Lord of the Field (earth-serpent)
Zoti i arës
Field-serpent addressed in highland maize-sowing prayers.
Description
Personified field/earth serpent addressed in spring sowing prayers. Tirta 2004 ~p. 151 (via Çabej): highlanders sowing maize say «O zoti i arës, leshoja tokën farës» / «Del i zoti i arës, / Se erdh i zoti i farës» — praying the serpent as divine personification of earth fertility. Other names: toks / dheu / ai i dheut. Field prayer-face beside the house Vitore and the broader Dheu cult sheet.
Features
- addressed as soil-owner in sowing formulas (Tirta/Çabej)
Lead story
Before the seed hits the row they ask the field’s owner to loosen the soil — zoti i arës, the serpent of the earth. The house snake keeps another room.
Aliases
Zoti i arës · Zoti i Ares · Toks (earth euphemism) · i zoti i farës (formula)
Region
Highland sowing prayers (Çabej via Tirta); earth-serpent owner of soil
Relations
- Vitore (Household Serpent)not the same as
- The Earth / Lady of the Earthnot the same as
Linked stories
- Zoti i arës — sowing prayerRecorded
«O zoti i arës, loosen the soil for the seed» — field-serpent sowing prayer.