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.
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. 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.
The drangùe is a semi-human winged divine hero in Albanian pagan mythology, associated with weather and storms. He is the archetype of light and good, the complementary and opposing force to kulshedra, the archetype of darkness and evil. 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. A drangùe is made invulnerable by the singular conjunction produced at his birth, and can die only if this conjunction is repeated once again.
Bardha is an Albanian mythological figure, appearing either as a zana (nymph) or as an ora associated with good luck.
Enji is the old name of the fire god in the Albanian pagan mythology evidently contained in the week day name that was dedicated to him – e enjte – the Albanian word for Thursday. The Fire – Zjarri – is deified in Albanian tradition as releaser of light and heat with the power to ward off darkness and evil, affect cosmic phenomena and give strength to the Sun, and as sustainer of the continuity between life and afterlife and between the generations. The divine power of Fire is used for the hearth and the rituals, including calendar fires, sacrificial offerings, divination, purification, and protection from big storms and other potentially harmful events. Fire worship and rituals are associated with the cult of the Sun (Dielli), the cult of the hearth (vatër) and the ancestor, and the cult of fertility in agriculture and animal husbandry. Fire rituals that are commonly found among Indo-European peoples, including the Albanians, have been firstly attested by the Vedas, with hymns dedicated to the fire god Agni. Described in written sources since 1482, the Albanian fire rituals have been historically fought by the Christian clergy, without success. The cult of the mystic fire and the fire ritual practices have played a prominent role in the lives of all the Albanian people until the 20th century, and in rural areas they continue to be important for Albanian traditional customs even in the present days.
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’.She is known for her disturbingly huge appetite and eerie personality. Both of which characteristics are based on the fierce impression the sea gives you on stormy weather. The native people used hyperbole and made a vile creature out of the bad weather conditions.
Perria or Pehria is a fairy-like mountain figure in Albanian mythology and folklore.
Xhindi is a mythological creature in Albanian mythology.
A lugat or liogat is a vampire-like being in Albanian mythology. They abide in shadows and darkness, especially places that never see sunlight, such as inside water wells, old ruins, and caves. They have a frightening visage and are extremely violent. A lugat can fly and ride the winds, and assails his victims in their sleep. He also lures people, especially children, to himself while he is concealed in darkness. As undead they can't be killed during night but if they are caught in their graves, they can be burnt to death. Lugats are often believed to wear the skin of a dead person and have long fingernails. In Albanian, the word llugat is also used to describe a wicked or frightening person.
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 classical antiquity Zojz was presumably worshiped by Illyrians as the ancestors of the Albanians. Albanian Zojz is the clear equivalent and cognate of Messapic Zis and Ancient Greek Zeus. 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.
E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit is a character in Albanian mythology and folklore, the dauther of Hëna and Dielli. She is the as pika e qiellit 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. Her victory over the kulshedra symbolizes the supremacy of the deity of the sky over that of the underworld in the dualistic struggle between light and darkness.
*Seh₂ul and *Meh₁not are the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European deity of the Sun and deity of the Moon 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.
Dielli, the Sun, holds a prominent position in Albanian pagan customs, beliefs, rituals, myths, and legends. The Sun exercises a great influence on Albanian major traditional festivities and calendar rites, worshiped as the light and weather god, giver of life, health and energy, and all-seeing eye. In Albanian tradition the fire – zjarri, evidently also called with the theonym Enji – worship and rituals are particularly related to the cult of the Sun. Ritual calendar fires or bonfires are traditionally kindled before sunrise in order to give strength to the Sun and to ward off evil. Many rituals are practiced before and during sunrise, honoring this moment of the day as it is believed to give energy and health to the body.
Hëna, the Moon, holds a prominent position in Albanian pagan customs, beliefs, rituals, myths, and legends. In Albanian traditions the Moon's cyclical phases have regulated many aspects of life, defining agricultural and livestock activities, various crafts, and human body.
