Vatër


The vatër is the domestic hearth in Albanian folklore. The fire of the domestic hearth, zjarri i vatrës, is considered the sustainer of the continuity between the world of the living and that of the dead, and ensures the continuity of the tribe from generation to generation.

Etymology

The Albanian term vatër, "hearth", "fireplace", is derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ehₓ-tr-ehₐ-, and is related to the Avestan atar, "fire".

Tradition

The function of the fire of the domestic hearth is the sustenance of the continuity between the world of the living and that of the dead. After death, the souls of the ancestors assume a divine connotation and remain in contact with the family protecting the domestic hearth. In Albanian tradition, the fire of the domestic hearth is protected also by Nëna e Vatrës, a beneficent deity akin to Greek Hestia and Roman Vesta. At feasts, people used to practice sacrificial offerings to the deities throwing some of the food they prepared into the fire of the domestic hearth and around the hearth.
Zjarri i vatrës also ensures the continuity of the tribe from generation to generation. In Albanian tradition, indeed, the lineage is identified with an original fire ; the members of a tribe are the ones who come "from the same fire". The fire burns into the hearth, where it assumes another connotation besides the primordial concept: the fire of the domestic hearth is considered also as a place of common existence and commensality.

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