In the highland region of Shala, local oral tradition preserves a distinctive version of the giant-slaying motif. According to the people of Shala, there were two giants who roasted two friars, while the third friar managed to outwit them: he made one giant lean and threw the other into a deep well. Although details of this variant remain scarce, it represents a localized adaptation of the famous Polyphemus episode from the Odyssey.
This motif, absent in modern Greek folklore but present in Macedonia, is believed to have reached Illyria alongside pre-Celtic Greek helmets and shin guards. Archaeological finds of such helmets on Glasinac, in the D Valley, Ungrej, and Laç support the idea of early cultural transmission. Some scholars, including Fligier, argue that the Odyssey story itself may not be of purely Greek origin but rather pre-Hellenic, suggesting that other tribes had already merged with the early Greeks.
Similar views were expressed by Fallmerayer. Connections have also been drawn between the older Mycenaean style, the Hallstatt culture, and Early Bronze Age styles in Hungary.
Equally significant is the widespread belief in northern Albania in the thunder deity Shurdha (or Verbda). This figure, who rides on clouds and strikes with lightning, is greeted with gunfire — a custom reminiscent of the ancient Thracian god Gelbeizis (or Selbeizis), who was honored with arrows. The name Šurdha is considered by some researchers to carry Thracian linguistic memories. Several places in northern Albania bear his name: the town of Surdh, Maja e Surdhit in Kelmendi, and the Merdita region, locally called Šurdh.
Linguistically, Shurdha is linked to the Albanian word shurdh (deaf), while verbt means blind. Both terms aptly describe a powerful and ruthless deity who strikes without mercy. The 19th-century scholar Tomaschek noted a Thracian storm deity called Zibethiurdos. He interpreted zibel as “shine” or “glitter,” though he left the second element unexplained — an element that may be connected to the Albanian shurdh.
These traditions illustrate the deep layering of Illyrian, Thracian, and pre-Hellenic elements in Albanian highland folklore, preserving memories of ancient deities and heroic motifs long after Christianization.
Reference
Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja u Sarajevu. Sarajevo: Zemaljski muzej u Sarajevu, [relevant volume]. Page 362. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Glasnik_Zemaljskog_muzeja_u_Sarajevu/FFMxAQAAMAAJ hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%83%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE&pg=PA362&printsec=frontcover.
