The Tale of the Eagle is an

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n folk tale that explains how Albania and Albanians received their indigenous name.

Tale

A youth was hunting in the mountains. An

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

flying above him alighted on top of a crag. The eagle was especially large and had a

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

in its beak. After a while, the eagle flew away from the crag where it had its nest. The youth then climbed to the top of the crag where he saw, in the nest, an eaglet playing with the dead snake. However, the snake was not dead. Suddenly it stirred, revealed its fangs and was ready to pierce the eaglet with its deadly venom. The youth quickly took out his bow and arrow and killed the snake. Then he took the eaglet and started for his home. Suddenly the youth heard above him the loud whir of the great eagle's wings. "Why do you kidnap my child?" cried the eagle. "The child is mine because I saved it from the snake which you didn't kill," answered the youth. "Give me back my child, and I will give you as a reward the sharpness of my eyes and the powerful strength of my wings. You will become invincible, and you will be called by my name!" Thus the youth handed over the eaglet. After the eaglet grew, it would always fly above the head of the youth, now a grown man, who with his bow and arrows killed many wild beasts of the forest, and with his sword slew many enemies of the land. During all of these feats, the eagle faithfully watched over and guided him. Amazed by the valiant hunter's deeds, the people of the land elected him king and called him ''

Shqipëtar Shqiptar ( sq-definite, Shqip(ë)tari; aln, Shqyptar/-i; plural: ''Shqiptarë/-t'', ''Shqyptarë/-t'') is an Albanian ethnonym ( endonym), by which Albanians call themselves. They call their country ''Shqipëria'' ( aln, Shqypnia, Shqipnia). ...

'', which is to say ''Son of the Eagle'' (''shqipe'' or ''shqiponjë'' is Albanian for eagle) and his kingdom became known as "Shqipëria" or ''Land of the Eagles''.The two heads on the eagle represent the north and the south.

References

*''This article contains information fro
Frosina.org
and it is used with permission.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:The Tale Of The Eagle Albanian mythology

Tale

See also

References