Nora of Kelmendi

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Nora of Kelmendi can be called the Helen of Albania, for one of the biggest wars was "caused" by her beauty. But she can also be called the Albanian Brünhilde too, for she herself was the greatest woman warrior in the history of Albania and further. There are two versions of Nora and both versions end with Nora killing the Pasha (a Bosnian man) who has been documented to have been the leader of the Ottoman Army and who had taken a Public Oath to turn the whole Malsia (also Malcia or Maltsia) into ashes if Nora did not become his wife.

The events happened around The Year of the Lord 1620. Nora’s father, a Noble Fighter wanted a son to help him fight against the Ottoman empire. When Nora, a girl was born, he took her to an orphanage in Shkodra city and left her there. His sister, knowing the doings of her brother, took Nora back and raised her as a boy. Nora's biological father, having the desire to train some young man to become a fighter, decided to train the adapted “son” of his sister. Hence, unknowingly, he trained his own daughter to become a fighter. But there is no way in fighting biology, so when Nora grew up, she become Malsia’s most beautiful girl. It is said that she was as pretty as a true Zane (mountain fairy). Her fame spread through the whole country. Pasha who resided at the Rozafati Castle in Shkodra City, heard of her too. One day Nora came down to the city with her parents. Pasha came out of Castle and saw her. He fell in love.

Initially, he wanted to marry her by the laws of the Albanian Canon, which meant he would send a trusted man to Nora’s house and ask for her hand. The Pasha himself had grown up in a similar tradition since is he was from Balkans too. However, Nora's family replied that the Albanian Canon did not allow for marriages with non-Albanians. Pasha was not used to be refused by his high ranked officers, and he had a harem full of women from all over the world. Hence, the Bosnian Dude went mad. "I'll burn all of Malsia to ashes he said, or Nora will become my wife".

That was not the first or the last time for Malsia to be burned to the ground, so nobody got really scared. It was bound to happen either for taxes, solders or the refusal to recognize the Ottoman legal system, anyway. So “f’u” Pasha. But the Pasha was serious. He lead his huge army and besieged Malsia.

Nora had proved to be a warrior. As a young woman she had proved to be the noblest and the most beautiful girl of all. But life had thrown yet another challenge at her. She had to prove that she was wise too, for wisdom is the thing most appreciated by the Malsia people. So she devised the plan how to kill the mad Bosnian Pasha.

This is what happened. Nora pretended to want to marry the Pasha without the permission of her family. Dressed with the djubletah, she went to Pasha's tent. Seeing her, the Pasha fell on his knees and began to pray to the divinities believing she was a true gift from heaven as a reward by the almighty Allah for his services to Him. Pasha ordered his troops to rest and prepare to go back to Shkodra city. The solders were happy to lay down their spears and get their noses into their bags of hashish. It sounds like the Trojan Horse, doesn’t it? But of course, it’s Balkans. Isn’t it?

While everything was quiet around the Pasha's tent, Nora pulled a dagger that her father had given to her, which he had gotten as a gift from his own father, who had gotten it as a gift from his own father and the genealogy of Nora’s Knife stretches who knows how far back. Point being, however, the dagger was in the family longer than anyone could remember. It was used strictly in wars, that is to say, the dagger was used only to kill people, or enemies as they called them to make themselves feel better. Most importantly, it was believed the dagger had magic powers, for no one who had carried it had died from enemy’s wounds. Now that was unusual at that time for a warrior family like that of Nora.

This time, though, it turned out to be a regular dagger, made of steel, by a smith in the Middle Ages. She stabbed the Pasha a few times, kicked him around the back of his head, and choked him a little so he would not scream. The Pasha fell on his Persian rug.

At that point Nora could no longer stab him for he was lying on the floor. As the Albanian customs go, you cannot hit a man that is not standing and further, cannot hit a man that does not fight back. Nora ran. As planned, at this time the Malsia army attacked the Ottomans army and destroyed them for god knows which time. But they always came back with more ready meat for the Malsia swords.

Pasha survived the stabs. He got his own special unit and followed Nora to her home.

There comes in the second legend. After this second version, Nora never went to the tent, but as the men were fighting on one side and the Ottomans had sneaked a part of their army to attack the villages, she led an army of 300 women against the Ottomans who had decided to burn, rob and rape. It is said that Nora had a duel with Pasha and she killed him.

In both versions, Nora kills the Pasha in a fair duel. And in both stories he is from Bosnia and is called Vutsi Pasha.

It is proven historically that around 1620, the Bosnian Pasha, Vutsi Pasha, lead an expedition against the Maltsia people and there are documents that say that a woman was one of the most distinguished warriors. Anyhow, both stories are interesting. They are both legends. The whole history of Maltsia people is a legend, mythological tales they created about themselves. They seem to prefer to live life as an aesthetical phenomenon in a true Nietzschean sense because the sing and write songs about the good as well as the evil, but always the story’s attitude is “beyond good and evil”.