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Home , Antevorta, Bardha, Brez (clothing), Destiny, Fates, Irish mythology

ANTHROPOS InternationalANTHROPOS Review of and Linguistics

100.2005: 449-462 100.2005: 449-462

MythologyMythologyandandDestinyDestiny Albert Doja Albert Doja

Abstract. - In Albanian , the essential attributes of lady associated with the person's spirit, with their Abstract. - In Albanian tradition, the essential attributes of larly associated with the person's spirit, with their the mythological figures of seem to be symbolic life and death, their health, their , theinterchangeablemythological representationsfigures of destinyof birthseemitself.to beTheirsymbolicmythical life and death, their health, their future character, their successes and setbacks. They symbolize the interchangeablecombat is but representationsthe symbolic representationof birth itself.ofTheirthe cyclicmythicalreturn their successes and setbacks. They symbolize the combat is but the symbolic representation of the cyclic return person's properties, are the spiritual condensation in the watery and chthonian world of death, leading, like the person's properties, are the spiritual condensation invegetation,the waterytoandthechthoniancosmic revivalworldofofa newdeath,birth.leading,Both protectivelike the of their qualities. They have such close mystical vegetation, to the cosmic revival of a new birth. Both protective of their qualities. They have such close mystical and destructive positions of the attributes of birth, symbolized ties with the person that merely the way they are and destructive positions of the attributes of birth, symbolized ties with the person that merely the way they are by the amniotic membranes, the caul, and other singular dealt with or the aim they are ascribed determines bymarkers,the amnioticor by themembranes,means of thethesymbolismcaul, andofothermaternalsingularwater, dealt with or the aim they are ascribed determines markers, or by the means of the of maternal water, the individual's own aptitudes and fate. would be only two antinomic oppositions, two complementary the individual's own aptitudes and fate. would be only two antinomic oppositions, two complementary Although they are separated from the child's and interchangeable terms of the mythopoeic opposition of Although they are separated from the child's andtheinterchangeableimmanence oftermsuniversalof theregeneration.mythopoeic Theoppositionambivalentof body, these pieces are regarded as still being per­ the of universal regeneration. The ambivalent body. these pieces are regarded as still being per­ representations of and destiny are not isolated in Albanian manently connected with the individual. Indeed representationstradition. Thereofaresoulespeciallyand destinythosearewhichnot isolatedhave alsoin Albaniana function manently connected with the individual. Indeed they continue to carry with them some of the life tradition.of assistanceTheretoarechildbirth,especiallyclosethosetowhichGreekhaverepresentationsalso a functionof the they continue to carry with them some of the life of assistance to childbirth, close to Greek representations of the principles that structure each individual. From the destiny, personified there by the , in Scandinavian and principles that structure each individual. From the destiny,Germanicpersonifiedtraditionsthereby Nomsby theandMoirai,in theinAlbanianScandinaviantraditionandby standpoint of metonymy, they are effectively an Gennanic by Noms and in the Albanian tradition by standpoint of metonymy, they are effectively an other local figures. [, birth, , destiny] integral part of that person. That is why Albanian other local figures. [Albania, birth, myth, destiny] integral part of that person. That is why Albanian tradition that they can be used in various Albert Doja, doctorate in Social Anthropology (EHESS, tradition believes that they can be used in various Albert Doja, doctorate in Social Anthropology (EHESS, Paris magical practices directed against the owner. Care 1993), postdoctoral degree habilitation (Sorbonne, Paris 2004). magical practices directed against the owner. Care 1993), postdoctoral degree habilitation (Sorbonne, Paris 2004). is taken therefore that these separated pieces are He was a research fellow at the Institute of Folk , The is taken therefore that these separated pieces are HeAcademywas a researchof the fellowSciencesat theof AlbaniaInstitute (Tirana),of Folk Culture,and at CNRSThe not exposed to misappropriation, that they do not Academy of the Sciences of Albania (Tirana), and at CNRS not exposed to misappropriation, that they do not in France as well as a lecturer in Social Anthropology at fall into the hands of spiteful people who might in theFranceUniversityas wellof asParisa lecturer8, the Universityin SocialofAnthropologyAix--Provence,at fall into the hands of spiteful people who might use them to bring about the person's downfall or theandUniversitythe Universityof Parisof8,Hull.the UniversityCurrently heof Aix-en-Provence,is Senior Research use them to bring about the person's downfall or and the University of Hull. Currently he is Senior Research death. Were the umbilical cord to be burned, for Fellow at the University of Limerick and at University College death. Were the umbilical cord to be burned, for FellowLondon.at the University of Limerick and at University College example, or thrown into the water, or eaten by London. example, or thrown into the water, or eaten by some animal, it was believed that the same would somehappenanimal.to theit child.was believed that the same would happen to the child. The Marker of Singularity These pieces often carry heavy These pieces often carry heavy supernatural The Marker of Singularity overtones, which can easily be used for wicked overtones, which can easily be used for wicked attach a good deal of importance to ends. This is almost always the case of magical Albanians attach a good deal of importance to ends. This is almost always the case of magical omens and predictions connected with the pla­ powers, which can be used for either good or omens and predictions connected with the pla­ powers, which can be used for either good or centa, the umbilical cord, the caul, as later with evil. All things are dangerous. Because they centa, the umbilical cord, the caul, as later with evil. All sacred things are dangerous. Because they baby teeth, locks of hair from the first haircut, are charged with a strongly ambivalent symbolic baby teeth, locks of hair from the first haircut, are charged with a strongly ambivalent symbolic among Christian groups, or the circumcised fore­ value, the pieces of body separated when the cord among Christian groups, or the circumcised fore­ value, the pieces of body separated when the cord skin, among Muslims, to nail clippings, etc. Gen­ is cut and the placenta delivered are always sub­ skin, among Muslims, to nail clippings, etc. Gen­ is cut and the placenta delivered are always sub­ erally speaking, these bodily elements all carry a jected to processes of symbolic destruction erally speaking, these bodily elements all carry a jected to ritual processes of symbolic destruction strong polyvalent symbolic value. They are regu- or conservation designed to protect the individ- strong polyvalent symbolic value. They are regu- or conservation designed to protect the individ-

http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/18364/; http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00425170/fr/ 450 Albert Doja ual from the many possible dangers. The pieces capable of representing the protection the mother are often placed, buried, or discarded in symbolic must afford her child even after birth. However, spots, which capture the cosmic energy: ancient since this tie must be severed at birth, the umbilical , ancestors' graves, the threshold or the roof of cord represents at the same the independence the house, crossroads, flowing water, etc. In every the child must acquire in order to become an adult. case they unfailingly undergo a specific operation, These elements are not merely useful when which consists of excluding them from the habitual separated from the child's body. They are also secular circuit of exchange. part of the individual's organic identity at birth In different parts of Albania, the placenta is and belong to the of his or her person. The regularly buried in the ground, under the threshold caul, a piece of amniotic sack that can adhere to the or in the inner courtyard of the house, or at the child for a number ofreasons, is a special case. The base of a fruit or a very old tree. Because Albanian terms for the caul are related, like those one of the models for fertility is plant growth and of the Germanic and Slavic zones, to terms for an the other is gestation, the placenta is thus placed item of clothing, in particular a garment worn next in relation with plant fertility after having been in to the body, ki!misha, chemise, undershirt, shift. It relation with or at least animal fertility.! is always regarded as a good . It brings the If the placenta was not expelled and buried, it child , good fortune, and happiness throughout was believed that the baby was not fully born. life. The proverbial expression, liruiur me ki!mishi!, No doubt, with respect to the fertilizing powers "born in a chemise," is used in particular to of the earth, only such practices could mark the describe people who are always lucky. The child completiou of the ritual. "born in a chemise" succeeds in everything. By The relationship of the placenta and the umbil­ analogy, the same favors are often attributed to ical cord with the mother is an ambivalent one. children born with a lock of hair on the forehead. Being connected with the baby's growth and with Among Albanians as among southern Slavs, the the fertility that they transmit to the woman, as caul is often kept and sewn into a pouch that the they are with the fertility of the earth and the child wears around his neck as a lucky charm. It fruit tree under which they are buried, they have is his Jatum, his companion spirit. The rare fact of fertilizing powers. They are used by sterile women being born with a caul creates a durable interaction in different conception rites, or by new mothers between the child and the maternal membrane and more generally young mothers in connection that effectively surrounded and protected it in the with lactation. Use of the placenta ensures that womb. It was thus believed that the caul actually the woman have enough milk and that it will offered protection, especially against . not dry up, which would spell death for the child. Among the supernatural powers Albanians at­ In the region of Korl'a, in southeastern Albania, tribute to the caul are the gifts of seeing and for instance, a sterile woman is supposed to stand healing, the qualities of dexterity and cunning, over the still warm placenta of a uewly born baby etc., which are also found among other groups (Frasheri 1936: 29). in Europe. Bnt it is especially the immunity it Just as they provided nourishment to the foetus gives from dying by water, by fire or from a in the womb, so the placenta and the umbilical wound that seems to be its fundamental power. cord ensure the same function at the symbolic lev­ In her book "l.es signes de la naissance" (1971), . But the functions the placenta fulfilled for the Nicole Belmont analyses this threefold immunity child are cancelled after the birth precisely because in detail, with emphasis, in regard to the child, they are always separated at the moment of birth. on the that the caul gives immunity from Alternatively, Albanians keep the umbilical cord drowning. Before its birth, the amniotic membrane and the caul, and conserve them with care. They enabled the child to live in water, while after birth are attached to the child and he or she may even the caul can protect it from dying in water. This wear them as a lucky charm throughout life. Given belief, found in the Albanian tradition, is one of that the umbilical cord once really linked the moth­ the rare instances in where the caul er and her child, it was believed that it was still gives rise to the myth, in particular, by its power to protect against storm demons, also in the Hebrew tradition. This is presented in the myth of 1 A complementary metaphorical relationship is introduced the dragua, which, to my knowledge, is not found by means of egg symbolism. Sometimes, as in the region of Devoll in southeastern Albania, it is the custom to bury in the same terms in any other group. the shell of an egg that been dipped in the baby's first In Albanian tradition, the cases of children born bathwater (Sheshori 1944: 16). with a caul, or "in a chemise," to which other

Anthropos 100.2005 Mythology and Destiny 451 cases of singular birth can be compared, such as breasts that hang down to the ground, a long tale birthmarks on the shoulder, under the arm, on the and nine heads with lolling tongues, fire spewing chest, or elsewhere, are regarded as the sign that from the gaping maws and the head and body supernatural protective powers intend to preside covered with long red hair. When she is in the over the social status of these individuals through­ vicinity, the weather turns foul, black clouds gather out their life. By this attribute, they are assigned to and big storms break. It is said that small storms fulfill certain cultural functions. It is the replace­ are the work of her offspring. According to the ment of the real maternal protection by a symbolic representations in central Albania, she protection that makes the child into a culture , lives in springs and fountains. She often dries up passing unscathed through the adversities and the rivers, blocking the waters and causing drought, exploits of his life, like the child protected dur­ but also bad weather, or flooding, or other natural ing its intrauterine life. The splitting off from the disasters, which can only be ended by human sacri­ real mother of a symbolic mother represented by fices. In the South, I noted in the villages of Vraka, the caul or other related signs, which substitutes Kotodesh, and in Katjel in lower Mokra in south­ for the real mother, guarantees constant protection eastern Albania, that she is represented as a big precisely because she moves to the symbolic level female who encircles the world with her (Belmont 1971: 80-89). mouth touching her tail. "If she were ever to take In Albanian mythological tradition, individuals her tail in her teeth, she would destroy the whole born "in a chemise," but also with two and some­ world. For accepting to postpone the , four little wings under the arm, are predes­ she requires daily human " (Doja 1986). tined to change into dragita, obliged to fight and Here the beliefs are clearly mixed with the An­ vanquish the kulshedra2 (:abej calls attention to dromeda . Other mythic representations, too, the two semantic sides of the figure of the dragita are embodied in the figure. In traditional in Albanian tradition. The earliest authors writing Albanian tales of the supernatural, for example, in Albanian represent the dragita as a , like she is also contaminated by the Circe or the Roman and Balkan or hydra. The oc­ themes. currences furnished by dialectology and toponomy Only the dragita is capable of saving ­ show that this belief is also transmitted in the oral mankind from the monster. He sets upon the kul­ tradition. However, there is another semantic sense shedra with the beam of the plow and the plow­ fairly widespread in collective beliefs whereby the share (Nopcsa 1923), with the pitchfork and the dragita is presented as the male conqueror of the post from the threshing floor, and with the big female monster kulshedra, whom he must fight millstones (Shkurti 1989). He also hurls lightning to death. This representation is already attested in bolts, meteors, tall trees from the forest, boulders, works written in Albanian as early as the seven­ and whole houses torn from their foundations. It teenth century, for example, in the 1635 "Dictiona­ used to be believed that the thunder that growled rium Latino-Epiroticum" of (Roques on dark winter nights was the sound of their clash­ 1932). But, Lambertz stresses, the dragita are not ing weapons. The dragita's impressive battles with only fabled beings of yore. As every mountain the kulshedra took place, for instance, in the Great Albanian firmly believed until recently, - and there Northern Mountains in the bend of the river Drini, are old women, like the one I came across in near the Vizier's Bridge. There, at the place known the southern Albanian region of Permet, who still as Rana-e-Hedhme, the huge boulders strewing the believe - dragita can be born every day. bed and banks of the river tell of this eternal, nev­ In collective beliefs, the kulshedra is repre­ er-ending battle between enemy forces that clash sented as the of storms, a huge frightful, so terrifyingly during a storm. Sometimes, in order disgusting, horrible being, a female being with big that she perishes forever, the dragita must drown the kulshedra, otherwise she might come back to life. In the (:ermenika Mountains near Elbasan, 2 Most data concerning the dragua and the kulshedra are in central Albania, for example, it was believed taken from Lambertz (1922). Later authors repeat, use, or in the best of cases confirm the same . For a recent that, having knocked the kulshedra senseless, the account see (Tirta 2004: 121-132). The words designating dragita had been able to destroy her only after the dragua and the kulshedra are found throughout the having drowned her in the Shkumbini, the big river Albanian zone, with dialectal variants that, in the first case, running from east to west through central Albania. derive from the draco and, in the second, the Latin chersydrus, from the cersudroi, "a kind of Another important detail is that the dragita fends serpent that lives in water or on land" (c;abej 1987: 300­ off his enemy's blows for the most part by using 302). his cradle as a shield. Curiously, the main weapons

Anthropos 100.2005 452 Albert Doja

used by the kulshedra in the fight are her urine and birth, is reproduced, but this reiterated conjunction, the poisonous milk from her breasts. in particular because it is reiterated, brings death. These heroes may live unnoticed among hu­ This is something new, as Nicole Belmont mans. The gifts heralded at birth by the caul or (1971: 62 f.) observes for, until now, the docu­ other special signs can appear at any age, and in ments often specified that the caul must be care­ most cases go unremarked. As in the case of other fully preserved by the child or by the person who heroes of European mythology, the gift is often hoped to acquire some advantage from it. Here displayed by the baby while still in the cradle, we have an interesting position between a caul hence the role of the cradle as the primary de­ inherently capable of engendering protection from fensive attribute. Whenever there was thunder and birth and the same protecting caul also inherently lightning, people believed the dragua were going capable of destruction. The caul's symbolic pro­ with their cradles to the place where all the dragua tecting function can be expressed in two ways: met. In Albanian, the word dragua is related to metaphorically or metonymically. Metaphorically, drangi!, dri!ngi!, dri!ngi!zi!, "a small fresh-water fish when it is said that the child born with a caul will that does not grow very big", and to drangi!, "kit­ be fortunate throughout life, due to the fact that ten, puppy, bear cub, in general a usually wild ba­ he was born with a caul. Metonymically, when it by animal" (<;:abej 1987: 302). Dragua are never­ is believed that such good fortune accompanies an theless considered to be invulnerable, untouchable, individual who wears a caul on his person. The two and undefeatable. If someone is a dragua, only his levels are rarely mixed. Usually, as the documents mother and, it must be noted, can tell. As soon show, the metaphoric level is not found together as a child is born, the mother hides the caul with with the metonymic level. which he was born so as to keep it safe, for no one Nevertheless, this separation should not be at­ must learn his identity, or he will immediately die. tributed to a diminished understanding of the be­ The dragua's invulnerability fits with every­ liefs. In this projection of the metaphoric axis onto thing we know about them from collective beliefs. the metonymic axis, I would instead be tempted It flows from the fact that the dragua is born with to see the poetic tunction of the mythic message, a caul or is singled out by his unusual birth, but about which Roman Jakobson (1981) wrote, or paradoxically this may also cause his death. This rather the mythopoeic function par excellence. The phenomenon can be compared with similar themes two basic modes of arrangement used in verbal in (Belmont 1971: 61-69, 92-95, behavior, as in mythic thinking, are selection and 190-192). The heroes of one Irish , the three combination. Selection is carried out on the basis brothers Fionn were all born with a caul. They of equivalence, similarity and dissimilarity, syn­ have a sister who was taken captive by an aquatic onymy and antonymy; while combination, con­ monster. They sometimes appear as children in a struction of the sequence, is based on contiguity. cradle and die as soon as they are shown the caul The poetic function projects the equivalence rule with which they were born. In this case it is the of the selection axis onto the combination axis. conjunction with their caul that must bring about Equivalence is thus raised to the rank of a con­ their death, in other words their encounter with stituent procedure of sequence production (Jakob­ something that was already joined to them when son 1981). In as in myth, any sequence they were born but which should not have been. of semantic units tends to construct an equation. This means that the abnormal, or rather, unusual I conclude from this that it is the superposition of conjunction at birth entails a fatal consequence if it similarity, the projection of the caul's metaphoric should be repeated. The first conjunction is good, protection onto continuity, the metonymic protec­ its reiteration makes it bad. In another Irish myth, tion that gives this myth, and poetry in general, one of the heroes, in order to kill the monster, its thoroughly symbolic, complex, and polysemic sends his lance directly into its navel, in character. This explains how the mythic sequence other words, into the mark left by its birth. This becomes a comparison. The metonymic protection brings about a counter-birth, since now it is a dead­ is here short-circuited by a metaphoric meaning ly substitute for the umbilical cord that is inserted or dimension, which in tum is fully realized in into the navel. Another figure in the same cycle, the metonymic sequence. One of the laws of whose fate was decided this time by the name he mythic thinking, confirmed once more by Levi­ was given, also perishes because of the violation Strauss (1962: 141), is that the transformation of a of the name . The procedure is the same: always yields a metonymy. a conjunction originally present at birth or at the The kulshedra further retains our attention by name-giving, which is another way of marking the her very nature. She is the opposite of everything

Anthropos 100.2005 Mythology and Destiny 453 that human and social development, as well as the junction produced at his birth is repeated once family, kin, and territorial groups' economic, agri­ agam. cultural, and patriarchal development, stand for. Their essential attributes would thus be inter­ Might it, therefore, not be possible to see in this changeable symbolic representations of birth, the female demon what Fran"oise Heritier (1996: 87­ amniotic membrane or the fluid itself. Their final 132), analyzing essentially African documents, re­ confrontation would be the symbolic representa­ ports as a symbolic constaut, which she identi­ tion of the cyclic return to the aquatic and chtho­ fies iu the collective patterns of representation as nian world of death in order, like plant life, to natural ill-feelings on the part of females towards accomplish the cosmic renewal of rebirth. The pro­ the transmission of life, a hostility that ueeds tecting and destroying positions of the attributes of to be overcome by appropriate ritual and social the newborn, represented by the amniotic mem­ techniques, with the intent of mystically gaining brane and other singular marks, or by the sym­ the good will of the genetic powers peculiar to bolism of the mother's waters, would simply be women and obtaining their favors. In this vein, we the two antinomic, opposing forces involved in could mention the fact that, in Albanian tradition, the struggle between , the two in­ in some southern regions, the mother of the new terchangeable, complementary tenns of the myth­ mother must not come to see the baby in the ic and poetic opposition between immanence and first two days for of vexiug the three universal regeneration. (Sheshori 1944: 10). It must be recalled that one Given the present state of these beliefs, then, of the kulshedra's weapons is her poisonous breast should we not consider the dissociation of the milk. And she has to do battle with a cradle that metaphoric from the metonymic axis not as a case serves as a shield. of diminished understanding, as Nicole Belmont The dragua on the other hand has become the believed, but rather as an "euphemization" of the protecting hero who symbolically represents the meaning of the beliefs?' This must have then re­ community of family, kin, and territmy. He stops sulted in expressing only the univalent side of the the stonns which spoil the crops, he slays the representations, the reconciliation of the unleashed kulshedra, he delivers victims, he unleashes the antinomic forces, as the only way to ensure and waters and gives them to . He appears as guarantee some protection in the open perspective a of war and victory, a cultural champion of human destiny. for humankind. The plow, the pitchfork, the post, and the millstones are his attributes, representing economic development through agriculture, just Symbolic Ambivalence as the cradle is his attribute representing the development of the lineage through new births. The Albanian myth relating the struggle between The kulshedra is essentially a stonn demon. the drag,la and the kulshedra represents yet one Her other functions, as they appear in Albanian more relation between the caul, or singular birth­ and tales, are secondary. The dragua is marks, and the gift of metamorphosis in the form related to her inasmuch as he, too, is in essence of a "second skin," that bears similarities with a stonn demon. His main function and his raison certain representations in Germanic and Slavic d'etre are to fight the kulshedra, and one of his mythology. In particular, Slavic beliefs hold that visible attributes is the lightning bolt. He is the the child born with a caul will turn into a were­ positive principle opposing the negative principle. wolf. This person's spirit can leave the sleeping In the interests of humankind, he takes on the body and perfonn feats of by task of protecting humans from stonns, whereas assuming the shape of an animal, usually a wolf. the kulshedra represents the harmful, destructive The internal relationship between being born with power of the storm. Yet the death of one and a caul and the ability to change one's shape, as it the other is represented, in Albanian mytholo­ appears in both Slavic and Nordic traditions, could gy, as a symbolic return to the womb wheuce not escape someone like Jakobson. In a work on they came. Just as the dragua opposes the kul­ the "Vseslav Epos," he drew an equation between shedra, the essential attributes of the one and the themes of the serpent father, the caul, and the th~ other ar~ opposed in relations of substitu­ tion and complementarity. As an aquatic monster, 3 lowe this idea to Andre Burgiere, who suggested it to me the kulshedra must definitively perish in water, during a discussion following a paper I presented to the just as the dragua, a hero made invulnerable Seminar on Comparative History and Anthropology at the by his birth, can die only if the singular con- Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris, 26 November 1993.

Anthropos 100.2005 454 Albert Doja

werewolf. In Serbian, kosulja, "chemise," means region, in northwestern Albania, the both "caul" and "snakeskin." The serpent, able to young kulshedra is also represented as an eel that its skin, engenders a son endowed at birth lives in the depths of springs where, in the space with a second skin and the lycanthropic ability to of a few , it grows so big that, if it wants change skins (Jakobson 1966). to leave its hole, it is obliged to scrape off its In Albanian tradition, the dragua is mainly skin and so loses a great quantity of blood. It is represented as a normal man, but he can also noteworthy that, in Slavic tradition, Prince Vseslav have werewolf features and appear in the shape is conceived through a miracle that is reminiscent of an animal, which is always male - a ram, ox, of related conceptions: his mother is struck on the bird, rooster, etc. Likewise, in Slavic tradition, the thigh by the tail of a snake (Jakobson 1966). werewolf prince often appears as a falcon, a wolf, In Albanian, the epithet dragua is the very a wild ox, a pike, etc. With the approach of a image of heroism. As in Byzantine heroic poet­ storm, the dragua leaves the company of the other ry, where the heroes are named Dracoi, Albanian men on the pretext of retiring for the night, and no heroic songs also give their heroes the honorable one except his mother knows the real reason for epithet of trim dragiia, "dragua hero." Alterna­ his departure. He goes to bed, but his soul leaves tively, the common term of praise for his body to join the other dragua. His place in the in the ancient texts is "the Kulshedra of Albania," bed is occupied by a log, as the real dragua is far a metaphor showing the terror he spread among the away. The dragua can also take on the aspect of Ottoman ranks in the fifteenth century. According a serpent (Tirta 2004: 121-132). Albanian dragua to an old , transmitted by Marin Barletius in are often men with three or seven hearts, or who a work written in Latin and published in be­ have snakes in their belly. tween 1508 and 1510, in other words relayed by a Sometimes the kulshedra can also appear in learned tradition, the day Skanderbeg was born, his the shape of an ordinary woman, in the region of mother is reported to have dreamed of a kulshedra Dukagjini, for example, as Sokol Kondi told me. whose body covered the entire territory ofAlbania. She also appears as an eel, a frog, a tortoise or Its head reached to the border of the Ottoman a lizard, all of them always female. Information Turkish lands, where it devoured all enemies with attested from at least the beginning of the last its bloody mouth, while its twisted tail plunged century (Durham (910) relates that the kulshedra into the depths of the Adtiatic sea (Barletius 1508­ is usually represented as a serpent. In the southern 1510: 64 f.). Alternatively, in , Skan­ region of Lower Mokra, she is notably represented derbeg was born like the dragua in the tales and as the great serpent that encircles the world with collective beliefs (Haxhihasani 1967: 24 f.): its mouth touching its tail (Doja 1986). In Tirana, it was believed that the newly born kulshedra hid Ate s'e zinte plumi, s'e pritte shpata, se ka pase Ie me in a dark hole where, at the end of six months, kmishii, sir; lejne drangojt. Ka Ie mefietii niIn sjetull, sikur they turned into snakes, and it was only after lejne drangojt. Ka Ie me ni shej shpate n'krah dhe me another six months that the snakes could be called jiete nan sqete"ll. kulshedra and began to take up their activity as He was invulnerable: neither bullet nor could such. In the Kosova town ofPrishtina, it is told that pierce him, for he was born with a caul, "in a chemise," the kulshedra is called bolla, "a kind of serpent," as all dragua are bom. He was born with wings in his after twelve years. However, the representations of armpit, as all dragua are born. He was born with the the kulshedra' s development in the Great Northern mark ofa sword on his arm and with wings in his armpit. Mountains are no doubt the most interesting. When a serpent manages to live fifty years without being He is sometimes even portrayed as doing battle noticed by anyone, it becomes a bullar, a reptile with the kulshedra (Haxhihasani 1967: 116): that provides the venomous snakes with their poi­ son by giving them its milk. If it lives another Kur kishte ardhe Skenderbegju n}i herif ne Bulqize", kishte fitiy years without being seen, it becomes an er­ dale" me gjue aty afrr katundit, Lango}t e vet, qi kishin shaj, a reptile that wraps itself around people and hike pe'rpara, i gjet tu u zane" me ni kuh;cder, Ngre ata plunges into their chest to eat their heart. When an gari! Ii! mdhej Ski!nderbg)u, )a fug) kulr;edri!s dhe e Ie ersha) lives another hundred years without being top ne' vent, Curet gjinden te Rrasa e Doriret dhe quhen seen, it finally becomes a kulshedra (Lambertz Gurift e Skenderbeut, 1922). The words bolla, bullar, ersha) effectively While Skanderbeg was in Bulqiza, he went near mean "serpent or snake" in Albanian or, depending the village" His dogs had run ahead; when he reached on the region, a particular kind of snake. In the them he found them struggling with a kulshedra. So

Anthropos 100.2005 Mythology and Destiny 455

Skanderbeg picked up these boulders, and hurled them The question of reciprocal influences between at the kulshedra, which he killed outright. The boulders Slavic and Nordic mythologies, as between Al­ can be found at the place known as Rrasa e Dorivet, and banian and Slavic mythologies, remains highly are called Skanderbeg's Boulders. controversial. The heroic role of the dragua, for instance, which is completely antinomic to that of Lambertz was the first to point out the internal the monster, may be an ancient, surely pre-Roman, relation between being born with a caul and the layer of Albanian mythology (<;:abej 1987: 300­ gifts of invulnerability and metamorphosis as they 302). The borrowings from Latin or Greek would, appear in the Slavic and Nordic traditions, and in therefore, be of a purely linguistic nature, an in­ the Albanian myth of the dragua/kulshedra. He terpretatio graeca and an interpretatio latina, with also established a relation between these represen­ the figures of the dragria and the kulshedra having tations and those of the Slavo-Germanic werewolf subsequently merged with the Roman represen­ and the Nordic berserkers (Lambertz 1922: 11­ tations. Lambertz stressed the fact that the main 16), fierce, animal-like warriors that take the shape function of the Albanian dragua, which is the of werewolves or bear-men in the Old Norse essence of his figure, is not, or at least no longer, of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The in­ found in the representations of the Greek dracoi. terpretations of the Nordic berserksgangr include And yet the similarities between the dracoi and the personal or collective gifts of and lycan­ the ancient snake-footed brings the Albanian thropy. The myths associate the berserkers primar­ dragua closer to the Greek draco! in the sense that ily with the god Odin (Lindow 1987). One explicit "the Albanian dragua bear a closer resemblance description of the Odin berserksgangr from the in their essence than the Greek dracoi do to the seventh of Yngling is strangely reminiscent ancient Giants, those titanic fighters who would of the Albanian dragua: "IfOdin wanted to change stack whole mountains one upon the other and, shape, his body would there as though he were assault the heavens with flaming tree trunks and sleeping or dead, but he himself was a bird or a huge boulders. The belief that every storm repro­ wild animal, a fish or a snake. He could thus go duced the battle between draguas and kulshedras, in a twinkling to the most remote lands" (Lindow, that battle of the earthly heroes against the quoted in Belmont 1971: 54). of heaven concealed in the clouds, was merely the The symbolic representations ofthe dragua/kul­ reminiscence of the ancient gigantomachia, or war shedra myth also lend themselves to comparison of the Giants, in other words the myth relating the with Icelandic figures such as the fylgja and the frightful clash of the forces of nature as it occurs hamingja, both of which are interpreted as ambiva­ in the storm" (Lambertz 1922: 16)4 More recently, lent representations of the amniotic sack and the other scholars have rallied to the idea of comparing mother's waters (Belmont 1971: 52-60). The caul the dragua with the prehistoric Pelasgian giants is termedfylgja in Icelandic, and it is the dwelling­ mentioned in ancient (Stadtmiil­ place of the child's guardian spirit, which is part ler 1954). of the soul or one of the child's . The way It would also be interesting to consider the this spirit or soul is used depends on what is done fact that, in another Indo-European tradition, more with the caul. If it is burned, the fylgja will show specifically in the Lithuanian story of the flood, itself as a light; if it is thrown into running water, the myth that tells how humankind arose from the the fylgja will be a ; on the other hand, if it is union between the last descendants of the Giants eaten by an animal, the fylgja will embody itself in and the Earth, is also linked to the of the same animal (Bartels 1900). The hamingja is good fortune called Laima (Greimas 1985: 172­ close in conception to the fylgja. However, more 187). I personally think that it is perhaps enough than a guardian spirit, it is a force. The hamingja implies the possibility of metamor­ 4 "Deoo die albanischeo Drangues haben ihrerseits wie­ phosis. The soul can take the shape of an animal, in der groBe Ahnlichkeit im Wesen mit dem Giganten, den the form of which it moves about and acts, while starken Kampfern gegen den Himmel, die Berge auf­ einander tiinnen und gegen den Himmel mit gliihenden the body inert. The caul may, therefore, be Baumstfunmen und Felsstiicken amennen. Der Glaube an seen as both the dwelling-place of the outer soul den bei jedem Gewitter wiederkehrenden Kampf der Dran­ and the support of the inner soul. It is this type of goi mit der Kulschedra, der irdischen Gewitterdamonen mit metamorphosis that is often described in the Eddie den in den Wolken einherjagenden Wettergottheiten des Himmels ware nichts anderes als die Reminiszenz an die al­ , in which one sees, for example, the god­ te Gigantomachie, bzw. diese der Mythos vom furchtbaren dess Freyja or the god Odin change their human Zusammenprall der Naturgewalten im Gewitter" (Lambertz appearance or slip into the skin of an animal. 1922: 16).

Anthropos 100.2005 456 Albert Doja

to note that the ambivalent representations of the apparitions are called Fatat, or Fatite, from the soul and fate or destiny, as they appear in the Latin fatum, or Mirat as a reminder of the Greek dragila figure, as in most Indo-European traditions, Moirai, who made their way into Albanian myth are not isolated in the Albanian tradition either. In through a popular etymology with mire, "good," particular, those entities whose function it is to since there is the expression fata mire, "the good assist women in childbirth should be compared ," but also fatmire, literally "of good fate." with the Greek conceptions of fate personified They give the baby their blessing and determine here by the Moirai, in the Nordic and Germanic his or her destiny. Even the southern Albanians' traditions by the Noms, in the Lithuanian tradition fatalistic commiseration with any is often by the Laima and in the Albanian tradition by the expressed, as often in the case of the Greek Moirai, Fatat, Fatite or Mirat, and by the Ora and the by the Keshtu e kane shkruar fatite "that's or by the Vitore. These are birth par what the Fates decided," literally "wrote," for peo­ excellence, not only because they attend the birth ple believed that the old women wrote their deci­ of each human being and foretell their future, but sion on the forehead of their new protege. Like­ also because they organize the appearance of all wise, they lidhin, "attach," or presin, "cut out," the humankind. These cosmological and anthropolog­ baby's fate. Often in Albanian tales the following ical activities are analogous and parallel, and their prediction cancels out the preceding, so that the divine status can no longer be identified, as some youngest of the three ' prediction is the one folklorists would probably argue, with the image that comes true, in spite of all the obstacles that, as of the "good fairy" of fairy-tale fame. They appear in ancient Greek , expedite the fnlfillment among the ranks of the earliest generation of gods of the fateful prediction. who, as in Scandinavian and Greek mythology, are In Cameria, an Albanian zone in the northern contemporaries of the race of Giants. Greek region of Epirns, the role of these figures is played by the Vitore (Pedersen 1898: 205), a word analyzed as meaning "a spinster, a woman who The spins": vejtare > vektare > vek/vegj, "loom" (<;abej 1968), like the Greek Moirai: one, Klotho, holds On the third night after the child's birth, at the the distaff and spins out the destiny of each person time of the principal ceremonies celebrating the at the time of their birth; the second, , birth: purificatory bath, symbolic cutting of the turns the spindle and on the thread of life, umbilical cord, naming, dressing, circumambula­ and the third, , cuts the thread and de­ tion of the fireplace, laying before the fireplace or termines the moment of death. The three yonng on the kneading trough, laying in the cradle, and women also appear in other southeastern European when the family and kin group gave vent to their groups. Rumanians call them Ursite, , joy as never at other times, with feasting, gifts, probably derived from urzi, "to weave" by way joyful singing, and dancing, it was believed that of the vulgar Latin ardire. The confusion between three invisible old women drew near the cradle and the two verbs, uszi "to weave," and ursi, "to pre­ determined the baby's destiny (Doja 1991: IDS): destine," is probablY due to a popular etymology, especially as the same goddesses are known by Sonte eshte e freta nate, the Serbs and the Croats as Sucije, a word that qii ndahen-o nafakate, corresponds to suci, sukati, "to twist, spin." The ja vezir, ja kushullate, question of whether the Greek Moirai or the Ro­ ja si gjyshleret e pare, man Fates live on in these mythological figures of dhe nga babaj m'i larte! the present-day peoples of sontheastern Europe is Today will be the third night, still open. In any event, nothing we know abont in which destiny will be spoken, the Greek suggests that the representation like a grand vizier or grand dame, of the Moirai, in the guise of Klotho, Lachesis, or like the ancestors of old, and Atropos spinning out human , was and greater than the father! anything bnt a poetic figure elaborated and trans­ mitted according to the canons of learned culture That day the dogs are kept out of the courtyard, (Cnisenier 1994: 166-180). the doors are left ajar, three places are with The notion of turning is found in the fignre of silverware, a cup of with three almonds, several gods who preside over the birth and fate of and three pieces of bread for the three Fates (Halm humans. But, whereas tnrning usually refers to the 1854: 162). In different parts of the South, these technique of spinning, in Rome it was related to

Anthropos 100.2005 Mythology and Destiny 457 the turning of the child in the womb before birth. It from the Latin , as does the Rumanian Zlna was Cannentis who was responsible for this turn­ (loki 1911: 98). ing. The legend of the origin of Rome has colored In northern Albania, the task of these women this figure, and that is where, no doubt under the who detennine the child's fate at birth is effective­ influence of Greek sources, the power of her name ly perfonned by the goddesses known to the moun­ became associated with . But at the time tain groups as Ora and Zana. The inhabitants of the of the , Carmentis interested people, in Dukagjini Mountains distinguish three categories particular women, for another power: she attend­ of Fates: e , "the White One," who brings ed to births. More precisely, according to certain good luck and wishes humans well; e Verdha, "the Latin authors, Cannentis is a Moira, a goddess of Yellow One," who brings bad luck and castes evil fate, who presides over birth. From this specific spells; and e Zeza, "the Black One," who deals interest, easily accorded with her value as prophet­ out death. When detennining the baby's destiny, ess, Cannentis went on to more technical inter­ the many ora congregate in the night to distribute ventions, and some texts even make her an actual their favors. The principal ora, who is beautiful, midwife. But this is a debate that, in the present with eyes that shine like precious stones, presides state of our knowledge, cannot be concluded. The from atop a big rock over the meeting of the three one thing we know for certain is that the god­ hundred ora. Their faces change according to the dess had two opposing cognomens, which caused degree of happiness they mete out to the new baby. several authors to create two more Cannentes, her If they reprimand someone, it means they have companions: Postvorta and (or Prorsa already cut the thread of the person's happiness or and Porrima); other authors attribute these two life (Lambertz 1922: 33-38). Today such a person adjectives to the two extreme presentations of the is still called or-prem, "by the ora cut." child to be born: turned the right way around, that It was believed that there were as many ora as is to say that the baby turns around before birth, there were humans, for each person has his own which then proceeds normally, head first; or turned ora, who is given him at birth as a guardian angel. the wrong way around, that is to say that the baby The nature of each ora is suited to the individual does not turn around before birth, which is then to whom she belongs, even her appearance match­ abnormal, feet first (Dumezil 1987: 397). es that person's character. A decent, courageous, Diana, too, who must be regarded as a virgin hardworking or fortunate person has a beautiful since she was assimilated to the rigorous , white ora; a person who is shiftless, cowardly or had power over the procreation and birth of chil­ unfortunate, has an ora who is black and ugly. dren. Archaeological excavations have unearthed Here we are dealing with a component of the per­ numerous ex-votos that leave no doubt as to their son, which acts as a protecting spirit and is given to meaning: these are images of male and female the individual at birth, comparable to the Icelandic genitalia, statuettes of mothers nursing their baby, fylgja, which is formed not specifically from the or women clothed but with the front of their body caul but from the combination of the placenta and laid open. On her feast day, the Ides of August, the amniotic sack, so that every human being may women would go in to her wood car­ have a protecting spirit, whereas only very few are rying torches in sign of gratitude for her services. born with a caul (Bartels 1900: 700. In Lithua­ In this wood was a spring where there lived a sort nian mythology, dalia is not a simple theological of , Egeria, whose name refers to childbirth notion either; comparable to the Albanian ora, she (e-gerere) and to whom, in effect, pregnant women is a sort of personal goddess who belongs to only would make sacrifices to ensure an easy delivery one individual. In Lithuanian tales, one effectively (Dumezil 1987: 410). sees heroes who get their wife because oftheir own It is perhaps not uninteresting to recall the dalis, the part of fate handed out to each person exceptional frequency of inscriptions dedicated to at birth by Laima or by the three laima, as well the of Diana, in Albania and throughout the as heroes who happen to find a dalia whom they Balkan Peninsula, dating from antiquity (Patsch marry (Greimas 1985: 166). 1922). This particular frequency attests that this Like the fylgja in Icelandic tradition, Ora as is probably more an interpretatio latina of a local well as Vitore often appear as serpents. For in­ pre-Roman goddess (<;abej 1941). In this perspec­ stance, in the Albanian zone, Vitore is widely rep­ ti ve, it has been established that Zana, the mytho­ resented as a serpent with golden horns who brings logical goddess familiar to Albanians of the North­ gold; in other regions, she appears as a large or ern Mountains, whose morphological and semantic small snake who protects the house and brings the counterpart in the South is Zera, derives directly family luck (<;abej 1968). In the South, the epithet

Anthropos 100.2005 458 Albert Doja

Vitore-snake is given to a woman who is clever, here b/1j not neper ujna e det; pretty, fertile, and brings her family good fortnne, kur m 'lshojne andrrat as can be seen in this song of praise (Komnino m'lshojne dhimbat. 1955: 326): Njiky uk, qi m'rri te kamel, me kalue kerkend nuk asht tue lane. I hoqe kyeet e mezit, sf trimi armd e brezit, Can you see that Ora, emrin e keshe grua, standing at my bedside? po jeshe trim e fajkua; She holds vigil over me day and night. verje peqin nder , This serpent slithers over my wounds to heal them. mhaje punen me erz. God bestowed it upon me o Vitoreja ndi! mur, to come to my assistance. tek rrije liishoje , It has nine types of medication gjithi! jelen me nder, under that tongue. ti! huron gaja sheqer. Three times a day it washes my wounds. You removed the keys from your waistband When the pain causes me to tire, as weapons from the of a warnor. the serpent then begins to sing. You were known as a lady, All manner of songs and were heroic as a falcoo. which I have never heard before! You tucked your hem in your belt, I forget my pain and fall into delirium. you did your chores with honour. And rave that I am out hunting, Oh VitoIe, house snake in the wall, and rave that I am taking my noonday rest, while you lived, you gave us grace, sometimes taking my goat herds up the mountain, and you lived your life in honour, sometimes swimming in the rivers and the sea. from you came but sugar-sweet words.5 When my dreams leave me, the pain leaves me, too. In the reconnting the deeds That wolf resting at my feet, of Muyi, it was Ora who, in the form of a snake, lets no one pass and enter. gave the hero his supernatural powers (Haxhi­ hasani 1955: 302 0. In other situations, when the Beliefs about protecting serpents, whether it hero is badly wounded in a battle with his enemies, is Ora, Vitore, or the "house snake," are found she stays at his bedside to keep watch over him, throughout the Albanian culture zone. Many Al­ has a snake lick his wounds and places wild beasts banians believe that one must not disturb a snake at his feet to prevent his soul from escaping into even when one finds it in the baby's cradle, be­ the other world (Haxhihasani 1955: 191): cause it is the ora that belongs to the house and the baby. The original female ancestor of the kin A po e she!kef ore, group, called the "mother of the home," who is in qu m'rri ke kryet? merely another representation of the Magna Nate e diU! njikshtu m'ruen. Mater, is also represented as a serpent. Everywhere Per ndimi! t'madhe among Albanian populations, snakes are the object Zoti rna ka dhanii, of different of propitiation, fertility, and nan' soj harnash fecundity, and even the children's development per nan gjuhe m'i ka, tri here n'dite and education, for instance, in rituals designed tane varri!t po m'i Ian. to help children leam to talk. Similar representa­ Kur dhimbat teper m'lodhin, tions can also be found in Albanian oral literature athere nise gjarpni me ki!ndue, and traditional . Many researchers consider that nji soj kangesh, these representations stem from a paleo-Balkan qi kurrkund s' ndi, cult, probably Illyrian (Tirta 2004). Others analyze harroj dhimbat e bi n 'kllapi; the archaeological, anthropological, linguistic, and m'duket vetja tu) f;:etue, historical data, which the functional features m'duket vetja tuj mrizue, of this cult to be an extension of the Illyrian­ here me dhi marr c;etat perpjet, Albanian tradition.

5 Unless otherwise indicated, all translations from the Alba­ nian have been made by Robert Elsie, in collaboration with the author.

Anthropos 100.2005 Mythology and Destiny 459

Ideology her and the ensuing upheaval are imbued with something of the majesty of the absent god Whatever the case may be, given the ambivalence (Dumezil 1986: 239). Likewise, the division of of their symbolic representations as they appear roles between the goddess of birth and fate, Laima, throughout the Indo-European zone, the figures who does the predicting, and Perkunas, who keeps of the soul and of fate must be very old gods, watch and carries out the predictions, is confirmed probably of Oriental origin, and, at least in Greek in the Lithuanian semicultural context. Her activity mythology, linked with the elements of the natural is so importaut that other variants attribute it to cycle of regeneration and destruction, of birth and Prakorimas himself. The two divine figures cover death. As such, they arouse ambivalent feelings the same sacred space, except that, as the sovereign and attitudes: They are both loved and hated, god, Prakorimas tends to stay in the background, desirable and awe-inspiring. They personify the while Laima intervenes more readily in the outside iron law of.the extinction of the individual on world, as his messenger and herald of his will behalf of the group. Every individual comes from (Greimas 1985: 152, 157, 180). an extrahuman power, identified on the third day Yet because they detennine a given mass of life, after the birth, and every birth is thus proof of the these forces do not operate at the level of the ac­ tolerance for human life shown by the forces that tions and roles that differentiate individuals. They are naturally hostile to it. do not foreordain anything and do not determine The structural method presupposes the exis­ a person's destiny. They merely give voice to the tence of an empty slot that the gods of fate ought fate that awaits the new baby. Their role as heralds to occupy by their appearance and activity. Indeed, is conceivable only on condition that they know if, from the anthropological standpoint, these are this fate. It is, therefore, the knowledge and not the goddesses who determine the life and death the power to decide that is their essential attribute of each person, from the cosmological standpoint, (Greimas 1985: 145). So if their principal function having had a role in the birth of humankind, they is to announce this knowledge, it is clear that fate should also manifest themselves wherever a threat itself lies elsewhere. of death hangs over the human race. Their place In the oral tradition of the supernatural tale, fate in this catastrophe is assured not only because this is depicted as the inexorable unfolding of time, like position is secured by the internal consistency of a motionless backdrop behind a conditioned flow the sphere of their divine action but also because it of events. If a given occurs, a given series of is implicitly attested by the ethuographic sources. events must ensue. The only characteristic of this Just as, in the first section of this chapter, I dis­ time is its division into alternating favorable and cussed the ambivalence of the dragita/kulshedra unfavorable periods. The successive periods can myth, figures that are clearly connected with the be given different figurative formulations. One day other Albanian gods of fate, who preside over can be considered to be lucky, another unlucky. If birth and death, so, too, in the Lithuanian tradition, a man is born at a certain , he will be rich, Greimas normally introduces into the sphere of the at another, poor. The child born before cockcrow Laima, goddess of life and death, her functions will be a thief, born after, a priest. Nevertheless as bearer of the plague, regarded as threatening the of duration and the difference in collective death (1985: 184-187). the length of the periods is secondary and cannot Yet the predictions made the third day after conceal the fundamental conception of fate. The the birth by the goddesses of destiny merely con­ time in which human life is imbedded is good firm one of their essential functions: namely to or bad, and holds within itself the principles of maintain the order of the universe and enforce fortune and misfortune. its laws. The supreme god himself only carries The knowledge displayed by the goddesses of out what has been foreordained. However great destiny gives them a fairly specific function. They his power, it is no more than an executive pow­ establish a relationship between isolated events er. In , is at the same and the modulated flow of time. Even as they time a cosmic power and the absolute master of connect chance events, such as birth, to time con­ each person's fate. However he shares this latter ceived as an immutable framework ofthe universe, property with , or at least with the god they give human life a meaning. Establishing a and goddess presented as her equivalents, although relationship between chance and necessity cancels their connection is not always explicitly stated. out chance, as it were, by the very fact that it be­ At the opening of one of Horace's "Odes," for comes inscribed in the order of the universe. While example, Fortuna is alone, without Jupiter, but time, through its uninterrupted unfolding, engen-

Anthropos 100.2005 460 Albert Doja ders the concept of necessity, its classification, its has come, he can hope to survive as an ancestor division into repeated favorable and unfavorable in the memory of his descendants. The "true man" periods already constitutes the organization of du­ is someone who triumphs over death and fate, not ration that founds the cosmic order. by avoiding them but on the contrary, by accept­ Just as the gods who preside at the child's ing both risk and necessity. The "true man" lives birth establish the event by giving life as a sta­ without fear, with the aim of personalizing his ble, definitive state, according to another Albanian passage and turning his biological life into a social myth from the Albanian and Indo-European tra­ biography. In this way these purely death-bringing, dition, the first cuckoo call, like a frozen image, awe-inspiring, destructive figures become deter­ freezes human activity by changing it into fate. In mining, giving, liberating, and emancipating. They Albanian tradition, someone who happens to hear create the space in which each person can develop the first cuckoo call should note the number of his freedom, activity, and future. cuckoos. They indicate the number of years he has left to live. Whereas the Lithuanian tradition tells Ja vezir, ja kushullati?'! that someone who happens to hear the first cuckoo Grand vizier or grand dame! while working will have to work all long, while someone at rest will be lazy, someone who This valorization is grounded in the aesthetic and is hungry will suffer from hunger and someone mythic, or rather my/hopoetie, principle of ideal­ with money in his pocket will be rich (Greimas ization, which concerns not the individual's ad­ 1985: 147). In either case, whether it is the birth of vancement along the extratemporal vertical axis to a human or the birth of the world, the intervention the top levels of the social pyramid and immortal­ of fate changes chance into necessity. ity, but the forward movement of the whole group In Roman tradition, the notion offors indicated along the horizontal axis of social equalities and the occurrence of an event that could neither be historical time. In the historical dimension, human predicted nor explained afterwards through reason­ life acquires meaning only when placed within the ing (even as an act of a god) nor, consequently, framework of cosmic time. Once their personal prevented, controlled, or modified. It is an exper­ work is finished, the individual will age and die, imental notion, suggested by all the situations in but the collective body and soul, nurtured by the which a person is at once taken by surprise and world of ancestral traditions, will be constantly powerless. Romans would, therefore, turn not to renewed and continue its uninterrupted advance Fors but to Fortuna. The essence of this goddess, in the path of historical . When it has as the formation of her name indicates is that she recourse to the symbolic forms and collective rep­ is the "mistress of fors," that she has a no less resentations surrounding the celebration of birth, mysterious guiding power over the irrational and, the social group does not ask for of consequently, the power to turn it around to serve the soul outside the body, nor for the promotion human beings (DumeziI1986: 243-245). From the of the individual outside the group, but for an alto­ standpoint oftheir action, necessitas andfors cover gether different kind of immortality, an altogether the same domain: everything over which humans different advancement, connected with the body are powerless. However, the concepts are in radical and earthly life, and accessible to collective expe­ opposition as far as understanding them goes. That rience. The group asks for immortality of the name which is due to chance cannot be understood, cal­ and of cultural actions. Through the symbolic culated or foreseen, whereas that which is neces­ traditions surrounding birth and socialization, the sary implies a flawless logical articulation, even if worthy man, at the end of his life, hopes to see his the chain of cause and effect is not apparent to our person, his old age, and his declining strength re­ limited intelligence. The coinciding fields and the generated, rejuvenated, and flourishing in the new opposition of values means that neeessitas andfors youth of his sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons. cannot exist at the same time on the same plane. In these traditions, biology is inseparable from Although these are forces of fate, fa/urn, this social history and culture. The aged father and his does not imply inevitability. They determine the ascendants are not present to the same degree in limits within which human will can act effectively, the sons and grandsons but to a different, new, and but they do not determine this will. They set limits higher degree. In being regenerated, life is not re­ on freedom but they do not prevent freedom. In peated, it is improved and perfected. The image of this conception of fate, an individual is free not old age regenerated in new youth takes on a histor­ only to accept his role and try to make the best ical, cultural, and social dimension. This regenera­ use of it, in the knowledge that, when his hour tion and rejuvenation are not those of the biologi-

Anthropos 100.2005 Mythology and Destiny 461 cal individual but those of the historical individual, Durham, M. Edith of the culture of the family, kin, and social groups. 1910 High Albania and Its Customs in 1908. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute ofGreat Britain and 40: 453-472. Ja si gjyshleret e pare, dhe nga babaj m'i larte! Frasheri, Stavro S. 1936 Folk1or shqiptar. Durres: Stamles. Or like the ancestors of old, and greater than the father! Greimas, Algirdas J. 1985 Des dieux et des hommes. Etudes de mythologie lithua­ The good wishes, expressed directly or in song, rit­ nienne. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. ual, and ceremonial forms, are always shot through Hahn, Johann G. von with optimism and unfailing confidence, nurtured 1854 Albanische Studien. Jena: Mauke. by the desire that the future life of the new­ Haxhihasani, Qemal ly born individual will be better, happier, more 1955 Kenge popullore legjendare. Tirana: Instituti i Shken­ worthwhile. They are thus an attempt to directly cave. induce good fortune and prosperity, based both 1967 Tregime dhe kenge popullore per Skenderbeun. Tirana: Instituti i Folklorit. on the group's aspiration or the best examples found among the ascendants of the family and kin Heritier, Franl;oise groups, and on the importance of respecting the 1996 Masculin/feminin. La pensee de la difference. Paris: Odile Jacob. same collective and ancestral traditions. Jakobson, Roman 1981 Linguistics and . In: R. Jakobson (ed.), Poetry of Grammar and Grammar of Poetry; pp. 18-51. The References Cited Hague: Mouton. (Selected Writings, 3) [1960J 1966 The Vseslav Epos. In collaboration with M. SzefteL In: Barletius, Marin R. Jakobson (ed.), Slavic Epic Studies; pp.301-363. 1508-1510 Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi, Epirotarum The Hague: Mouton. (Selected Writings, 4) [1947] Principes. Roma. [Alb. transl. 1968, Tirana: Naim­ Frasheri.] JokI, Norbert 1911 Studien zur albanesischen Etymologie und Wortbildung. Bartels, Max Wien: Alfred Holder. 1900 IsIandischer Brauch und Volksglaube in Bezug auf die Nachkommenschaft. Zeitschrift flir Ethnologie 32: 52­ Komnino, Gjergj 86. 1955 Kenge popullore lirike. Tirana: Instituti i Shkencave.

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