Drangue

The drangùe (Albanian definite form: drangùa, drangòni) is a semi-human winged divine hero in Albanian pagan mythology, associated with weather and storms. He is the archetype of light and good, the complementary and opposing force to kulshedra, the archetype of darkness and evil. Babies destined to become drangue are born with their heads covered in caul and with two or sometimes four wings under their arms. The drangue hold supernatural powers, especially in the wings and arms. A drangùe is made invulnerable by the singular conjunction produced at his birth, and can die only if this conjunction is repeated once again.^[1][2]

The main goal of the drangue is to fight the kulshedra in legendary battles.^[3] In order to defeat the kulshedra he uses lightning-swords and thunderbolts as his most powerful weapons, but he also uses meteoric stones, piles of trees and rocks, eventually protecting mankind from storms, fire, droughts, floods and other natural disasters caused by kulshedra's destructive power.^[4][5][2] Heavy thunderstorms are thought to be the result of their battles.^[6] The drangue and their myth are extensively and accurately portrayed in the Albanian folk tale "The Boy who was Brother to the Drague".^[7]

Also seen as a lightning deity, the Drangue appears to be an Albanian equivalent of the Indo-European sky deity, holding the position of a chief god,^[8] expressly held by Zojz in Albanian pagan mythology. The legendary battle of a heroic deity associated with thunder and weather – like drangue – who fights and slays a huge multi-headed serpent associated with water, storms, and drought – like kulshedra – is a common motif of Indo-European mythology.^[9] The original legend may have symbolized the Chaoskampf, a clash between forces of order and chaos.^[10] In Albanian mythology the legendary battle between drangue and kulshedra is the most famous representation of the dualistic struggle between good and evil, light and darkness,^[11] a conflict that symbolises the cyclic return in the watery and chthonian world of death, accomplishing the cosmic renewal of rebirth.^[12][1]