Kângë Kreshnikësh

[6] The songs were first time collected in written form in the first decades of the 20th centuries by the Franciscan priests Shtjefën Gjeçovi, Bernardin Palaj and Donat Kurti.

Providing a complete catalogue of Albanian texts and recordings collected by Parry and Lord with a selection of twelve of the most remarkable songs in Albanian including the English translations, the book represents an authoritative guide to one of the most important collections of Balkan folk epic in existence.

[15] The legendary heroes fully observe the Albanian traditional rituals, which hold complete authority in their social, political, and religious life.

[16] Two types of female warriors/active characters appear in Albanian epic poetry, and in particular in the Kângë Kreshnikësh: on the one hand those who play an active role in the quest and the decisions that affect the whole tribe; on the other hand those who undergo a masculinization process as a condition to be able to participate actively in the fights according to the principles of the Albanian traditional customary law, the Kanun.

[17] The dichotomy of matriarchy and patriarchy that is reflected by the two types of female warriors in Albanian epic poetry might be connected with the clash between Pre-Indo-European populations—who favored 'Mother Earth Cults' comprising earthly beliefs, female deities and priesthood—and Indo-European populations who favored 'Father Heaven Cults' comprising celestial beliefs, male deities and priesthood.

[20] The duels are sometimes engaged on horseback, other times hand-to-hand (Albanian: fytafyt, fytas), and the weapons often used are medieval, like swords (shpata), clubs (topuza), spears (shtiza).

[21][20] Peculiar traits of the two brothers and main characters of the epic cycle, Muji and Halili, are considered to be analogous to those of the Ancient Greek Dioscuri and their equivalents among the early Germans, Celts, Armenians, Indians, and other ancient peoples, who trace back to the common Proto-Indo-European Divine twins.

[23][24][25] Nature has a strong hold in the songs, so much that its components are animated and personified deities, so the Moon (Hëna), the Sun (Dielli), the stars, the clouds, the lightning, the Earth (Dheu/Toka), and the mountains, participate in the world of humans influencing their events.

They appear as warlike nymphs capable of offering simple mortals a part of their own psychophysical and divine power, giving humans strength comparable to that of the drangue.

As masters of time and place, they take care of humans (also of the zana and of some particular animals) watching over their life, their house and their hidden treasures before sealing their destiny.

[27][28] Almost all the epic songs begin with the ritual praise to the supreme being: "Lum për ty o i lumi Zot!"

The primeval religiosity of the Albanian mountains and epic poetry is reflected by a supreme deity who is the god of the universe, but who is the conceival of the belief in the fantastic and supernatural beings and things, allowing the existence of zanas and oras for the dreams and comfort of humans.

Along with speaking and swimming attributes, the horse appears in the epic songs as a mourning character, an animal which humanly expresses its emotions and sufferings.

[32] The bird, typically a speaking cuckoo, is similar in qualities to the owl of the Ancient Greek goddess Athena and Roman Minerva, which tells the truth and which can be entrusted.

Historical, archaeological, anthropological and linguistic data reveal the functional attributes of this cult to be an extension of the Illyrian-Albanian tradition.

Three golden horned goats appear in the Albanian epic as deities of the forest, which ensure the zanas their supernatural abilities.

He is also considered to be a personification of the high spiritual and physical values of the Albanian people, such as faith, manliness, bravery, endurance in the face of enemy difficulties, pride, love for freedom and one's country.

Originally a shepherd of cows and goats, thanks to the strength given to him by the Mountain Fairies, which he prefers instead of the wealth of knowledge, Muji becomes invincible with extraordinary features.

Every day Muji brought his herd of cows up to the mountain pastures, where he used to leave the animals graze, while he ate bread and salt, drank water from the springs and rested in the warm afternoon.

He looked for them unsuccessfully until night, thus he decided to get some sleep and wait until dawn, but he immediately noticed two cradles with crying infants near the boulder where he was resting.

At midnight, two lights appeared on the top of the boulder and Muji heard two female voices asking him why he was there, so he informed them of his desperate situation.

Subsequently, they granted Muji a wish for having taken care for the infants, offering him a choice between strength to be a mighty warrior, property and wealth, or knowledge and ability to speak other languages.

To test Muji's strength, the zanas asked him to lift the enormous heavy boulder that was near them, but he raised it only as high as his ankles.

[47][55] Hypotheses based on numerous parallels between the motifs of the Albanian Cycle of the Kreshniks and the Balkan History of the 6th-7th centuries presuppose the origin of the name Muji and some of the legendary information about him from the name and history of the Byzantine Emperor Maurice Tiberius, the last ruler of the Dardanian dynasty of the Justinians.

The musical instrument used to accompany these songs is the gusle (Albanian lahuta), but the line is shorter than the Serbian decasyllabic and a primitive type of rhyming is regular.

While in Dubrovnik in the summer of 1937, I had an opportunity to study Albanian and in September and October of that year I traveled through the mountains of Northern Albania from Shkodër to Kukësi by way of Boga, Thethi, Abat, and Tropoja, returning by a more southerly route.