Kanun

A good friend of mine is getting married. I remember the one thousand evenings in the park, after school. Future plans in all forms and weights were discussed. But marriage? Never.

He announced some days ago, when we were having a beer together. July 2011. Still far away, but already lots of things to arrange. Wedding party, family dinner, a bachelor party perhaps. Ah, and we need a best man (that will be me, by the way). Quite something. Time for stress, quoi.

The day after, I was browsing through The Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini, a set of laws which have been ruling the highlands of Northern Albania for ages. In Book Three, titled ‘Martesa’ (Marriage in English) I found my friend the perfect sunday evening literature:

—-
CHAPTER FOUR
 
THE WEDDING
—–
 
 
Preparation for the Wedding According to the Kanun
 
 
45. The following must be prepared for the wedding:
 
a) a “wedding ox” must weight 100 okë in meat and fat
b) a weight of corn meal
c) 4 babune (= 24 okë) of wheat flour
d) 4 okë of coffee
e) 12 okë of sugar
f) 8 okë of rice
g) 4 okë of honey
h) 10 okë of cheese
i) 2 okë of butter
j) 3 okë of oil
k) 70 okë of raki
 
 
46. At the wedding according to the Kanun, the following participate:
 
a) 12 bridegroom’s men and 1 bridesmaid
b) the messengers
c) the attendents
d) women to knead the dough
e) the servants
f) the dancers
g) those who carry the sheep
h) the singers
i) the groom and bride
j) two witnesses (the Godparents of the Bridal Wreath)
k) the wedding guests
 
 
47. The duty of the Head of the House Regarding the Wedding
 
Four weeks before the wedding,
the father of the bridesgroom or the head of the house
must go in person to invite the bridegroom’s men.
The bridegroom’s men who are friends [i.e. from other villages] are invited first,
then those who are companions [i.e. from the same village].
 
 
48. “It is a law that each friend should come to the wedding with a sheep.”
 
Sheeps are brought by:
a) Nephews and great-nephews; if one of them is in a cradle,
his mother leads the sheep with the cradle on the back;
b) The uncle of the bridegroom.
 
 
49. The Order of Arrival at the Wedding
 
a) On thursday, the sons and grandsons [of the head of the house] arrive;
b) On friday evening, the messengers, attendants, women to knead the dough,
water-carriers, sheep-bearers, and bridegroom’s men who are friends arrive;
When the sheep-bearers arrive in the bridegroom’s courtyard,
each one must fire a rifle shot.
c) On saturday morning, the bridegroom’s men who are companions arrive.
On Saturday, when the bridegroom’s men leave [to fetch the bride],
the wedding ox must be slaughtered.

From: Gjeçov, Shtjefën (ed.). Kanuni I Lekë Dukagjinit/The Code of Lekë Dukagjini (translated into English by Leonard Fox). 1989. New York: Gjonlekaj Publishing Company, p. 30.