Prende

Rainbow in Northern Albania. In Albanian folk beliefs the rainbow is regarded as "the belt of Zoja Prenne".[1]

Prende or Premte[note 1] is the dawn goddess, goddess of love, beauty, fertility, health and protector of women, in the Albanian pagan mythology.[4] She is also called Afër-dita,[5] an Albanian phrase meaning "near day", "the day is near", or "dawn",[6][note 2] in association with the cult of the planet Venus, the morning and evening star.[10][note 3] She is referred to as Zoja Prenne or Zoja e Bukuris ("Goddess/Lady Prenne" or "Goddess/Lady of Beauty").[12][1][13] Her sacred day is Friday, named in Albanian after her: e premte, premtja (Gheg Albanian: e prende, prendja[14]).[15] She reflects features belonging to the original Indo-European dawn goddess.[16] A remarkable reflection associated with the Indo-European dawn goddess is the Albanian tradition according to which Prende is the daughter of the sky god – Zojz.[17]

Thought to have been worshiped by the Illyrians in antiquity,[18] Prende is identified with the cult of Venus and she was worshipped in northern Albania, especially by the Albanian women, until recent times. She features attributes also belonging to Aphrodite, Iris, and Helen, as well as Persephone as shown by the etymology of her name.[16] Describing a goddess of the underworld and at the same time a personification of springtime, the Albanian e Bukura e Dheut ("the Beauty of the Earth") is evidently an epithet of the Albanian equivalent of Persephone.[19]

In Christian times she was called ShënePremte[1] or Shën Prende[20] ("Saint Veneranda"), identified by the Catholic Church as Saint Anne, mother of Virgin Mary. She was so popular in Albania that over one in eight of the Catholic churches existing in the late 16th and the early 17th centuries were named after her. Many other historical Catholic and Orthodox churches were dedicated to her in the 18th and 19th centuries.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d Elsie 2001, p. 258.
  2. ^ Hyllested & Joseph 2022, p. 235.
  3. ^ a b Dedvukaj 2023, p. 1.
  4. ^ Lambertz 1973, p. 509; Dunwich 2000, p. 151; Lurker 2005, p. 155; Hyllested & Joseph 2022, p. 235; Dedvukaj 2023, p. 1.
  5. ^ Sedaj 1982, p. 78; Lambertz 1973, p. 509
  6. ^ Dedvukaj 2023, pp. 1–2; Plangarica 2001, p. 46
  7. ^ Kostallari 1981, p. 377.
  8. ^ Thomaj 2002, p. 1488.
  9. ^ a b Lambertz 1973, p. 509.
  10. ^ Sedaj 1982, p. 78; Lambertz 1973, p. 509
  11. ^ Frashëri 1980, p. 294.
  12. ^ Demiraj et al.
  13. ^ Sedaj 1982, pp. 78, 457.
  14. ^ Camaj & Fox 1984, p. 328.
  15. ^ Dunwich 2000, p. 151; Lurker 2005, p. 155
  16. ^ a b Hyllested 2024, p. 60.
  17. ^ Lambertz 1922, pp. 47, 143–144, 146–148.
  18. ^ Dunwich 2000, p. 151; Lurker 2005, p. 155
  19. ^ Elsie 2001, pp. 79–81.
  20. ^ Galaty et al. 2013, p. 43.


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