The villagers of the mountain regions pass stories down to their children about how natural features of the land were created. So some people believe that if they believe in God, shtriga will be helpless and youll have immunity against her. The Ora's appearance alters according to the personality and attributes of the human a white Ora for the brave and industrious, or a black Ora for the lazy or cowardly.[8], In Northern Albania, the Oras are represented similarly to the Southern Albanian Fatia as a group of three mythological goddesses who gather in the night to perform the task of determining the childs fate at birth and distribute their favours upon the child. As you can see, the Northern Albanian folklore only mentions women as potential shtrigas, but other sources of Albanian mythology creatures dont exclude men from thisopportunity. Isnt it fascinating!? Extract from Songs of the Frontier Warriors (Halili Avenges Mujo), translated by Robert Elsie . Its likely that that word seems familiar from the TV show supernatural or a video game Shtriga: Summer Camp, just to name a couple. I know that if I was a kid and saw a giant, Id do the opposite. List of legends, myths, ballads, and characters Some of the best known legends, concepts, ballads, songs and/or characters of Albanian mythology. Across all of Kotor and Boka the sisters were famous for their beauty. This method would trap shtriga inside, giving you the opportunity to kill her, though Im not entirely sure how anyone would do this since sources claim that she cant be killed using regular weapons and methods. Melton is a bright and educated man and I genuinely found his book a very interesting read. Balkan travel inspiration and practical travel tips. Lets start by dissecting the name shtriga and the meaning behind it! All we have is that Buba is some kind of a serpentine monster. Another famous vampire type is called lugat and it may also be called kukithi or liogat. I was totally creeped out by the Drekavac too. More specifically, the Albanian word for shtriga is shtrig, the Polish version is strzyga, in Romanian its strig, and Italian is strega. While Jin is a general reference to concealment, al-janin refers specifically to a fetus that is concealed in its mother's womb. How can you fight back? Eventually, as you got a bigger picture, you would also notice her face disfigurement and possibly a cape that she tends to wear. Thank you for sharing. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Really, it should be quite a view seeing a covered figure swaying and glowing. And yes, its a huge generalization once again, but in this particular case it also involves bad blood between Albania and the Turkish Ottoman Empire or the modern day Turkey. It facilitated the conversion process to the new Muslims and became the official order of the Janissaries. [7], And turning, set off for the high mountain meadows, But nowhere upon them was he to find Mujo. Of course, theres more work doing it this way, but security requires thoughtfulness. InEastern Serbia,the Drekavac has been described in the form of a humanoid canine creature that walks on its back legs. The only downside here is that its not that easy. Albert Doja reveals beliefs about the protective house snake throughout Albanian culture and superstitions. Although they had never met, Vita used to sing from the top of the Big ridge while Lyulin would accompany her on his fiddle from the Long ridge. It goes without saying that because of its seemingly wicked character and powerful abilities lugat is seen as a dangerous and extremely violent creature that wishes to inflict violence and cruelty upon people. [15], Extract from Songs of the Frontier Warriors (Mujos Oras), translated by Robert Elsie -, Oh oras, to whom do you render assistance?. One of the early Albanian collectors of Albanian folklore from Albania proper was Zef Jubani. The next boogeyman on the list is called Buba and we know even less about this one. All of the methods are very standard and unsurprising, but the problem is not having a definite agreement (even in stories) whether all of them are effective or not. Some vampires can be committed to one woman and may even have a wife. [51] Some Albanians living in the mountains, who were only partially affected by Romanization, probably sank back into the Classic Paganism. The two titans eventually killed one another and poor Earthly Beauty drowned in her tears, which became the Osum River. On his journey he encounters an Ora who assists him and guides him towards Tanusha. Now, Im not sure *which* God this is referring to. On a final note about a lugat, I just wanted to add that basically there is no positive way to see the creature. Often appearing on roads and meadows or next to rivers and creeks, they began as ambiguous, black mists, silhouettes and whirlwinds. She published sixteen Albanian folk-stories translated in English in her 1931 Kndime EnglishtShqip or AlbanianEnglish Reader. The drekavac will avoid dogs and bright light, and if the shadow of drekavac falls upon a person then that person will become ill and die. Want to read a bit more folklore and discover more mythical creatures? 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. I love these stories! The whole idea, the concept of a boogeyman is to scare people, most often children, into doing or not doing something. Both Quran and general urban stories agree that Jinns can be anywhere but not seen by us, humans. All Rights Reserved | Both the Ora and Vitore are widely represented as a serpent with golden horns who brings gold.[9] Albanian stories describe beliefs associated with the protective serpent Oras. Apparently, parents tell their loud children that Buba will get them if they dont quiet down. Like most things about vrykolakas, the death part has multiple versions of what can actually end the vampire. Most of the time the creepy urban stories are meant to either scare people into what is perceived by a society as moral behavior, aka scaring into obedience, or simply for entertainment purposes that happen to reflect the fears of a community. She did not die and re-emerged on a different isle. So we have a little bit of background now, but every good storyteller knows that a story needs a face. Be it for their food, or to murder them. But yeah, its that simple. The Drekavac is translated literally as the screamerorthe screecher. Thank you so much for sharing! All of these versions stem from the Latin word strga, which translates into evil spirit and witch. Because of this, the Prince threatened to murder Manole and his team. Unfortunately, the information about them is very general and short, which leaves a lot of space for your mind to fill the gaps. [1] [2] Often depicted as three female deities, the Ora "maintain the order of the universe and enforce its laws" [3] - "organising the appearance of humankind." [4] The zana e malit is an Albanian mythological creature (Albanian: Zane or Zre in southern Albania) ("fairy of the mountain" in English), zana (as a definite noun), or zan (plural) of pre-Roman Paleo-Balkan origin. If you do end up looking into shtrigas eyes, what youd see is either white, grey, pale blue, or pale green eyes. According to legend, only the shtrig herself could cure those she had drained (often by spitting in their mouths), and those who were not cured inevitably sickened and died. WOW! 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. [20] A substantial contribution in this direction has been made by the Albanologist Robert Elsie. Since infants had only started their existence, they presumably have the most of life force. [4] 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 Arbresh in Italy and the Arvanites in Greece. The Czech linguist and professor of Romance languages and literature, Jan Urban Jarnik, published in 1883 Albanian folklore material from the region of Shkodra in Zur albanischen Sprachenkunde (On Albanian Linguistics) and Pspvky ku poznn ne albnskch uveejuje (Contributions to the Knowledge of Albanian Dialects). And its not afraid to show it. The following day, Manole looked out and sadly saw his wife, Ana, walking towards the site. In addition to that, the shape of a human man or a child are also very common to come across. During construction the walls of the monastery would continuously crumble. Syliga basically refers to the evil eye that can unleash a storm of bad luck. Albanian giants are as tall as pine trees, with black beards that reach to their knees. [22], The first Albanian folklorist to collect the oral tradition in a more systematic manner for scholarly purposes was the Franciscan priest and scholar Shtjefn Gjeovi. Many of the characters of the Albanian mythology are included in the Albanian Songs of the Frontier Warriors ( Albanian : Kng Kreshniksh or Cikli i Kreshnikve ), the traditional cycle of Albanian epic songs. But these were old-fashioned views and thats just how it was back then. In other words, lugat in Albania is basically a type of a boogeyman and interestingly enough, it is not the only one. Palaj and Kurti published in 1937on the 25th anniversary of Albanian independencethe most important collection of Albanian epic verse, Kng kreshniksh dhe legenda (Songs of the Frontier Warriors and Legends), in the series called Visaret e Kombit (The Treasures of the Nation).[24][25]. Serbia - Bauk is an animal-like mythical creature in Serbian mythology. If you cross paths with a snake before sunrise or after sunset it foretells the death of some of your relations.[27], Within Albanian folklore, the role of the Ora tends to differ. Scary! Im on my way to the Realm of the Christians. [50] Church administration, which was controlled by a thick network of Roman bishoprics, collapsed with the arrival of the Slavs. Her spell was so powerful that Vita was turned into black stone that is now known as the Black Peak while Lyulin suffered a similar fate and became Lyulin Mountain. Vita turned down every other suitor in the hope of marrying Lyulin. 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. Evil Oras and devils would appear at night and then vanish at the first cock-crow two hours after midnight, as they were now powerless. Even if vrykolakas has no intention of killing people, it still has a pattern of visiting their home when theyre asleep to eat all of their food and drink all of their wine. According to legends, dhampirs are the result of intimacy between a human and a vampire. However, I couldnt be more wrong. This is a mythical creature inSouthSlavic mythology. Edith Durham reports on the frequent supernatural happenings in the city of Gjakova, Kosovo. So an encounter with shtriga doesnt end with her victims immediate death. They can live either in caves or mountain tops, and are particularly intelligent. E Bukura e Dheut - Earthly Beauty; Beauty of the Earth E Bukura e Dheut, Queen of Albania's Fairies, rules . Which, by the way, also serves as a very serious warning to avoid this person, as this is someone undoubtedly evil and dangerous. Albanian Mythology. But going back specifically to the Albanian version of shtriga, there is one particular characteristic of shtriga that caught my attention. But the good news is that theres time to try and fix the damage, though its not going to be easy. Here is our assortment of Balkan folklore and mythical beings. They also have the tail of a snake, golden wings and incredible physical strength. Is it the Christian God? Any kind of partnerships and even a simple interaction could turn Albanians into vampires. [20], The Albanian National Awakening (Rilindja) gave rise to collections of folklore material in Albania in the second half of the 19th century. Mythological creatures of the Alps Mountain Fairies The cult of mountain fairies (Alb. Fatit. [65][66] After the ban of all the Sufi orders in Turkey in 1925, the Bektashi Order established its headquarters in Tirana. Albanian stories, in particular, tell us that dhampirs can be recognized by their black or messy and untamed hair. To tease? A large abandoned ancient city remains within the cavern, with a bazar stocked with all of the finest and best fruit, flesh, fish, and fair raiment. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [18], One of the first Albanian collectors from Italy was the Arbresh writer Girolamo De Rada whoalready imbued with a passion for his Albanian lineage in the first half of the 19th centurybegan collecting folklore material at an early age. Her favorite target is infants and she typically hunts during the night when infants (and their parents, for that matter) are sleeping. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Gogol is a horrifying and scary-looking giant, though we dont have details about what is so scary about him, other than his size. This specific ability even got them a nickname Daywalker.. He envisioned that for the monastery to be built successfully he had to incorporate someone into its walls. Newborns, children or beautiful girls have been said to catch the evil eye more easily, so in some Albanian regions when meeting such a person, especially a newborn, for the first time, people might say "masha'allah" and touch the child's nose to show their benevolence and so that the evil eye would not catch the child. In fact, the creature enjoys the thrill of taking peoples lives in the weirdest way Ive ever heard of. But not just any insect! Is it that heavy? Some people find it funny, others are creeped out by it. Nothing about vrykolakas makes much sense to me and it sounds like a classic case of the broken telephone. By the way, if you happen to be interested in vampire lore around the world, you may enjoy a book called The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead, written by J. Gordon Melton. Mount Shpirag is marked with deep streams of water running down its face and lies across the valley. [6] The earliest attested cult of the Albanians is the worship of the Sun and the Moon. The birthing sow became to be a bad omen due to a prophecy, so the people of the isle chased her until she ran into the waters. Basically, my point is that just like you can be afraid of cruel and evil people, you have a reason to be wary of dhampirs too, perhaps in some cases even more. They appear also on later funerary monuments, including the medieval tombstones (steci) in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the burial monuments used until recently in northern Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, southern Serbia and northern North Macedonia. I assume that the younger generations of Albania dont take these stories very seriously, but the old generations of Albanians had some theories on who were likely to turn into sampiro themselves and why. Lets just assume that you can choose one yourself. The three fates of Greek Mythology, the Moirai, are represented similarly to the Ora as three goddesses who determine human destiny. He clenched it and squeezed it and crushed it to pieces., Mujos brother Halili sets out to search for the only one he wishes to marry, Tanusha - the daughter of the King in the Realm of the Christians. In Albanian mythology, this dragon is called a Bolla. But what bothers me is the part of scaring children into not crying. De Rada and Camarda were the two main initiators of the Albanian nationalist cultural movement in Italy. I gotta admit, that does sound hard to ignore. And that might have something to do with the rumored shtrigas desire to keep her immortality, which can be accomplished by sucking the life force, or blood, out of children. The defense against Night Hags is to close all keyholes to stop them from entering the room. He is often depicted as a fierce warrior who fights against giants and other monsters to protect the people of Midgard, the mortal world. [26][20], The next generation of scholars who became interested in collecting Albanian folk material were mainly philologists, among them the Indo-European linguists concerned about the study of the then little known Albanian language. And did I mention that this strategy can only be implemented on Easter Sunday? [183], List of folk tales, legends, songs and ballads, Academy of Albanological Studies of Tirana, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, The Youth and the Maiden with Stars on their Foreheads and Crescents on their Breasts, "1534. Zanas are depicted as mountain fairies, and similarly to the Ora, live near springs within the highlands of Northern Albania. But wait, it gets even better! In these circumstances, she somehow becomes vulnerable and can be killed when shes shot with iron bullets. 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