En (deity)


En or Enji is the reconstructed name of the fire god in the Albanian pagan mythology, who is thought to have been worshiped by the Illyrians in antiquity and to have been the most prominent god of the pantheon in Roman times. The name continues to be used in the Albanian language for Thursday. Another name of a fire god worshiped in Northern Albania until recent times is Verbt, while the name :wikt:hyj|hyj, "burn, glow" is used uncapitalized to refer to the deities and the stars, and capitalized to refer to the Supreme Being.

History

According to Karl Treimer, Illyrians worshiped a fire god named *Enji, related to the Vedic fire god Agni, descending from the root *Hₓn̩gʷnis, the Proto-Indo-European divinised fire. In the Illyrian pantheon the fire deity expanded his function considerably, therefore ousted the cosmic-heavenly deity, and was the most distinguished Illyrian god in Roman times, when the weekday names were formed in the Albanian language. Indeed, the Latin Jovis dies was translated with the Illyrian fire god Enj rather than with the Illyrian Sky father, thought to have been Zot, from Proto-Albanian *dźie̅u ̊ *at, or Dei-pátrous. With the coming of Christianity En was demoted to demonic status, although his name has been preserved in the Albanian language to refer to Thursday. Very strong beliefs in the demon of fire have persisted among Albanians until today. The cult of the mystic fire and the fire ritual practices played an important role in the lives of the pre-industrial Albanian people.

Etymology

In his work Speculum Confessionis Pjetër Budi recorded the Albanian term tegnietenee madhe for the observance of Maundy Thursday. In his Latin-Albanian dictionary Frang Bardhi recorded dita ehegnete as the Albanian translation of Latin :wikt:dies Iovis#Latin|dies Iovis. In 1820, the French scholar François Pouqueville recorded two old Albanian terms: e igniete and e en-gnitia. Modern dialectal variations include: e êjte, e ẽjtë; e enjtë; e ègn’te, e énjite, e ente, e engjte, e ínjte.
The Albanian term descends from Proto-Albanian *agni-, ultimately from the archaic Indo-European word for 'fire'. The names of week days in Albanian are calques of Latin names, so the term dita e enjte must correspond to Latin lovis diem, and in the Albanian pantheon Enj- must be the equivalent of Roman Jupiter.

Citations