Nora of Kelmendi

Abandoned at an orphanage, adopted by her aunt and raised as a boy, Nora's life did not exactly begin happily. Her father was a noble warrior who fought against the Ottoman Empire and desired a son to help him fight against the oppressors and was disappointed when Nora was born. His sister secretly adopted Nora and when her brother desired to train the young "boy" as a fighter, she gave her approval. Nora was trained by her father and turned out to be the most beautiful girl in the country. Her beauty has been compared to that of a mountain fairy, a Zana. Her father regretted abandoning her at the orphanage and they reconciled. When Nora was visiting a city where a pasha resided, the pasha saw her and fell madly in love. He sent a trusted man to Nora's house and asked for her hand, by the laws of the Albanian Kanun, but Nora's family refused, stating that the Albanian Kanun did not allow for marriages with non-Albanians. The pasha did not take this well, unaccustomed with such refusal and raged, "Either Nora will become my wife or I will burn all of Malsia to ashes.". In order to break the siege the pasha had led to her town, Nora devised a plan to kill the pasha. She went to the pasha pretending to want to marry him. After the pasha, joyous with her presence, had sent his troops away she stabbed him with a dagger, kicked him and chocked him so that he could not scream. The pasha did not die, for he fell on the ground and as it is dishonorable for an Albanian to strike a man that is not standing or not fighting back, Nora fled before she could kill him. The Albanian army attacked, and Nora returned with an army of 300 women, killing the pasha in a duel.