At the Plane Tree of Mashkullore
At the Plane Tree of Mashkullore Nationalist figure and guerrilla fighter, Çerçiz Topulli (1880-1915) was born in Gjirokastra. On 25 February 1908, his band killed the commander of the Turkish gendarmerie on a street in Gjirokastra. Five of Topulli’s guerrillas, himself included, then fled to the village of Mashkullore, where on 5 March they were […]
Oh, my Beautiful Morea
Oh, my Beautiful Morea The nostalgic song “Oh, my beautiful Morea,” included in the last eight lines of this folk ballad, is perhaps the best known Arbëresh (Italo-Albanian) folksong of all. The ballad reflects a central element in the collective memory of the Albanian minority of southern Italy – that of their early flight from […]
The Legend of Rozafat Castle
The Legend of Rozafat Castle The legend of Rozafat Castle in Shkodra is among the best known tales of Albanian oral literature. This version, in poetic form, was recorded in Shkodra itself. For further details, see “The Legend of Rozafat Castle” under Legends. “My sister Tone” by Kolë Idromeno, 1883 Fog hung heavy o’er the […]
The Ballad of Constantine and Dhoqina
The Ballad of Constantine and Dhoqina The popular legend of little Constantine who rises from the grave to bring his sister Dhoqina back to their dying mother, in fulfilment of his pledge, is one of the best-known of Albanian folklore, involving the so-called Lenore motif. In Albania, the sister is known either as Dhoqina or […]
Eufrozina of Janina
Eufrozina of Janina The maid Eufrozina, known in Greek as Euphrosyne or Kyrá Frosini, is the protagonist of a legend known to both the Albanians and Greeks of Çameria and Epirus. Eufrozina throws herself into Lake Janina (Ioannina) rather than give herself to Ali Pasha Tepelena. This version of the tale, in verse form, is […]
Cham Folk Songs
Cham Folk Songs The following collection of Albanian historical folk songs, still sung throughout southern Albania, derives from the Chameria (Çamëria) region of Epirus, now in northwestern Greece. This one-time territory of Ali Pasha, with its capital Janina (now known in Greek as Ioannina), was long part of the Ottoman Empire, like the rest of […]
The Albanian Song Collection of Vuk Karadžić
The Albanian Song Collection of Vuk Karadžić Vuk Karadžić (1787-1864) was a Serbian scholar who is remembered as the reformer of the Serbian language. He was born in Tržić near Loznica in Serbia and died in Vienna. As a major philologist of his age, he reformed the Serbian literary language and standardized the Cyrillic alphabet […]
Songs of the Battle of Kosovo
Introduction Version 1 | 1923 Version 2 | 1931 Version 3 | 1937 Version 4 | 1952 Version 5 | 1954 Version 6 | 1954 Version 7 | 1955 Version 8 | 1998 The Battle of Kosovo, also known as the Battle of Kosovo Polje, which took place north of Prishtina on the morning of […]
Baba Tomor
Baba Tomor or Father Tomor is the personification of Mount Tomor, a mountain range which includes the highest peak in central Albania at an altitude of 2416 m. Mount Tomor is considered the home of the gods in central Albanian popular belief. The peasants of the region swear by Father Tomor, Alb. “për Baba Tomor,” […]
Sari Salltëk
Bektashi holy man and legendary figure, Sari Salltëk, known in Turkish as Sari Saltuk, is said to have been either a dervish at the court of Sultan Orhan (1326-1360) or a direct disciple of Haji Bektash Veli, founder of the Bektashi order. It is more likely, however, that he was a figure of early Balkan and not […]