lahuta

Lahuta, or lahutë in Albanian, is a traditional long-necked string instrument from northern Albania and parts of Kosovo and Montenegro. It is a lute-like instrument with a wooden body, typically rounded and sometimes covered with animal skin, and a long fretted neck. Traditionally, it has a single melody string, with one or more sympathetic or drone strings in regional variants. The lahuta is usually played with a plectrum, though players may pluck with the nails or fingers.

The lahuta is closely tied to the Albanian tradition of epic poetry. It is used to accompany singers who perform heroic ballads of the kreshniks, the legendary warrior-heroes of the highlands, linking music to oral history and communal memory. In Albanian literature and national discourse, the instrument is widely symbolic, in part due to Gjergj Fishta’s epic Lahuta e Popullit (The Highland Lute), a foundational work that helped popularize the image of the lahuta as a national emblem.

Construction and playing style vary by region, but the instrument remains a symbol of cultural heritage in northern Albanian communities and in Kosovo. Today, traditional lahuta-making continues among luthiers, and the instrument appears in contemporary folk and world-music contexts, where it is celebrated for its storied association with Albanian history and identity.