Albanian Literature in Translation
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The Legend of Rozafat Castle
The legend of Rozafat Castle, now
the ruins of a no doubt originally Illyrian fortification soaring
above the town of Shkodra in northern Albania, involves one of
the grimmest motifs of Balkan legendry, that of immurement. The
story of a woman being walled in during the Fog lay over the Buna for three days
and three nights, blanketing the river completely. When three
days and three nights had passed, a strong wind began to blow,
dissipating the mists and making Mount Valdanuz visible once
again. Up on the mountain there were three brothers at work building
a castle. The foundations they built during the daytime always
collapsed at night, so that they could never finish the castle.
One day, an old man came by and greeted the three brothers, saying,
"I wish you success in your work!" "We wish you
success, too, old man, though we ourselves are not doing very
well. Day after day, we work and build and, at night, the foundations
collapse. Do you know what we can do to make the walls stay put?"
"Yes, I do," replied the old man, "but it would
be a shame if I told you." "Let the shame be ours,
because we are the ones who want to build the castle." The
old man reflected for a while and then asked, "Are you married?
Do you all have wives?" "Yes, we are married,"
they replied, "Each of us has a wife. But tell us what to
do to build the castle." "If you really want to finish
the castle, you must swear never to tell your wives what I am
going to tell you now. The wife who brings you your food tomorrow
must be buried alive in the wall of the castle. Only then will
the foundations stay put and last forever." Thus spoke the
old man and departed. But alas, the eldest brother broke his
promise and revealed to his wife at home everything that had
happened and told her not to approach the place where the castle
was being built. The second brother broke his promise, too, and
told his wife everything. Only the youngest brother kept his
word and said nothing to his wife at home.
[from Mitrush Kuteli (ed.) Tregime të moçme shqiptare (Tirana: Naim Frashëri, 1965, reprint 1987, 1998). Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie.]
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Oral
Literature | Mündlich überlieferte Literatur |
Littérature orale | Letërsia gojore
construction of a bridge
or castle in order to stabilise the foundations is widespread
in oral literature in Albania, the Balkans and elsewhere. Variants
in Albania are also told of the castle of Turra south of Kavaja,
of the castle of Petro Petroshi in Lleshan south of Elbasan,
and of the fortress of Elbasan itself. The earliest version outside
Albania may be that of the Bridge of Adana in southern Turkey,
which was constructed in 527-565 A.D. The best known variant
in the Balkans itself is that of the Bridge of Arta in northern
Greece, which was constructed in 1602-1606. Other variants are
known to the Romanians in the legend of the Monastery of Argesh,
the Bulgarians in the legend of the Bridge of Struma, also called
Kadin Most, the Bosnians in the legends of Teshanj Castle and
the Bridge of Mostar, and the Serbs, who indeed have a Serbian
variant for the legend of Rozafat Castle, "Grad gradili
na Skadar," recorded by Vuk Karadzic (1787-1864). Also related
are the Hungarian ballad of the castle of Deva and the German
legend of the castle of Henneberg. The Albanian version of the
legend of Rozafat Castle was first recorded by Thimi Mitko (1820-1890)
in his folklore collection 'Albanike melissa / Belietta sskiypetare'
(The Albanian Bee) in 1878. The immurement legend is based no
doubt upon a Balkan reality. Even at the beginning of the twentieth
century, animals such as sheep, goats and chickens were still
being sacrificed on such occasions in Albania and their remains
were immured in the foundations of bridges and other buildings.
The practice is still widely encountered today. Here is a prose
summary of the Rozafat legend.