Tradition / Region: Albanian Mythology
Alternative names: —
Category: Bird
The Myth
The Mother Eagle is a magical eagle who appears in the Albanian folktale The Barefaced Man and the Pasha’s Brother. While traveling with his companions, the hero discovers a nest of eaglets threatened by a snake climbing the tree to devour them. He kills the serpent, saving the young birds before their mother returns.
When the Mother Eagle arrives, she mistakes the hero for the attacker and swoops down to gouge out his eyes. Before she can strike, her eaglets cry out that he is their savior. Realizing her mistake, the eagle thanks the hero and asks how she may repay him. Although he requests nothing, she plucks one of her feathers and gives it to him, telling him to burn it whenever he is in need, promising that she will come to his aid at once.
Later, the hero faces an impossible task. He must retrieve the Water of Life from a distant cave beneath mountains whose peaks touch the sky. Remembering the eagle’s gift, he burns the feather. The Mother Eagle immediately appears, flies to the distant mountains, obtains the miraculous water, and returns with it, allowing the hero to complete his quest and ultimately triumph over his enemies.
Sources
Jarník, J. U. (1883). Příspěvky ku poznání nářečí albánských (Rada VI, díl 12). In Abhandlungen der Königlich-Böhmischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Prag. Tiskem Dra. Edvarda Grégra. Reprinted in Folklor shqiptar (Vol. 1, Proza popullore). (1963). Tirana. English translation by Robert Elsie. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from http://www.albanianliterature.net/folktales/tale_17.html