En (deity)

*En or *Enji ([ɛɲi]) is a reconstructed name of the fire or thunder god in the Albanian pagan mythology, which has continued to be used in the Albanian language to refer to Thursday (e enjte).[1][2][3] The theonym Enete was used by Albanian scholar and language master Kostandin Kristoforidhi in 1879 as the Albanian translation of Greek Zeus / Δία.[4]

In Albanian tradition fire (zjarri) is worshiped as a deity, and it is regarded as the Sun's offspring (pjella e Diellit), which is symbolized by the fire hearth (vatra e zjarrit). Several fire deities are attested in Albanian folk beliefs: Verbti, a fire, water and wind god, and the hearth-fire deities (hyjni/perëndi të zjarrit të vatrës) like Vitore / gjarpri i vatrës and Nëna e Vatrës.

According to some scholars, the deity to whom Thursday was dedicated was worshiped by the Illyrians in antiquity and he may have been the most prominent god of the pantheon in Roman times, when week-day names were formed in the Albanian language.[5][4][6]

Name

Documentation

The root of the name of the Albanian deity is thought to be found in antiquity in the Pannonian-Illyrian area, as well as in Messapia/Iapygia in southern Italy such as Ennius, interpreted as a theophoric name: "the one dedicated to En".[4][5] Other examples with the same root and with the suffix -c (-k) are Enica, Enicus, Enicenius, and with the suffix -n are Eninna, Ennenia, and the short forms Enna and Enno. Compounds of the divine name En are Enoclia "En, the famous", and Malennius containing the Albanian term mal "mountain", interpreted as "the one dedicated to En of/from the mountain".[4]

In his work Speculum Confessionis (1621) Pjetër Budi recorded the Albanian term tegnietenee madhe for the observance of Maundy Thursday (S.C., 148, vv. 26, 89). In his Latin-Albanian dictionary (Dictionarium latino-epiroticum, 1635),[4] Frang Bardhi recorded dita ehegnete as the Albanian translation of Latin dies Iovis. In 1820, the French scholar François Pouqueville recorded two old Albanian terms: e igniete and e en-gnitia.[7] In 1879 Albanian scholar and language master Kostandin Kristoforidhi translated Zeus / Δία of the original Greek text with the Albanian Ἒνετε Enete, and Hermes / Ἑρμῆν with the Albanian Μερκούρ Merkur.[4]

Modern dialectal variations of "Thursday" include: Gheg Albanian: e êjte, e ẽjtë; Tosk Albanian: e enjtë; Arbëreshë Albanian: e ègn'te, e énjite, e ente, e engjte, e ínjte.

Etymology

The names of week days in Albanian are calques of Latin names. Since enjte appears to be the Albanian translation of Latin Iovis diem ('Day of Jove'), the god Enj- or En(ni) of the early Albanian pantheon may have been seen as the equivalent of Roman Jupiter.[2][8]

The Albanian term enjte ('Thurday') is considered to be a te-adjective descending from the Proto-Albanian stem *agni-, ultimately from *h1n̥gʷnis, the archaic Proto-Indo-European word for 'fire' as an active force.[2]

Historical reconstruction

According to scholar Karl Treimer, Illyrians worshiped a fire god named *Enji, related to the Vedic fire god Agni,[1] and descending from the stem *H1n̩gwnis, the Proto-Indo-European divinised fire.[9] In the Illyrian pantheon the fire deity would have expanded his function considerably, therefore ousting the cosmic-heavenly deity, becoming the most distinguished Illyrian god in Roman times at the time when the weekday names were formed in the Albanian language. In this view the Latin Jovis dies was equated to the Illyrian fire god Enj rather than to the Illyrian Sky father, thought to have been Zot, from Proto-Albanian *dźie̅u ̊ *a(t)t (a cognate of PIE *Dyḗus ph2tḗr),[5] or Dei-pátrous. With the coming of Christianity, En would have been demoted to demonic status,[3] although his name has been preserved in the Albanian language to refer to Thursday (enj-te).[3][1]

Fire deities and cults in Albanian tradition

The cult of the mystic fire and the fire ritual practices played an important role in the lives of the pre-industrial Albanian people.[10]

Strong beliefs in the demon of fire have persisted among Albanians until today.[11] Verbti is a fire, water and wind god worshiped in northern Albania until recent times. The purifying power of fire underlies the popular idea according to which this deity is the enemy of uncleanliness and the opponent of filth.[12] Deities associated with the Albanian hearth-fire cult are Vitore / gjarpri i vatrës and Nëna e Vatrës.[13]

In Albanian tradition fire itself is worshiped as a deity, and it is regarded as the Sun's offspring (pjella e Diellit), which is symbolized by the fire hearth (vatra e zjarrit).[14] The place of the ignition of fire is traditionally built in the center of the house and of circular shape representing the Sun. Traditionally the fire of the hearth, zjarri i vatrës, is identified with the existence of the family and its extinguishing is considered a bad omen for the family.[15] The fire of the domestic hearth holds divine attributes in folk beliefs, being considered the sustainer of the continuity between the world of the living and that of the dead, and ensuring the continuity of the tribe (fis) from generation to generation.[16]

Rose Wilder Lane (1923) provided the following description regarding the northern Albanian fire cult:[17]

The bride carries with her from her home one invariable gift—a pair of fire tongs. When she arrives at her husband's house she takes a humble place in the corner, standing, her hands folded on her breast, her eyes downcast, and for three days and nights she is required to remain in that position... this custom remains from the old days when the father of each house was also the priestly guardian of the fire, and anyone coming to ask for a light from it stood reverently in that position, silent, before the hearth, until the father priest gave it to him. The bride, newcomer in the family, is a suppliant for the gift of fire, of life, of the mystery that continues the race.

See also

Sources

Citations
  1. Tagliavini 1963, p. 103.
  2. Orel 1998, p. 88.
  3. Lurker 2005, p. 57.
  4. Lambertz 1973, p. 476.
  5. Treimer 1971, p. 32.
  6. Poghirc 1987, p. 178.
  7. Yochalas 1980, p. 417.
  8. Lambertz 1973, p. 477.
  9. Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 203; West 2007, p. 266
  10. Tirta 2004, pp. 68–69, 135, 176–181, 249–261, 274–282, 327.
  11. Novik 2015, p. 268.
  12. Lambertz 1922, pp. 47, 49, 145–146.
  13. Gjoni 2012, p. 95.
  14. Gjoni 2012, pp. 90–91.
  15. Gjoni 2012, p. 91.
  16. Poghirc 1987, p. 179; Tirta 2004, pp. 176, 410; De Rapper 2012, pp. 14–15; Gjoni 2012, p. 90; Galaty et al. 2013, p. 161.
  17. Galaty et al. 2013, p. 161.

Bibliography
  • De Rapper, Gilles (2012). "Blood and Seed, Trunk and Hearth: Kinship and Common Origin in southern Albania". In Hemming, Andreas; Kera, Gentiana; Pandelejmoni, Enriketa (eds.). Albania: Family, Society and Culture in the 20th century. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 79–95. ISBN 9783643501448.
  • Galaty, Michael; Lafe, Ols; Lee, Wayne; Tafilica, Zamir (2013). Light and Shadow: Isolation and Interaction in the Shala Valley of Northern Albania. The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. ISBN 978-1931745710.
  • Gjoni, Irena (2012). Marrëdhënie të miteve dhe kulteve të bregdetit të Jonit me areale të tjera mitike (PhD) (in Albanian). Tirana: University of Tirana, Faculty of History and Philology.
  • Lambertz, Maximilian (1922). Albanische Märchen (und andere Texte zur albanischen Volkskunde). Wien: A. Hölder.
  • Lambertz, Maximilian (1973). "Die Mythologie der Albaner". In Hans Wilhelm Haussig (ed.). Wörterbuch der Mythologie (in German). Vol. 2. pp. 455–509.
  • Lurker, Manfred (2005). The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons. Routledge, Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-203-64351-8.
  • Mallory, James P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London: Routledge, ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5
  • Novik, Alexander (2015). "Lexicon of Albanian Mythology: Areal Studies in the Polylingual Region of Azov Sea". Slavia Meridionalis. 15: 261–273. doi:10.11649/sm.2015.022. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  • Orel, Vladimir (1998). Albanian etymological dictionary. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11024-3.
  • Poghirc, Cicerone (1987). "Albanian Religion". In Mircea Eliade (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 1. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co. pp. 178–180.
  • Tagliavini, Carlo (1963). Storia di parole pagane e cristiane attraverso i tempi. Brescia: Morcelliana.
  • Tirta, Mark (2004). Petrit Bezhani (ed.). Mitologjia ndër shqiptarë (in Albanian). Tirana: Mësonjëtorja. ISBN 99927-938-9-9.
  • Treimer, Karl (1971). "Zur Rückerschliessung der illyrischen Götterwelt und ihre Bedeutung für die südslawische Philologie". In Henrik Barić (ed.). Arhiv za Arbanasku starinu, jezik i etnologiju. Vol. I. R. Trofenik. pp. 27–33.
  • West, Morris L. (2007). Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199280759.
  • Yochalas, Titos (1980). Το Ελληνο-Αλβανικόν Λεξικόν του Μάρκου Μπότσαρη [The Greek-Albanian Dictionary of Markos Botsaris]. Academy of Greece.
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