The Kulshedra and the Drangue
In Albanian folklore, droughts are caused by a many-headed serpent who blocks the springs. Thunderstorms are the battle when a winged hero comes to fight her.
What was reported
The kulshedra is a female dragon of Albanian folklore, a huge, many-headed serpent that breathes fire and lives in caves and lakes. She causes drought by drying up the springs, and floods and storms when she's angry, and people had to offer her sacrifices to release the water.
Her enemy is the drangue, a winged human hero born with special powers. Thunder and lightning are their battles: the drangue hurls lightning and rocks at the kulshedra until she is driven away and the rains return.
Explanations offered
The kulshedra belongs to an old family of storm-dragon myths in Europe and the Near East. The legend gave a story to the weather on which Albanian farming depended.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- As told across Albania
- Witnesses
- Albanian folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.