Zana (mythology)

zanë(t), see other variants below) is a nymph-like figure in Albanian mythology and folklore, usually associated with mountains, springs and streams, forests, vegetation and animals, human vital energy and sometimes destiny.

[17] The Great Zana is thought to have been a goddess in Illyrian times, the equivalent of the Ancient Greek Artemis and Roman Diana, and perhaps Thracian Bendis.

There is also an exceptional frequency of ancient inscriptions of the Roman era dedicated to the cult of Diana in Albania and the rest of the Balkans, which gives reason to think of an interpretatio romana of an indigenous pre-Roman goddess.

[1] The zana is believed to be extremely courageous, a formidable opponent, who can bestow her protection on warriors similarly to Pallas Athena.

The zana 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.

[25] In the Albanian epic cycle Kângë Kreshnikësh, by breastfeeding the young Muji (one of the two heroic brothers and main characters of the songs) the zana empower him with superhuman strength.

[26] In northern Albania, the zana are represented—similarly to the ora and to the southern Albanian fatí—as a group of three mythological goddesses who congregate in the night to decide the baby's destiny at birth and distribute their favors.

Bedri goes on to meet a beautiful woman, with whom he elopes, pursued by soldiers who know from his pronunciation of the word for "wooden beam" that he comes from an area with which they are at war.

In one canto the zana of the Sharr Mountains watches over local noblemen as they rally against the Treaty of San Stefano (which awarded areas hitherto under Albanian rule to Prince Nikola of Montenegro), and delights in their speeches and rhetoric.

[7] In another, the "great zana" issues a call to arms for all willing Albanian men to avenge the murder of the maiden Tringa by Slav bandits.