SKANDERBEG, AN EMBLEM IN WORLD LITERATURE

Abstract

Since ancient times, it has been a tradition among the nations to create songs that pay homage to their princes and their tribunes. Such a tradition was probably more pronounced among small countries that had large enemies, such as the Albanian nation. For writers, history has always been an inexhaustible fount of inspiration as well as of temptation. A plethora of historical figures have turned into characters in various literary works and, due to the creative power of their writers, they have even been transformed into myths. George Kastrioti, also known by his war name Skanderbeg, has a great resonance in his time. His fame and feats were mostly spread by word of mouth, of course even being overmagnified, hyperbolized, and legendized in the meanwhile. Even some serious historians who lived as contemporaries of the warrior lord were from time to time captivated and geared toward legends and oral tradition, unable to keep to strict principles of logic that are needed in authentic historical writings. The Glory of the Albanian braveheart was so great that research works focusing on his fame and exploits would last endlessly in the course of the centuries. Thus, the representative of "the Great Epoch of Arbanon†would rise to the level of immortality and would be labeled in historical studies and European research studies as the “Balkan’s Dragonâ€, “The Freedom Writerâ€, and “The Defender of Christianityâ€. The Great amount of works (about 1,000), which directly or indirectly refer to Skanderbeg, written in 20 different languages, serve as living proof of the amount of interest generated by the image of the Albanian National Hero.