20 Things I am Sure You Didn’t Know about Albania

Impress your friends over coffee with these interesting tidbits stemming from Albanian history, tradition, culture, and folklore.

1. Did you know that many years ago, a bat was considered an omen of death? If one flew into your house, it was believed that someone would die.
2. Scanderbegs sister-in-law was an Orthodox saint called Angelina of Kruja? She married a Serbian despot called Stephan Brankovic and they fled to Italy in the wake of the Turkish invasion. When her husband died in 1485, she returned to Serbia and she died at the beginning of the 1500s. She is venerated as a saint in Serbian Orthodox religion and her feast day is July 30th or December 10th.
3. Have you heard of an avullushe? A figure from northern Albanian mythology, the name comes from the Albanian word for ‘steam’ and refers to a spirit-like creature that can suffocate humans with their breath.
4. Another scary creature from Albanian mythology is the Bajloz. A huge monster that rises from the sea demanding tribute in the form of food, wine, and young women, it is also prone to challenging hero’s to a duel.
5. Albanian men used to shun beards, but during the Ottoman period having a moustache was seen as a sign that you were virile and trustworthy. The look went out of fashion in the 1910’s after British Navy soldiers appeared on the streets of Shkodra following a visit, and the clean-shaven look started to become more popular.
6. By the start of the 20th Century, 15% of the Albanian population was Bektashi and it was popular for its more relaxed approach to Islam. The tekkes were then used as centres of the nationalist movement and as underground places where the Albanian language and books could be shared. 70% of Bektashi tekkes were located i the south of the country with only 3% in the north.
7. It used to be believed that infertility in women could be cured by wearing amulets and ingesting various herbs. Also, in August,during the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, women from the interior of the country would travel to the shores of Kavaja and Durres as it was believed that bathing in the water there would ensure pregnancy.
8. Many years ago, in the North of the country the birth of a boy would be marked by the firing of rifles. It was also customary for a woman to be married only after she had given birth to the first boy. In Berat in the south, when a girl was born the main beam of a house was painted black as a symbol of the family’s disappointment and mourning.
9. Still on the topic of babies, it was believed that molten lead thrown into a fire could give indication of the gender of a baby. In Gjirokastra, the cry of an eagle on the roof meant a boy, whilst that of an owl meant a girl. It was also believed that if a women neglected her appearance she would have a son, if she kept herself well presented during pregnancy, she would have a daughter.
10. Traditional names often reflected the joy of having a son, compared with the disappointment of a daughter. Boys names included Ujk (wolf), Luan (lion) and Hekuran (the iron one), whilst girls were often named Mjafte/Mjaftime (enough), Shkurte (the short one), or Mbarime (the last one).
11. Old wives tales around pregnancy include not eating peppers or pomegranates, not looking at the moon during an eclipse, not going out after dark so witches wouldn’t eat her foetus, and avoiding crossing flowing water.
12. Many years ago, close male friends would bind themselves together as ‘blood brothers’. They would tie their hands together so the blood collected in the fingers, before pricking the end of the little fingers of their right hands. They would then drench a lump of sugar in the mixed blood and devour it before embracing and saying “per hair qofte” (may it bring good luck). In southern Albania, women could become blood sisters of “moterme” although this was not as common.
13. Div was a figure of Albanian mythology. A giant monster that possessed supernatural powers, he feeds on human flesh. With a long moustache and skin crawling with large lice he would kidnap women and keep them in a cave. Also prone to challenging men to duels, the only way to defeat him is to strike him with a sword once, wait for Div to challenge again and then to refuse, saying “only once does a man strike”. At this point, Div explodes and dies.
14. In Laberia, the first four days of August are said to determine the weather for the following four months of the year.
15. Saint Donat was a Christian saint from Albania who lived around 379-395 AD. He was supposed to have lived in Butrint and he had a number of miracles attributed to him including slaying a dragon, purifying a poisoned well, resuscitating the dead, and saving the daughter of the Emperor Theodosius from the devil.
16. Doruntina is one of the most well-known figures from legend and ballads in Albanian folklore. One of nine children, she survived seven of her brothers and became engaged to a distant suitor. Her ageing mother was hesitant to consent to the marriage at the risk of losing her daughter, but the surviving son, Constantine promised his mother that he would bring Doruntina back to visit whenever the mother waned. Over time, Constantine died as well and the mother cursed him for breaking his besa. Faithful from beyond the grave, her son rose from the dead and set off on his horse to find his sister who he returned to the arms of his dying mother.
17. One of the first known instances of the eagle being used as a national symbol was on a stone carving dating from 1190 in one of the first Albanian principalities known as Arbanon. It was then used as a heraldic symbol by noble Albanian families during the Middle Ages before being used as Scanderbegs flag and seal. The eagle is known in Albanian culture as a symbol of freedom and heroism.
18. The ’E bukura de dheut” ( The Earthly Beauty) is one of the most popular figures in Albanian fairy tales. The embodiment of beauty, she is considered as neither good or evil, but rather as a crafty sorcerous that can transform humans into pigs. With her powers deriving from her dress, she can also play the part of the good fairy and she appears along with the E bukura e detit (The Sea Beauty) and the E bukura e qiellit (The Heavenly Beauty) in a constellation.
19. The Kanun of leke Dukagjini was first codified and published by Father Shtjefen Gjecovi who lived between 1874 and 1929. A Franciscan monk borrn in Janjeva, south of Prishtina he spent many years living in a number of rural settlements in northern Albanian including Lac, Gomisqe, Theth and Rubik.
20. The Kanun of Leke Dugagjini is not the only compilation of customary law in Albania. There is also the Kanun of the Mountains, the Kanun of Laberia, and the Kanun of Scanderbeg.