Gjergj Elez Alia or Đerzelez Alija is a popular legendary
hero in epic poetry and literature in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gora and in
northern Albania. Muslims from Bosnian Krajina modeled the poetic image of
Alija Đerzelez after the image of Serbian (Christian) Prince Marko, based on
the historic person Ali Bey Mihaloğlu. Songs about Đerzelez Alija were
transmitted by bilingual singers from South Slavic milieu (some would say back)
to northern Albanian milieu, where he is known as Gjergj Elez Alia.
Some historians believed that epic figure of Đerzelez was
inspired by Ali Bey Mihaloglu an Ottoman military commander in 15th century and
the first sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Smederevo. According to Ottoman census of
1485 he was in charge for nahiya of Dobrun near Višegrad as his timar (land grant).
There is a turbe (mausoleum) in the village of Gerzovo (near Mrkonjić Grad,
Bosnia and Herzegovina) which according to legend is his burial place.
The first written record of the epic figure of Đerzelez (in
the form of "Ali-beg") was a form of South Slavic bugarštica (long
form epic and ballad poem), The Marriage of Vuk the Dragon-Despot, recorded by
Đuro Matei at the end of 17th or beginning of 18th century. In songs recorded in
the Erlangen Manuscript, Đerzelez is mentioned in the form of "Turk elder
Balibeg".
Đerzelez was an epic hero of the Bosnian Krajina (frontier
region) from the end of 15th century. Songs which emerged in South Slavic
milieu were transmitted by bilingual singers (some would say back) to Albanian
milieu, Đerzelez from Bosnian songs became Gjergj Elez Alia in Albanian songs.
He is one of many Muslim heroes of South Slavic poetry who exists also in
Albanian poetry.
In Albanian folklore, Gjergj Elez Alia was a great warrior.
The song Gjergj Elez Alia was recorded by Bernardin Palaj and Donat Kurti in
Nikaj (Tropojë District) and published in Tirana in 1937.
The song is usually
sung accompanied by the lahuta (gusle), or occasionally with çifteli, by the
rapsodi (performer). The song is part of the larger cycle of the Albanian Songs
of the Frontier Warriors (Albanian: Këngë Kreshnikësh or Cikli i Kreshnikëve)
that crystallized in the 17th and 18th centuries and recorded in written form
in the first decades of 20th century by the Franciscan priests Shtjefën Gjeçovi
and Bernardin Palaj. Although they were transmitted from South Slavic milieu of
Bosnia they are not simply translated from Serbo-Croatian, but have independently
evolved in the northern Albanian highlands.
Gjergj Elez Alia had nine wounds on his body and lay
suffering for nine years in his house and everybody had forgotten him. Only his
sister took care of him night and day for nine years. Then news came that
another enemy, Balozi i Zi (black knight) had come from the sea and was killing
people and destroying villages every day.
One day Gjergj felt some drops of water on his face and
thought that his house had become so old that the rain was coming in. His
sister told him that it was not the rain, but her tears on his face. She told
him that Balozi had requested her and sooner or later would come to get her.
Gjergj then told her to take his horse and make it ready for war, as he was
going to fight against the horrible Baloz. He met Baloz the next day and had
the fight; Gjergj was victorious. He returned home to his sister and as they
hugged with joy, both their hearts stopped beating and they died instantly
together. They were then buried in the same grave and the place was never
forgotten. Everyone that passed by stopped to remember his great actions.
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