View source for Serbian epic poetry

{{Short description|Form of epic poetry}}
[[File:Hercegovac pjeva uz gusle.JPG|right|thumb|185px|A [[Serb]] sings to the gusle (drawing from 1823). Serbian epic poems were often sung to the accompaniment of this traditional bowed string instrument.]]
[[File:Guslar singing of the death of Lazar, at an encampent in Javor.jpg|thumb|Guslar singing of the death of Lazar, at an encampent in Javor, during the [[Serbian–Ottoman War (1876–78)]].]]
'''Serbian epic poetry''' ({{langx|sr|Српске епске народне песме|Srpske epske narodne pesme}}) is a form of [[epic poetry]] created by [[Serbs]] originating in today's [[Serbia]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Croatia]], [[Montenegro]] and [[North Macedonia]]. The main cycles were composed by unknown Serb authors between the 14th and 19th centuries. They are largely concerned with historical events and personages. The instrument accompanying the epic poetry is the ''[[gusle]]''.

Serbian epic poetry helped in developing the [[Serbian national identity|Serbian national consciousness]].{{sfn|Dragnich|1994|pp=29–30}} The cycles of [[Prince Marko]], the [[Hajduks]] and [[Uskoks]] inspired the Serbs to restore freedom and their heroic past.{{sfn|Dragnich|1994|pp=29–30}} The Hajduks in particular, are seen as an integral part of national identity; in stories, the hajduks were heroes: they had played the role of the Serbian elite during Ottoman rule, they had defended the Serbs against Ottoman oppression, and prepared for the national liberation and contributed to it in the [[Serbian Revolution]].<ref name="CaseNaimark2003">{{cite book |editor=Norman M. Naimark |editor2=Holly Case |author=Wendy Bracewell |chapter=The Proud Name of Hajduks |title=Yugoslavia and Its Historians: Understanding the Balkan Wars of the 1990s |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u5tUbUyXtToC&pg=PA25|year=2003|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-8029-2|pages=25–}}</ref>

==History==
The earliest surviving record of an epic poem related to Serbian epic poetry is a ten verse fragment of a [[bugarštica]] song from 1497 in Southern Italy about the imprisonment of [[Sibinjanin Janko]] (John Hunyadi) by [[Đurađ Branković]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Matica Srpska Review of Stage Art and Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6OZkAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Matica|page=109|quote=...родовског удруживања и кнежинске самоуправе, а према механизму фолклорне рецепци^е садржаја званичне културе, српске епске јуначке песме, посебно бугарштице, прва је забележена већ 1497. године, чувају успомене и ...}}</ref><ref name="Milošević-Đorđević2001">{{cite book|last=Milošević-Đorđević|first=Nada|title=Srpske narodne epske pesme i balade|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0O8XAQAAIAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva|page=10|isbn=9788617088130|quote=Крајем XV века, 1497. године, појављује се за сада први познати запис од десет бугарштичких стихова, које је у свом епу забележио италијански ... Јанка, ердељског племића (чије је право име Јанош Хуњади) у тамници српског деспота Ђурђа Бранковића.}}</ref> however the regional origin and ethnic identity of its Slavic performers remains a matter of scholarly dispute.<ref>{{citation |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/45862?lang=en |language=hr |last=Šimunović |first=Petar |title=Sklavunske naseobine u južnoj Italiji i naša prva zapisana bugaršćica |year=1984 |journal=Narodna Umjetnost: Croatian Journal of Ethnology and Folklore Research |publisher=Institute of Ethonology and Folklore Research |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=56–61 |via=Hrčak - Portal znanstvenih časopisa Republike Hrvatske}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/26005?lang=en |language=hr |last=Bošković-Stulli |first=Maja |author-link=Maja Bošković-Stulli |title=Bugarštice |year=2004 |journal=Narodna Umjetnost: Croatian Journal of Ethnology and Folklore Research |publisher=Institute of Ethonology and Folklore Research |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=38–39 |via=Hrčak - Portal znanstvenih časopisa Republike Hrvatske}}</ref> From at least the Ottoman period up until the present day, Serbian epic poetry was sung accompanied by the ''[[gusle]]'' and there are historical references to Serb performers playing the gusle at the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Polish–Lithuanian]] royal courts in the 16th and 17th centuries, and later on in Ukraine and Hungary.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pejovic|first=Roksanda|title=Medieval music|work=The history of Serbian Culture|year=1995|publisher=Rastko|url=http://www.rastko.rs/isk/rpejovic-medieval_music.html}}</ref> Hungarian historian [[Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos|Sebestyén Tinódi]] wrote in 1554 that "there are many gusle players here in Hungary, but none is better at the Serbian style than [[Dimitrije Karaman]]", and described Karaman's performance to Turkish lord Uluman in 1551 in [[Lipova (Vrnjačka Banja)|Lipova]]: the guslar would hold the gusle between his knees and go into a highly emotional artistic performance with a sad and dedicated expression on his face.{{sfn|Petrović|2008|p=100}} Chronicler and poet [[Maciej Stryjkowski]] (1547–1582) included a verse mentions the Serbs singing heroic songs about ancestors fighting the Turks in his 1582 chronicle.{{sfn|Georgijević|2003}} [[Józef Bartłomiej Zimorowic]] used the phrase "to sing to the Serbian gusle" in his 1663 [[idyll]] ''Śpiewacy'' (Singers).{{sfn|Georgijević|2003}}

In 1824, [[Vuk Karadžić]] sent a copy of his folksong collection to [[Jacob Grimm]], who was particularly enthralled by ''[[The Building of Skadar]]''. Grimm translated it into [[German language|German]], and described it as "one of the most touching poems of all nations and all times".<ref name="Dundes1996">{{cite book|author=Alan Dundes|title=The Walled-Up Wife: A Casebook|url=https://archive.org/details/walledupwife00alan|url-access=registration|access-date=1 March 2013|year=1996|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-299-15073-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/walledupwife00alan/page/3 3]–}}</ref><ref name="Radosavljevich1919">{{cite book|author=Paul Rankov Radosavljevich|title=Who are the Slavs?: A Contribution to Race Psychology|url=https://archive.org/details/whoareslavsacon02radogoog|quote=skadar.|access-date=1 March 2013|year=1919|publisher=Badger|page=[https://archive.org/details/whoareslavsacon02radogoog/page/n371 332]}}</ref>

Many of the epics are about the era of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Ottoman Serbia|occupation of Serbia]] and the struggle for the liberation. With the efforts of ethnographer Vuk Karadžić, many of these epics and folk tales were collected and published in books in the first half of the 19th century. Up until that time, these poems and songs had been almost exclusively an oral tradition, transmitted by bards and singers. Among the books Karadžić published were:

*A Small Simple-Folk Slavonic-Serbian Songbook, 1814; Serbian Folk Song-Book (Vols, I-IV, Leipzig edition, 1823-8133; Vols. I-IV, Vienna edition, 1841-1862)
*Serbian Folk Tales (1821, with 166 riddles; and 1853)
*Serbian Folk Proverbs and Other Common Expressions, 1834.
*"Women's Songs" from Herzegovina (1866) - which was collected by Karadžić's collaborator and assistant [[Vuk Vrčević]]

These editions appeared in Europe when [[romanticism]] was in full bloom and there was much interest in Serbian folk poetry, including from [[Johann Gottfried Herder]], [[Jacob Grimm]], [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]] and [[Jernej Kopitar]].{{sfn|Milošević-Đorđević|1995}}

==Gusle==
 {{main|Gusle}}
The ''[[gusle]]'' ({{lang|sr|гусле}}) instrumentally accompanies heroic songs (epic poetry) in the Balkans.{{sfn|Ling|1997|p=87}} The instrument is held vertically between the knees, with the left hand fingers on the neck.{{sfn|Ling|1997|p=87}} The strings are never pressed to the neck, giving a harmonic and unique sound.{{sfn|Ling|1997|p=87}} There is no consensus about the origin of the instrument, while some researchers believe it was brought with the Slavs to the Balkans, based on a 6th-century Byzantine source.{{sfn|Bjeladinović-Jergić|2001|p=489}} [[Teodosije the Hilandarian]] (1246–1328) wrote that [[Stefan Nemanjić]] (r. 1196–1228) often entertained the [[Medieval Serbian nobility|Serbian nobility]] with musicians with drums and "gusle".{{sfn|Vlahović|2004|p=340}} Reliable written records about the ''gusle'' appear only in the 15th century.{{sfn|Bjeladinović-Jergić|2001|p=489}} 16th-century travel memoirs mention the instrument in [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]] and [[Serbia]].{{sfn|Bjeladinović-Jergić|2001|p=489}}

It is known that Serbs sang to the ''gusle'' during the Ottoman period. Notable Serbian performers played at the Polish royal courts in the 16th- and 17th centuries, and later on in Ukraine and in Hungary.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pejovic|first=Roksanda|title=Medieval music|work=The history of Serbian Culture|year=1995|publisher=Rastko|url=http://www.rastko.rs/isk/rpejovic-medieval_music.html}}</ref> There is an old mention in Serbo-Croatian literature that a Serbian guslar was present at the court of [[Władysław II Jagiełło]] in 1415.{{sfn|Georgijević|2003}} In a poem published in 1612, Kasper Miaskowski wrote that "the Serbian gusle and [[gaida]]s will overwhelm [[Shrove Tuesday]]".{{sfn|Georgijević|2003}} [[Józef Bartłomiej Zimorowic]] used the phrase "to sing to the Serbian gusle" in his 1663 [[idyll]] ''Śpiewacy'' ("Singers").{{sfn|Georgijević|2003}}

==Corpus==
The corpus of Serbian epic poetry is divided into cycles:
*Non-historic cycle (Неисторијски циклус/Neistorijski ciklus) - poems about [[Slavic mythology]], characteristically about [[Slavic dragon|dragons]] and [[Supernatural beings in Slavic folklore|nymphs]]
*Pre-Kosovo cycle (Преткосовски циклус/Pretkosovski ciklus) - poems about events that predate the [[Battle of Kosovo]] (1389)
*Kosovo cycle (Косовски циклус/Kosovski ciklus) - poems about events that happened just before and after the [[Battle of Kosovo]]
*Post-Kosovo cycle (Покосовски циклус/Pokosovski ciklus) - poems about post-Battle events
*Cycle of [[Prince Marko|Kraljević Marko]] (Циклус Краљевића Марка/Ciklus Kraljevića Marka)
*Cycle of [[hajduk]]s and [[uskoks]] (Хајдучки и ускочки циклус, Хајдучке и ускочке песме) – poems about brigands and rebels
*Poems about the liberation of Serbia and Montenegro (циклус ослобођења Србије, Песме о ослобођењу Србије и Црне Горе) - poems about the 19th-century battles against the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]]
*Unsorted (Неразврстане/Nerazvrstane) – poems that do not belong to any of the cycles mentioned above

Poems depict historical events with varying degrees of accuracy.

[[File:Kosovo Maiden, Uroš Predić, 1919.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|''[[Kosovo Maiden]]'' by [[Uroš Predić]]<hr>''Dying [[Pavle Orlović]] is given water by a maiden who seeks her fiancé; he tells her that her love, [[Milan Toplica|Milan]], and his two blood-brothers [[Miloš Obilić|Miloš]] and [[Ivan Kosančić|Ivan]] are dead.''<br>—taken from the Serb epic poem}}]]

==Notable people==
* [[Benedikt Kuripečič]] (16th century), diplomat who traveled through [[Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina|Ottoman Bosnia]] and [[Ottoman Serbia|Serbia]] in 1530 and recorded that epic songs about [[Miloš Obilić]] are popular not only among [[Serbs]] in Kosovo but also in Bosnia and Croatia. He also recorded some legends about the [[Battle of Kosovo]].<ref name="Ivić1996">{{cite book|author=Pavle Ivić|author-link=Pavle Ivić|title=Istorija srpske kulture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r3FpAAAAMAAJ|access-date=9 September 2013|year=1996|publisher=Dečje novine|page=160|isbn=9788636707920|quote=Бенедикт Курипечић. пореклом Словенаи, који између 1530. и 1531. путује као тумач аустријског посланства, у свом Путопису препричава део косовске легенде, спомиње епско певање о Милошу Обилићу у крајевима удаљеним од места догађаја, у Босни и Хрватској, и запажа настајање нових песама.}}</ref>
* [[Dimitrije Karaman]] ({{floruit}} 1551), oldest known Serbian gusle player
* [[Avram Miletić]] (1755–after 1826), merchant and [[songwriter]] best known for writing the earliest collection of urban [[lyric poetry]] in Serbian.
* [[Old Rashko]], one of the most important sources of epic poetry recorded by [[Vuk Karadžić]].
* [[Filip Višnjić]] (1767–1834), Serbian guslar dubbed the "Serbian Homer" both for his blindness and poetic gift.
* [[Tešan Podrugović]] (1783–1815), Serb [[hajduk]], [[Oral storytelling|storyteller]] and guslar who participated in the [[First Serbian Uprising]] and was one of the most important sources for Serbian epic poetry.
* [[Živana Antonijević]] (d. 1822), known as "Blind Živana", one of the favorite female singers of Vuk Karadžić.
* [[Vuk Karadžić]] (1787—1864) was a [[Serbs|Serbian]] [[philology|philologist]] and [[linguistics|linguist]] who was the major reformer of the [[Serbian language]]. He deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of [[Serbian folklore]].
*[[Vuk Vrčević]] (1811-1882), collector of lyric poetry
* [[Petar Perunović]] (1880–1952), known as "Perun", famous guslar who performed for [[Nikola Tesla]] and the first to record Serbian epic poetry in a studio.
*[[Đuro Milutinović the Blind]] (1774–1844), guslar at Serbian court.

==Characters==
;Medieval era
* [[Tsar Dušan]], Emperor
* [[Prince Lazar]], Prince and legendary Emperor
* [[Pavle Orlović]], knight
* [[Milan Toplica]], knight
* [[Ivan Kosančić]], knight
* [[Jugović brothers]], including [[Boško Jugović]]
* [[Constantine Dragaš|Beg Kostadin]]
* [[Miloš Vojinović]]
* Voivode Prijezda
* [[Mali Radojica]], hajduk
* [[Deli Radivoje]]
* "[[Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk]]" (Vuk the Fiery Dragon), based on [[Vuk Grgurević]], the Serbian Despot (r. 1471–85)
* [[Ailing Dojčin]], possibly based on despots John VII Palaiologos and Andronikos Palaiologos
* [[Relja the Winged]]
* [[Pop Milo Jovović]]
* [[Bajo Pivljanin]]
* [[Stari Vujadin]]
* [[Alil-Aga]]
* [[John Hunyadi|Sibinjanin Janko]]
* [[Vratko Nemanjić|Jug Bogdan]]
* [[Janko Mitrović|Janko od Kotara]]
* [[Starina Novak]] (partly)
* [[Musa Kesedžija]], enemy of Kraljević Marko, he is the result of merging several historical people including [[Musa Çelebi]] son of [[Bayezid I]] and Musa from the [[Muzaka family|Muzaka]] [[Albanian nobility|Albanian noble family]] while [[Jovan Tomić]] believes he is based on the supporter of Jegen Osman Pasha
* [[Djemo the Mountaineer]], enemy of Kraljević Marko, a member of [[Muzaka family|Muzaka noble family]] ([[Gjin Muzaka]]) or maybe [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] military person Jegen Osman Pasha
* [[General Vuča]], enemy of Kraljević Marko, Tanush Dukagjin, a member of [[Dukagjini family|Dukagjini noble family]] or [[Prince Eugene of Savoy]] or [[Peter Doci]]
* [[Philip the Magyar]], enemy of Kraljević Marko, [[Pipo of Ozora]], an [[Italians|Italian]] [[condottiero]], general, strategist and confidant of King [[Sigismund of Hungary]].
* [[Arnaut Osman]]

Hajduk cycle
* Ognjen Hadzovic, hajduk, main character in ''Ženidba Hadzovic Ognjena''.{{sfn|Karadžić|1833|pp=265–271}}
* Srbin Tukelija, hajduk, main character in ''Boj Arađana s Komadincima''.{{sfn|Karadžić|1833|pp=271–276}}

Many other heroes of Serbian epic poetry are also based upon historical persons:
* [[Strahinja Banović]] — [[Đurađ II Stracimirović Balšić]]
* [[Jug Bogdan]] — [[Vratko Nemanjić]]
* [[Beg Kostadin]] — [[Constantine Dragaš]]
* [[Sibinjanin Janko]] — [[John Hunyadi]]
* Petar Dojčin — [[Petar Doci]]
* Maksim Crnojević — [[Skenderbeg Crnojević|Staniša Skenderbeg Crnojević]]
* [[Bajo Pivljanin]] - Bajo Nikolić
* [[Mihajlo Svilojević]] — [[Michael Szilágyi]]
* Janko od Kotara - [[Janko Mitrović]]
* [[Manojlo Grčić]] - [[Manuel I Komnenos]]
* [[Relja the Winged]] - [[Hrelja (protosebastos)|Hrelja]]
* [[Grujica Žeravica]]

Some heroes are paired with their horses, such as [[Prince Marko]]—Šarac, [[Momchil|Vojvoda Momčilo]]—Jabučilo (a winged horse), [[Miloš Obilić]]—Ždralin, [[Damjan Jugović]]—Zelenko, [[Banović Strahinja]]—Đogin, [[Hajduk-Veljko]]—Kušlja, [[Jovan Kursula]]—Strina, [[Srđa Zlopogleđa]]—Vranac.<ref>Политикин забавник 3147, p. 4</ref>

==Excerpts==

*[[Slavic antithesis]]:
{{cquote|''There two pines were growing together,<br/>and among them one thin-topped fir;<br/>neither there were just some two green pines<br/>nor among them one thin-topped fir,<br/>but those two were just some two born brothers<br/>one is Pavle, other is Radule<br/>and among them little sis' Jelena.''}}

*([[Prince Marko|Kraljević Marko]] speaks: )
{{cquote|''"I'm afraid that there will be a brawl.<br/>And if really there will be a brawl,<br/>Woe to one who is next to Marko!"''}}
{{cquote|''"Thou dear hand, oh thou my fair green apple,<br/>Where didst blossom? Where has fate now plucked thee?<br/>Woe is me! thou blossomed on my bosom,<br/>Thou wast plucked, alas, upon Kosovo!"''}}
{{cquote|''"Oh my bird, oh my dear grey falcon,<ref>''[[Black Lamb and Grey Falcon]]'' by [[Rebecca West]] is the title of one of the best-known books in English on the subject of Yugoslavia.</ref><br/>How do you feel with your wing torn out?"<br/>"I am feeling with my wing torn out<br/>Like a brother one without the other."''}}

<!--(All translations except third by first author of this article. English-speaking people, please tell [[User talk:Nikola Smolenski|me]] how good are they.)-->
Modern example of Serbian epics as recorded in 1992 by film director [[Paweł Pawlikowski]] in a documentary for the [[BBC]] ''Serbian epics''; an anonymous ''gusle'' singer compares Radovan Karadžić, as he prepares to depart for [[Geneva]] for peace talk, to [[Karađorđe]], who had led the [[First Serbian Uprising]] against the Turks in 1804:<ref>{{cite book |author=Judah, Tim |title=The Serbs - History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia |url=https://archive.org/details/serbs00timj |url-access=registration |year=1997 |location=New Haven and London |publisher=Yale University Press}}</ref>

{{cquote|''"Hey, Radovan, you man of steel!<br/>The greatest leader since Karađorđe!<br/>Defend our freedom and our faith,<br/>On the shores of [[Lake Geneva]]."''}}

==Quotes==
* {{cquote|''The ballads of Serbia occupy a high position, perhaps the highest position, in the ballad literature of Europe. They would, if well known, astonish Europe... In them breathes a clear and inborn poetry such as can scarcely be found among any other modern people.''}} [[Jacob Grimm]]
* {{cquote|''Everyone in the West who has known these poems has proclaimed them to be literature of the highest order which ought to be known better.''}} [[Charles Simic]]

==Modern Serbian epic poetry==
Epic poetry is recorded still today. Some modern songs are published in books or recorded, and under [[copyright]], but some are in [[public domain]], and modified by subsequent authors just like old ones. There are new songs that mimic old epic poetry, but are humorous and not epic in nature; these are also circulating around with no known author. In the latter half of the 19th century, a certain MP would exit the Serbian parliament each day, and tell of the debate over the monetary reform bill in the style of epic poetry.<!--I have a source for this, although it's not to hand. Just wanted to put it in now in case I forgot--> Modern epic heroes include: Slobodan Milošević, Radovan Karadžić, Milan Martić, Ratko Mladić and Vojislav Šešelj. Topics include: [[Yugoslav wars]], [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia]], and the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|Hague Tribunal]].

Popular modern Serbian epic performers, ''guslari'' (Guslars) include: [[Milomir Miljanić|Milomir "Miljan" Miljanić]], Đoko Koprivica, Boško Vujačić, Vlastimir Barać, Sava Stanišić, Miloš Šegrt, Saša Laketić and Milan Mrdović.

==See also==
{{portal|Poetry}}
* [[Gusle]]
* [[Bugarštica]]
* [[Erlangen Manuscript]]
* [[List of national poetries]]
* [[The Building of Skadar]]
* [[Serbian literature]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Bjeladinović-Jergić|first=Jasna|title=Зборник Етнографског музеја у Београду: 1901-2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EQcSAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA489|year=2001|publisher=Етнографски музеј|pages=489–|isbn=9788678910081}}
* {{cite book|last=Dragnich|first=Alex N.|title=Serbia's Historical Heritage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OW5pAAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=East European Monographs|isbn=978-0-88033-244-6}}
* {{cite web|last=Georgijević|first=Krešimir|year=2003|orig-year=1936|title=Српскохрватска народна песма у пољској књижевности: Студија из упоредне историје словенских књижевности|url=http://www.rastko.rs/rastko-pl/umetnost/knjizevnost/studije/kgeorgijevic-pesma.php#uvod|publisher=Rastko; Српска краљевска академија|location=Belgrade}}
* {{cite book|last=Karadžić|first=Vuk S.|title=Narodne srpske pjesme|volume=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2IAAAAAcAAJ|year=1833|publisher=štamparija Jermenskog manastira|location=Vienna}}
* {{cite book|last=Ling|first=Jan|title=A History of European Folk Music|chapter=Narrative Song in the Balkans|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ul_IUuB4WSMC&pg=PA86|year=1997|publisher=University Rochester Press|isbn=978-1-878822-77-2|pages=86–90}}
* {{cite web|last=Milošević-Đorđević|first=Nada|year=1995|work=The history of Serbian Culture|title=The oral tradition|url=http://www.rastko.rs/isk/nmilosevic-oral_tradition.html|publisher=Rastko}}
* {{cite book|last=Petrović|first=Sonja|chapter=Oral and Written Art Forms in Serbian Medieval Literature|title=Oral Art Forms and Their Passage Into Writing |editor=Mundal, Else |editor2=Wellendorf, Jonas|year=2008|publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press|isbn=978-87-635-0504-8|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dPBPHVf3kdoC&pg=PA85|pages=85–108}}
* {{cite book|last=Popović|first=Tatyana|year=1988|title=Prince Marko: The Hero of South Slavic Epics|location=New York|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=9780815624448|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ok93aZ27r-oC}}
*{{cite book|last=Vlahović|first=Petar|title=Serbia: the country, people, life, customs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dx4qAQAAMAAJ|year=2004|publisher=Ethnographic Museum|isbn=978-86-7891-031-9}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal|last=Burić|first=Ranko|year=1989|title=KOSOVSKI CIKLUS|journal=Etnološke sveske|volume=10|pages=119–125|url=http://www.anthroserbia.org/Content/PDF/Articles/ES-X_(1989)_11_Ranko_Buric.pdf}}
* {{cite book|last=Jakobson|first=Roman|title=Slavic Epic Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j4BpFO2ARCsC|year=1966|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-088958-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Locke|first=Geoffry N. W.|title=The Serbian epic ballads: an anthology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SwNjAAAAMAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Nolit|isbn=9788619021562}}
* {{Cite journal|last=MacKenzie|first=David|title=The Serbian Warrior Myth and Serbia's Liberation, 1804-1815|journal=Serbian Studies: Journal of the North American Society for Serbian  Studies|year=1996|volume=10|number=2|pages=133–148|url=https://www.academia.edu/4254722}}
* {{cite book|last=Meredith|first=Owen|title=Serbski Pesme, Or, National Songs of Serbia|year=1861|publisher=Chapman and Hall|location=London|url=https://archive.org/stream/serbskipesmeorn00lyttgoog}} {{PD-icon}}
* {{cite book|last1=Noyes|first1=George Rapall|last2=Bacon|first2=Leonard|title=Heroic Ballads of Servia|url=https://archive.org/stream/heroicballadsofs00noyeiala|year=1913|publisher=Sherman, French & Company|location=Boston}} {{small|(Public Domain)}}
* {{cite journal|last=Perić|first=Dragoljub Ž.|title=Temporal formulas in Serbian oral epic songs|journal=Balcanica|year=2013|volume=44 |issue=44|pages=159–180|doi=10.2298/BALC1344159P|url=http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/ft.aspx?id=0350-76531344159P|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal|last=Petrović|first=Sonja|title=Charity, good deeds and the poor in Serbian epic poetry|journal=Balcanica|volume=XXXVI|year=2005|issue=36|pages=51–71|doi=10.2298/BALC0536051P|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book|last=Petrovitch|first=Woislav M.|title=Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5axDirx6IbAC|year=2007|orig-year=1915|publisher=Cosimo, Inc.|isbn=978-1-60206-081-4}}
** {{cite web|last=Petrovitch|first=Woislav M.|title=Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians|url=https://archive.org/stream/herotaleslegends00petr|year=1915}} {{small|(illustrated)}} {{PD-icon}}
* {{cite book|author1=Miodrag Stojanović|author2=Radovan Samardžić|title=Хајдуци и клефти у народном песништву|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=whcMAAAAIAAJ|year=1984|publisher=Српска академија наука и уметности, Балканолошки институт}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource|Ploughing of Marko Kraljevic}}
{{Wikisource|Marko and the Turks}}
* {{cite web|last=Lew|first=Mark D.|title=Serbian Epic Poetry|year=1999|url=http://home.earthlink.net/~markdlew/SerbEpic/index.htm}}
*[http://www.kosovo.net/sk/history/battle_of_kosovo.html The Battle of Kosovo - Serbian Epic Poems] Preface by [[Charles Simic]] ''Swallow Press/Ohio University Press,'' Athens 1987

;Audio
*[http://www.njegos.net/audio/poucenje_u_stihovima.mp3 Lesson in rhyme]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*[http://www.njegos.net/audio/pjesma_karadjordju.mp3 Poem for Karadjordje]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*[http://www.njegos.net/audio/pogibijapasenaselokruse.mp3 Fate of vizier Mahmud-pasha in the village of Krusa]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051108110303/http://www.slobodnasrpska.org/muzika/jama/KoritskaJama1.mp3 Pit of Korich] [https://web.archive.org/web/20051108104557/http://www.slobodnasrpska.org/muzika/jama/KoritskaJama2.mp3 Part 2] [https://web.archive.org/web/20051108103211/http://www.slobodnasrpska.org/muzika/jama/KoritskaJama3.mp3 Part 3]

{{Poetry of different cultures and languages}}
{{National symbols of Serbia}}
{{Kosovo Myth}}
{{Serbia topics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serbian Epic Poetry}}
[[Category:Serbian epic poetry| ]]
[[Category:Culture of Serbia]]
[[Category:Serbian folklore]]
[[Category:National symbols of Serbia]]
[[Category:Works set in Serbia]]