Perria or Pehria is a fairy-like mountain figure in Albanian mythology and folklore. [1] [2]
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From the Albanian word përrua ("brook"). From Proto-Albanian *pVrē/ān-, or Proto-Albanian *per-rāno, possibly a prefixed derivative of rrua. Compare Romanian pârâu (“torrent, stream”), assimilated to râu (“river”). Alternatively, from Old Albanian përruo, from Bulgarian порой (poroj, “torrent”). Other similar words include the English language word poar.
Perria is generally a protective figure; however, she can also do harm. [2] In Albanian popular belief, she is depicted as female mountain-spirits clad in white. Their duty is to punish anyone who is wasteful with bread by disfiguring the person and making him a "crooked hunchback". [1]
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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 dawn goddess, goddess of 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. She is referred to as Zoja Prenne or Zoja e Bukuris. Her sacred day is Friday, named in Albanian after her: e premte, premtja. She reflects features belonging to the original Indo-European dawn goddess. A remarkable reflection associated with the Indo-European dawn goddess is the Albanian tradition according to which Prende is the daughter of the sky god – Zojz.
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".
Shurdh is a name for the weather and storm god in Albanian pagan mythology. In some regions of the Albanian Alps the weather and storm god has been referred to as Rmoria or Shen Verbti; the latter is an Albanian adjectival noun meaning "the blind one" that has been used in other northern Albanian regions, to refer to the fire and wind god. In Zadrima the sky and lightning god has been called Zojz, the clear equivalent and cognate of Messapic Zis and Ancient Greek Zeus. Another possible name of the sky and lightning god could be Perëndi. The Albanian divine culture hero drangue, who plays a dominant role in Albanian mythology, features the attributes of a sky and lightning deity, apparently an Albanian reflection of the Indo-European sky god.
Djall or Dreq is the personification of evil in Albanian mythology and folklore. The name is used also for a demon of fire.
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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. She is the archetype of darkness and evil, the complementary and opposing force to drangue, the archetype of light and good. The kulshedra is believed to spit fire, cause drought, storms, flooding, earthquakes and other natural disasters against mankind.
Worship or deification of fire, or fire rituals, religious rituals centred on a fire, are known from various religions. Fire has been an important part of human culture since the Lower Paleolithic. Religious or animist notions connected to fire are assumed to reach back to such early prehuman times.
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. Ancient paganism persisted among Albanians, and especially within the inaccessible and deep interior – where Albanian folklore evolved over the centuries in a relatively isolated tribal culture and society – 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. 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. 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. 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.
Zana is a nymph-like figure in Albanian mythology and folklore, usually associated with mountains, springs and streams, forests, vegetation and animals, human vital energy and sometimes destiny. Zana e Madhe is thought to have been an Illyrian goddess, equivalent of the Ancient Greek Artemis and Roman Diana.
Bardha is an Albanian mythological figure, appearing either as a zana (nymph) or as an ora associated with good luck.
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Stihi is a fire-breathing storm demon in Albanian mythology and folklore, similar to the kulshedra.
Xhindi is a mythological creature in Albanian mythology.
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, and in some forms still continue today. The old beliefs in the Sky are pagan beliefs preserved by Albanians since ancient times. In Albanian the god who rules the sky is referred to as i Bukuri i Qiellit, a phrase that is used in pagan contexts for the Sun (Dielli), worshiped as the god of light, sky and weather, giver of life, health and energy, and all-seeing eye. The sacred significance of one of the main symbols of the sky cult – the eagle – has been scrupulously preserved by Albanians, who have always considered it their animal totem. An epithet considered to be associated with the sky-god is "father", thought to be contained in the Albanian noun Zot, used to refer to the supreme entity. A remarkable reflection of Proto-Indo-European mythology associated with the dawn goddess *H₂éwsōs is the Albanian tradition according to which the dawn goddess – Prende – is the daughter of the sky god – Zojz.
The vatër is the domestic hearth in Albanian culture. The fire of the domestic hearth holds divine attributes in Albanian beliefs, being considered the sustainer of the continuity between the world of the living and that of the dead, and ensuring the continuity of the tribe from generation to generation. The absence of fire in a house is traditionally considered a great curse. In Albanian folk beliefs the fire hearth is the symbol of fire as the offspring of the Sun (Dielli). In Albanian tradition the deified fire (zjarri) was evidently also called with the theonym Enji, the god to whom Thursday – e enjte – was dedicated in the Albanian language.
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.
*Seh₂ul and *Meh₁not are the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European Sun deity and Moon deity respectively. *Seh₂ul is reconstructed based on the solar deities of the attested Indo-European mythologies, although its gender is disputed, since there are deities of both genders. Likewise, *Meh₁not- is reconstructed based on the lunar deities of the daughter languages, but they differ in regards to their gender.