Sworn Virgins
I was a bit surprised to read about this segment of Albania. While I suppose it’s probably as uncommon as some of the weird religious communes in the wild backwoods of Nowhereville USA, I have to wonder:
Is anything even remotely close to this going on in Romania somewhere? Or some other equally bizarre hangover of social organization? If so, lemme know.
February 19th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Hey you have an Albanian quote on the bottom of your page!! That’s cool! One of the main streets in Tirana is “Sami Frasheri” and these 3 brothers are an important part of Albanian history.
As for the sworn virgins I think Albanians like to claim they don’t exist. I can’t recall anything similar in Romania but give me some time and I might!
February 19th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I’m not aware of anything similar in traditional Romanian society, likely because of the existence of a stronger dowry custom: the newly wed couple got a sometimes substantial dowry from the bride’s family. I think it often involved land for agricultural use and/or furniture for the house which the groom would build.
BTW, it’s interesting to note that the word “to marry” (a căsători) in Romanian is derived from “house” (casă). :-)
However, this custom is common in some areas of ex-Yugoslavia, likely in Montenegro and Bosnia, which are full of patriarchal rednecks. (or at least that’s how the Serbs from Belgrade see them)
February 19th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Not going on in Romania that I know of, but here’s some more about them:
http://ciopirtirebrutala.blogspot.com/2007/01/becoming-men.html
February 20th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Thanks, y’all. A very interesting subject which allows for a variety of interpretations.
October 16th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Bogdan, if I remember right, men căsătoresc and women mărita. Is that so?