An Overview of Albanian Culture and Mythology

The modern Albanian culture and ancient Albanian and Illyrian beliefs are closely related and said ancient beliefs are still alive today in the isolated mountains of Albania and Kosovo. The Illyrian and Albanian cultures had strong Greco-Roman influence, which can be seen in their mythology and folklore. Illyrians, as well as Albanians, both come from Paleo-Balkanite cultures and those ultimately stem from Proto-Indo-European culture. In this article we will go through the basics of their mythology and compare it to their European counterparts. The modern Albanian culture is also one of the last cultures to have remnants of a living ancient pagan culture, which I plan to illustrate below.

Hero Worship

The worship of heroes is common in all branches of the Indo-European culture and is especially prevalent in Albanian and Illyrian mythology, the latter is thought to be the precursor to Albanian myth. In fact, it was once thought that Albanians had no deities and only worshipped their heroes, but this was before evidence to the contrary was found. In more modern times we can still see Hero worship as a part of their culture with the admiration of the national hero Skanderbeg. Unfortunately, like many pre-abrahamic cultures, Albanian myths are next to non-existent compared to those of the ancient Greeks for example. The myths we do have, however, tell of Albanian heroes. The Drangue are semi-divine mythical heroes with wings and lightning swords, often associated with weather and thunder, who fight Hydra-like demons called Kulshedra. The Drangue myths take the place of the common motif of Thunderer versus the Serpent seen in all IE branches. Albanians have an entire cycle of poetic songs about conflicts between heroes and warriors based on their code of honor, which is still in modern times one of the most important virtues in Albanian society, called the Kângë Kreshnikësh or Songs of Heroes in English. These stories predate Slavic influence in the Balkans and are still sung today.

Deities

The Gods of pre-Abrahamic Albanian religion are a glimpse of older tribal IE mythology, a much more primordial version of the religion of the Greco-Romans or Vedic Aryans. The Gods are not given a physical depiction and human mannerisms, unlike the Greeks or Romans did in ancient times. This has led many past historians to the conclusion that they had no "real" deities and that they simply ascribed myths to natural phenomena, when in fact this couldn't be further from the truth, knowing what we do now. The supreme deity of this older version of IE beliefs is Zojzi, who is most likely the Sky-Father of the Albanian pantheon, comparable to the Slavic Perun and the Greek Zeus. Zojzi is also thought to be the same as Perëndi which is the word for "God" in Albanian today. This change of name is in contrast to other cultures where the names of Gods were turned into names for devils or demons when Abrahamic religions came. Other deities are assumed to be related to Zojzi, as they are associated with weather, such as the Shurdh, Verbt, and The Drangue. It is true that the gods were associated with natural phenomena, but it is a superficial conclusion made from a modern perspective to say these deities were merely just myths attatched to forces of nature and nothing more. Similar to ancient Turkic religion, and most likely not uncommon in more tribal forms of IE religion, there is a sole devotion to the Sky-Father as the supreme being and all other deities or divine beings are secondary and seen as parts of Zojzi. Zojzi and the Gods are said to live on inaccessible mountain peaks similar to the Greek Olympus, where Zeus resides.

Rituals

Few people in Europe still practice rituals from ancient times like the Albanians. Their ancient rituals being common in the old IE tradition, have evolved with time and various conquests. One ritual which demonstrates this evolution of rite, is a ritual that wards off hailstorms. In this ritual the men take place in the house, aiming at the sky, say "Go Away" or "God (Perëndi) give strength to our Dragon" three times. The latter is a call to Zojzi to help the Drangue fight the Kulshedra. Another ritual still done today is a sacrifice, typically of a ram or sheep, put in the foundation of a new house in case the spirit of a man was trapped inside.

Syncretism and Modern Albanians

When Christianity came to Albania in the fourth and fifth-centuries and spread its influence, it was stated that Albanians only half-believed the religion and mainly continued to practice their pagan religion, as well as syncretism of certain Christian traditions. This syncretism of tradition happened in pagan Albania like it happened in almost all of early Christian Europe. In the fifteenth-century, Islam came with Ottoman conquest of Albania, and to avoid high taxes for Christians by the Ottomans, the majority of Albanians "converted" like they had done with Christianity. Later some Albanians adopted Bektashi Sufi Islam because it was better suited for the incorporation of secret Pagan and Christian beliefs and rituals. The origin of the Bektashi can in part be traced back to Tengrism, which has similar characteristics to IE religions. Bektashi in Albania and Kosovo is still practiced today, albeit in small numbers, and still incorporates the ancient Albanian tradition.

Folklore

In Albanian folklore there is the common story of heroes doing battle based on a strong concept of personal and family honor known as Besa and Nderi. The Kanun is a set of orally passed down laws of traditional Albanian society, which has been said to originate in ancient Indo-European and Illyrian tribal law. These main two concepts, along with kinship, are what drive Albanian myths and folklore and can also be tied back to the way the ancient Albanians lived as a very close tribal mountain culture. Heroes in Albanian stories are often helped by mythological figures like the Drangue or the divine female characters, Zana and Ora.

Conclusion

Albanian culture and the Balkans in general are fascinating. They have preserved elements of Greco-Roman hero worship in their culture and their ancient deities are still called upon today, an example being Perëndi. As well as preservation of their beliefs, their rites and rituals have also stood the test of time and evolved. This ancient belief also preserved an older form of the IE religion that is similar to the ancient Roman one that led to the start of their civilization and evolution of their religion into the complex one we know today. The concepts of their folklore also show the foundations and laws carried over from centuries ago from their pagan ancestors. I hope this article brought to light a relatively obscure side of European paganism.

Thank you for reading.

@solarcult