En (deity)

*En or *Enji (Albanian: [ɛɲi]) is a reconstructed name of the fire god in the Albanian pagan mythology, which has continued to be used in the Albanian language to refer to Thursday (e enjte).[1]

The deity to whom Thursday was dedicated in Albanian is considered to have been worshiped by the Illyrians in antiquity[2] and he may have been the most prominent god of the Albanian pantheon in Roman times by interpreting Jupiter, when week-day names were formed in the Albanian language.[3] The belief in a prominent fire god, who was referred to as I Verbti ("the blind one"), and who was often regarded more powerful than the Christian God, survived in northern Albania until recent times.[4] Under Christianization the god of fire was demonized and considered a false god, and it was spread about that anyone who invoked him would be blinded by fire.[5]

In Albanian tradition the divinised fire is regarded as the Sun's offspring (pjella e Diellit), which is symbolized by the fire hearth (vatra e zjarrit).[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".[7][8] 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".[7]

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),[7] 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.[9] 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.[7]

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.[10][11]

The Albanian term enjte ('Thurday') is considered to be a te-adjective presumably descending from the Proto-Albanian stem *agni-, ultimately from *h₁n̥gʷnis, the archaic Proto-Indo-European word for 'fire' as an active force.[10]

Historical reconstruction

According to scholar Karl Treimer, Illyrians worshiped a fire god named *Enji, related to the Vedic fire god Agni,[12] and descending from the stem *H₁n̥gʷnis, the Proto-Indo-European divinised fire.[13] 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).[8] With the coming of Christianity, En would have been demoted to demonic status,[14] although his name has been preserved in the Albanian language to refer to Thursday (enj-te).[14][12]

Attested Albanian fire god and cult

The cult of the mystic fire and the fire ritual practices played an important role in the lives of the pre-industrial Albanian people.[15]

Strong beliefs in the demon of fire have persisted among Albanians until today.[16] The belief in a fire god, who was referred to as I Verbti ("the blind one"), survived in northern Albania until recent times. Under Christianization this deity was demonized and considered a false god, and it was spread about that anyone who invoked him would be blinded by fire.[17] However, in folk beliefs the god I Verbti was often considered more powerful than the Christian God. The struggle between the old and the new god and the former predominant popularity of I Verbti among Albanians is expressed in a tale narrated from a Christian point of view.[18] The purifying power of fire underlies the popular idea according to which the god I Verbti is the enemy of uncleanliness and the opponent of filth.[19]

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).[6] 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.[20] 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.[21]

Rose Wilder Lane (1923) provided the following description regarding the northern Albanian fire cult:[22]

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; Orel 1998, p. 88; Lurker 2005, p. 57
  2. Treimer 1971, p. 32; Lambertz 1973, p. 476; Poghirc 1987, p. 178; Lurker 2005, p. 57.
  3. Treimer 1971, p. 32; Lambertz 1973, p. 476; Poghirc 1987, p. 178; Orel 1998, p. 88; Koch 2015, p. 113.
  4. Lambertz 1922, pp. 47, 49, 145–146; Stadtmüller 1954, pp. 216–217; Lambertz 1973, pp. 505–506.
  5. Lurker 2004, p. 197; Stadtmüller 1954, pp. 216–217; Lambertz 1922, pp. 47, 49, 145–146.
  6. Gjoni 2012, pp. 90–91.
  7. Lambertz 1973, p. 476.
  8. Treimer 1971, p. 32.
  9. Yochalas 1980, p. 417.
  10. Orel 1998, p. 88.
  11. Lambertz 1973, p. 477.
  12. Tagliavini 1963, p. 103.
  13. Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 203; West 2007, p. 266
  14. Lurker 2005, p. 57.
  15. Tirta 2004, pp. 68–69, 135, 176–181, 249–261, 274–282, 327.
  16. Novik 2015, p. 268.
  17. Lurker 2004, p. 197; Stadtmüller 1954, pp. 216–217; Lambertz 1922, pp. 47, 49, 145–146.
  18. Lambertz 1922, pp. 47, 49, 145–146; Stadtmüller 1954, pp. 216–217; Lambertz 1973, pp. 505–506.
  19. Lambertz 1922, pp. 47, 49, 145–146.
  20. Gjoni 2012, p. 91.
  21. 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.
  22. Galaty et al. 2013, p. 161.

Bibliography
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