Dielli ) often combined with the crescent Moon ( Hëna ) is commonly found in a variety of contexts of Albanian folk art, including traditional tattooing, grave art, jewellery and house carvings. ^[1] The worship of the Sun and the Moon is the earliest attested cult of the Albanians. ^[2]

Albanian paganism comprises the pagan customs, beliefs, rituals, myths and legends of the Albanian people. The elements of Albanian mythology are of ancient Paleo-Balkanic origin and almost all of them are pagan. ^[3] Ancient paganism persisted among Albanians, and especially within the inaccessible and deep interior ^[4] – where Albanian folklore evolved over the centuries in a relatively isolated tribal culture and society ^[5] – it has continued to persist, or at most it was partially transformed by the Christian, Muslim and Marxist beliefs that were either to be introduced by choice or imposed by force. ^[6] The Albanian traditional customary law (Kanun) has held a sacred – although secular – longstanding, unwavering and unchallenged authority with a cross-religious effectiveness over the Albanians, which is attributed to an earlier pagan code common to all the Albanian tribes. ^[7] Indeed the Kanun contains several customary concepts that clearly have their origins in pagan beliefs, including in particular the ancestor worship, animism and totemism, which have been preserved since pre-Christian times. ^{[8] [9] [10]} Albanian traditions have been orally transmitted – through memory systems that have survived intact into modern times – down the generations and are still very much alive in the mountainous regions of Albania, Kosovo and western North Macedonia, as well as among the Arbëreshë in Italy and the Arvanites in Greece, and the Arbanasi in Croatia. ^[11]

The old beliefs in sun and moon, light and darkness, sky and earth, fire and hearth, death and rebirth, birds and serpents, mountains and water springs, stones and caves, sacrifice, and fate are some of the pagan beliefs among Albanians. ^[12] The earliest attested Albanian cult is the worship of the Sun (Dielli) and the Moon (Hëna). ^[2] The cult of the Earth (Dheu) and that of the Sky (Qielli) have a special place, and an important role is played by Fire, which is considered a living, sacred or divine element used for rituals, sacrificial offerings and purification. ^[13] Fire worship is associated with the cult of the Sun, the cult of the Hearth (Vatër) and the cult of fertility in agriculture and animal husbandry. ^[14] The Fire of the Hearth (Zjarri i Vatrës) is regarded as the offspring of the Sun and the sustainer of the continuity between the world of the living and that of the dead, ensuring the continuity of the tribe (fis or farë) through generations. ^[15] Besa is a common practice in Albanian culture, consisting of an oath (be) solemnly taken by sun, by moon, by sky, by earth, by fire, by stone and thunderstone, by mountain, by water, and by snake, which are all considered sacred objects. ^[16] Associated with human life, bees are highly revered by Albanians. ^[17] The eagle is the animal totem of all Albanians, associated with the Sky, freedom and heroism. ^{[18] [17]} A widespread folk symbol is the serpent (Gjarpër, Vitore, etc.), a totem of the Albanians associated with earth, water, sun, hearth and ancestor cults, as well as destiny, good fortune and fertility. ^[19] The sun, the moon, the star, the eagle, the serpent, and the bee, often appear in Albanian legends and folk art. ^[20]

In Albanian mythology, the physical phenomena, elements and objects are attributed to supernatural beings. The characters in Albanian tales, legends and myths include humans, deities, demigods, monsters, as well as supernatural beings in the shapes of men, animals and plants. ^[21] The deities are generally not persons, but animistic personifications of nature. ^[22] Albanian beliefs, myths and legends are organized around the dualistic struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, ^[23] the most famous representation of which is the constant battle between drangue and kulshedra, ^[24] a conflict that symbolises the cyclic return in the watery and chthonian world of death, accomplishing the cosmic renewal of rebirth. The weavers of destiny, ora or fatí, control the order of the universe and enforce its laws. ^[25] A very common motif in Albanian folk narrative is metamorphosis: men morph into deer, wolves, and owls, while women morph into stoats, cuckoos, and turtles. ^[26] Resulted from the Albanian tribal culture and folklore and permeated by Albanian pagan beliefs and ancient mythology, the Kângë Kreshnikësh ("Songs of Heroes") constitute the most important legendary cycle of the Albanian epic poetry, based on the hero cult. ^[27] Hero's bravery and self-sacrifice, as well as love of life and hope for a bright future play a central role in Albanian tales. ^[21]

Documentation

Further information: Albanian folklore and Kanun (Albania)

See also: Albanian epic poetry

Albanian traditions have been handed down orally across generations. ^[28] They have been preserved through traditional memory systems that have survived intact into modern times in Albania, a phenomenon that is explained by the lack of state formation among Albanians and their ancestors – the Illyrians, being able to preserve their "tribally" organized society. This distinguished them from civilizations such as Ancient Egypt, Minoans and Mycenaeans, who underwent state formation. ^[29]

Albanian myths and legends have been written down since the period of the oldest Albanian literary works (from the 15th century onwards), ^[30] but the systematic collection of Albanian customs and folklore material began only in the 19th century. ^[31]

Origin

See also: Proto-Indo-European mythology, Paleo-Balkan mythology, and Illyrian mythology

The elements of Albanian mythology are of Paleo-Balkanic origin and almost all of them are pagan. ^[3] Ancient Illyrian religion is considered to be one of the sources from which Albanian legend and folklore evolved, ^{[32] [33] [34]} reflecting a number of parallels with Ancient Greek and Roman mythologies. ^[35] Albanian legend also shows similarities with neighbouring Indo-European traditions, such as the oral epics with the South Slavs and the folk tales of the Greeks. ^[36]

Albanian mythology inherited the Indo-European narrative epic genre about past warriors ( Kângë Kreshnikësh ), a tradition shared with early Greece, classical India, early medieval England, medieval Germany and South Slavs. ^[37] Albanian folk beliefs and mythology also retained the typical Indo-European tradition of the deities located on the highest and most inaccessible mountains (Mount Tomor), ^[38] the sky, lightning, weather and fire deities (Zojz, Shurdh, Verbt, *En/*Enj, Vatër, Nëna e Vatrës), ^{[39] [40]} the "Daughter of the Sun and Moon" legend (E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit), ^[41] the "serpent-slaying" and "fire in water" myths (Drangue and Kulshedra), the Fates and Destiny goddesses (Zana, Ora, Fatí, Mira) ^[42] the Divine twins (Muji and Halili), ^{[43] [44]} and the guard of the gates of the Underworld (the three-headed dog who never sleeps). ^[45]

History

The absence of any single and specific theonymic root for the "earth" in the various branches of the Indo-European language family, might be due to the predominance held by earth mother goddess cults already extant and profoundly rooted among Pre-Indo-European-speaking peoples encountered by incoming Indo-European-speaking peoples. ^[46] The confrontation between the belief systems of Pre-Indo-European populations—who favored 'Mother Earth Cults' comprising earthly beliefs, female deities and priesthood—and of Indo-European populations who favored 'Father Heaven Cults' comprising celestial beliefs, male deities and priesthood, might be reflected in the dichotomy of matriarchy and patriarchy that emerges from the two types of female warriors/active characters in Albanian epic poetry, in particular in the Kângë Kreshnikësh . ^{[note 1] [47]} Also in Albanian mythology and folklore, the symbolization of the supremacy of the deity of the sky over that of the underworld is shown by the victory of celestial divine heroes against kulshedra (often described as an earthly/chthonic deity or demon). Those celestial divine heroes are often drangue (the most widespread culture hero among Albanians), but also E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit ("the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun") who is described as the lightning of the sky (pika e qiellit) which falls everywhere from heaven on the mountains and the valleys and strikes pride and evil, ^[48] or other heroic characters marked in their bodies by the symbols of celestial objects, ^[49] such as Zjermi (lit. "the Fire"), who notably is born with the Sun on his forehead. ^[50] On the other hand, the Albanian belief system has preserved also the importance of the cult of the earth, Dheu. ^{[51] [52]}

The cult practiced by the Albanians on Mount Tomorr in central Albania is considered as a continuation of the ancient sky-god worship.

The Albanian sky and lightning god, Zojz, is considered to have been worshiped by Illyrians in ancient times. ^[53] Albanian Zojz is the clear equivalent and cognate of Messapic Zis and Ancient Greek Zeus , the continuations of the Proto-Indo-European *Di̯ḗu̯s 'sky god'. ^{[54] [55]} In the pre-Christian pagan period the term Zot from Proto-Albanian: *dźie̅u ̊ a(t)t- was presumably used in Albanian to refer to the sky father/god/lord, father-god, heavenly father (the Indo-European father daylight-sky-god). ^[56] After the first access of the ancestors of the Albanians to the Christian religion in antiquity the term Zot has been used for God, the Father and the Son (Christ). ^{[56] [57]} The worship and practices associated to the Indo-European sky and lighning deity have been preserved by Albanians until the 20th century, and in some forms still continue today, ^[58] such as in Albanian oath swearings, ^[59] and in the renowned cult at Mount Tomorr in central Albania, where animals are sacrificed to the deity by Albanians of different religious beliefs even in the present-days. ^[60]

The earliest figurative representations that accurately mirror the Albanian lamentation of the dead—gjâmë—appear on Dardanian funerary stelae of classical antiquity. ^[61] In the context of religious perceptions, historical sources confirm the relations between the Greco-Roman religious ethics and the Albanian customary laws. These relations can be seen during the rule of the Illyrian emperors, such as Aurelian who introduced the cult of the Sun; Diocletian who stabilized the empire and ensured its continuation through the institution of the Tetrarchy; Constantine the Great who issued the Edict of Toleration for the Christianized population and who summoned the First Council of Nicaea involving many clercs from Illyricum; Justinian who issued the Corpus Juris Civilis and sought to create an Illyrian Church, building Justiniana Prima and Justiniana Secunda, which was intended to become the centre of Byzantine administration. ^[62]

Prehistoric Illyrian symbols used on funeral monuments of the pre-Roman period have been used also in Roman times and continued into late antiquity in the broad Illyrian territory. The same motifs were kept with identical cultural-religious symbolism on various monuments of the early medieval culture of the Albanians. They appear also on later funerary monuments, including the medieval tombstones (stećci) in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the burial monuments used until recently in northern Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, southern Serbia and northern North Macedonia. Such motifs are particularly related to the ancient cults of the Sun and Moon, survived until recently among northern Albanians. ^[63]

Among the Illyrians of early Albania the Sun was a widespread symbol. The spread of a Sun cult and the persistence of Sun motifs into the Roman period and later are considered to have been the product of the Illyrian culture. In Christian iconography the symbol of the Sun is associated with immortality and a right to rule. The pagan cult of the Sun was almost identical to the Christian cult in the first centuries of Christianity. Varieties of the symbols of the Sun that Christian orders brought in the region found in the Albanian highlands sympathetic supporters, enriching the body of their symbols with new material. ^[64]

The historical-linguistic determination of the Albanian Christian terminology provides evidence that Albanians have already joined the process of conversion to Christianity in the Balkans since the late antiquity (4th–5th centuries AD). The earliest church lexicon is mainly of Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin origin and, to a large extent, of native origin, which leads to the conclusion that the Christianisation of the Albanians occurred under the Latin-based liturgy and ecclesiastical order of the Holy See. Also according to Church documents, the territories that coincide with the present-day Albanian-speaking compact area had remained under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome and used Latin as official language at least until the first half of the 8th century. ^[65]

At the time of the South Slavic incursion and the threat of ethnic turbulence in the Albanian-inhabited regions, the Christianization of the Albanians had already been completed and it had apparently developed for Albanians as a further identity-forming feature alongside the ethnic-linguistic unity. ^[66] Church administration, which was controlled by a thick network of Roman bishoprics, collapsed with the arrival of the Slavs. Between the early 7th century and the late 9th century the interior areas of the Balkans were deprived of church administration, and Christianity might have survived only as a popular tradition on a reduced degree. ^[67] Some Albanians living in the mountains, who were only partially affected by Romanization, probably sank back into the Classic Paganism. ^[68]

The reorganization of the Church as a cult institution in the region took a considerable amount of time. ^[69] The Balkans were brought back into the Christian orbit only after the recovery of the Byzantine Empire and through the activity of Byzantine missionaries. ^[67] The earliest church vocabulary of Middle Greek origin in Albanian dates to the 8th–9th centuries, at the time of the Byzantine Iconoclasm, which was started by the Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian. ^[70] In 726 Leo III established de jure the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople over the Balkans, as the Church and the State established an institution. The Eastern Church expanded its influence in the area along with the social and political developments. Between the 7th and 12th centuries a powerful network of cult institutions were revived completely covering the ecclesiastical administration of the entire present-day Albanian-speaking compact area. In particular an important role was played by the Theme of Dyrrhachium and the Archdiocese of Ohrid. ^[71] Survived through the centuries, the Christian belief among Albanians became an important cultural element in their ethnic identity. Indeed, the lack of Old Church Slavonic terms in Albanian Christian terminology shows that the missionary activities during the Christianization of the Slavs did not involve Albanian-speakers. ^[72] In a text compiled around the beginning of the 11th century in the Old Bulgarian language, the Albanians are mentioned for the first time with their old ethnonym Arbanasi as half-believers, a term which for Eastern Orthodox Christian Bulgarians meant Catholic Christian. ^[73] The Great Schism of 1054 involved Albania separating the region between Catholic Christianity in the north and Orthodox Christianity in the south. ^[74]

Islam was first introduced to Albania in the 15th century after the Ottoman conquest of the area. In Ottoman times, often to escape higher taxes levied on Christian subjects, the majority of Albanians became Muslims. However one part retained Christian and pre-Christian beliefs. ^[75] In the 16th century the Albanians are firstly mentioned as worshippers of the Sun and the Moon. ^[2] British poet Lord Byron (1788–1824), describing the Albanian religious belief, reported that "The Greeks hardly regard them as Christians, or the Turks as Muslims; and in fact they are a mixture of both, and sometimes neither." ^[75] In Ottoman times education in the Albanian language was forbidden. The folk storytellers have played an important role in preserving Albanian folklore. ^[76] The lack of schools was compensated by the folk creativity, molding generations of Albanians with their forefathers' wisdom and experience and protecting them from assimilation processes. ^[77]

Between the 16th and 18th centuries, in Albania arrived also the Bektashi Sufi order ^[78] which spread widely among Albanians because of its traditional tolerance and regard for different religions, practices and beliefs and because it allowed itself to be a vehicle for the expression of Crypto-Christian, Christian and pre-Christian pagan beliefs and rituals. ^{[79] [80] [81]} Bektashism is a Muslim dervish order ( tariqat ) thought to have originated in the 13th century in a frontier region of Anatolia, where Christianity, Islam and paganism coexisted, allowing the incorporation of comparable pagan and non-Muslim beliefs into popular Islam. It facilitated the conversion process to the new Muslims and became the official order of the Janissaries. ^{[82] [83]} After the ban of all the Sufi orders in Turkey in 1925, the Bektashi Order established its headquarters in Tirana. ^[75] Since its founding in 1912, Albania has been a secular state, becoming atheist during the Communist regime, and returning secular after the fall of the regime.

Men of Theth (Shala) practicing the gjâmë – the Albanian lamentation of the dead – in the funeral of Ujk Vuksani, 1937.

Albanian folklore evolved over the centuries in a relative isolated tribal culture and society, ^[5] and although several changes occurred in the Albanian belief system, an ancient substratum of pre-Christian beliefs has survived until today. ^{[84] [3] [85]} Ancient paganism persisted among Albanians, and within the inaccessible and deep interior it has continued to persist, or at most it was partially transformed by the Christian, Muslim and Marxist beliefs that were either to be introduced by choice or imposed by force. ^[4]

Albanian traditions have been orally transmitted – through memory systems that have survived intact into modern times – down the generations and are still very much alive in the mountainous regions of Albania, Kosovo and western North Macedonia, as well as among the Arbëreshë in Italy and the Arvanites in Greece, and the Arbanasi in Croatia. ^[86]

Deities, divinities, and mythical figures

Cosmology Supreme Being Zojz(-i)/Zot(-i), Perëndi(-a), Hy(-u)/Hyj(-i) [84] [87] [57] [88] Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, Cosmic Renewal Drangue vs Kulshedra [87] [89] [90] Destiny Fates: weavers of human destiny [87] Fatí or Mira (among Tosks) Ora or Zana (among Ghegs) Vitore/Bolla e Shtëpisë

Sky The sun/star and the crescent moon on the headgear of a woman of the Gruda tribe Qielli (the Sky) [3] Dielli (the Sun) [91] [92] [3] [93] [35] [85] [21] Hëna (the Moon) [91] [92] [3] [94] [35] [85] Afërdita, (h)ylli i dritës / mëngjesit / karvanit (Venus, the morning star) [95] [92] [96] Yjet (the Stars) [91] [92] [85] Shenjëzat (the Pleiades) [96] Earth Dheu/Toka (the Earth) [97] [3] [98] Uji (the Water) [99] [100] Guri (the Stone, the 'heavy' one) [101] [102] Malet/Bjeshkët (the Mountains) [91] [103] [85] Shpella (the Caves) [91] Phenomena Reja (the Cloud) [104] Shkreptima/Vetëtima/Rrufeja (the Lightning and Thunder) [91] [104] Zjarri (the Fire) [105] [3] [35]

Nature deities and divinities

Sky, weather Zojz: sky, lightning, [55] [106] [107] [53] with an epithet also possibly referred to as Zot: sky father [40] [108] [109] [57] Nëna e Diellit: Mother of the Sun [110] Dielli, the Sun [91] [92] [111] [3] [93] [35] [85] [21] Hëna, the Moon [91] [92] [111] [3] [94] [35] [85] Shurdh: weather [40] [112] [113] Verbt: weather [40] [112] [114] Lubia: weather [115] Stihi: weather [116] Drangue and Kulshedra: weather [87] [117] [89] E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit: "the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun", lightning of the sky [48] [118] [119] [41] Prende ('she who brings the light through') or Hylli i Dritës Afêrdita ('the Star of Light Afêrdita'): dawn, rainbow [120] [121] [122] [95] (in Albanian, Friday bears this name) Perëndi

Earth, vegetation Dheu, Zonja e Dheut: Great Mother Earth, Earth Goddess, respectively [123] [124] [98] E Bukura e Dheut: the beauty of the earth [125] [35] Tomor and Shpirag: mountains [126] Drangue and Kulshedra: earth, stones, trees [87] [117] [89] Mauthia: earth and mountains [127] [35] Dhe-tokësi, Dheu or Tokësi: chthonic serpent [128] Kau: earth and agriculture [84] [129] Zana: vegetation, mountains [40] [130] [35] Bariu Hyjnor: mountains, animals [130] Golden horned goats: wild goats protectors of the forests [131] [132] Nuse Mali: mountain nymphs [133] [134] Zana e malit, Ora, Bardha, Shtojzovalle, Jashtësme, Të Lumet Natë, Mira

Burn, fire, hearth *En/*Enj: fire [40] [84] (in Albanian, Thursday bears this name) Verbt: fire-storms, fire-whirls [112] [114] Drangue and Kulshedra: fire [87] [117] [89] Stihi: fire [116] Djalli: fire [135] Zjarri i Vatrës: Fire of the Hearth [35] Nëna e Vatrës: hearth mother [136] [35]

Water, sea Uji: water; uji i gjallë: living water; it is believed that water is to the earth what blood is to the humans [97] Kron-i/krua/kroi: living water, flowing water, water spring [99] Redon: flowing water, seas [137] Talas: sea, sea-storms [35] [138] Shurdh: water, rain [40] [112] [113] Verbt: water, rain [40] [112] [114] Lubia: water, rain, seas [115] Drangue and Kulshedra: water, rain, seas [87] [117] [89] Bolla: water serpent [139] Bushi i kënetës: bull of ponds and swamps which can cause rain by bellowing [140] [141] E Bukura e Detit: the beauty of the sea [125] Nuse uji: water nymphs [133] [142] Zana e ujit, Nusja Shapulicë, Cuca e Liqenit, Ksheta, Perria

Societal deities Prende: lady of beauty, love and fertility [40] [120] [121] Nëna e Vatrës: the mother of the hearth/fireplace [136] [35] Vitore/Bolla e Shtëpisë, household golden horned serpent [139] [143] [87] [35] [144] [145]

Sacred animals Double-headed eagle and six-pointed star on the official seal of Skanderbeg, the Lord of Albania (D · AL Dominus Albaniae). A serpent (gjarpër) carved on the sheath of an original sword of the Albanian ruler Ali Pasha Tepelena (left). A serpent-shaped shepherd's crook from Labëria, depicted on a 2014 postage stamp of Albania (right). Bleta (the Bee, associated with human life: when an animal ceases to live, Albanians use the verb ngordh or cof; when a bee ceases to live, they use the verb vdes (which is used to refer to human death). Alluding that bees are beings of a higher caste, like humans. [17] Dreri (the Deer, associated with sun cult) [17] Shqiponja (the Eagle – totem of Albanian people – associated with the Sky, freedom and heroism) [18] [17] Dhia e egër (the wild Goat, associated with forests cult) [17] Gjarpri (the Serpent is an animal totem of the Albanians, associated with earth, water, sun, hearth and ancestor cults, as well as destiny, good fortune and fertility) [146] [145] [144] [17] Bukla (the Stoat) [17] Ujku (the Wolf) [17]

Mythical beings

• Serpentine dragons
  • Bolla→Bollar→Errshaja→Kulshedra ^{[87] [117]}
  • Ljubi ^[115]
  • Stihi ^[116]
  • Sprija ^[147]
  • Llamja (half snake, half woman) ^[148]
• Abe (phantom wearing a cloak) ^[149]
• Angu (shapeless ghost who appears in dreams) ^[150]
• Avullushe (spirits that suffocate people with their breath) ^{[151] [35]}
• Bardha (pale, nebulous spirits who dwell under the earth) ^[152]
• Bariu i mirë (the good shepherd) ^[153]
• Baloz (dark knight, huge monster) ^{[154] [35]}
• Bushtra (bad omen-wishing female witch) ^[155]
• Çakalloz (mighty being, slightly deranged hero) ^[156]
• Dhampir (half-vampire, half-human) ^{[150] [157]}
• Dhevështruesi (half human and half animal) ^{[150] [158]}
• Dhamsutë (deaf and dumb mare) ^{[150] [158]}
• Djall (god of death and evil)
• Divi (ogre) ^[159]
• Drangue (winged warrior that kills dragons)
• Dreq (devils)
• Fierkuqja (Venomous lizard that hides in red ferns)
• Flama (restless evil ghost) ^[160]
• Floçka (water nymph)
• Gjysmagjeli ^[161]
• Gogol (bogeyman) ^[162]
• Grabofç (monstrous two headed snake) ^[163]
• Hajnjeri (man eating giant) ^[161]
• Hija (shadow ghost) ^[164]
• Jashtësme (elf-like nymphs that live in forests) ^[165]
• Judi (giant ghost) ^{[150] [166]}
• Kacamisri (similar to Tom Thumb)
• Karkanxholl (goblins) ^[167]
• Katallan (giant), ^[168] having its origins in the Catalan Company's brutality in the Catalan Campaign in Asia Minor.
• Katravesh (the four-eared one, man-eating monster) ^[169]
• Keshete (naiad)
• Kolivilor (demon similar to an incubus) ^[170]
• Kore (child eating demon) ^[170]
• Kukudh (plague demon) ^[171]
• Lahin (dwarf-like goblin)) ^[172]
• Laura (shapeshifting swamp hag) ^{[150] [172]}
• Lugat (revenant) ^{[150] [173]}
• Magjí (evil woman, old hag)) ^[174]
• Makth (nightmare ghost that suffocates people during sleep) ^[174]
• Mira (Spirits of fate) ^[175]
• Pëlhurëza (veil ghost) ^[150]
• Perria (beautiful female jinn who bedazzles humans) ^[176]
• Qeros (Scurfhead) ^[177]
• Qose (Barefaced Man) ^[178]
• Rrqepta (similar to a beast) ^[150]
• Rusale (mermaid) ^[179]
• Shtojzovalle (forest spirits)
• Shtriga (vampiric witch) ^{[180] [181]}
• Syqeni (the Doggy Eyed, a wizard) ^[150]
• Thopçi or Herri (gnome) ^{[150] [164]}
• Three headed dog (Hellhound) ^[182]
• Vampir ^{[150] [179]}
• Vdekja (grim reaper)
• Vurvolaka (werewolves) ^[35]
• Xhindi (jinn) ^{[183] [35]}
• Zana (mountain fairy)

Heroic characters

The Albanian terms for "hero" are trim (female: trimneshë), kreshnik or hero (female: heroinë). Some of the main heroes of the Albanian epic songs, legends and myths are:

• Demigods
  • Drangue: semi-human winged warrior who fights the kulshedra; his most powerful weapons are lightning-swords and thunderbolts, but he also uses meteoric stones, piles of trees and rocks;
  • E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit: "the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun", who is described as the lightning of the sky (Albanian : pika e qiellit) which falls everywhere from heaven on the mountains and the valleys and strikes pride and evil. She is sometimes described as bearing a star on her forehead and a moon on her chest. She fights the kulshedra;
• Humans
  • Zjerma and Handa: protagonists of the heroic folktale "The Twins". Zjerma (lit. "fire") was born with the sun in the forehead, while Handa (lit. "moon") was born with the moon in the forehead. They have two horses and two dogs as companions, and two silver swords as weapons.
  • Muji and Halili, protagonists of epic cycle of the Kângë Kreshnikësh
  • Gjergj Elez Alia
  • Little Constantine

Heroic motifs

The Albanian heroic songs are substantially permeated by the concepts contained in the Kanun, a code of Albanian oral customary laws: honor, considered as the highest ideal in Albanian society; shame and dishonor, regarded as worse than death; besa and loyalty, gjakmarrja. ^{[184] [185]}

Another characteristic of Albanian heroic songs are weapons. Their importance and the love which the heroes have for them are carefully represented in the songs, while they are rarely described physically. A common feature appearing in these songs is the desire for fame and glory, which is related to the courage of a person. ^[186]

Concepts

Kanun, the Albanian traditional customary law [187] [188] Good and Evil, Light and Darkness [189] Fate: Fatí (among Tosks), Ora (among Ghegs) [87] [35] Vatër, the Hearth [190] Besa/Beja (oath swearing) [191] [192] [185] [193] [21] me diell (by sun), me dhè (by earth), me zjarr (by fire), me fushë (by field), me gur/gur-rrufeje (by stone/thunder-stone), me hënë (by moon), me mal (by mountain), me qiell (by sky), me ujë (by water), me toks (by snake) Numbers [194] [195] Nxiri: all-seing eyes that look at humans from the ground following their movements everywhere, considered to be the sight of the living Earth [97] Shetuar: person that has been paralyzed/petrified by a zana [196]

Fryma, Hija, Shpirti (the Soul) [197] [198] [35] [199] Rebirth [200] [198] Animism [201] Totemism [202] Ancestor worship [197] [198] [35] Syri i Keq (the Evil Eye) [203] [204] [35] Yshtje [205] Ditët e Plakës (Old Woman's Days, a belief about the last cold days of winter) [206] [207]

Rituals and practices

Childbirth rituals [87] [198] [208] Wedding rituals [198] [209] Fire rituals (living, sacred or divine fire) [105] [3] Calendar fires: zjarret e vitit, associated with the cosmic cycle and the rhythms of agricultural and pastoral life [35] [105] Livestock fires: zjarri i gjallë, zjarri i egër, zjarri i keq, associated with the purification of domesticated animals [105] Hearth fire: zjarri i vatrës , associated with the cult of the hearth [35] [105]

Bride-taking ceremony from Valbonë, northern Albania. In old Albanian tradition the groom went with his party made up of men of his family on horseback to the bride's home to ask for her hand and thereafter take her to his home, where the wedding reception was held. Weather rituals [210] Rituals to avert hailstorms (ndalja e stuhisë së breshrit) Through noise, gunshots and bonfires Rainmaking rituals (thirrja e shiut) [211] Through ritual processions, dances and songs (Rone or Dordolec) Vajtim, Gjâmë [212] [213] Murana (burial mounds of stones, tumuli for the cult of the ancestor / hero) [21] [214] Albanian traditional tattooing

Traditional festivals

Spring equinox

Albanian woman with traditional decorations, during the Illyrian carnivals, celebrating the Albanian spring festival in the Sharr Mountains.

Dita e Verës (Verëza): "The Summer Day", the Albanian spring festival celebrated (also as an official holiday in Albania) on March 1 of the Julian calendar (March 14 of the Gregorian calendar). In the old Albanian calendar it corresponds to the first day of the new year (Albanian : Kryeviti, Kryet e Motmotit, Motmoti i Ri, Nata e Mojit) and marks the end of the winter season (the second half of the year) and the beginning of the summer season (the first half of the year) on the spring equinox, marking the period of the year when daylight is longer than night.

Edith Durham – who collected Albanian ethnographic material from northern Albania and Montenegro – reported that Albanian traditional tattooing of girls was practiced on March 19. ^[215]

Another festival celebrated by Albanians around the spring equinox is Nowruz (Albanian : Dita e Sulltan Nevruzit ) celebrated on March 22, mainly by Bektashis, ^{[216] [217]} and Dita e Zojës (among the Catholics) or Vangjelizmoi (among the Orthodox), celebrated on March 25. ^[218]

Those festivities are associated with the cult of the Sun (Dielli) and the renewal of nature. The renewal of nature is also associated with the worship of the Great Mother Goddess (Dheu), which is celebrated with several rites and customs, in particular wood or anything from vegetation cannot be cut, and the earth is considered to be "pregnant" (Alb. me barrë) and cannot be worked. ^[218]

Shëngjergji

Shëngjergji "Saint George" is a festival celebrated by Albanians both on April 23 and on May 6 (as well as in the period between). It would coincide with Saint George's Day, were it not for the fact that Shëngjergji is celebrated by all Albanians, regardless of being Christians or Muslims, and that the celebrations are carried out with traditional pagan rituals and practices, such as pilgrimages on sacred mountains and places, ritual bonfires on high places, animal sacrifices, water rituals, rituals with serpents, etc. It is rather considered a pre-Christian festivity associated with the worship of a deity of agriculture and livestock. ^{[218] [219]}

Winter solstice

Albanian traditional festivities around the winter solstice celebrate the return of the Sun (Dielli) for summer and the lengthening of the days. ^{[220] [35]}

The Albanian traditional rites during the winter solstice period are pagan, and very ancient. Albanologist Johann Georg von Hahn (1811 – 1869) reported that clergy, during his time and before, have vigorously fought the pagan rites that were practiced by Albanians to celebrate this festivity, but without success. ^[221]

The old rites of this festivity were accompanied by collective fires based on the house, kinship or neighborhood, a practice performed in order to give strength to the Sun according to the old beliefs. The rites related to the cult of vegetation, which expressed the desire for increased production in agriculture and animal husbandry, were accompanied by animal sacrifices to the fire, lighting pine trees at night, luck divination tests with crackling in the fire or with coins in ritual bread, making and consuming ritual foods, performing various magical ritualistic actions in livestock, fields, vineyards and orchards, and so on. ^[221]

Nata e Buzmit

Nata e Buzmit, "Yule log's night", is celebrated between December 22 and January 6. ^[220] Buzmi is a ritualistic piece of wood (or several pieces of wood) that is put to burn in the fire of the hearth (Albanian vatër) on the night of a winter celebration that falls after the return of the Sun for summer (after the winter solstice), sometimes on the night of Kërshëndella on December 24 (Christmas Eve), sometimes on the night of kolendra, or sometimes on New Year's Day or on any other occasion aound the same period, a tradition that is originally related to the cult of the Sun. ^[222]

A series of rituals of a magical character were performed with the buzmi, which, based on old beliefs, aimed at agricultural plant growth and for the prosperity of production in the living thing (production of vegetables, trees, vineyards, etc.). This practice was traditionally found among all Albanians, also documented among the Arbëreshë in Italy and the Arvanites in Greece until the first half of the 20th century. It is considered a custom of Proto-Indo-European origin. ^[222]

The richest set of rites related to buzmi are found in northern Albania (Mirdita, Pukë, Dukagjin, Malësia e Madhe, Shkodër and Lezhë, as well as in Kosovo, Dibër and so on. ^[222]

See also

• Albanian epic poetry

Notes

1. In Albanian epics there are on the one hand female characters who play an active role in the quest and the decisions that affect the whole tribe, on the other hand those who undergo a masculinization process as a condition to be able to participate actively in the fights according to the principles of the Kanun. ^[47]

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2. Elsie, Robert (ed.). "1534. Sebastian Franck: Albania: A Mighty Province of Europe". Texts and Documents of Albanian History.
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6. Norris 1993 , p. 34; Hykolli & Krasniqi 2020 , p. 78
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72. Demiraj 2011, p. 71.
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74. Ramet 1989, p. 381.
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81. Elsie 2019, p. 116.
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148. Elsie 2001, pp. 160–161.
149. Elsie 2001, p. 4.
150. Tirta 2004, pp. 132–137.
151. Elsie 2001, pp. 18–19.
152. Elsie 2001, p. 20.
153. Tirta 2004, p. 407.
154. Elsie 2001, pp. 20–21.
155. Elsie 2001, p. 49.
156. Elsie 2001, p. 50.
157. Elsie 2001, pp. 68–69.
158. Elsie 2001, p. 69.
159. Elsie 2001, p. 71.
160. Elsie 2001, p. 90.
161. Elsie 2001, p. 107.
162. Elsie 2001, p. 103.
163. Elsie 2001, p. 104.
164. Elsie 2001, p. 113.
165. Elsie 2001, pp. 130.
166. Elsie 2001, p. 140.
167. Elsie 2001, p. 150.
168. Elsie 2001, pp. 150–151.
169. Elsie 2001, p. 151.
170. Elsie 2001, p. 152.
171. Elsie 2001, p. 153.
172. Elsie 2001, p. 158.
173. Elsie 2001, pp. 162–163.
174. Elsie 2001, p. 164.
175. Elsie 2001, p. 167.
176. Elsie 2001, p. 185.
177. Elsie 2001b, pp. 155, 230.
178. Elsie 2001b, pp. 22–23.
179. Novik 2015, p. 266.
180. Elsie 2001, p. 236.
181. Tirta 2004, pp. 111, 193–194.
182. Elsie 2001, p. 79.
183. Elsie 2001, p. 134.
184. Skendi 1954, pp. 83, 86–91.
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186. Skendi 1954, pp. 91–92.
187. Skendi 1954.
188. Watkins 1995, p. 67.
189. Elsie 1994, p. i.
190. Poghirc 1987 , p. 179; Tirta 2004 , pp. 176, 410; De Rapper 2012 , pp. 14–15; Gjoni 2012 , p. 90; Galaty et al. 2013 , p. 161.
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192. Elsie 2001b, pp. 35–36.
193. Hysi 2006, pp. 349–361.
194. Elsie 2001, p. 191.
195. Tirta 2004, pp. 358–391.
196. Galaty et al. 2013, p. 162.
197. Tirta 2004, pp. 135, 199–200, 227–243.
198. Doja 2000.
199. Kondi 2017, p. 279.
200. Tirta 2004, pp. 199–200, 205.
201. Tirta 2004, pp. 169, 205, 227.
202. Tirta 2004, pp. 19, 20, 66–68, 145–170.
203. Stipčević 2009, p. 508.
204. Tirta 2004, pp. 26, 66, 324–326.
205. Poghirc 1987, p. 179–180.
206. Elsie 2001, p. 193.
207. Pipa 1978, p. 55.
208. Elsie 2001, pp. 36–40.
209. Elsie 2001, pp. 166–171.
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217. Elsie 2001, pp. 259–260.
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Further reading

• Tirta, Mark (1992). "Figures mythologiques Albanaises et rencontres Balkaniques" [Albanian Mythological Figures and Balkanien Coincidences]. Studia Albanica (in French). 29 (1+02): 119–125.