Shëndreu (Tirana iron marsh bogey)

Shëndreu

Tirta 2004:135 Tirana iron marsh bogey; zhunk walk; horseshoe charm that turns harm aside.

Description

Shëndreu (Tirta 2004:135) is a mythic figure envisaged as a man dressed in iron. He appears only in the month of Shëndreu; stays in marshes and swamps; does humans no particular harm; when he goes to houses he makes noise at the door but does not enter. Iron scraps with fire, or a horseshoe on the hearth, keep him from approaching. His walking sound is «zhunk, zhunk, zhunk»; he is feared especially by old men and women who believe he eats them; densest around Tirana (I. Dalliu via Tirta). The Christian month-name shell (Shëndre / Andrew) is calendar naming only — not a saint biography. Not the same as Laurë (Tirana water hag) or Bushtra (marsh fire-witch).

Features

appear as iron-clad man in Shëndreu month (Tirta)
haunt marshes/swamps; noise at house door without entering
driven off by hot iron scraps / horseshoe on hearth
walking sound zhunk-zhunk-zhunk; feared as eater of the elderly

Lead story

In the month that carries his name, iron walks the Tirana marsh. Shëndreu is a man dressed in iron. He stays in keneta and moçale. At the door he makes noise and does not come in. Folk put a horseshoe on the hearth, or iron scraps with fire, so he will not approach. When he walks: zhunk, zhunk, zhunk. The old fear he eats them. The calendar may borrow Saint Andrew’s month-name; the bogey remains marsh, iron, and threshold noise.

Aliases

Shëndreu · Shendreu · Muaji i Shëndreut (month-shell banner only)

Region

Especially Tirana — marshes/swamps (keneta e moçale); appears only in the month of Shëndreu (Tirta 2004:135)

Relations

Laurë (river hag)not the same Tirana bogey
Bushtra (marsh witch-monster)marsh field soft
Bush (swamp steer)marsh field soft

Linked stories

Shëndreu ≠ Laurë (Tirana poles)Recorded
Tirta Shëndreu is the iron-clad marsh bogey of the Shëndreu month — door noise, horseshoe ward, zhunk walk, Tirana-dense. Laurë is the ugly amphibian river hag. Same region, kept separate. Christian month name is shell only.