by Preveza Abrashi

Abstract

This paper examines a fragment of the Bellifortis manuscript by Konrad Kyeser (1402–1405), notable for containing what may be the earliest Albanian text. Written in Latin, the text includes Albanian words embedded in poetic verses describing a fallen star, thunder, and the moon, using symbolic language to guide interpretation. The manuscript demonstrates the early interaction between Latin scholarly culture and Albanian vernacular, highlighting mystical and observational approaches to nature. Its preservation provides crucial evidence for the study of early Albanian language, literature, and cultural expression, illustrating the blend of allegory, natural observation, and poetic creativity in the fifteenth century.

Early Albanian Text in the Bellifortis Manuscript (1402–1405) by Konrad Kyeser

Among the beautiful writings and verses, some of the oldest in Albanian, part of the Bellifortis manuscript, written in Latin between 1402 and 1405 by Konrad Kyeser (a free translation of very beautiful verses from English), we find the following:

“A star has fallen in a place in the woods, distinguish the star, distinguish it.
Distinguish the star from the others, they are ours, they are.
Do you see where the great voice has resounded? Stand beside it.
That thunder. It did not fall. It did not fall for you, the one which would do it.
As with ears, you should not believe that the moon fell when …
Try to encompass that which spurts far …
Call the light when the moon falls and no longer exists.”

This text from the Bellifortis manuscript is written in Latin, dating from 1402–1405, and is highlighted in red in some editions as possibly the oldest surviving Albanian text. It represents a poetic and mystical form of writing that blends observation of nature with symbolic meaning.