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MEMOIRS OF THE
AMERICAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY
VOLUME 44


1954




-Y




Albanian and South Slavic


Oral Epic Poetry
By
STAVRO SKENDI
PHILADELPHIA
AMERICAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY


1954




ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY
THE AMERICAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY
I
v 414


Printed in Germany at J. Jo. Augustin, Gliickstadt




60uti,
PREFACE
Very little has been written about Albanian oral epic poetry and
still less about its relationship with the heroic songs of the South
Slavs. The present study deals with both. Presented in 1951 as a
Ph. D. dissertation at the Department of Slavic Languages of
Columbia University, it has subsequently been revised.
To many scholars go my high appreciation and thanks: to Professors Ernest J. Simmons, Gojko Ruicic6, and Karl Menges - all three
members of the doctoral committee - for the care with which they
read the manuscript and for their very helpful advice; to Professor
Albert B. Lord of Harvard University for his kindness in making
available to me some of the volumes in the Parry collection; to
Professor Alois Schmaus of the Slavic Department, University of
Munich (Germany), for his valuable comments and his encouragement; to Professor Roman Jakobson of Harvard University for all
his efforts to secure the publication of the study, supported by
Professor Philip E. Mosely of Columbia University, to whom I am
indebted in various ways.
But the present study would not have seen the light had I not had
the generous assistance of several American cultural bodies: the
American Council of Learned Societies granted me fellowships for
Balkan Studies at Columbia University for three years in succession;
the Mid-European Studies Center permitted me, while engaged in one
of its research projects, to spend part of my time in writing the
dissertation; the Committee for the Promotion of Advanced Slavic
Cultural Studies and the American Folklore Society joined hands
in financing the publication of the study. To all these organizations
I want to express my warm thanks.
Stavro Skendi


v








TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface...........................................  v
N ote.................................................. viii
Chapter
I. Interest and  Collections..........................  1
II. Variants and Antiquity of the Songs............... 23
III. Old  and  Balkan  Cycles............................  34
IV. The Battle of Kosovo......................... 57
V. Interpretation  of Songs..........................  72
VI. Genuine Albanian Songs......................... 85
VII. The Mujo-Halil Cycle........................ 99
VIII. Cultural Patterns in the Mujo-Halil Cycle........... 117
IX. Language and  Style.............................  143
X. Verse and  Formulas..............................  168
X I. Conclusion.....................................  198
Bibliography...........................................  215


vii




NOTE


The reading of the Albanian passages becomes easy, if it will be
born in mind that only the following symbols in the Albanian
language have a different pronunciation from that in English:
c - c   (Serbocroatian) dh - 8
- c    (Serbocroatian)  g - g (strong)
q -k'                   x -dz
th - 0                 xh - di (Serbocroatian)
gj - dj (Serbocroatian)
j -j    (Serbocroatian)
11-t
zh - z   (Serbocroatian)
y - ii  (German)
e - 0
As for the reading of the Turkish words in the text, the following
letters are differently pronounced:
c - dz (Serbocroatian), 9 - c (Serbocroatian), g - in velar words y,
in palatal words y (English), s - sh, i- a, ii-  i (German), o -
(as in French peul).


viii




CHAPTER I


INTEREST AND COLLECTIONS
In various parts of the world men have taken delight in singing the
exploits of their heroes. Their epic songs have roamed for a long time
from place to place, transmitted by word of mouth, before they were
gathered in collections. One has but to remember the Homeric epic
poems which, for several centuries, wandered from one province of
Greece to the other, until they were presented as Iliad and Odyssey.
The same is true about the Albanian and South Slavic epic songs.
The traditional epic poems of the Yugoslavs and the Albanians
appeared in print after many generations had passed. Inserted complete or in part, they were first met in various works of writers,
particularly in those of poets who composed in the popular epic
tradition. Their exclusive publication in collections, however, began
some two centuries ago for the South Slavs and almost a century ago
for the Albanians.
Indeed, the interest of European scholars in folklore in general
began with the rise of Romanticism. The movement in England
dates from the 1770's, with the publication of James Macpherson's
Fragments of Ancient Poetry and Fingal, an Ancient Epic Poem, represented as the translations of the works of an ancient Gaelic bard,
Ossian, and Thomas Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. They
were enthusiastically received in Europe and their influence on continental literature was great, giving birth in some languages to the
term "Ossianism" - excessive admiration of old popular poetry.
Yet the true motherland of Romanticism has been Germany,
where the so-called Ossianic fragments and English folk poetry in
general were introduced by Herder and Burger and exercised a deep
influence. It was not at all a simple literary movement. Although
Romanticism was basically opposed to Classicism and Enlightenment, its manifestations have differed according to time and place.
I. Sokolov has described it succinctly: "In the ideological life of the
European people Romanticism constitutes a complex phenomenon:
it is characterized sometimes by nationalism, sometimes by mysticism, sometimes by individualism, or by a combination of the three
elements."l The romantic movement was also strengthened by the
1 I. Sokolov, Le folklore russe, Paris, 1945, p. 21.


1


1




2


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


prevailing political conditions of the period - Napoleonic rule in
Europe and the Ottoman yoke in the Balkans.
Romanticism among the Germans manifested itself as a nationalist
movement, brought about by the growing bourgeois ideology and the
desire for the unification of the German lands. The Napoleonic wars
had intensified the national conscience of the Germans. French
literature, too, until then upholding cosmopolitanism as opposed to a
determined nationality, weighed upon them.1 The German philosophers, poets and scholars, fighting against these conditions, turned
their attention to their own people's past, to their own nationality.
The idealistic philosophers of this period, particularly Schelling,
and Hegel in his first essays, developed the theory that the history of
the world was determined by a succession of national cultures. The
"national spirit" of each people, in the long process of development,
attains its peak, enriches with its particular values the "treasures of
all humanity," then yields the place to manifestations of another
"national spirit," which in turn dominates the ideas of the civilized
world. Accordingly, these romantic philosophers believed their
country was on the point of playing a great role, because they had
discovered the deep roots of their literature in the ancient Germanic
past.2
The influence of comparative linguistics was felt in the study of
folklore. Although a collection of popular songs, Stimmen der Vilker
in Liedern, had been published in Germany by Gottfried Herder as
early as 1778-1779, the real founders of scientific folklore were the
Grimm brothers, particularly Jakob Grimm (1785-1863). Between
1812 and 1815 they published their great work Kinder- und Hausmdrchen. Their studies of the German folktales in this collection
revealed - so they believed- that they were Indo-European, since
variants of them were found among many Indo-European peoples,
which in turn supported their conviction of the antiquity of German
nationality. The linguistic data employed in such studies served to
reveal the richness of the spiritual culture of the German people, to
which the lively colors of oral poetry contributed.3 The method used
by the Grimm brothers in the study of folkloristic phenomena, the
so-called comparative or "mythological" method, dominated the
first half of the nineteenth century.
But other European nations had also experienced foreign political
and cultural oppression. German Romanticism spread among them
1 Cf. M. N. Speranski, Russkaya ustnaya slovesnost (Russian Oral Literature), Moscow, 1917, pp. 29-30.
2 Cf. Y. M. Sokolov, Russian Folklore, New York, 1950, p. 48.
3 Visaret e Kombit (The Treasures of the Nation), II, Tirana, 1937, p. III.




INTEREST AND COLLECTIONS


3


and stimulated their interest in nationality. It was recognized that
the individual traits of a nationality represented the degree of its
independence: the more numerous the characteristics the more
independent the nationality. These separate traits were to be found
both in history and among the common people, for the upper classes
had lost them under the leveling influence of cosmopolitanism.1 As a
consequence, the lower classes were idealized, and their idealization
was greatly enhanced when the Wars of Liberation broke out. Oral
literature, then, as the greatest expression of national features, began
to receive particular attention on the part of scholars and researchers.
South Slavic Collections
In this atmosphere of romanticism the best collection of Serbian
epic songs appeared. Its author was Vuk Karadic6 (1787-1864). Even
before him, in the eighteenth century, several collections had been
made along the Adriatic coast, but they were in manuscript form.2
The only collection of epic songs which was published, and was later
to arouse great interest, was Razgovor ugodni naroda slovinskoga
(Agreeable Discourse of the Slavic People), (Venice, 1756), by Andrija
Kacic-Miosic (1704-1760). The majority of the poems in it were
creations of the Franciscan abbot himself, but there were also a few
truly popular songs. As the aim of Kaci6-Miosi6 was to represent in
popular epic songs the history of the Serbs and Croats, he did not
hesitate to change them in order to fit history: he brought the songs
nearer to historical fact. His collection and other works of the period
are indicative of the tendency toward the renaissance of the South
Slavs which, as time passed, grew in strength.
Kacic's work had only a local influence. It was the lot of an Italian,
Alberto Fortis (1741-1803), to make known to the West the popular
epic poetry of the South Slavs. Under the influence of the Poems of
Ossian and the Reliques he became interested in the songs of the
Morlachi (the Orthodox Christian peasants of the Dalmatian coast)
and in Kaci6's collection. After a trip in Dalmatia, he published first
Saggio d'osservazioni sopra le isole di Cherso ed Ossero (Venice, 1771),
in which he included, in Italian translation, the song "Canto di Milos
Cobilich e di Vuko Brankovich," which he had found in Razgovor..
This song was not really popular, but was composed by Kacic on the
1 M. N. Speranski, op. cit., pp. 56-57.
2 Cf. G. Gesemann, Die serbokroatische Literatur, Wildpark-Potsdam, 1929,
p. 6; M. Murko, La pogsie populaire epique en Yougoslavie au debut du XXe
siicle, Paris, 1929, p. 1.
1*




4


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


popular pattern.' A little later Fortis published Viaggio in Dalmazia
(1774) in which he speaks about Yugoslav oral poetry, describing the
Morlachi singers and their musical instrument, the gusle, adding also
a truly popular song, both in the original and in Italian translation:
"Zalosna pjesanca plemenite Asan-Aginice" (Canzone dolente della
nobile sposa d'Asan aga). Fortis's last work was soon translated into
German, French, and English. The song Hasanaginica, on the other
hand, translated by Goethe and published in Herder's Stimmen der
Volker, became famous all over Western Europe and aroused interest
in the oral songs of the South Slavs.
The interest of romantic Europe in the popular creations of the
South Slavs, on one hand, and the desire of the Serbs to free themselves from the Turks and develop their own national culture, on the
other, stimulated the collection of the heroic songs. For the attainment of their national liberation, however, the Serbs had to prove
their "historical right" to independence. The Serbian oral epic poetry
was best suited for this aim because it is fundamentally historical. It
could bear witness to the existence in the past of the Serbian state,
its antiquity and great power, as well as to the existence of a Serbian
"autonomous" culture.2 The task of most clearly revealing the
Serbian treasure of ancient national culture fell upon Vuk Karadzi6.
The unhappy end of the first Serbian insurrection, in 1813, brought
Vuk Karadzic to Vienna. His education was limited but he had a
brilliant mind and a love for all that was Serbian. Because of its
purity of language, an article which he published in a Serbian newspaper there drew the attention of the Vienna Slavicist, Jernej Kopitar
(1780-1844). It was under the influence of the latter that Vuk improved his education immensely and wrote many of his works. But
while Kopitar was interested in the popular creations of the Serbs
chiefly from the viewpoint of Slavic folklore, his proteg6's interest in
them sprang mainly from his desire for the independence of Serbia.
Indeed, Vuk's writings on language, his dictionary, the translation of
the New Testament, the introduction of a new orthography, the
history of Serbia, the collection of oral productions of poetry all are
connected with the idea of Serbian unification and independence.
However, the two scholars cannot be separatet: had there not been
Kopitar, there would not have been Vuk.
In 1814 Karadzic published, in Vienna, his first collection of
Serbian popular songs. Kopitar who, through reading andpersonal
contacts, had become aware of the richness of the Serbian popular
songs, suggested this collection. The book called Mala prostonarodna
1 D. Suboti6, Yugoslav Popular Ballads, Cambridge, 1932, pp. 169-170.
2 N. Kravtsov, Serbski epos (Serbian Epos), Moscow-Leningrad, 1933, p. 179.




INTEREST AND COLLECTIONS


slaveno-serbska pesnarica (Little Book of Popular Slavo-Serbian
Songs) was received with great enthusiasm, particularly by Jakob
Grimm. The second edition (Leipzig, 1823-1824; Vienna, 1833) had
the same success, and was praised again by Jakob Grimm and later
by Goethe. The much enlarged third edition, which was called the
Vienna edition (1841-1865), established the glory of the Serbian
popular songs. At the end of the last century (1891-1896) there
appeared in Belgrade a new official edition, increased by numeorus
epic poems found in the papers of Vuk, poems which he had put
aside, for various reasons, while he was still living.'
Karadzic's whole collection is composed today of nine volumes
(edition 1932) only two of which, the first and the fifth, have lyric
songs; all the rest contain epic songs, a fact which characterizes well
the great wealth of the epic popular poetry of the South Slavs. This
collection is the most accurate of all. Vuk's publication was an
extremely unusual event because for the first time oral epic poetry
appeared not in separate writings, but in a complete collection which
spoke of the long life, preservation and the splendor of the Serbian
heroic songs. Vuk's collection gave stimulus to new research and
established a basis for the collection of epic songs in general.2
During Vuk's life and after his death, many Serbs and Croats
published collections of popular epic songs - some of them good,
others bad - enough to fill a whole library. A consideration of them
is beyond the scope of the present study.3 Only those collections of
Serbian epic poetry useful for a comparison with the heroic songs of
the Albanians will be considered here. These are, in addition to
Karadzic's, the collections which contain popular epic poems of
Montenegro, Old Serbia, the Sandzak, Bosnia, and Hercegovina -
the present Yugoslav provinces nearest to Albania.
The first imitator of Vuk was Sima Milutinovic, who in 1833
published the collection Pjevannja cernogorska i hercegovacka (Montenegrin and Hercegovinian Songs). In it there are certain doubtful
poems, separate doubtful phrases, about which Karadzic spoke to the
author.4
In 1845 Milutinovic's pupil, Vladika Petar Petrovic, the ruler of
Montenegro, published Ogledalo srpsko (Serbian Mirror), including in
part poems composed by himself - he was a good guslar (player of
1 M. Murko, op. cit., p. 3.
2 N. Kravtsov, op. cit., p. 180.
3 For a detailed treatment of Serbian collections, as well as translations and
studies in European languages, see: N. Kravtsov, op. cit., pp. 175-204;
D. Subotic, op. cit., pp. 166-266; M. Murko, op. cit., pp. 2-4.
4 N. Kravtsov, op. cit., p. 181.




6


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


the gusle) - and partly epic songs of his country, concerning the
Montenegrin-Turkish wars of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Petrovic fought against the Turks and Albanians led by
Osman Pasha of Shkodra (Scutari), and the appearance of his collection brought about a new patriotic surge in Montenegro.
In 1858 there appeared Crnogorske gusle (Montenegrin Gusle) by
Stephen Popovic and Narodne pjesme bosanske i hercegovacke (Bosnian
and Hercegovinian Popular Songs), while during 1867-1870 the huge
collection Srpske narodne pjesme iz Bosne i Hercegovine (Serbian
Popular Songs from Bosnia and Hercegovina) was published by the
monk Bogoljub Petranovic. This latter collection contained not only
rare variants but also new songs. It was followed, in 1873, by Kosta
Ristic's collection: Srpske narodne pjesme pokupljene po Bosni (Serbian Popular Songs Collected in Bosnia).
Following the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Hercegovina, as a result of the treaty of Berlin (1878), there was an increased interest in the poetry of the Bosnians, particularly of the
Mohammedans. At the request of the Austrian Crown Prince, Archduke Rudolf, the German scholar Dr. Friedrich S. Krauss, went to
the new provinces in May 1884, in order to study the character and
customs of the people. In one year he collected about 60,000 lines of
heroic songs, which had never been published before.l
The epic songs of the Mohammedans of Bosnia revealed a new
field, extraordinarily rich and original. These songs resulted in a
curious correction to the presentation of Serbian oral epic poetry, for
they lived in another national and social milieu, with their own
heroes and with tendencies often contradictory to those of the
Serbian songs.
The first to publish an important collection of exclusively Moslem
heroic songs was Kosta Hirmann. The two volumes of his work,
Narodne pjesme Mohamedanaca u Bosni i Hercegovini (Popular Songs
of the Mohammedans in Bosnia and Hercegovina) appeared successively in 1888 and 1889, in Sarajevo. They contained songs from
all over the territory of Bosnia and Hercegovina, with an introduction and an appendix, followed by a helpful glossary of the Turkish
words used in the poems. Initial credit, however, for making known
the folk treasure of the Moslems of Bosnia and Hercegovina should
go, as Hormann himself says, to Mehmet Beg Kapetanovic, who included a collection of proverbs and short songs in his Narodno blago
(Popular Treasure).2
1 D. Suboti6, op. cit., p. 189.
2 K. Hormann, Narodne pjesme Muslimana u Bosni i Hercegovini, I,
Sarajevo, 1933, p. 5.




INTEREST AND COLLECTIONS


7


Another collection, which stands next to that of Vuk's in importance, is Hrvatske narodne pjesme (Croatian Popular Songs), published
by Matica Hrvatska of Zagreb. It comprises many variants of Serbian
heroic songs, particularly in books V and VI, and a selection of the
songs of the Moslems of Northwestern Bosnia, in books III and IV,
printed respectively in 1898 and 1899, together with an excellent
introduction by Luka Marjanovic and a glossary of Turkish words.
Apparently, a collection of the popular epic poetry of the Mohammedans of the Sandzak, Kosovo, and Metohija has yet to be published, for in 1934 Murko deplored the fact that the Moslem songs of
these regions had not been gathered.1 The late Milman Parry, professor of classics at Harvard University, gathered a great number of
heroic songs sung by the Moslems of the Sandzak. Judging from the
manuscript of the first volume, the collection is expected to throw
considerable light on the relationship between South Slavic and
Albanian epic tradition. Quite a few of the Moslems who live in the
Sandzak are Albanian in origin and speak both their own vernacular
and Serbian. Dwelling between Bosnia and the Albanian population
of Yugoslavia, next to the frontiers of Albania proper, they apparently have helped the spread of Bosnian influence upon Albanian
epic songs.
Albanian Collections
The interest in Albanian popular productions and their collections
was manifested much later than the interest in those of the South
Slavs. Cultural and historical conditions have mainly been the cause
of this delay.
The Serbs created in the late Middle Ages, under the dynasty of the
Nemanji6i (1159-1355), a large state and a Serbian culture. After the
subjugation of Serbia by the Turks (second half of the fifteenth
century), literature flourished in Dubrovnik (Ragusa) and along the
Adriatic littoral. Its development continued later in the South Slavic
provinces under the Habsburg rule. The Albanians, on the contrary,
had invariably been under foreign domination; only the tribes of the
inaccessible northern mountains had led a free and independent life.
When the Albanians formed a "League"- a sort of loose union of
their own - during the 24 years of the reign of Scanderbeg (1405 -1468), they were too much engaged in their wars against Turkey to
create a written literature and develop Albanian culture.
During the occupation of Albania by the Turks, many of the in1 M. Murko, "Nekoliko zada6a u prou6avanju narodne epike" (Some Problems in the Study of Popular Epic Poetry), Prilozi proud. nar. poez., I (1934), 3.




8


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


habitants were converted to Islam, especially at the end of the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth centuries.1 Today twothirds of the Albanians are Moslem. As the Mohammedans were the
privileged class in the Ottoman Empire which based the distinction
of political and social classes on religion and not on nationality, it is
obvious that conditions could not favor the growth of Albanian
national culture. This kind of culture was further hindered in Albania
by the creation of Turkish schools for the Moslems and Greek schools
for the Orthodox Christians. The education in foreign languages also
explains why Albanian culture remained principally a popular culture
and why the rise of Albanian nationalism was delayed.
For a clearer understanding of the collections of Albanian popular
songs - individual Albanian collections of epic poetry are products
of the present century - the collections will be divided into three
categories: a) diaspora, b) Albania proper, c) Yugoslav Albania.
Since almost nothing has been written in English about publications
of Albanian epic songs, and the literature on them is comparatively
small, it will be useful to give as complete a list as possible.
A. The Albanian diaspora is composed of the Albanian settlements
in Greece and those in Italy. The first were founded during the fourteenth and the outset of the fifteenth centuries, when great numbers
of Albanians migrated to the south, partly as conquerors and partly
upon the invitation of the small feudal lords of Greece.2 They settled
in Attica, Boeotia, Morea, and the Aegean islands, where their descendants are still living today.3 The second were established mainly
at the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries
by Albanians who fled Turkish subjugation. Most of them emigrated
from Albania proper, a few from the Albanian colonies of Greece, and
settled in the southern part of Italy, particularly in Calabria and
Sicily.4
In both settlements the Albanian language and traditions have
1 Cf. T. W. Arnold, The Preaching of Islam, London, 1935, p. 185; G. Stadtmiller, "Die albanische Volkstumsgeschichte als Forschungsproblem," in
Leipziger Vierteljahrsschrift fiir Sidosteuropa, V (1941), 75-76; E. Rossi,
"Saggio sul dominio turco e lintroduzione dell'Islam in Albania," Rivista
d'Albania, III (1942), 207.
2 Cf. K. Jirecek, "Albanien in der Vergangenheit," Illyrisch-albanische
Forschungen, I, Munchen und Leipzig, 1916, p. 73; G. Stadtmiiller, op. cit., 73.
3 K. Jirecek, op. cit., pp. 79-80; Cf. G. Finlay, A History of Greece, from Its
Conquest by the Romans to the Present Time, VI, Oxford, 1877, pp. 28-29.
4 Cf. L. von Thallodzy, "Die albanische Diaspora," in Illyrisch-albanische
Forschungen, I, pp. 330-341; M. Sirdani, Skanderbegu mbas gojdhdnash (Scanderbeg according to Tradition), Shkoder, 1926, p. 107; E. (abej, "Shqiptaret
n'Itali te mesme dhe n6 Napoli (The Albanians in Central Italy and Naples),
(Hylli i Drites The Star of Light), XV (1939), 544.




INTEREST AND COLLECTIONS


been preserved. The Albanians in Greece, however, being fewer in
number, with a religion identical to that of the Greek people, and
having lived under the Ottoman regime, have undergone greater
assimilation. During the War of Independence of Greece, in 1821,
they played an important role on the side of the insurgents. The
opposite is the case of the Italo-Albanians. They settled in Italy in
great numbers, and they retained their Orthodox Christian service in
a country where the Roman Catholic Church is very powerful.1 By
contrast, they became more aware of their nationality. Besides, a
good many of the Italo-Albanians came from the ruling classes, those
which had taken part in the battles against the Turks, and they
carried with them their glories and their defeats. Because of common
memories they stuck closer to each other and to their traditions.
They were also able to found schools for their own education and in
1794 they possessed an excellent Albanian institution, the ItaloAlbanian College in S. Demetrio Corone, in Calabria, where the
Albanian language was taught.2 Thus, when the opportunity was
offered, under the prevailing interest in folklore and the nationalist
enthusiasm around the Union of Italy, they were the first to make
known the treasures of their ancestors.
There are few collections of songs of the Albanian colonies in
Greece. The first and the best known is Noctes Pelasgicae vel symbolae
ad cognoscendas dialectos Graeciae Pelasgicas collatae (Athens, 1855)
by C. H. T. Reinhold, a German physician of the Greek navy. He
collected the popular poems, contained in only 28 pages of his work,
from the Greco-Albanian sailors of the islands of Poros and Hydra. It
is interesting to note that one of his studies bears the title "Pelasgika,
Dialektos tou stolou" (Pelasgic Language [meaning Albanian], the
Dialect of the Fleet). In Laographia (Folklore), I, (Athens, 1909),
pp. 82-92, edited by Nikolaos G. Politis, a number of short songs in
the Greco-Albanian dialect of the island of Spetse and the village of
Markopulo, in Attica, were published by K. D. Sotiriou, under the
title "Short Songs and Tales of the Albanians."
The songs of the Italo-Albanians began to be printed in 1847. In
that year three of their poems, translated into Italian, were published,
in Naples, in Su gli Albanesi, ricerche e pensieri, by V. Dorsa. The
author mentions that at that time many Italo-Albanian songs
circulated in the villages of Calabria.
Monsignor Giuseppe Crispi, an Albanian from Sicily, published in
1 Most of the Albanians of Italy are Uniate, who preserve the Orthodox
Oriental liturgy but acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope.
2 A. Scura, Gli Albanesi in Italia e i loro canti tradizionali, New York, 1912,
p. 75.




10


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Memorie storiche di talune costumanze appartenenti alle colonie grecoalbanesi di Sicilia (Palermo, 1853) some translations of Albanian
songs, included also in Lionardo Vigo's Canti popolari siciliani
(Cattania, 1857).
In 1856, Bernardino Biondelli wrote an article, "Della letteratura
popolare dell' Epiro," in Studi linguistici (Milano, 1856), in which a
few popular songs are reproduced in Italian translation.
Two important works appeared in the middle 1860's. A great
Albanian linguist from Italy, Demetrio Camarda, published in his
Appendice al saggio di grammatologia comparata della lingua albanese
(Prato, 1866) a considerable number of Albanian songs from Calabria
and Sicily, including also some popular poems of Albania proper
(Hahn collection) and a few from the settlements in Greece (Reinhold
collection). In Camarda's publication, which is one of the best, there
are a few heroic Italo-Albanian songs. On the other hand, Rapsodie di
un poema albanese (Firenze, 1866) by Girolamo de Rada, a professor
of the Italo-Albanian College S. Demetrio Corone and a great Albanian
poet from Italy, consists of 72 epic poems from the colonies of
Napolitano, accompanied by their Italian translation. The rhapsodies
are divided into three parts:
I. Gli Albanesi allo stato libero (20 songs)
II. Gli Albanesi in guerra col Turco (20 songs)
III. Gli Albanesi vinti ed in esilio (32 songs).
These two collections aroused much interest in Western Europe.
While no one doubted the originality of Camarda's collection, doubts
still remain as to whether De Rada's rhapsodies are genuine. De Rada
maintained that he had gathered them by long and tiresome research,
and his arrangement intended to show that they were fragments of
an old poem which had been lost. Nevertheless, he admitted that he
had made a few modifications.
In 1887, Giuseppe Schiro printed Rapsodie albanesi, and stated,
somewhat vaguely, that he had taken them from certain old forgotten
manuscripts. The rhapsodies, however, are his own creations, so well
written in the spirit of popular poetry that even Albanologists were
deceived. This work was followed by Canti popolari dell' Albania
(Palermo, 1907). In 1923 appeared G. Schiro's remarkable collection
Canti tradizionali ed altri saggi albanesi di Sicilia (Napoli, 1923),
which in addition to known variants, contains a few unknown, for
example the versions of "Constantine the Small" und "Duruntina."
Translations in Italian accompany the songs.
But the most reliable collection was published by Michele Marchiano, Canti popolari albanesi delle colonie d'ltalia (Foggia, 1908), in
which the poems appear exactly as they were found in a manuscript




INTEREST AND COLLECTIONS


11


dating from 1737. Before Marchiano, Camarda and Schiro referred to
manuscripts from which they had drawn the songs of their collections, but they gave no specific information. Marchiano wrote that
the manuscript was given to him by a friend, when he was in the
province of Capitanata, in 1901. He then describes it: "It is in carta
bombacina, formato sedicesimo grande. It contains 105 pages... and
is divided into five parts."' A facsimile is included here. The Albanian
songs and their Italian translations are accompanied by ample notes.
The popular poems are in the third part. They are not new, except
"Pjetro Vajvoda" and "Nikola Petra," but they are the most
genuine of those published. Marchiano has also published "Canti
popolari albanesi della Capitanata e del Molise," in Rivista d'Apulia,
I, II, III, IV (1911), and I, II,III, IV (1912).
In 1912, Antonio Scura reproduced, in his volume Gli Albanesi
d'Italia e i loro canti tradizionali (New York, 1912), the rhapsodies of
De Rada, with a few changes, and songs contained in Camarda and
others; he divided them into two parts: "Songs of Love" and "Songs
of War" (33 in number), followed by Italian translations in beautiful
verse.
B. During the nineteenth century Albania began to attract the
attention of foreigners. When this interest first appeared, she was
virtually independent of the Sultan: Ali Pasha Tepelena ruled in
southern Albania and the Bushatis in northern Albania. On the other
hand, Turkey was considered, in the nineteenth century, as the "sick
man" of Europe and foreign powers were interested in extending
their influence in the Balkans. Austria-Hungary was most concerned
about them, particularly after the Congress of Berlin (1878). She
established in Sarajevo the Bosnisch-herzegovinisches Institut fur
Balkanforschung, which took a special interest in the study of Albania
and her popular productions. The policy of the dual monarchy then
was: Drang nach Siidosten.
But it would be incorrect to explain the interest of foreigners by
political motives alone. What frequently happens is that politics
makes use of existing scholarly trends in order to further its aims. A
number of foreign scholars who have manifested an interest in Albanian popular poetry have done so in Greek and Serbian songs as
well. They have often been attracted, in the study of folklore, by
linguistic, literary or ethnological considerations. Their interest coincided with the general trend of studies of that period.
As for the interest of native Albanians in the popular creations of
their country, it was manifested in the last quarter of the nineteenth
1 M. Marchian6, Canti popolari albcanesi delle colonie d'Italia, Foggia, 1908,
pp. viii-ix.




12


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


century. The collections of the Italo-Albanians and of the foreigners
had certainly served as a stimulus. The cession of Albanian territory
to Montenegro by the Berlin Congress had aroused the national
conscience. Albanians gathered from all parts of the country at
Prizren (in Kosovo) in order to protest against the decisions of Berlin
and to defend with arms Albanian soil. With the League of Prizren
(1878) the Albanian nationalist movement started. After that, interest in the oral creations of the Albanian people began to grow. The
Albanians wished to demonstrate their right to national independence. Spiro R. Dine made it clear, in publishing his collection of
popular creations, that his aim was to tell the history and the life of
the Albanian people through folklore.1
The first Westerner to mention Albanian heroic songs was Lord
Byron. In Childe Harold, II, a song, composed of eleven stanzas,
begins:
Tambourgi! Tambourgi! thy 'larum afar (72)
Gives hope to the valiant, and promise of war; (73)
In note 31 Byron says: "These stanzas are partly taken from different
Albanese songs, as far as I was capable to make them out by the
exposition of the Albanese in Romaic and Italian."
The English poet was also one of the first to publish Albanian
songs in the original. They are two non-epic songs - note 30 of Childe
Harold, II - which two southern Albanians dictated to his guide,
when he visited their country in 1809. He writes: "As a specimen of
the Albanian or Arnaout dialect of the Illyric, I here insert two of
their most popular choral songs, which are generally chanted in
dancing by men or women indiscriminately." The texts given by
Byron are not clear, but K. Treimer has correctly transcribed them in
his article "Byron und die Albanologie," in Arhiv za arbanasku.
starinu, jezik i etnologiju (Archives for Albanian Antiquity, Language
and Ethnology), III (1926), 176-204.
Many years passed before another foreigner, Johann Georg von
Hahn, Austrian Consul in Janina and the father of Albanology,
published in Albanesische Studien (Jena, 1854 - Heft II, pp. 121ff.)
a number of popular songs, particularly in the Tosk dialect (that of
southern Albania), with the corresponding German translations. But
almost none is of epic character.
Another diplomat, Hyacinthe Hecquard, Consul of France in
Shkodra, included in his book Histoire et description de la HauteAlbanie ou Ghegarie (Paris, 1858) twelve songs in French translation,
without the originals, which he had gathered with the help of his
1 F. Cordignano, "Proucavanje narodne poezije u Albaniji" (The Study of
Popular Poetry in Albania), Prilozi. prouc. nar. poez., VI (1939), 173.




INTEREST AND COLLECTIONS


13


secretary, Giuseppe Jubany, a native of Shkodra. In 1871 G. Jubany
printed the original Albanian songs, with their Italian translation, in
his Raccolta di canti popolari e rapsodie albanesi (Trieste, 1871), in
which other poems sung in the town of Shkodra were contained.
Jubany is the first native Albanian to publish a collection and his
songs are in the Gheg dialect (that of northern Albania).
In 1878, Alvanike melissa -  Bleta shqiptare (The Albanian Bee)
appeared in Greek script in Alexandria, Egypt. It is one of the best
Albanian collections, despite the fact that Efthim Mitko, the collector, was not in a position to be in direct contact with the people
because he left Albania while young and lived in Egypt. The most
important part of his collection are the lyric poems. Of the heroic
songs, 97 are in the dialect of southern Albania and 26 in that of
northern Albania. They celebrate exploits of beys, the heroes of Suli,
and the battles of the Albanians in various parts of the Turkish
Empire. The best part of the collection has been republished, in
modern Albanian spelling, by G. Pekmezi, under the title Bleta
shqiptare e Thimi Mitkos (The Albanian Bee of Thimi Mitko),
(Vienna, 1924).
Auguste Dozon, the French diplomat, famous for the translation
of Serbian traditional songs, L'epopee serbe, chants populaires heroiques, published in 1878 a Manuel de la langue chkipe (Paris, 1878), in
the appendix of which he gives a number of lyric and heroic Albanian
poems, not all of them popular and badly transcribed. In 1881 his
volume Contes albanais recueillis et traduits (Paris, 1881) appeared
with some heroic songs put into prose.
In 1891, Holger Pedersen printed Albanesische Texte mit Glossar
(Leipzig, 1895). In this work thirteen songs written in the Tosk dialect
are included; one of them bearing the title "La Marseillaise" is not
popular, although anonymous. The Danish scholar later published
Zur albanesischen Volkskunde (Copenhagen, 1898), where a few songs
translated into German may be found.
The poems comprised in Gustav Meyer's Albanesische Studien,
V-VI (Vienna, 1896-1897) are interesting. They are songs from the
islands of Poros and Hydra, the two poems collected by Byron, some
heroic songs, and a variant on the construction of the city of Shkodra
(Scutari).
A collection of traditional poems was published in Spiro Risto
Dine's Valet e detit (The Waves of the Sea), (Sofia, 1908). The songs
are in both the Tosk and the Gheg dialects. The collection, which is a
mixture, contains variants of oral poems already published.
An important collection is that by P. Vingenc Prennushi, Kdnge
populore gegnishte (Popular Songs in the Gheg Dialect), (Sarajevo,




14


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


1911). The book is divided into three parts: 1) Heroic Songs, 2) Dances, 3) Songs for Children and Games. There are 132 heroic songs,
almost all gathered in Shkodra, in the province of Peja (Pec), in
Mirdita, in Kthelle and in Bregu i Mates. It is undoubtedly one of
the fundamental collections for an understanding of Albanian epic
poetry, and it was published by the Bosnisch-herzegovinisches Institut
fur Balkanforschung. Under the title Visari Kontaar (The National
Treasure), Prennushi and his Franciscan collaborators intended to
include all folkloristic creations of the Albanian people, which would
be of value "for writing the history of Albania and for the development and refinement of the [Albanian] language."1
In 1913, Professor Gustav Weigand included as texts in his work
Albanesische Grammatik im sfidgegischen Dialekt (Leipzig, 1913) a
number of songs from the region of Elbasan, in central Albania.
In 1926 P. Marin Sirdani published Skanderbegu mbas gojdhdnash
(Scanderbeg according to Tradition), (Shkoder, 1926). The first part
deals with legends and events of Scanderbeg's life - birth, wars
against the Turks, travels, death - and the emigration of Albanians
to Italy. The second part is a collection mainly of traditional songs of
the Italo-Albanians, in which Scanderbeg and other heroes of his
time are extolled. They are written in the modern Albanian spelling,
which makes them easy reading.
In 1927, Francesco Argondizza gave a number of short oral poems
in Canti popolari raccolti in Albania (1916-1917), (Roma, 1927).
They were collected in Kurvelesh and the valley of Shushica, in
southern Albania, and a few of them are heroic songs.
Kasem R. Taipi printed in 1933 Zdna popullore-Kinge popullore
(The Popular Muse-Popular Songs), I, (Shkod6r, 1933), which comprises a good number of heroic songs. They are mostly from the town
of Shkodra, where the beys of Bushati ruled, and they particularly
sing of those beys. The heroes are generally Moslems.2
Stavro Frasheri, an Albanian student of folklore, published in 1936
Folklor shqiptar, vol. I (Albanian Folklore, vol. I), (Durazzo, 1936),
in which a collection of 33 heroic songs accompanies the study. His
poems deal with events of the recent past and they cover a large area.
The collector has taken care not to include songs already published in
1 V. Prennushi, Kdnge popullore gegnishte (Popular Gheg Songs), Sarajevo,
1911, p. x.
2 References to many of the Albanian collections, so far discussed, can be
found sometimes in one and sometimes in another of the following books:
M. Lambertz, Die Volkspoesie der Albaner, Sarajevo, 1917, p. 17-19; P. G.
Petrotta, Popolo, lingua e letteratura albanese, Palermo, 1932, pp. 84-191; E.
Koliqi, Elpica popolare albanese, Padova, 1937, pp. 23-40.




INTEREST AND COLLECTIONS


the collections by Mitko and Dine. At the end of the book there is an
English synopsis of his study on Albanian folklore.
In 1937, Ernest Koliqi, a professor of Albanian literature at the
University of Rome and a writer, gave in Italian translation, in
his Epica popolare albanese (Padova, 1937), several Albanian epic
songs, selected from those already published in Albanian and one
he himself had recorded from an Albanian mountaineer.
But the most important Albanian collections are the three volumes
which were published by the Committee for the Celebration of the
25th Anniversary of Albanian Independence, 1912-1937, under the
title Visaret e Kombit (The Treasures of the Nation), (Tirana, 1937),
as well as a fourth volume published two years later under the same
title (Tirana, 1939).
The material of volumes I and III has been selected from numerous
publications - calendars, magazines, grammars, and special collections - by Professors Karl Gurakuqi and Filip Fishta. Volume I
is composed entirely of epic songs. It is divided into two parts:
a) "Songs of Valor" and b) "Songs of Heroes." In the second part there
are fifteen poems of the Mujo-Halil (two brothers) cycle, chosen from
other publications and not from the journal Hylli i Drites (The Star of
Light), published in Shkodra. It also includes Lenorenlieder from
Albania proper and from the Albanian settlements in Italy. Volume
III contains love songs, dirges, and nursery rhymes, and is of no
interest for the subject under discussion.
Still more valuable for the study of the relationship between
Albanian and South Slavic oral poetry is volume II. The editors
state:
We have before our eyes a collection of 342 songs, material collected with
toil for forty years by the Franciscan Brothers....
The greatest merit goes to P. Shtjefen K. Gjegov, the Albanian archeologist,
who from 1905 urged the young Franciscans to collect this hidden treasure of
our own people.
According to his instructions, in 1919, P. Bernardin Palaj began the systematic collection in the mountains....
In 1924, through the publication in Hylli i Drites (organ of the Franciscans),
it was made known to the Albanians that the songs of theKreshniks [the heroes]
were not at all to be disdained but, on the contrary, to be appreciated as the
treasures of literature, as living monuments of spiritual gentleness, as the pure
manifestations of national characteristics.'
Volume II is a selection of these songs.
In part I of the second volume, "Songs of Heroes," there are 34
rhapsodies from the Mujo-Halil cycle, systematically arranged, giving
a complete picture of the life and exploits of the heroes. In part II,.
1 Visaret e Kombit, II, pp. xi-xii.




16


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


"Legends," a number of selected legends in verse are included, one of
them a variant of the construction of the town of Shkodra. The
second volume was edited by the learned Franciscans P. Bernardin
Palaj and P. Donat Kurti.
Volume IV is composed of different popular creations: "Songs
of Valor," "Songs of Heroes," "Songs of Love," "Tales," and the
"Treasure of the Albanians of the Islands of Greece." The selection of
the material has been made by Hasan Regi, an instructor, from the
heap of folklore gathered by Albanian teachers and placed at the
disposal of the Technical Commission of the Ministry of Education.
Part I of the collection, comprising 93 "Songs of Valor," deals mostly
with heroes and events of northern Albania, during the nineteenth
and the beginning of the twentieth centuries; in Part II are contained
thirteen songs, variants of the Mujo-Halil cycle, especially from the
Kosovo region.
A more recent collection is that by P. Fulvio Cordignano, an Italian
Jesuit who spent many years in Albania. In the second part of his
work La poesia epica di confine nell'Albania del nord (Venezia-Padova,
1943) thirty popular songs, most of them epic poems of the MujoHalil cycle, are included. The songs are those which he himself and
some of his friends collected in various parts of northern Albania. A
translation in Italian accompanies all the poems and at the end of the
book a short glossary is appended. Both the study and the collection
are valuable for the knowledge of the frontier epic songs of northern
Albania.1
Besides the publications mentioned above, we find heroic songs in
Albanian periodicals which began to appear at the end of the nineteenth century. Albania, a fortnightly review, published in Brussels
(1897-1902) and London (1903-1909), by the late Faik Konitza,
Albanian Minister to the United States and one of the best Tosk
writers, was a pioneer in the Albanian folklore movement. A complete
collection of the issues, which are very rare, is to be found at the
Widener Library (Harvard University). Another publication is Hylli
i Drites (The Star of Light), a monthly journal published by the
Franciscan Brothers of Shkodra. It is most valuable in matters of
folklore, particularly in popular epic poetry of the north. Hylli i
Drites began its publication in 1913 and continued until 1944, with an
interruption of some years, during and after World War I. In 1924 the
1 The author regrets that the late P. F. Cordignano'swork was made available
to him too late to beusedinthe present study. Heisgladto notice, however, that
his conclusions, based on research, about the Albanian epic poetry of the
northern frontiers correspond considerably to those reached by P. F. Cordignano, founded chiefly on field work and a study of songs collected by himself.




INTEREST AND COLLECTIONS


17


editors wrote: "...we began to publish in this periodical the most
select folklore of our people, starting from the heroic songs or rhapsodies or our national legends."' A complete collection of the issues
1913-1939 of this journal is found at Widener Library. A third periodical which has published folklore of the northern Albanian mountains is Leka, a monthly journal of the Society of Jesus, at Shkodra.
In 1940 Lekca ceased publication and produced in three volumes,
under the title Folklore (Shkoder, 1940), the material which had
appeared in its issues during the eleven years of its existence. Volume
III of Folklore contains songs and dirges. Of minor importance, for
folkloristic interest, are the periodicals Edukata e Re (The New Education) and Mesuesi (The Teacher), both of which were published in
Tirana by the Ministry of Education, before the occupation of
Albania by Italy, in 1939. Shkendija (The Spark), founded and edited
by Ernest Koliqi during the Italian occupation, had a short life.
C. The interest of the Serbs in Albanian popular productions, if we
exclude Karadiic, was manifested late. Serbia did not occupy Kosovo
and Metohija - the two autonomous provinces of the present
Yugoslav Federative State near the Albanian frontier, inhabited
mostly by Moslem Albanians - until after the Balkan war. Before
1912 these two regions, as well as the Sandzak, in which an Albanian
minority lives, belonged to the Ottoman Empire.
Albanian studies began to attract the attention of Yugoslavs after
World War I. The policy of their Premier, Pasic, was to bring Albania
under Yugoslav influence. The aim of their studies was to show past
and present relations between the Albanians and the South Slavs.
For this purpose, apparently, a special journal was founded in
Belgrade, Arhiv za arbanasku starinu, jezik i etnoloygiju (Archives for
Albanian Antiquity, Language and Ethnology), under the editorship
of Professor Henrik Bari6. The Arhiv2... created in addition a
library of its own and published, among other works, Dr. Milan
Sufflay's Srbi i Arbanasi (Serbs and Albanians), (Beograd, 1925),
dealing with their symbiosis in the Middle Ages.
The Belgrade journal of Albanian studies lasted as long as the
policy of control had hopes of being realised - until 1926, when
Albania signed the treaty of "friendship and security" with Italy.
Nevertheless, several Yugoslav scholars continued to be interested in
Albanian studies, turning their attention now particularly to the
popular songs of the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia.
Vuk Karadzic was the first, among the South Slays, to prepare a
1 Hylli i Drites, V (1924), 33-34.
2 From now on Arhiv... will be used instead of the complete title: Arhiv za
arbanasku starinu, jezik i etnologiju.
2




18


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


collection of Albanian popular songs. He wrote them down in 1830
for J. Kopitar. Two of the songs were.published in his correspondence
Vukova prepiska (Vuk's Correspondence), I, (Beograd, 1907), pp.
365-366. Karadzic's collection was used by Miklosi6 as material for
his study Die slavischenr Elemente im Albanesischen, on page seven of
which he writes: "AuBer den genannten Schriften habe ich bei
meinen Studien benutzt:... 2. einige Lieder, welche Vuk Stefanovi6
Karadic6 aus dem Munde eines aus dem nordwestlichen Teile des von
den Albaniern bewohnten Gebietes aufgezeichnet hat." Following
Miklosic's death, the songs passed to Jagi6, who entrusted them to
Norbert Jokl. It was this famous Albanologist who published them,
for the first time; in his article "Vuks albanesische Liedersammlung,
herausgegeben und mit sprachwissenschaftlich-sachlichen Erlauterungen versehen."'
The Albanian collection by Vuk is composed of twelve songs,
dictated to him by Pe6anin Dovica Obadovi6. There are heroic and
lyric songs as well as laments, but none is more than 32 or less than
four lines. Their origin is from the region of Pec. Their literary worth
is small, but they are of considerable linguistic value. As Karadzic
himself remarked in a letter to Kopitar, they are "ponajvise rdjave,
ali kad nema bolije, moraju i one dobre biti" (for the most part bad,
but since there are no better ones, one should be content with them).2
The songs have been recorded quite correctly, and this shows that Vuk
had some knowledge of the Albanian language. It is known that in
1826 he intended to make a trip to Albania and hoped to write an
Albanian grammar (Prepiska Vukova, I, p. 274).
In 1923, G1. Elezovic published in Arhiv... an important Albanian popular poem on the battle of Kosovo, Albanian text and
Serbian translation, followed by learned notes and comments by
V. Cajkanovi6, Arhiv..., I (1923), 57-77. The song was collected
around Pec.
The same Serbian scholar published in Arhiv..., II (1925), 243 -263, 37 songs, most of them lyric and a few heroic. Among the latter
there is one about Mehmet Beg Bushati and another about Giu i
Fajes, as well as a variant of "Plaku Qefanak." The majority of the
songs were collected in Kosovo.
G1. Elezovi6 published in 1937 three variants of the construction
of the city of Shkodra, "Zidanje Skadra," Zbornik A. Beli6 (1937),
pp. 391-398. The first and the second are from the district of Pec
1Zbornik (Melanges) A. Belie (Belgrade, 1921), pp. 33-87.
2 N. Jokl, "Vuks albanesische Liedersammlung...," in Zbornik A. Beli6
(Belgrade, 1921), p. 42.




INTEREST AND COLLECTIONS


19


(Metohija) and the third from that of Vucitrn (Kosovo). The Albanian
texts are accompanied by Serbian translations and notes.
In 1933 G1. Elezovi6 published, in Prilozi proucavanju narodne
poezije (Contributions to the Study of Popular Poetry),l VI (1939),
84-95, an Albanian dirge "Gug Isuf-Gug Istref," dealing with the
return of the dead from the grave in order to accomplish a promise
the Lenorenlied motif.
Another Serbian scholar interested in Albanian folk poetry, both
epic and lyric, is Tihomir Djordjevic, who has included in his work
collections of Albanian songs and has made studies of them: 1) Nas
narodni rivot (The Life of Our People), VI, pp. 66ff.; 2) Na~ narodni
zivot, X, pp. 29-48; 3) Na~ narodni zivot, X, pp. 43-64. In "Beleske o
nasoj narodnoj poeziji (IX)" (Notes about Our Popular Poetry, IX)
Prilozi..., VI (1939), 53-60, T. Djordjevic speaks about the motif of
an Albanian song of the Mujo-Halil cycle.
There are a few other Yugoslav scholars who have contributed to
the study of the oral poems of the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia.
Their articles have been published in Prilozi... and the most important among them is A. Smaus with his articles: "Kosovo u
narodnoj pesmi muslimana" (Kosovo in the Popular Songs of the
Moslems), Prilozi..., V (1938), 102-121; "Beleske iz Sandzaka I"
(Notes from the Sandzak I), Prilozi..., V (1938), 274-280; "Nekoliko podataka o epskom pevaniju i pesmama kod Arbanasa (Arnauta)
u Staroj Srbiji" (Some Information about Epic Singing and Epic
Songs among the Albanians in Old Serbia), Prilozi..., I (1934),
107-112; "Iz Muslimanske tradicije u Sandzaku" (From the Moslem
Tradition in the Sandzak), Prilozi..., V (1938), 137-145. T. Vukanovic has published the following studies: "0 pevacima narodnih
pesama u Drenici" (About the Singers of Popular Songs in Drenica),
Prilozi..., I (1934), 256-257; and "0 narodnoj pesmi u Peci i
okolini" (About the Popular Song in Pe6 and the Surroundings),
Prilozi..., III (1936), 133-136. In the same Yugoslav journal we
also find an article by Fulvio Cordignano: "Proucavanje narodne
poezije u Albaniji" (The Study of Popular Poetry in Albania),
Prilozi..., VI (1939), 167-175.
The Prilozi proucavanju narodne poezije is an important publication
for the study of Serbian, and to a certain extent of Albanian, popular
creations. Its first issue appeared in 1934. The other important
journal, dedicated to Albanian studies alone, Arhiv za arbanasku
starinu, jezik i etnologiju, published only four volumes, 1923-1926.
A third publication, which appeared in the 1930's and which has
1 Henceforth Prilozi... will be used instead of Prilozi proucavanju narodne
poezije.
2*




20


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


certain articles about the songs of the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia, is Izvestaj Velike Medrese (Bulletin of the Great Moslem
Seminary), published in Skoplje, Yugoslavia.l
Before taking leave of the Yugoslav publications concerned with
Albanian oral epic poetry, mention should be made of "An Albanian
Ballad on the Assassination in 1389 of Sultan Murad I on the Kosovo
Plain." The song was dictated, in 1931, by an Albanian singer, a
native of Suhogrlo, near Pec, to Margaret Hasluck, who published the
Albanian text, together with an English translation and extensive
notes, in Occident and Orient (Gaster Anniversary Volume, 1936), pp.
210-233. The song is another version of the Kosovo battle published
by Gl. Elezovi6 in 1923. To our knowledge, it is the only translation
in English of a complete Albanian heroic song.
Methods in Collections
Some of the songs included in collections have been discovered in
manuscripts. Such are Marchiano's Canti popolari albanesi in Albanian, and Gesemann's Erlangen Collection (Karlovci, 1925), in Serbocroatian. A few have been creations of literary men, like Kacic's,
which have later been appropriated by the people. But the majority
of the songs have been collected from the singers.
In collecting the popular poems, the custom in the last century had
been to write them down while the bard recited or sang them. In this
way Vuk Karadzic gathered the Serbian popular songs and the
Albanian Franciscan Brothers those of Visaret e Kombit, II. Often
both methods have been used for one song. Here is what an Albanian
collector writes:
Thus I put down the words of the rhapsody of Nikaj. Each singer, before
reciting the song, is in the habit of telling at length the subject in the form of a
legend, often more poetic than the rhapsody itself... I saw no other way to
save the legend with all its poetry than to write down the song and then correct
the text, while he was singing, accompanied by the lahuta.2
Lahuta is the instrument used by the Albanian mountaineers to accompany their heroic songs; it is similar to the gusle.
In more recent times recordings have been employed. This is a
more accurate method which contributes to the better understanding
of the epic song, for music is so closely connected with it that collectors have remarked that many a singer has difficulties in reciting a
song. We have two instances where scholars have used the method of
recording. Murko made use of it during his travels, in the early part


1It has not been possible to find a copy of this periodical.
2 Visaret e Kombit, II, pp. 42-43 (note).




INTEREST AND COLLECTIONS


21


of our century, for the study of the Bosnian and Hercegovinian epic
poetry. In the middle '30's Professor Milman Parry used gramophone
recording for the collection of Serbian songs in Bosnia and of Serbian
and a few Albanian songs in the Sandzak. At present wire or tape
recordings are employed. Will the next step be to have text and music,
singer and audience, as well as setting, in one - a talking singing
film? All these elements are necessary for a thorough appreciation of
oral epic poetry.
During the romantic period the aim of the collectors was to give a
splendid picture of the past of their nationality. The songs in their
collections, then, underwent changes. The brothers Grimm arranged
the texts. So did their disciples in Germany and elsewhere, but they
did not possess the artistic sense and the knowledge of the particularities of the speech of the common people, as did their masters, and
they failed in their arrangements.1
Serbian collections have also passed through stylization. When the
collectors have been skilled, the popular spirit of the songs has been
preserved. Such has been the case with the Serbian collection of epic
songs by Milutinovi6. Some of the songs in it have undergone modifications, as the notes confirm; others are from a non-popular source,
although there is no mention of this fact.2 On the other hand, the
heroic songs published by Vuk Karadzi6 have certain changes in
places, but they are so minute and carried through with such art that
it is impossible to regard them as stylization.
Arrangements are not lacking in Albanian collections either. In
such a wonderful publication of oral epic poems as Visaret e Kombit,
II, we are told:
If any change in names or expressions is observed, in relation to rhapsodies
published so far, it is because we have completed them with what has been most
beautiful in variants with the same topic. In that way, we can say that,
without feeling the need of making the publication difficult and boresome, we
have endeavored, like the bee, to collect from here and there the poetic nectar
of the songs of the mountains.3
Although these arrangements have been performed with great skill
and are taken from variants, they are not welcome to the science of
folklore. Apparently, in making them, the Franciscan Brothers were
moved by nationalistic motives: to present to the Albanian people
the epic poetry of the mountains of the north in the most beautiful
form possible. But the collection of their elder brother in the order,
1 I. Sokolov, Le folklore russe, p. 23.
2 T. Maretid, Nasa narodna epika (Our Popular Epic Poetry), Zagreb, 1909,
p. 4.
3 Visaret e Kombit, II, p. xii.




22


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


P. Vingenc Prennushi, is very scientific. In his Kdnge popullore
gegnishte, the songs have been printed as they were actually heard.
Nikolaos Politis, the internationally renowned scholar of folklore,
has harshly criticized the method of stylization. In an article on a
publication of Greek popular songs, he wrote that any modification
diminished their value and destroyed them. If by correcting the
songs you could make them more complete from the aesthetic point
of view, you would render them useless for the student of the history
and character of a people, for the popular songs are not only poetical
monuments, but historical and folkloristic as well. He then mentioned
that, when Sp. Zambelis published the song of Andronikos (i.e.,
Digenis Akritas) with a small change, because he thought the text
inconsistent and the solution abrupt, Legrand accused him of
plagiarism.1
The modern method is to publish oral poems exactly as they are
sung - without any changes. Hilferding (1831-1872), the Russian
scholar and active collector, was the first to arrange the material
according to narrators (skaziteli) and to show interest in the personality of the singers. His purpose was that in this way "the important
question of the relations between individual creation and tradition in
the composition of the bylina can be easily explained."2 In both
Albanian and South Slavic systematic collections, the name of the
singer and the place where the song is sung by the people are mentioned. In Albanian collections there is often a prose summary of the
song, the "argument," as it is called. Other elements which can be
found in scientific collections of songs, particularly Russian, are an
introduction and comments on the natural and economic conditions
of the region, a biography of the singers, their repertoire, and their
"manner" of execution.3 In this way a picture is given not only of the
oral literature of a people but also of its life.
1N. G. Politis, Laographika symmikta (Folkloristic Melanges) I, Athens,
1920, pp. 273-274.
2 A. Hilferding, Onezhskiye byliny (Byliny of Onega), I, St. Petersburg, 1894,
p. 33.
3 I. Sokolov, Le folklore russe, p. 65.




CHAPTER II


VARIANTS AND ANTIQUITY OF THE SONGS
Not all the oral epic poems included in the Albanian and South
Slavic collections are new. A few are reproductions and a good many
are variants. The versions do not seem to be different from the works
of written literature which deal with the same subject. The adventures of Don Juan as told by Byron and Pushkin may be considered
as variants. The difference is in the degree. The versions of epic songs
are many and a single singer can often give several of them: in the
mountains of northern Albania "the songs of Mujo are sung in tens of
variants for every song."' Although these variants treat the same
subject, they are yet different: one is long and the other is short; one
is prosaic, the other is poetic. As the Don Juan of Byron and Pushkin,
they, too, are independent artistic productions of the singers.
No doubt, tradition is an important element in oral poetry, but so
it is in written literature. It is impossible to conceive of the development of a literature by neglecting tradition. Here again only its
degree of importance varies. If the strength of tradition is greater in
folklore, it is because it has been forced into elaborate formulas, in
both form and content, in order to facilitate oral composition and
transmission. The singer can thus remember the poems or modify and
create new ones.
The poet who composes with only the spoken word a poem of any length
must be able to fit his words into the mould of his verse after a fixed pattern.
Unlike the poet who writes out his lines - or even dictates them - he cannot
think without hurry about his next word, nor change what he has just written... He must have for his use word-groups all made to fit his verse and tell
what he has to tell.2
He is by no means the servant of his diction; he can put his phrases together
in an endless number of ways but still they set bounds and forbid him the
search of a style which would be altogether his own. For the style which he uses
is not his at all: it is the creation of a long line of poets or even of an entire
people.3
- it is a strong tradition.
1 E. Koliqi, Epica popolare albanese, Padova, 1937, p. 50.
2 M. Parry, "Studies in the Epic Technique of Oral Verse-Making. I. Homer.and Homeric Style," Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, XLI (1930), p. 77
3 Ibid., p. 78.
23




24


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Yet no graver mistake could be made than to think that the art of
the singer calls only for memory:
Un bon chanteur peut faire d'un poeme mediocre un poeme remarquable et
un mauvais chanteur gater le meilleur poeme. Ce n'est pas a tort que souvent
Vuk Karadzi6 cherchait un chanteur de qualite pour se faire dieter tel chant
qui ne lui avait pas plu.
Les chanteurs sont des artistes; le fait qu'ils se montrent extremement
jaloux 'un de l'autre le prouve encore.l
Improvisation then plays a great role in folklore. According to his
words, according to the kind of audience, according to the time at his
disposal, the executor modifies his text. An Albanian Franciscan
collector, relating the way he wrote down the song "Gjergj Elez
Alija," in the mountains of northern Albania, writes among others:
This fact must also be stressed. When the singers take in their hands the
lahuta and the audience is interesting, their vivid imagination weaves the
rhapsodies much more beautifully than when they dictate them.2
G. Gesemann, giving an account of the composition in 1914, in the
military hospital of Kragujevac, of a song on the death of the son of
one of the hospital physicians, says that when the singer sang the
song for the second time, either because he had obtained more information about the death of the hero, or probably because the
audience was more inspiring, he made considerable changes.3 Furthermore, in a comparison of three texts from the same singer, made by
Murko, it was shown that not only were isolated words eliminated or
the order of words changed, but also that whole lines appeared in an
entirely new form or were left out, so that of the dictated lines there
remained only eight sung lines. These results led the Slovene scholar
to the conclusion that all efforts to reconstruct a song in its original
form were vain and that a comparison of different variants could not
allow us to determine anything other than the primitive contents,
parts or lines of the song.4
All the above observations in relation to variants, as a result of
both tradition and improvisation, were made before by a Russian
scholar of folklore, Alexander Hilferding. In his study of the byliny
and the singers around Lake Onega, he writes:
One can say that in each bylina there are two component parts: typical
places (cliches), which contain mostly descriptions or speeches of heroes, and
1 M. Murko, La pogsie populaire 4pique en Yougoslavie au dbbut du XXe siecle,
Paris, 1929, p. 21.
2 Visaret e Kombit (The Treasures of the Nation), II, Tiran6, 1937, p. 43.
3 G. Gesemann, Studien zur siidslavischen Volksepik, Reichenberg, 1926,
p. 66.
4 M. Murko, op. cit., p. 17.




VARIANTS AND ANTIQUITY OF THE SONGS


25


transitional (active) places, which connect with each other the typical places
and tell of the course of the action. The skazitel' (narrator) knows the first
(typical places) by heart and sings them completely alike, no matter how often
he repeats the bylina; the transitional places should not be learned by heart
but only the general plan should be remembered, so that each time that the
skazitel' sings the bylina, he composes it there and then, sometimes adding, at
other times eliminating, and sometimes changing the order of the verses or the
expressions themselves.1
It becomes evident then that behind the same subject and the
similar traits of the hero we find the personality of the singer, who
cannot be regarded as a simple "transmitter", for he is above all an
author. If he is unknown, it is because the poems have not been
written and they have passed from mouth to mouth. Sokolov says
that in the Caucasus and in Turkestan the name of the poet is often
mentioned, in one of the verses, at the end of the song.2 This is an
oriental custom.
Since songs pass from generation to generation and the singers are
not merely transmitters but authors as well, it becomes obvious how
uncertain it is to base the age of an oral epic poetry on a comparison
of songs alone. Historical evidence is of primary importance. Only
when this kind of evidence is lacking can one proceed by the comparison of songs - and then cautiously - in order to determine the
relative antiquity.
The first mention of Slavic singers was made in Greek sources of
the sixth century. The Byzantine author and historian Theophylaktos Simokattes related that in the year 590 three strangers, each of
them carrying a guitar (kithara), were stopped in Thrace and explained that they had come from the Adriatic coast. A distinguished
Slavic scholar, Professor Louis L6ger, thinks that their instrument
must have been the gusle and they themselves either Serbs or Croats.3
But according to another scholar, "The gusle, the accompanying
instrument, seems to have been introduced, with many other instruments, in the ninth century from the Orient."4 On the other hand,
Nikephoros Gregoras who, in 1326, travelled in the lands of the
Serbs on a mission to the court of Stevan Uros, the Serbian ruler,
writes in his Byzantine History that among his followers there were
people who sang melancholy tunes: "they sang about famous men, of
1 A. Hilferding,Onezhskiye byliny (Byliny of Onega), I, St. Petersburg, 1894,
p. 32.
2 I. Sokolov, Le folklore russe, Paris, 1945, p. 12.
3 Cf. D. Suboti6, Yugoslav Popular Ballads, Cambridge, 1932, pp. 143-144;
N. Kravtsov, Serbski epos (Serbian Epos), Moscow-Leningrad, 1933, p. 66.
4 W. Wiinsch, "Die Kunst und Volksmusik der Slawen am Balkan," Leipziger
Vierteljahrsschrift fiir Siidosteuropa, III (1939), 55.




26


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


whose glorious deeds (Ilea andron) we heard, but nothing saw."'
There is no indication, however, that these people were Serbs.
A hint may be drawn from the monk Teodosije of the end of the
thirteenth century who relates that Stephen the First-Crowned
entertained his guests in banquets with a table music of drums and
violins. Jirecek sees in the latter instruments the gusle.2 But all these
references are vague. We hear concretely about Serbian epic songs
only in 1531. B. Kuripesic, a Slovene attached to an Austrian mission
going to Istanbul, published in that year a record of events during
his travels: Itinerarium Wegrais, etc. He wrote that he heard songs of
"knightly deeds" in Croatia and Bosnia, giving the names of heroes
like Milos Obili6, IRadoslav Pavlovic, and Malkosic.3 But a quarter of
a century had to pass before two of them were recorded. Petar
Hektorovi6, a Dalmatian poet, included in his work, Ribanje i
ribarsko prigovaranje (Fishing and a Fisherman's Reproach), (Venice,
1556), two South Slavic heroic songs. One of them deals with Marko
Kraljevic and his brother Andrijas. Hektorovic heard them from two
middle-aged fishermen, Paskoj and Nikola, each of whom sang an
heroic song:
Recimo po jednu, za vrime minuti
bugar6sinu srednu, i za trud ne cuti;
da Srbskim nacinom, moj druze primili,
kako meu druzinom vasda smo cinili.
Ribanje, vv. 517-520.
(Trans.: In order to pass the time and relax, let each one of us tell a
well-constructed bugarstica [epic song of long verse], but in the
Serbian manner, my dearest friend, as we always did in company.)
He has also preserved the napjev (melody).4
The two songs which Hektorovic heard -       the puc'ke pjesme
(literally, weapon songs), as he calls them - were not creations of the
moment. The fishermen had heard them from others, and the songs
were probably decades old, if not older. These two songs are the
oldest recorded bugarstice we possess.
1 As quoted by D. Suboti6, op. cit., pp. 144-145. The text in Greek, which is
from Hist. Byz., IV, p. 14, is found in H. Munro Chadwick, The Heroic Age,
Cambridge, 1912, p. 104, note 1.
2 C. Jire6ek, "Staat und Gesellschaft im mittelalterlichen Serbien (II)," in
Denkschriften K. Ak. der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, Bd. LVI, Wien,
1912, pp. 81, 89.
3 Cf. D. Suboti6, op. cit., p. 147; Narodna enciklopedija srpsko-hrvatskoslovenacka (edited by Prof. St. Stanojevi6), III, Zagreb, 1928, p. 24.
4 Pjesme Petra Hektorovi6a i Hanibala Lucica (Songs by Petar Hektorovi6
and Hanibal Luci6), Zagreb, 1874, p. xxiv.




VARIANTS AND ANTIQUITY OF THE SONGS


27


However, the South Slavs have heroic songs of short verse also,
the so-called deseterac (ten-syllable verse), which constitute by far the
greater part of their oral epic poetry. Are they older than the songs of
long verse? Scholars disagree on this point. The earliest known
records of heroic songs in deseterac, however, date from about 1700
and they are found in a Dalmatian manuscript (the older Perast
manuscript), where it is stated that they are collected from the oral
tradition of the people in that region, and in the Erlangen collection
(western Croatia) the date of which has been set around 1720.1 This
does not mean, however, that their origin also is of that period. The
songs in deseterac must have had a long development, in the style we
know them to be, before they were recorded.2 As far as subjects are
concerned, the songs of short verse go beyond the age of the bugarstice, for they deal with the Nemanjici cycle.
The bugargtice were discovered on the coast, particularly in the
neighborhood of Dubrovnik, and in the eighteenth century they disappeared. The deseterac, on the other hand, had spread all over the
country and the Yugoslav heroic songs today are sung in that verse.
In deseterac are also the Bosnian and Hercegovinian Moslem epic
songs - those which are of special interest for our study - and they
arose during the period of expansion of the Turkish Empire in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when clashes took place between the Slavs beyond the frontiers and the Mohammedans of
Bosnia and Hercegovina.
But when we turn to the question of the antiquity of the Albanian
epic songs, the problem becomes more difficult. Historic documents
are completely lacking. Only one mention about the "legend" of a
song has been found so far. Sv. Stefanovi6, in his study on the legend
of the construction of Shkodra, quotes a passage by J, Tomi6:
Already in the latter half of the fifteenth century the well known writer
Barletius noted - very briefly and on the basis of certain written fragments in
the language of the people of that region - the story of the foundation of the
city of Shkodra under the name of 'Rosafa.'3
It is true that today also the hill on which the fortress of Shkodra lies
is called Rozafat. It may be possible that the "written fragments"
contained parts of the song on the construction of the fortress of
Shkodra. But the real significance of the note of Barletius is that it
1 Cf. D. Suboti6, op. cit., pp. 148-149; A. Vaillant, "Serbo-Croate et
Slovene", Revue des Etudes Slaves, VI (1926), 146-147.
2 Cf. G. Gesemann, Die serbokroatische Literatur, Wildpark-Potsdam, 1929,
p. 6.
3 S. Stefanovi6, Studije o narodnoj poeziji (Studies in Popular Poetry) III,
IV, Beograd, 1933, p. 263.




28


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


shows that the tradition (legend) of the "Construction of Shkodra"
was not only known in northern Albania in the fifteenth century, but
was also put down in the Albanian language.
The date of another Albanian song, "Zani i Kasnecavet"l (The
Voice of the Heralds), (Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 4), has been given as
1572.2 In fact, the battle between the Albanians and the Turks described in this poem took place in that year.3 But it does not necessarily follow that the date or the composition of the song was also
1572.
"The Voice of the Heralds" has become a popular epic poem among
the Albanian mountaineers of the north, although it lacks epic form.
It is composed of six verse stanzas in hendecasyllabic meter, which is
not at all characteristic of Albanian oral heroic poetry. The language
is learned, and repetitions of verses or parts of verses, characteristic
of Albanian heroic songs, are completely absent. The line, which
generally forms in them a syntactical unit, in "The Voice of the
Heralds" often does not do so, and we come across examples with
enjambements like:
Pushket besnike te Shqyptarevet asgana
Duken nder duer te djelmnis pa ardhi
Ne burrni;...
Taipi, p. 19
(Trans.: The faithful arms of the brave Albanians are seen in the
hands of youth which "has not reached manhood;"...) Albanian
oral epic poems abound in expressive lines - often with the word
rreke (cascade) - to describe the blood shed in a battle, but not once
have we encountered:
Si vala e pronit ec6 e shkon gjaku
Taipi, p. 21
(Transl.: The blood flows like the "wave of a ditch").
Obviously, the song about Ibrahim Pasha of Shkodra is a piece of
reflective literature, effective and beautiful in execution. The author
has remained anonymous. If the song has become popular among the
mountaineers of northern Albania, it is because it embodies their
ideals: patriotism, freedom, valor, honor, tradition.
1 It was published for the first time, under the title "Ibrahim Pasha de
Scutari," in H. Hecquard's Histoire et description de la Haute-Albanie ou
Ghdgarie, Paris, 1858, p. 491.
2 Cf. Ibid.
3 Cf. D. Nd. Nikaj, Historija e Shqypnis (The History of Albania), Shkoder,
1917, p. 98, as cited in Visaret e Kombit, I, p. 26.




VARIANTS AND ANTIQUITY OF THE SONGS


29


The only exact date we possess at present about the antiquity of
Albanian oral epic poetry is 1737. It is the date written on the
manuscript which contained the songs made public in Marchiano's
Canti popolari albanesi delle colonie d'Italia, (Foggia, 1908). But these
songs might be, like those in Ribanje..., older than 1737.
In the absence of historic records, we must proceed by comparison,
in order to establish the age of the Albanian heroic songs which have
appeared in collections to date. The comparison will be mainly
historical and linguistic and the chronology relative.
The oral epic poems of Albania proper do not treat subjects nor
include figures of a period beyond the end of the eighteenth century,
i.e., the beginning of the rulers in Albania who declared themselves
independent from the Porte, the Bushatis of Shkodra and Ali Pasha
of Tepelena. Of course, individuals are not a sure criterion because
epic poetry is capricious and places them according to its moods. But
when historic figures are comnected with the pertinent localized
historic events, the former may be used as an auxiliary criterion.
Besides, the language of the songs of Albania proper does not reveal
any characteristic forms which could go farther back in years. Still,
at this point, one should not forget that the songs, transmitted orally
from generation to generation, undergo continuous changes, which
substitute new forms and new expressions for older ones.
As for the rhapsodies around the two brothers Mujo and Halil -
a highly controversial question among Albanian scholars - which
are sung only in the mountains of northern Albania, they are of
Bosnian Moslem origin, as we will endeavor to demonstrate in subsequent chapters. Evidently, the Mujo-Halil cycle' came into being
in Bosnia after the islamization of the Slavs in that region, for it
deals with wars between the Bosnian Moslems and the Christians
across the frontiers. These wars started after the emigration of the
Serbs to Croatia and Slavonia which took place when Bosnia and
Hercegovina fell under Turkish domination and Austria-Hungary
established the Military Frontier (1538). The Bosnian Mujo-Halil
cycle cannot then go beyond the sixteenth century, although certain
elements in it may be of an earlier date. Indeed, the Moslem popular
epic poetry of Bosnia flourished in the sixteenth and particularly in
the seventeenth centuries.2
1 As in the Bosnian songs of Vuk the name of Alil corresponds to the Albanian Halil, and the two brothers are called Hrnjidi, the Mujo-Alil cycle or the
Hrnji6i brothers cycle will be used from time to time whenever referring to the
Bosnian original cycle.
2 Cf. G. Gesemann, op. cit., p. 6; M. Murko, La po6sie populaire epique en
Yougoslavie au ddbut du XXe si8cle, p. 22.




30


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


But the editors of the songs of the Mujo-Halil cycle, the Franciscans P. Bernardin Palaj and P. Donat Kurti, regard as symptomatic
the fact that these rhapsodies "are sung only among the Bosnians
and Hercegovinians, among the Montenegrins, who are the Albanians
of yesterday [referring to the Illyrians], and among the Albanians of
the north," and they think that the "question will receive an answer
when the ethnography of these tribes will be studied, the last tribes
to be slavicized."l They even raise the question whether we are not
confronted here with a cycle of songs around a Troy, destroyed
during the Slavic invasions, in which in spite of the slavization of the
Illyrians, the memories "of that heroic age" have been preserved.2
It seems to me that when we judge a cycle of epic songs we do not
deal principally with substrata. These play a secondary role, especially if they are problematic and of a very remote period, as the
Illyrian substratum in the cycle of Mujo and Halil, assumed by the
two Franciscan Brothers. We know absolutely nothing about the
heroic songs of the Illyrians, although it is reasonable to suppose that
they had such songs: "Wie bei einem kriegerischen Volk, wurden bei
ihnen [the Illyrians] Kriegslieder gesungen, von Pfeife und Dudelsack
begleitet, wobei das Trinkhorn von Hand zu Hand ging und ein
wilder Waffentanz getanzt wurde."3 It is rather important to consider the salient features in the cycle, those which can best interpret
the songs, and those within the framework of the entire cycle. The memories preserved from another age do not give the stamp to the cycle.
However, the possibility of the introduction into Albania of the
first songs of the Bosnian Mujo-Alil cycle at an earlier date cannot be
excluded, when we take into consideration the fact that the Albanian
tribes of the north were wandering shepherd tribes. Still it is more
reasonable to believe that the Albanians accepted the rhapsodies
around the brothers Mujo and Halil following their great expansion
in Serbia.
After 1690 the Patriarch Arsen III Crnojevic and numerous
families from Old Serbia (estimated at over 30,000) fled to Hungarian
territory, when the Austrian forces, which they had supported in the
war against Turkey, retreated.4 Their lands remained relatively
1 Visaret e Kombit, II, p. X.
2 Ibid.; see also E. Babej, "Die albanische Volksdichtung," Leipziger Vierteljahrsschrift fiir Siidosteuropa, III (1939), 203 and "Per gjenezen e literatures
shqipe" (About the Genesis of Albanian Literature), Hylli i Drites, XV (1939),
162.
3 L. von Thall6czy, "Beitr&ge zur Siedlungsgeschichte der Balkanhalbinsel," Illyrisch-albanische Forschungen, I, Miinchen und Leipzig, 1916, p. 21.
4 Cf. G. Gesemann, op. cit., p. 4; K. Jire6ek, "Albanien in der Vergangenheit," Illyrisch-albanische Forschungen, I, p. 87.




VARIANTS AND ANTIQUITY OF THE SONGS


31


empty and "the Albanians penetrated through Opilje, Gora, Ljuma,
in the Kosovo plain, along the White Drin River to Novi Pazar and
Nis."l Metohija, Kosovo, and partly the Sandiak then became
Albanian inhabited territories.2 This expansion put the Albanians in
close touch with the Hercegovinian and Bosnian Mohammedans. As
a result, the rhapsodies cannot be considered older than the beginning
of the eighteenth century.
It appears that the epic songs of the Italo-Albanians are the oldest.
As we have explained in the previous chapter, the Albanian settlements in Italy were founded primarily by emigrants who left their
fatherland, when the resistance against the Turks collapsed. It is not
accidental that the heroic poems sung by them deal chiefly with the
national hero Scanderbeg and his wars against the Turks. His twentyfour years of opposition to the invader must have been a great
stimulus for epic songs. The Albanians who fled their country, in
order to save themvseles from the Turkish yoke, carried with them
the memories and the songs which their brothers, who remained in
the motherland, gradually forgot. Sirdani mentions only one song,
collected in Albania, in which the name of Scanderbeg survives.3 But
this should not be surprising. For almost five centuries Albania was
under Turkish rule and the majority of the population was converted
to Mohammedanism. It would have been both a sacrilege and lese
majeste to sing praises to a Christian hero who had opposed Sultans
and had killed Turks. Evliya Qelebi, a high Turkish official, who
visited northern Albania in 1662, does not mention Scanderbeg in his
Travels, although he speaks of Lesh (Alessio), the town where the
Albanian hero was buried. And Babinger remarks:
Auffallend ist, dalB Ewlija mit keinem Worte Skanderbeg gedenkt, der hier
seine Tage beschloB und in der Kirche des Heiligen Nikolaus seine letzte Ruhestatte fand. Dies ist um so merkwiirdiger, als mit den Reliquien Skanderbegs
gerade seitens der Turken ein seltsamer Kult getrieben wurde, der ganz in der
Geistesrichtung des wundersiichtigen Ewlija lag.4
As Koliqi rightly remarks, the songs of the Italo-Albanians:
are the reflection of the true Albania of the fifteenth century, dominated by
the strong personality of Scanderbeg. The Italo-Albanian songs vibrate with
fiery love for the fatherland. In no other cycle nor in any other Albanian songs
1 M. gufflay, "Povijest sjevernih Arbanasa" (History of the Northern
Albanians), Arhiv..., II (1924), 238.
2 Cf. G. Stadtmiiller, "Die albanische Volkstumsgeschichte als Forschungsproblem," Leipziger Vierteljahrsschrift fiar Siidosteuropa, V (1941), 77; K.
Jire6ek, op. cit., p. 87.
3 M. Sirdani, Skanderbegu mbas gojdhanash (Scanderbeg according to Tradition), Shkoder, 1926, pp. 141ff.
4 F. Babinger, Ewlijd Tschelebi's Reisewege in Albanien, Berlin, 1930, p. 4.




32


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


have memories of a more distant epoch been preserved. From the linguistic
point of view also the dialects spoken in the Albanian colonies of Italy are
precious, not only because of certain phenomena of preservation, but also for
the relative chronology of the elements which have been changed. If we find in
reality Turkish and neohellenic elements in the Albanian dialects of Italy, we
can affirm that these are older than the arrival of the settlers themselves.1
Furthermore, these songs appear to have emerged in a semi-feudal
environment and in a Christian atmosphere both of which existed in
Albania before the coming of the Turks.
Apparently the greater part of the Italo-Albanian songs are products of the fifteenth century, and some perhaps of an earlier period.
Camarda believes that they may even be as old as the twelfth or
thirteenth centuries:
From the historical as well as the linguistic point of view, the traditional
poems of the Italo-Albanian colonies should be considered of great value, for
they undoubtedly belong to the period before the emigration, i. e., to the
middle of the fifteenth century, and maybe some of them could go as far back
as the first years of the Albanian manifestation, as Fallmerayer calls it. Certainly
these songs contain allusions to mediaeval times and, in fact, to times before the
fall of the Eastern Empire. Many are repeated still among the Albanian
settlements which celebrate the memory of Scanderbeg and of his times...2
Perhaps Camarda is exaggerating. Yet there are reasons to believe
that there is an epic song among the Albanians of Italy which may be
of the Byzantine period. It is "Kostantin' i vogelith" (Constantine
the Small), (Camarda, p. 90; Marchiano, No. VIII). It tells of the
return of a husband - after a long period of absence - whom the
wife recognizes at the moment she is about to marry another man.
There are numerous songs about Ho mikros Konstantinos (Constantine
the Small) or simply Konstantinos in Greek folklore. Does not the
motif also resemble the return of Ulysses and Penelope? They belong
to the Akritic cycle, in which Constantine the Small is the uncle of
Digenis Akritas.3
The person of Constantine in the Albanian songs is a reminiscence
of Mikros Konstantinos, of the Greek songs, which the Albanians
from Morea carried over to Italy, when they settled there.4 But this
may merely show that the song had originated before the Albanian
emigration from Morea to Italy. It does not give us any earlier date.
If the Greek songs about Konstantinos, who is often confused with
1 E. Koliqi, op. cit., pp. 56-57, note 13.
2 D. Camarda, Gramnnatologia comparata sulla lingua albanese, Appendice,
Prato, 1866, p. xvi.
3 Cf. N. G. Politis, Laographika symmikta (Folkloristic M6langes), I, Athens,
1920, p. 248.
4 M. Lambertz, Albanische Mdrchen, Wien, 1922, pp. 68-69.




VARIANTS AND ANTIQUITY OF THE SONGS


33


Porphyrios, are of the tenth century, as Baud-Bovy concludes,' and
in Albania proper we have variants of "Kostantini i vogelith," under
the name of "Aga Ymeri" in the north and "Imer Ago" in the south,
the problem becomes more interesting and probably clearer. One is
tempted to suppose that the poem "Constantine the Small" existed
in Albania before the coming of the Turks and that later it put on
Moslem dress. In this case, the songs about Ymer Aga would be the
oldest in Albania, as far as the subject is concerned, for the language
in the course of years has changed. But this still remains a hypothesis.
1 Cf. H. Gr6goire, Ho Digenes Akritas (Digenis Akritas), New York, 1942,
pp. 226-227.


3




CHAPTER III


OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES
Like so many sovereigns of the Middle Ages, Stephen Nemanya and Stephen
the First-Crowned adopted the dangerous policy of portioning out parts of
their realm as appanages to their sons or relatives. The practice was continued
to the end of the Serbian Kingdoms.1
This gave rise to separate cultural centers and local ruling families.
Around them songs grew up, composed by members of the druzina
(company, retinue), about events which had occurred in the province
of the lord - or in the neighborhood - and which glorified him.
The local character of the Serbian epic songs is shown by such
cycles as those of the Crnojevi6i and the Brankovi6i. The cycle of the
first of these is composed of the epic poems about the heads of the
last dynasty of Zeta (Montenegro): Stefan, Ivan, Stanisa, and
Djuradj Crnojevii. They deal with relations with Venice and the
wars against the Turks, for which the rulers of Zeta concluded an
alliance with Scanderbeg. They were probably composed in the
fifteenth century at the court of 2abljak and Cetinje.2 The cycle of
the Brankovi6i contains songs about the despots of Serbia and Srem.
In their center stands George Brankovic, who built Smederevo,
which became the political and cultural center of Serbia. As the
Hungarian rulers were good friends of the Brankovi6i, they play an
important role in this cycle. Obviously the songs were produced at the
court of the Brankovi6i. The names of the heroes and the geographic
places reveal their local character. Names are not always stable, for
they can be changed or replaced. Places, on the other hand, are more
persistent because the songs are usually fixed to a particular locality.
Often the localization of epic poems has been secondary. After
having roamed from place to place, they were fixed at a certain time
to a given spot and were accordingly transformed. A great role was
played in this localization by monasteries and churches. They
elaborated and adapted the epic legends to fit their needs and the
local monuments.3 Such an instance is the death of Kraljevic Marko.
1 H. W. V. Temperley, History of Serbia, London, 1917, p. 48.
2 Cf. N. Kravtsov, Serbski epos (Serbian Epos), Moscow-Leningrad, 1933,
p. 48.
3 Ibid., p. 76.
34




OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES


35


Actually, the Serbian hero was killed in Rovini, in Rumania, in 1394,
but in the songs his death takes place in Urvin-planina, which must
be the place Orvil (Gr. Orvelos), not far from Mount Athos.1 This
seems to have been brought about by the influence of the Hilandar
Monastery on Mount Athos,2 where the grave of Marko Kraljevi6 is
localized in the song "Death of Kraljevic Marko" (Vuk, III, 74).
The church also played a significant part in the Nemanjici and
Kosovo cycles. The Nemanjici cycle unites the songs about the kings
and princes of that dynasty. It contains no war exploits but "good
deeds" and buildings for the zaduzbina (for the rest of the soul). The
Kosovo cycle is composed of poems describing separate moments,
before the battle, the battle itself on the plain of Kosovo, and events
after the battle. Yet in such an epic subject we hear the wife of King
Lazar in "The Construction of Ravanica" (Vuk, II, 35) advising her
husband to build a monastery as such a pious act would be useful. In
mediaeval Serbia "Les courtisans et les nobles rivalisaient de zele a
edifier des 6glises et des couvents et a leur faire des donations, les
dames nobles a faire des broderies d'or pour les vetements sacerdotaux."3 Matic thinks that in the songs around the Nemanji6i and
Kosovo there is "church inspiration."4 The church played a great
role in the life of the Serbian people: it preserved their nationality
and was a force in the liberation movement.
But the Serbian cycles did not remain localized. The migrations
which took place after the occupation of Serbian provinces by the
Turks contributed greatly to their diffusion. In addition to the
Kosovo cycle, another cycle which spread all over South Slavic
territory was the Marko Kraljevi6 cycle, dealing with the exploits of
the Macedonian King in the latter half of the fourteenth century. The
church played an important role in the propagation of this cycle in
Croatia and Slovenia.5 No doubt the songs underwent changes in the
new lands. When the various Serbian provinces were unified, after
the liberation of Serbia, the local cycles became national cycles.  \
Among the Albanians, on the contrary, oral epic poetry has preserved its local character. To this the physical configuration has contributed: Albania is divided by mountains into separate regions.
Since the foreigners who have occupied her, in the course of centuries,
have had no interest in building roads and uniting the country, iso1 Cf. H. Temperley, op. cit., pp. 60, 97-98; N. Kravtsov, op. cit., pp. 80, 83.
2 Ibid., p. 80.
3 C. Jirecek, La civilisation serbe au moyen age, Paris, 1920, p. 99.
4 Cf. S. Mati6, "Narodne pjesme epske," (Popular Epic Songs) in Narodna
enciklopedija srpsko-hrvatsko-slovena6ka (edited by Prof. St. Stanojevi6), III,
Zagreb, 1928, pp. 27-28.
5 J. Cviji6, La pdninsule balkanique, Paris, 1918, p. 292.
3*




36


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


lation has prevailed, the north being more isolated than the south.
When we also take into consideration the difference in religion and in
dialects between northern and southern Albania, we can better
understand the obstacles which stand in the way of the propagation
of songs.
However, when the various Albanian principalities formed a union
(1444) under the leadership of Scanderbeg, and the war against the
Turks acquired deeper significance for the people all over the country,
for it was a question of life and death, the songs concerning the
exploits of the national hero must have spread. Some authors explain
the similarity in the life of Scanderbeg, as told by Musachi (an
Albanian lord of Scanderbeg's time) and Barletius, by supposing a
common epic tradition or a common inspiration of heroic songs which
today have been lost.1
Although in Albania legends about Scanderbeg are not lacking, as
for instance the discussion between him and Lek Dukagjini about the
evaluation of feuds (Kanuni, supplement, p. 121), there exists only
one song in which Scanderbeg is mentioned, "Scanderbeg is not dead"
(Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 1). It originated in Kruja (Croya), the hero's
capital, and it refers to his battle against the Turkish commander Ali
Pasha.2 Djordjevi6 writes that songs about Scanderbeg are sung
around Ohrida,3 but we do not know of any published in Albanian.
Among the Italo-Albanians, however, there are quite a few traditional songs on the Albanian national hero. As their colonies were
established in Italy after the collapse of the Albanian resistance to
the Turks and the settlers came mostly from southern Albania, it is
logical to believe that the songs about Scanderbeg, who ruled in
northern Albania, formed a national cycle.
After the occupation of the country by the Ottoman Turks,
during the latter part of the fifteenth century, the epic poems around
the foe of Islam and the "Champion of Christendom"4 gradually disappeared. Serbian migrations to territories inhabited by other South
Slavs which were geographic extensions of the regions where the
Serbian songs had originated brought about the diffusion of those
songs. Migrations of Albanians to a foreign country, divided by sea
from their motherland, caused the preservation of epic poems but at
1 A. Gegaj, L'Albanie et l'invasion turque au XVe siecle, Louvain, 1937, p. xi.
2 A poem about Scanderbeg's return to Kruja and his seizure of the command from Ali Pasha is "Scanderbeg," in Tales of a Wayside Inn, by H. W.
Longfellow.
3 T. Djordjevic, Nas narodni zivot (Our Popular Life), X, Beograd, 1934,
p. 32.
4 F. S. Noli, George Castrioti Scanderbeg, New York, 1947, p. 73.




OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES


37


the same time restricted their area: a national cycle became a local
cycle.
Speaking about the Albanians of Italy, Smilari writes:
[Living] far, they have never withdrawn their eyes from Epirus. With what
enthusiasm they talk about Scanderbeg and the illustrious enterprises of their
nationals! With what disdain and shuddering they speak of Turkey and the
Turk!1
Indeed, in the traditional heroic songs of the Albanian settlements in
Italy a painful nostalgia of the emigrants for the country they lost is
felt and the motif of the struggle against the Turks is dominant.
Turks carry away and torture Albanian women, as in "The
Rape" (Scura, p. 244). In the poem "Olimpia and Vlastari" (Scura,
p. 294), an Albanian Christian girl is snatched away by Turkish
soldiers to the tent of their commander, Vlastari, who proves to be
her islamized brother. We find another rape in "Milo Shini" (Scura,
p. 224), where the Albanian hero saves his sister-in-law, the wife of
Gjin Bardella, from the hands of Ali Beg, killing the enemy and
carrying his head on the point of the sword.
The rape passes from the specific to the general in the "Two Birds"
(Scura, p. 230). In this song one of the birds tells the other how it
saw an Albanian girl in the arms of a Turkish rider, who was singing
while the maiden was sighing:
What an unfortunate girl I am!
I fell in the arms of this dog,
And I don't know where I go,
Nor where he takes my honor,
There where there is no church of our God!
One can feel in these lines a blend of the torture of the moment with a
longing for her land, where there is a "church of our God."
In the heroic poems of the Italo-Albanians one meets several names
of leaders of the fifteenth century who fought against the Turks
under the command of Scanderbeg. In "Scanderbeg and Milo Shini"
(Scura, p. 246) the two Albanian heroes hear a distant voice, while
they are drinking at the table. Scanderbeg tells Shini to go out and
see, and if the Turkish army is coming, to call him at once. Shini does
not come back, but girds his sword, which he asks: "How many
hearts have you? ", and rushes out with his companions to fight against
the enemy. He returns victorious. Other poems deal with the death
of Albanian heroes killed in battles with the Turks, as for instance in
"The Dying Hero" (Scura, p. 260), "The Death of Radavani" (Scura,
1 A. Smilari, Gli Albanesi d'Italia, loro costumi e poesie popolari, Napoli, 1891,
p. 11.




38


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


p. 288), "Pal Golemi" (Scura, p. 268). In "Ded Skura" (Scura, p. 250),
the fatally wounded hero tells his companions to take his steed to his
son so that he can mount it, when he grows up, and take vengeance
on the Turks.
The songs about Scanderbeg himself are the favorite songs of the
Italo-Albanians. "During the wedding dinner guns are fired on every
side, and songs are chanted which recall the dinners of Scanderbeg."l
Whereas on the afternoon of Easter day, "the men and women dance
separately, singing poems which remind one of the last days of
Scanderbeg and the fall of Albania under Turkish rule."2
In "Scanderbeg to Be Married" (Scura, p. 250), the hero of Kruja
assembles the Albanian noblemen and the bishops and asks them
from which country he should choose his wife. One suggests that he
should marry a girl from Naples, the other one from Puglia (Apulia),
a third a girl from another city in Italy. After having heard them all,
Scanderbeg decides:
I want the wife to be Albanian
In language and in customs,
and sends messengers for Donika Marina of the Arianitis. The song
"Scanderbeg and Ballaban" (Scura, p. 254) is a description of a duel
between the great hero and Ballaban Pasha, the Albanian renegade,
who has come with the army of the Sultan and returns to his lord
with one ear cut by the sword of Scanderbeg. In Albania proper there
is an epic poem of more recent date about the death of the Turkish
general. It is sung in Kruja and is known by the title "The Death of
Ballaban Pasha" (Vis. e. Komb., I, 1, No. 3). Tanush Muzak Thopia,
the brother-in-law of Scanderbeg, resolved with his followers not to
let the Turks enter his leader's capital. The battle was violent - "the
shed blood reached the belly of the horse" (48) - and Ballaban was
murdered. Historically, it is not true that Ballaban Pasha was killed
by Tanush Thopia. The Albanian who wounded him mortally in 1467
was named Gjergj Aleks.3
"The Death of Ballaban Pasha" is interesting in more than one
respect. It is a patriotic song which originated in a Moslem environment and is directed against the Turkish invasion of Albania. As
Ballaban Pasha was buried in Petrela, near Kruja (Scanderbeg's
capital), where to this day there is a grave called "The Tomb of
Ballaban Pasha," and the descendants of the Thopias have been an
1 Ibid., pp. 51-52.
2 Ibid., p. 31.
3 F. S. Noli, Historia e Skenderbeut (History of Scanderbeg), Boston, 1924,
pp. 259-260.




OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES


39


influential family in that region, it is a good example of the localization of epic songs. No doubt, the singer who composed the poem
desired to extoll the forefathers of his feudal masters.
The last moments of the Albanian hero of the fifteenth century are
told in "Scanderbeg and Death" (Scura, p. 264), an impressive
dialogue between him and "Black Death." At his bedside "lords and
noblemen" are crying, and Lek Dukagjini breaks the sad news of the
great hero's death, in "The Death of Scanderbeg" (Scura, p. 270),
rubbing his forehead and pulling his hair:
This is a very sad day,
The father and lord of Albania
Died today in the morning.
The Turks had a great respect for such a brave enemy. When in
"The Sister of Scandergeb" (Scura, p. 238), the hero's sister was
seized by Turkish soldiers, and was brought before the Sultan Amurat, the latter, having learned who her brother was, said:
Since this maiden is the sister
Of the one who had been my son,
Fill the glass with jewels
And pour it on her lap,
To serve her for the dowry.
The Sultan referred to Scanderbeg as "my son" because the belief is
that he had been taken as a hostage to his palace and there he had
been reared. The reverence for the hero is manifested still more by
the fact that "when the Turks took Alessio, they opened his grave in
order to get fragments of his bones for amulets, which would make
them as invulnerable as Scanderbeg himself was reputed to be."'
The traditional songs celebrating the hero of Kruja cannot be
compared in volume with those about Kraljevi6 Marko. In fact, one
can hardly speak of a Scanderbeg cycle. We have a sufficient number
of songs to speak about such a cycle only if we add to the poems
which center around the national hero those of the noblemen who
were under his orders, and which are permeated with the spirit he
created. It would then be somewhat like the Kosovo cycle in which
poems about the battle of 1389 and clashes of later periods on that
plain are included.
Historically, Scanderbeg and Kraljevi6 Marko form a contrast. The
Albanian hero was taken, when a child, as a hostage to the palace of
the Sultan. There he was brought up in the Mohammedan religion
and had distinguished himself in many exploits. After the death of
his father, when Scanderbeg was not sent to rule over Kruja, he
1 F. S. Noli, George Castrioti Scanderbeg, p. 70.




40


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


escaped from the Turkish army, went to his father's capital and there
he hoisted the flag of independence.1 For a quarter of a century he
fought as a Christian against disproportionately superior Turkish
armies. The great Serbian hero of the songs, on the other hand, was
the son of Kralj Vukasin of Macedonia - hence his surname Kraljevi6
- who fell in a battle against the Turks near Adrianople. After the
death of his father, Marko Kraljevic became the vassal of the Sultan,
who recognized him as King of Macedonia, with Prilep as capital.
From that day until 1394, when he was killed in the battle of Rovine,
he remained a vassal of the Turks and fought on their side against
the Christians.2
It is really astonishing that such an historical figure as Kraljevic
Marko should have become the greatest hero of Yugoslav epic poetry.
Many scholars have tackled this problem. Some think that it was due
to Marko's exceptional physical strength; others try to explain it by
his privileged position as a vassal of the Sultan - the singers could
sing of him without fearing punishment. Kravtsov has given a new
interpretation. He maintains that the proximity of Marko's domain
to Mount Athos, a religious center of great cultural influence where
the founder of the Nemanjici dynasty had erected the Hilandar
Monastery and other Serbian kings had spent their last years, and
which was also a place of pilgrimage visited by wandering bards, have
all contributed to the diffusion of the Marko songs and thus raising
the former King of Macedonia to the highest level among the Serbian
junaci (heroes). Using the Marxian terminology, Kravtsov concludes
that it was "a monastery agitation."3
The role of monasteries in the origin and development of oral epic
poetry was first stressed by Western scholars, particularly Bedier — by
whom, apparently, Kravtsov has been influenced - who maintains
that the French epic songs originated in the monasteries of France.4
No doubt, the monasteries played an important part in the life of the
Serbian people, especially in the Middle Ages, and above all, Hilandar
Monastery. But Kravtsov lacks sufficient evidence to prove his point.
The only concrete example he produces is "Smrt Marka Kraljevi6a"
1 This part of Scanderbeg's life, i.e. from childhood to seizure of power,
believed to be historically true, is now being questioned. See F. S. Noli, op. cit.,
p. 30.
2 Cf. D. Subotic, Yugoslav Popular Ballads, Cambridge, 1932, pp. 14-15;
C. Jirecek, "Staat und Gesellschaft im mittelalterlichen Serbien (II)," in
Denkschriften K. Ak. der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, Bd. LVI, Wien,
1912, pp. 104-106.
3 For a treatment of this question, as well as views expressed by other
scholars, see N. Kravtsov, op. cit., pp. 77-84.
4 Cf. J. Bedier, Les legendes gpiques, III, Paris, 1912, pp. 290, 374-385.




OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES


41


(The Death of Marko Kraljevi6), (Vuk, II, No. 74), in which monks
from Mount Athos found the hero dead on Urvin Mountain, carried
him to Mount Athos and there buried him in a grave which has
remained unknown. This, however, is not sufficient. The Serbian
national legend is that Marko Kraljevi6 is still asleep in Sarplanina
and will awake when the Serbian empire shall be reborn.l While
accepting the role of Hilandar Monastery as one of the factors contributing to Marko's prestige and to the propagation of his songs,
Kravtsov's interpretation must be rejected as a solution of the
problem.
It seems to us that an explanation for the Marko Kraljevi6 problem
can be found in the great market-fairs of Prilep, which perhaps
existed even during the hero's time: "I1 semble que l'origine des
foires de Prilep remonte au Moyen-Age; avec celles de Seres, elles ont
ete pendant toute l'epoque turque les plus importants rendez-vous de
commerce de la plninsule balkanique. Elles avaient lieu au commencement du mois de septembre et duraient quinze jours... On sait
encore les places qu'occupaient les negociants de Dubrovnik qui
fr6quentaient ces foires."2 Since so many people gathered at Prilep,
there would be singers to entertain them. If the market-fairs took
place in Marko's time, it would be natural for the pevci (singers) to
extol the ruler of Prilep. But even if the market-fairs began after
Marko's death, during the Turkish domination, the singers would
praise the hero - the Serb who had ruled over that city. Although a
vassal of the Turks, Marko represented for the Serbs one of their own;
in contrast to the Turkish ruler, he was elevated in the eyes of his
people. These singers then first made a great hero of Marko Kraljevic.
"L'existence de pevci de Prilep semble avoir ete liee a celle de ces
foires, du moins c'est pendant ces grandes assises commerciales qu'ils
exergaient surtout leurs talents et en tiraient profit. Ils ne se contentaient pas de chanter a Prilep et aux environs mais se rependaient
dans toutes les localites du pays."3 Thus the Marko Kraljevi6 songs
spread. Of course, monasteries around Prilep helped in this propagation, and once the legend spread, the Church also took it up and it
was diffused in lands beyond the Turkish frontiers.
The case of Scanderbeg is almost the opposite. The Albanian
national hero does not appear in the songs as great as he was in actual
life. There were no market-fairs in Kruja. The monasteries which
could have played an important part in his glorification in Albania
proper, for he fought for the defense of Christendom, did not do so.
Cf. J. Cvijic, op. cit., p. 423.
2 Ibid., pp. 438-39.
3 Ibid., p. 439.




42


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Scanderbeg was a Roman Catholic and had close relations with the
Pope. The monasteries which should have propagated and preserved
the heroic songs about him - the Catholic monasteries - were few
and not powerful, although "Albanien war im Mittelalter mit Kirchen
und Kloster iibersat."l Their area also was restricted to the northern
part of Albania, where the Catholics live. Yet the first to write a book
about the life of the hero of Kruja was Barletius, a monk, from
Shkodra, who lived in the fifteenth century. His book is not good
history, but it is good legend. Probably in Italy the Albanian priests
played their part in maintaining the Scanderbeg cycle, because in the
past the clergy were generally the most educated and it was also to
the interest of the Church to have a stronger hold on the people.
However, if the songs about Scanderbeg and his followers have a
strong Christian color, this is not due chiefly to the Church, but to the
spirit prevailing during the wars of the Albanians against the Turks.
Only in written epic poetry, like Naim Frasheri's Skenderbeu, does the
Albanian hero emerge hyperbolically great.
We do not expect to find in the songs about Scanderbeg a complete
picture of the hero and a description of his feats as we do in Kraljevic
Marko. The childhood of Marko was accompanied by various marvelous events and deeds. There is nothing about Scanderbeg's childhood
in the songs of the Italo-Albanians. But if we consider the legends as
being sometimes disintegrated oral epic poems, we can say that
Scanderbeg was born in a thin shirt, with the sign of a sword on his
right arm, two small wings under his armpits, and a crown on his
head. While he was still an infant, he attempted to play with his
father's weapons.2 The righteous character of Marko was revealed
when he did not give the kingdom to his father, but gave it to Uros
instead (Vuk, II, No. 34). There is nothing of the sort in Scanderbeg's
songs. In a legend, however, it is told that the Albanian hero was
asked to settle a vendetta between two influential families in Skuraj
(northern Albania), since he enjoyed the reputation of being a wise
and just person. He settled the dispute, and his decision has now become one of the norms in regulating mountaineer feuds: "head for
head, for a bad man can be the father of a good child and a good man
that of a bad child."3 But he did not make his decision until he had
consulted his mother. Marko Kraljevic, too, often asks the advice of
1 M. gufflay, "Die Kirchenzustande im vortiirkischenAlbanien. Die Orthodoxe Durchbruchszone im katholischen Damme," Illyrisch-albanische Forschungen, I, Miinchen und Leipzig, 1916, p. 256.
2 Cf. M. Sirdani, Skanderbegu mbas gojdhdnash, (Scanderbeg according to
Tradition), Shkoder, 1926, p. 22.
3 Ibid., pp.70-73.




OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES


43


his mother in the songs, as when he receives the invitation from the
King of Hungary and the Sultan at the same time in "Marko Kraljevic and Minja Kosturanin" (V. Bogisi6, Narodne pjesme, No. 7). In
the song "Who is a Better Hero"' the heroes consider him the last.
When he takes part in the competition, he proves to be the best
junak. We hear only indirectly about Scanderbeg. When his sister
was captured by the Turks, she made known her identity: "My fourth
brother is Scanderbeg, a terrible hero, who uproots fir trees for shade
in the heat of summer, and when he has his sword in hand, there is no
warrior who can frighten him" (Scura, p. 240). The sword and the
dappled horse - the Xarac - are inseparable from Marko, when he
sets off for exploits. The Albanian hero, going to fight against Ballaban Pasha, has mounted his horse and girded his sword. Certain
Serbian heroes are grouped around Kraljevi6 Marko, like Relja,
Milos from Pocer, Ivan Kosancic, Beg-Kostantin and others, with
whom he performs deeds of valor. Scanderbeg is surrounded by
Albanian heroes, like Milo Shini, Pjeter Shini, Lek Dukagjini, Levita
(who saved his life in a battle), and others. Marko has opponents of
unusual strength, such as General Vuca, Filip Madzarin, Djemo
Brdjanin, and the impersonal Arab and Turk. The adversaries of the
hero of Kruja in the traditional poems are Ballaban Pasha and
Alibeg, but also the Sultans and the whole Turkish army.
J. Tomic thinks that the songs about Marko have been contaminated in their diffusion. Analyzing those on Marko and Djemo
Brdjanin, he considers them to be the reflection of the wars of
Albanians and Serbs which took place, not at the time of the historical Marko, but three centuries later. J. Tomi6 believes that Djemo is
Jegen (Jedjen, Gindjem) - Osman Pasha who lived in the last
quarter of the seventeenth century, revolted against the Sultan, and
was killed in 1689 in Ohrida.2 The victory of the Sultan over Jegen
Pasha is added to the songs of Marko, to whom it has been ascribed.
In Musa Kesedzija, another hero who fought against Marko Kraljevic, the Serbian scholar saw one of the supporters of Jegen. Tomic6
thinks that "all the songs about Musa and Djemo form one group, a
greater whole."3
The Russian historian Makushev, however, considers Djemo as one
of the Gin (Ghin, Ginno), obviously the Dukagjini, Albanian feudal
1 This poem was found only in the Russian translation, in N. Kravtsov, op.
cit., pp. 356-358.
2 J. N. Tomi6, Istorija u narodnim epskim pesmama, I. Pesme o Musi
Kesediiji i Djemu Brdjaninu (History in the Popular Epic Songs, I. Songs
about Musa Kesedzija and Djemo Brdjanin), Beograd, 1909, p. 98.
3 Ibid., p. 14.




44


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


lords of the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries.l One can suppose, in
the instance of Djemo, a contamination of songs and the fusion of two
persons into one. As for Musa Kesedzija, we immediately see from the
first line of the song that he is an Albanian, "Vino pije Musa Arbanasa" (Musa the Albanian drinks wine), and further that a "ljuta
arnautka" (an ill-natured Albanian woman) gave birth to him (Vuk,
II, No. 67). It also becomes clear from the poem that Musa was for
some time in the service of the Sultan and that later he became his
bitterest enemy. This agrees with the story told by Mareti6 - based
on Kaci6's Razgovor - that Musa was the Albanian Moisi whom the
Turkish Emperor Mehmed II had taken away from the service of the
Kastriots (Castriotis), offering him great wealth. The Sultan sent him
with a strong army against Scanderbeg, but he was beaten. Having
lost the favor of the Sultan, Musa again joined Scanderbeg and fought
bravely against the Turks. Captured by the latter, he lost his life.2
It seems that songs in Albanian about Kraljevic Marko and Musa
Kesedzija are sung in the Kosovo region. Smaus states that he heard
in Old Serbia Albanians singing, accompanied by the lahuta, "Musa
Kesedzija and Marko."3 And Djordjevic writes that as early as 1895
he recorded a song about Kraljevi6 Marko and Musa Kesedzija from
an Albanian peasant who was a native of the surroundings of Pec
(Metohija).4 While Elezovic gives us a story, told by an Albanian
from Kosovo, about a duel between Marko and Musa Kesedzija in the
pass of Kacanik, where Musa's grave is to be found, according to
Albanian tradition.5
There is an analogy between the death of the great Serbian hero
and that of Scanderbeg. When on the Urvin Mountain, Marko
Kraljevic is told by a supernatural being, the vila (mountain fairy),
that he is going to die, but not from the hand of a junak (hero):
You will die, my dear Marko, (41)
From God, the old murderer. (42)
Vuk, II, No. 74
The Albanian hero is met on his way to the battlefield by "black
Death," who informs him that he is going to die. Upon Scanderbeg's
question how she knows about it, Death replies:
1 As cited by N. Kravtsov, op. cit., p. 44.
2 Cf. T. Mareti6, Nasa narodna epika, Zagreb, 1909, p. 155.
3 A. Smaus, "Nekoliko podataka o epskom pevaniju i pesmama kod
Arbanasa (Arnauta) u Staroj Srbiji" (Some Information about Epic Singing
and Songs among the Albanians in Old Serbia), Prilozi..., I (1934), 108.
4 T. Djordjevi6, op. cit., p. 32.
5 G1. Elezovi6, "Musa Kesedzija e Kraljevic Marku" (Musa Kesedzija and
Kraljevi6 Marko), Arhiv..., II (1925), 389.




OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES


45


Yesterday, there in the sky,
The book of the dead was opened,
And something like a black veil
Fell directly on your head.
Scura, p. 264.
Before dying, Kraljevic Marko cuts off the head of his ~arac so that
he cannot fall into the hands of the Turks. He further breaks his
sword and lance and throws his buzdovan (mace) into the "blue sea,"
in order that it may not be used by the Turks. Scanderbeg, on the
other hand, calls his son before his death and urges him to flee the
country in order not to be captured by the Turks. He also counsels
him to bind, before the flight, the beloved steed to a cypress tree near
the sea and to hoist on it the Albanian flag, hanging in the middle his
sword, so that when the winds blow the Turks will be frightened by
the noise the sword will make and will not dare approach the shore.
The influence of the Akritic songs on the Marko Kraljevic cycle has
been studied by foreign as well as Slavic scholars. One of the first was
Dieterich.1 Politis thinks that this influence was due not "only to the
Slavonic translation of the (Byzantine) epic, but also to the diffusion
of the popular Greek songs. Especially the Serbian songs about
Marko Kraljevic bear the imprint of imitation of those of Digenis."2
However, "Khalansky and some other Russian scholars pointed to
an analogy between the episodes of Roland's death and that of Marko
Kraljevic."3 True, there are certain similarities between the deaths
of these two heroes. Marko Kraljevic breaks his sword into four pieces
before he dies. The French hero "In sorrow and bitterness he strikes
ten blows on the stone. The steel grates, it does not break nor
splinter... When he sees that he cannot break it at all he begins to
lament his sword to himself."4 Both heroes do not want their swords
to fall into the hands of the enemy. Roland "has run under a pine
tree, he has lain down on his face on the green grass; he puts the
sword and the olifant under his body... He confessed his sins feeble5
and often. He raised his glove to God in offering for his sins."6 The
1 K. Dieterich's comparison between Digenis Akritas and Kraljevi6 Marko
is in "Die Volksdichtung der Balkanlander in ihren gemeinsamen Elementen,"
Zeitschrift des Vereins filr Volkskunde, XII (1902), 152-154.
2 N. G. Politis, Laographika syrmmikta (Folkloristic Melanges) I, Athens,
1920, p. 259.
3 D. Subotid, op. cit., p. 102.
4 The Song of Roland (Text of the Oxford ms.; English translation), 1937,
p. 82.
5 A better translation for "feeble" would be "rapidly."
6 Ibid., p. 84.




46


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Serbian hero "lay down on the grass underneath a pine" (118) and
crossed himself. Yet it does not seem that these analogies are sufficient to show any French influences. It is natural for any hero not to
want his sword to fall into the hands of his opponents. The sword has
been his best guard, a part of himself, in the fights he has carried out.
A Christian hero, on the other hand, is expected to behave like a true
Christian the moment he gives up his spirit: Roland, being a Catholic
confesses his sins; Marko Kraljevic, who is a Serbian Orthodox
Christian and as such does not attach much importance to confession,
is satisfied with making the sign of the cross only. Here we witness the
influence of the respective Churches on the songs of the two heroes.
But there has been a tendency among modern scholars to see Western influence in the Yugoslav heroic songs. Vaillant holds that the
poems of Marko Kraljevic and those of Kosovo are derived from
written romances or poems inspired by the Chanson de Geste.1
N. Banasevic has called attention to the fact that a manuscript of the
Changun de Williame was once preserved at Ragusa and that there is
a close analogy between it and the Kosovo cycle,2 and Subotic lays
stress on the warfare against a Mohammedan power which constitutes
the background of both the South Slavic epic songs and the French
and Spanish romances,3 "though this of course rests on historical
fact, not literary convention."4 Without excluding the possibility of
Western influences, we are inclined, at the present moment, to side
with the Chadwicks, who state: "We fear we cannot attach much importance to these considerations."5
The role which the Saracens play in the Digenis epic is played by
the Turks in the songs concerning Scanderbeg. In the Digenis poems
a Syrian Emir rapes the daughter of Andronikos, general of the
Emperor along the Byzantine-Syrian frontier, and she bears him the
hero. In the Italo-Albanian "The sister of Scanderbeg" (Scura, p. 238)
the Turks rape her and set her free after they learn that her brother is
the Albanian national hero. The death of Scanderbeg in the traditional song of the Albanian settlements in Italy bears great resemblance to that of Digenis. It is accompanied by stormy portents -
there is lightning and thundering, the earth quakes and breaks. This
reminds us of the death of Christ. But is not the hero considered by
1 A. Vaillant, "Les Chants epiques des Slaves du Sud. III" Revue des Cours
et Conferences, XXXIII (1932), 634-647.
2 Cf. D. Subotid, op. cit., pp. 102-103.
3 Ibid., p. 158.
4 H. M. Chadwick and N. K. Chadwick, The Growth of Literature, II, New
York and Cambridge (England), 1936, p. 450.
5 Ibid.




OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES


47


the people to be a supernatural being? For the ancient Greeks the
hero was a demi-God.
Another song of the Italo-Albanians reveals Akritic influences,
"Scanderbeg and Milo Shini" (Scura, p. 246). It is the "Vlahopulo"
(The Small Vlach), who, while sitting at the table with Constantine
and Alexis, gets up all of a sudden and fights against the Saracens,
whom he vanquishes.1 Milo Shini does not only act exactly in that
way but also drinks with Scanderbeg "Malvasian wine" and girdles
a "Damascene sword," both Akritic epithets par excellence. The
subject also of the Akritic songs which deals with the rape of Greek
Irene, the daughter of Bardas Skleros, by a Turk, corresponds to the
aforementioned poem, "Olimpia and Vlastari" (Scura, p. 294).2
A traditional poem influenced by Akritic songs is "Kostantin' i
vogelith" (Constantine the Small), (Scura, p. 218; and for variants,
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, pp. 299-306).
This ballad has acquired a ritual character among the Albanians of southern
Italy. It is sung at every wedding. After the feast all the participants, men and
women, get up from the table, form a circle, place the bride and bridegroom
together in the middle of the circle, and going around the couple, sing this valle,
as it is called in Albanian, the dance together with the song which accompanies
it.3
Constantine the Small was obliged to join the army of the Emperor,
three days after his wedding. Before departing, he told his wife to
wait for him only "nine years and nine days." If he should not return
within that period, his wife could remarry. He did not, and his wife
was betrothed to another man. At the celebration of the wedding
Constantine returned. They recognized each other and left the church
as husband and wife again. In the Church of St. George in Hora e
Arbreshvet (formerly Piana dei Greci, now Piana degli Albanesi), in
Sicily, one of the stony steps is shown where the steed of Constantine
has left a mark.4
Constantine is "the hero of numerous popular songs, the small
Constantine of the variant of Kryptopherri (Grottaferrata), whose
name has survived even among the Albanians of Sicily, joined with
traditions and popular songs taken from the Greek of the Akritic
cycle."5 Gregoire thinks that the song of Porphyrios is confused with
1 Cf. E. (abej, "Per gjenez6n e literatures shqipe" (About the Genesis of
Albanian Literature), Hylli i Drites, XV (1939), 160.
2 Cf. E. Qabej, "Die Albanische Volksdichtung," Leipziger Vierteljahrsschrift fur Sildosteuropa, III (1939), 202.
8 M. Lambertz, Albanische Mdrchen, Wien, 1922, p. 67.
4 E. abej, "Konstandini i vogelith dhe kthimi i Odiseut" (Constantine theSmall and the Return of Ulysses), Hylli i Drites, XIV (1938), 78.
5 N. G. Politis, op. cit., p. 248.




48


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


that of Constantine the Small.1 While Lambertz maintains that the
"person of Constantine is a reminiscence of Mikros Konstantinos,
Kostantinos ho Mikros, i.e. Constantine the Small, of the Greek
popular songs; the Albanians carried him with them when they
crossed from Morea to Italy."2
Several variants of the above song exist in Albanian. They have
no fundamental differences either in the personality of the hero or in
content. The main differences are in the names. Constantine of the
Italo-Albanians has been changed in Albania proper to Aga Ymer,
Imer Aga, Omer Aga (Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 17 and 19; Vis. e. Komb.,
II, 2, No. 9). This seems to be evidence that, after the islamization of
Albanians, the old songs - those with Byzantine motifs - continued
to live in the country. The body stands for a national link, while the
dress points to a cultural change: the name Ymer Aga.
A Serbian song which has certain similarities with "Constantine
the Small" is "Ropstvo Jankovica Stojana" (Captivity of Jankovi6
Stojan), (Vuk, III, No. 25). After a week of married life, Jankovic
Stojan is taken prisoner. He is in Istanbul with Smiljanic Ilja. They
both escape from there and arrive at Kotar. Jankovic Stojan goes
first to his vineyard, where he meets his old mother. She does not
recognize him - he is an "unknown hero" - and tells him the story
of her son and how his wife is getting married on that very day.
Jankovic Stojan goes to the wedding party and there he sings. He is
recognized by his wife who informs Stojan's sister. The three then go
to see the mother, who dies from happiness. It is evident that the
central figure in this Serbian song is more the mother of Jankovic
Stojan than his wife.
Connected with the song of "Constantine the Small" is another
song of the Albanian settlements in Italy, "Constantine and Garuntina" (Several versions in Vis. e Komb., I, 2, pp. 308-312), or simply
"Garentina" or "Doruntina" (Vis e Komb., I, 2, No. 21a and 21b).
In Albania proper we find variants of it under the name of Halil
Garrija. In "Halil Garrija" (Vis. e Komb., II, 2, No. 4) nine brothers
have a sister whom they marry off in a distant land. The younger
brother, Halil, promises that he will fetch her whenever she desires to
see her mother. But the brothers die. The sister, not aware of this
loss, complains that the brothers have forgotten her. God is moved by
the suffering of the sister and raises Halil from the dead, and he
brings the sister on horseback to his mother. When daughter and
mother meet, they die in each other's arms.
1 H. Gregoire, Ho Digenes Akritas (Digenis Akritas), New York, 1942,
pp. 225-227.
2 M. Lambertz, op. cit., p. 68.




OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES


49


This is also the subject-matter of "Garentina" and all the other
Italo-Albanian versions. The differences among them are not important. A comparison of details between the Christian "Garentina"
and the Moslem "Halil Garrija" will not show fundamental differences. Halil goes to a far-off land, and in the house of an old man he
arranges the engagement of his sister, accepting a purse with money,
all in keeping with Moslem custom. In "Garentina" the bridegroom
comes himself and sees the sister of Constantine and is betrothed to
her. In "Halil Garrija" the sister complains to a bird that the brother
does not come and take her: "Where did you leave the besa (the word
of honor) you gave me?" In the Christian version the mother goes to
the grave of Constantine and weepingly asks him: "Where is the besa
you gave me?" Although the questions put to the ghost rider by the
sister differ in "Garentina" and "Halil Garrija," and there is no
mention of the church in the latter, yet in both mother and sister fall
dead when they meet each other. The motif in the two variants is
identical: the Leonorenmotiv. The difference is only that "Halil
Garrija" is the product of a Moslem environment.
This song of the dead brother is spread among all the Balkan
peoples. In Serbian we find it under the title "Bra6a i sestra" (Brothers and Sister), (Vuk, II, No. 9). It has the same contents as the above
Albanian versions. The name of the heroine here is not Garentina but
Jelica and that of the hero is not Constantine but Jovan. In the
Serbian song two angels awake the brother from death, while in the
Albanian variants he either rises up himself, moved by his mother's
complaint, or God awakens him, having pity on his sister. In Vuk's
"Brothers and Sister" there are no birds singing as in the Albanian
"Halil Garrija":
Oh, what a marvel we see, (94)
The living passes by with the dead! (95)
Vis. e. Komb., II, 2, No. 4
But the same trait we observe in another Serbian song, where a dove
sings:
Ah moj Boze, na daru ti hvala!
Mrtav bra6o zivu seku vodi.
Mat. Hrv., I, No. 29
(Transl.: Oh, my God, thanks for the gift! A dead brother leads
a living sister). In a Greek variant (G. Meyer's Essays und Studien, I,
(1885), p. 318) the same motif of the birds is met. Here also the name
of the younger brother is Konstantinos and that of his sister, Arete.
"Garentina" is nearer to the Greek version as a whole, and "Halil
4




50


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Garrija" has quite a few traits in common with the Serbian variants
in Vuk and the Matica Hrvatska. But all these versions, Albanian or
South Slavic, are based on the Greek songs.
The songs about the "dead brother" have been a subject of wide
study by scholars. Politis writes:
As an example of the great diffusion of the Greek songs among the Slavic
and other neighboring peoples I mention to you the cycle of the songs about
the dead brother. This poem, I believe, belongs to the Akritic songs, and I
tried twenty years before to demonstrate its Greek origin. The former Minister
of Education of Bulgaria, Ivan Shishmanov, who has espoused my opinion,
published (Ivan D. Schischmanov, The Song of the Dead Brother in the Poetry
of the Balkan Peoples, Sofia, 1906-1908, in Bulgarian)1 apart from forty-three
Greek variants, which he got from me, six Albanian, four Kutsovlachian, five
Rumanian, eleven Serbian and seventy-eight Bulgarian.2
Another Albanian song which belongs to the Balkan cycle is
"Rozafati" (Vis. e Komb., II, 2, No. 1) or "The Song of the Fortress
of Shkodra in Old Times" (Taipi, p. 16). In Serbian this song is
called "Zidanje Skadra" (The Construction of Shkodra) (Vuk, II,
No. 26). In other Balkan languages it is the construction of a bridge
or a monastery: the bridge of Arta in modern Greek and Arumanian,
the monastery of Arge~ in Rumanian, an indeterminate bridge near
Prilep in Macedonian, the building of the city of Pyrgos (Burgas) in
Bulgarian. The same legend is met in Hungarian in the construction
of the city of Deva.8 But variants dealing with the building of a
bridge are not lacking in Albanian and Serbian. Elezovic has given us
three Albanian versions, two collected in the surroundings of Pec and
one in a village near Vucitrn (Yugoslavia).4 All three have as a subject
the construction of a bridge: Ura e Sejt (The Holy Bridge), near
Gjakovica (Yugoslavia). A Serbian variant deals with the building of
a bridge across the Drina River, near Visegrad (Hormann, I, No. III),
which was constructed by the Great Vezier Mehmed Sokolovic (approximately 1570).5
In "Zidanje Skadra" it is said that Kralj Vukasin with his brothers
built the city of Shkodra. This is not historically true. The existence
1 Before that date Ivan D. Schischmanov had published a study "Der
Lenorenstoff in der bulgarischen Volkspoesie," Indogermanische Forschungen,
IV (1894), 412-448. The literature about the Lenore legend in the poetry of the
Balkans can be found in Karl Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzantinischen
Literatur, Munchen, 1897, pp. 831ff.  2 N. Politis, op. cit., p. 259.
3 Cf. S. Stefanovi6, "Daljii prilozi legendi o zidanju Skadra - Madjarske
variante legende" (Further Contributions to the Legend of the Construction of
Shkodra - Hungarian Variants of the Legend), Prilozi...., I (1935), 173-184.
4 G. Elezovi6, "Tri arnautske varijante motiva o zazidjivanju neveste"
(Three Albanian Variants of the Motif of the Immurement of the Bride),
Zbornik A. Belie (1937), pp. 391-398.  5 T. Mareti6, Na~a narodna epika
(Our Popular Epic Poetry) Zagreb, 1909, p. 214.




OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES


51


of the city of Shkodra goes far back to the time of the Illyrians, when
their kings made it their capital. As early as 168 B.C. Shkodra is
mentioned by Livius as Scodra in his history of the war of the Romans
against the Illyrian King Gentius (XLIV, Chap. 31).1 Not until the
eleventh century did the Serbs occupy Shkodra and their King Bodin
(1082-1110) made it his capital.2 "In the fourteenth century the
court of Serbian Kings is mentioned near Shkodra on the Drimca
with many wonderful palaces (polate),"3 but it was not the court of
Vukasin or of his brothers. The sway of the Mrnjaveevici did not
spread as far as Shkodra.4
As already mentioned, the song "Rozafati" corresponds to the
Serbian "Zidanje Skadra." It is not the name of the city of Shkodra
but of the fortress of Shkodra. Neither is it a recent name. It is first
found as Rozaf in the biography of Nemanja by Stephen the FirstCrowned (1215). It is met in the form Rozapha in Marinus Barletius
(about 1480), as well as in certain writers of the nineteenth century.5
In his profound study on the motif of the construction of Shkodra,
Stefanovic writes in regard to Rozafat: "It is not possible to identify
the name Rosafa, nor does it have any historical basis."6 Jirecek
offers us an explanation about it. It belongs to the extraordinary but
not rare transfer of a name of a place under the influence of legends.
It is the city of Rusafa which is mentioned in the legend of the saints
Sergius and Bacchus. The city is deserted today, but its walls and
buildings have been well preserved in East Syria, not far from old
Palmyra. Below Shkodra, on the Bojana River, there was a famous
monastery of these two saints and the people transferred the home of
these Syrian martyrs to the nearest neighborhood.7
In "Rozafati" three brothers construct a fortress. Whatever work
1 The name of Shkodra has not changed for more than two thousand years.
The Romans called it Scodra, and so did the Greeks. From 1287 the form
Scutarum is read. The old Serbian form was Skbdbr, which one can even hear
today in Montenegro. The new form Skadar, in Serbian, emerged at the end of
the fourteenth century. In Albanian the name has always been Skodra or
Shkodra. See the study by K. Jirecek, "Scutari und sein Gebiet im Mittelalter," Illyrisch-albanische Forschungen, I, p. 103.
2 Cf. Ibid., p. 107; M. Murko, Geschichte der alteren siidslawischen Litteraturen,
Leipzig, 1908, p. 28.
3 M. Sufflay, Srbi i Arbanasi (Serbs and Albanians), Beograd, 1925, p. 8.
4 Cf. D. Suboti6, op. cit., p. 53; T. Mareti6, op. cit., p. 166.
6 K. Jirecek, op. cit., p. 105.
6 S. Stefanovid, Studije o narodnoj poeziji, (Studies about Popular Poetry),
III, IV, Beograd, 1933, p. 312.
7 K. Jirecek, op. cit., p. 105; Cf. M. Sufflay, "Die Kirchenzustande im vortiirkischen Albanien. Die orthodoxe Durchbruchszone im Katholischen
Damme," Illyrisch-albanische Forschungen, I, pp. 268-269.
4*




52


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


is performed by the bricklayers during the day is destroyed at night.
A saint passes by and tells the three brothers that before the fortress
can be built one of their wives must be immured: she who will bring
the luncheon. The two elder brothers warned their wives, but the
youngest kept his promise and did not tell the secret to his own. When
the latter arrived with the meals, she was immured. The plot of
"Zidanje Skadra" is almost identical. The only difference is that in it
there is a part we do not find in the Albanian song: before the wife of
Gojko was immured, an effort was made to find for the immurement
a sister and a brother by the names of Stoja and Stojan. As for the
rest, a comparison will show more clearly the differences and similarities:


Albanian
1. Three Christian brothers construct the fortress.
2. Thirty masons are working
but the work of the day is
destroyed by night.
3. It is not mentioned for how
long they have been working.
4. A saint tells them that the
wife of one of them must be
immured.
5. The brothers promise that
they will keep secret the
words of the saint.
6. The two elder brothers break
the promise and tell their
wives.
7. The mother of the brothers
calls the daughters-in-law in
turn to take the food to the
fortress.


Serbian
1. The three brothers Mrnjavcevi6i - King Vukasin, vojvod Uglesa, and Gojko -
build the city.
2. Three hundred masons are
working, but the work accomplished during the day is
destroyed at night.
3. They have been working for
three years.
4. The vila of the mountains tells
them that the wife of one of
the brothers must be immured.
5. The brothers Mrnjaveevici
promise that they will keep
secret the words of the vila.
6. The two elder brothers break
the promise and tell their
wives.
7. The wife of the eldest brother
asks first the wife of Uglesa
and then that of Gojko to
take the food to the area of
construction.




OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES


53


8. The youngest wife says that
she cannot go because her son
is small and cries.
9. The wives of the two elder
brothers are excused from
going.


8. The youngest wife says that
her little son has not been
washed, nor has the linen.
9. The wives of the two elder
brothers are excused from going.


10. The youngest wife brings the 10. The youngest wife brings the
food.                       food.


11. The youngest brother tells his
wife straight forwardly what
her lot is to be.
12. She accepts her lot.
13. She begs, when immured, that
her breast be left out, and a
hole for her eyes, one for her
hand, another for her foot -
all in order to see and nurse
the child.
14. The end is a wish: let the
fortress be strengthened and
my son become a king and
enjoy it.


11. Gojko tells his wife in an
allegorical way about her lot:
'an apple of gold fell in the
Bojana River.'
12. She implores her husband not
to immure her but to ask her
mother, who is rich, to buy a
slave for the immurement.
13. When immured, she begs that
her breast be left out of the
wall for the child to suck, as
well as a hole for her eyes so
that she may see the child
coming.
14. The end is a confirmation:
even today women who have
no milk in their breasts go to
this place.


The Serbian song is beautifully constructed and is poetic. It
illustrates better the innocence of the wife who is immured and her
words are most touching. The Albanian poem is not as well constructed and it is not as poetic, but in it the heroic element is stronger.
The mother of the child does not implore her husband to ask her own
mother to substitute a slave for herself. She boldly accepts her fate.
In both the Albanian and the Serbian songs the great concern of the
immured mother is the child. But while in "Zidanje Skadra" the
mother is preoccupied only with the child as long as it needs her help
- to nurse it - in "Rozafati" she goes beyond that: her sacrifice




54


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


will strengthen the castle from where she wishes her son to rule the
country.
The other Albanian variants seem to have arisen in a Moslem
environment. While in "Rozafati" the three brothers are "Christian,"
in "The Song of the Fortress of Shkodra in Old Times" they are
simply "three brothers." In the first the person who passes by and
advises the brothers what to do that the construction may last is a
"saint," in the second he is merely "an old man." But the contents of
both versions are very similar, and sometimes they are completely
identical even in form:
Gjelin6, e madhja Gjelin6, (56)
Ustallaret duen buke,
Duen buk6 e duen uj6. (58)
Vis. e Komb., II, 2, No. 1
Taipi, p. 16.
(Transl.: Gjelin6, big Gjelin6, the bricklayers want food, they want
food and water.) In the versions about "The Holy Bridge" the person
who passes by and asks about the construction is not a saint but an
old man. Only the motif of the dream is new in variant (II) - the
wife of the youngest brother dreams that she will be immured.
The origin and antiquity of the song about the construction of
Shkodra has been a controversial issue among scholars. Some have
endeavored to show that it is Greek, others that it is Rumanian, still
others that it is Serbian, and some believe that antiquity belongs to
the Albanian song. It would lead us too far to speak about these
various theories. It will suffice to give the opinion of two important
scholars in the field. Politis has considered as inexact the conclusions
on the Rumanian origin of the song about the bridge of Arta "because
of the ignorance (on the part of foreign scholars) of numerous Greek
versions and very old traditions."1 He then adds:
K. Dieterich (in Zeitschrift des Vereins fir Volkskunde, 1902, pp, 150-152),
who at that time dealt at length with this song, although he knew only five
Greek variants of it, recognized correctly that the Greek song is older and that
from it stemmed the Rumanian, the Slavic and the Albanian [songs]. It must
be noted that the Greek variants, at least those I know, are not five, but more
than forty.2
Stefanovic in a detailed analysis and comparison of the songs in the
various Balkan languages, and Hungarian, thinks that the fifteenth
century note in Barletius about the building of the fortress of Rozafat
testifies to


N. G. Politis, op. cit., p. 11.
2 Ibid., p. 11, footnote 1.




OLD AND BALKAN CYCLES


55


the earlier existence of the Albanian songs about this subject. This does not
mean that the Albanian songs are actually older than ours or that our songs
have developed from the Albanian or the Kutsovlachian ones. This only means
that there are direct documents about the existence of Albanian songs dealing
with the building of Shkodra from times for which in our songs on the subject
there are neither such historical documents on their existence nor are fragments
of them or about them preserved.l
Is it not rather daring on the part of the Serbian scholar to conclude
that the term predanje (tradition, legend), as used by Tomic in reference to the construction of Shkodra in Barletius, means songs?
But a year later Stefanovic is more general in his statements. Writing about the origin and the antiquity of the song of the construction
of Shkodra, he states:
Die einmalige Entstehung der Legende aus einer bestimmten Urform ist in
diesem nicht nachweisbar und als Annahme auch nicht notwendig, da die
Buntheit der poetischen Formen, in denen verschiedene Versionen vorkommen,
mehr fur eine polygenetische Entstehungsweise der Legende spricht.
Die Legende selbst, d. h. in ihrer vollentwickelten Form, kommt in einer
heroisch-romantischen und einer burgerlichen Form iiberliefertvor. Dieerstere
ist nach meiner Auffassung als alter und urspriinglicher zu betrachten.2
This would give antiquity to the Albanian "Rozafat."
It seems that Stefanovic's generalization about the forms of the
songs as criteria for their age is unsound. What he says may have
value only as long as we consider the variants of a particular people
within a particular place. There the versions can pass, in the course of
years, as society evolves, from an heroisch-romantische Form to a
birgerliche Form. But we cannot expect variants of any one of these
two forms to be the same in all parts of the Balkans at the same time.
The Balkan peoples have not evolved uniformly and simultaneously.
Even within a country the heroic milieu is not the same: in northern
Albania it is strong, in southern Albania it is weak. Furthermore, the
heroic milieu of a people a century ago may be that of another people
today. How then can we compare variants arising in these four
milieus on the grounds of heroisch-romantische Form and birgerliche
Form
The motif of the construction of Shkodra is undoubtedly a survival
of pagan times, when it was believed that the Gods did not allow
people to build something great unless they offered sacrifices.3 This,
however, does not explain the origin of the particular songs under
1 S. Stefanovi6, Studije o narodnoj poeziji, III and IV, pp. 265-266.
2 Ibid., "Die Legende von Bau der Burg Skutari (Ein Beitrag zu interbalkanischen und vergleichenden Sagenforschung)," Revue Internationale des
Etudes Balkaniques, I (1934), 209.
3 Cf. T. Maretic, op. cit., p. 214; K. Dieterich, op. cit., p. 151.




56         ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL Epic POETRY
discussion. There may be influences from the past, both foreign and
native, but we cannot say that the song of Vuk's collection dates
from very ancient times: "Its whole composition speaks against it."-'
Why the Mrnjave'evic4 in this song? The song also "Zidanje Skadra"
was recorded by Vuk from a native of Kolas'in, in Old Ras'ka, therefore from regions near Shkodra. They must have been traditional in
these parts. The tradition of the Mrnjavc'evic'i must date from the end
of the thirteenth or the first half of the fourteenth century.2
I 5* Stefanovi6, Studije o narodnoj..., III and IV, p. 249.
2 Ibid., P. 266.




CHAPTER IV


THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO
In 1389 the Sultan Murad I invaded Serbia.
On the fifteenth of June the two armies met on the fatal 'Field of Blackbirds'
in the plain of Kosovo, which won so sad a glory that day. Serbs, Bulgars,
Albanians, Croats, and even Roumans [Rumanians] fought on one side; the
Turks and their Christian vassals, including probably the famous Serb heroc
King Marko himself, on the other. The leaders on each side, Knez Lazar and
Sultan Amurath, were killed; but victory declared itself for the Turks.'
History knows little or nothing about the facts of the battle,
except that it was not at the moment regarded as an overwhelming
calamity. "Turkish historians lay more stress on the battle of the
Maritsa eighteen years before, which they call Serb Sindin (Serbian
defeat."2 Yet although the Kosovo battle was not the end of the
independence of Serbia, it was the beginning of its fall. In the
Serbian epic songs, however, its issue is considered as disastrous. The
servant, Milutin, describes it to Queen Milica:
Svi ostase, gospo, u Kosovu. (172)
Dje pogibe slavni Knjez Lazare,
Tu su mloga koplja izlomljena,
Izlomljena i Turska i Srpska,
Ali vise Srpska, nego Turska. (176)
Vuk, II, No. 45
(Transl.: All remain on Kosovo, my lady. Where the glorious Prince
Lazar fell there were broken many lances, both Serbian and Turkish,
but more Serbian than Turkish).
The battle of Kosovo made a deep impression on the minds of the
people and a whole cycle of songs grew up around it. These sing of
King Lazar and his parting from Milica, his wife; they speak about
the war expedition and the battle itself - how Milos kills the Sultan
1 H. W. V. Temperley, History of Serbia, London, 1917, p. 100; Cf. C. Jire6ek, Geschichte der Serben, II, Gotha, 1918, pp. 119-120.
2 H. W. V. Temperley, op. cit., p. 102. The correct form of Serb Sindin is Serb.
or Serf SindiJi, Cf. J. W. Redhouse, A Turkish and English Lexicon, Constantinople, 1890, pp. 1202-1203.
57




58


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Murad and how Serbian fighters return from the battlefield; they
sing of the maiden of Kosovo and the death of the mother of the
Jugovici. But in the center of the whole cycle stands the dispute
between Milos and Vuk Brankovic and the treason of the latter. The
songs about the battle of Kosovo obviously originated shortly after
the defeat, for they already existed in the fifteenth century, and in
1531 Kuripesi6 mentions them in his trip to Istanbul.' As later, in
Kosovo, other clashes took place between the Turks and the Serbs,
all of them have been merged in the songs with the principal battle.
This explains the anachronisms and the confusions found in the
Kosovo cycle.
An Albanian contingent and the grandfather of Scanderbeg took
part in the battle of Kosovo.2 Nevertheless, there is no song about it
in Albania proper. The reasons are those we have given about the
Scanderbeg cycle. The Albanian versions we possess originated
among the Albanians who live in Metohija or Kosovo, i.e. on Yugoslav
territory.
The first Albanian variant about the battle of Kosovo was published in part at Elbasan (Albania), in the periodical Kopshti Letrar
(The Literary Garden), I (1918), No. 2, p. 1; No. 3, p. 1; and No. 4,
p. 10, by Lef Nosi. It was recorded from a singer who was a native of
Gjakova (Metohija). Hasluck tells us that there are two other versions, collected by Lef Nosi, still unpublished. Both of them have been
recorded from natives of Kosovo.3 The second version was published
by Elezovic in the journal Arhiv...,4 together with a Serbian translation. It was recorded in Vucitrn (Kosovo). Elezovic informs us that
in the mountains of Djakova the songs about the battle of Kosovo
have a broader swing and more correct form than that of Amza Djem
Bojkovi6 (the singer of Vucitrn).5 The song is followed by a learned
article by Cajkanovic on the motifs in it.6 Two other versions have
been published by T. Djordjevic, one in NaS narodni zivot, X, (in
1 N. Kravtsov, Serbski epos (Serbian Epos), Moscow-Leningrad, 1933, p. 38.
2 Cf. A. Gegaj, L'Albanie et l'invasion turque au XVeme siecle, Louvain, 1937,
p. 37; F. S. Noli, Historia e Skenderbeut, Boston, 1924, p. 38. Later, however,
the latter author expresses reservations about the source of this information;
Cf. his work George Castrioti Scanderbeg, New York, 1948, p. 20.
3 Cf. M. Hasluck, "An Albanian Ballad on the Assassination in 1389 of
Sultan Murad I on Kosovo Plain," Occident and Orient, Gaster Anniversary
Volume, London, 1936, p. 223.
4 G. Elezovi6, "Jedna arnautska varianta o boju na Kosovu" (An Albanian
Variant about the Battle of Kosovo), Arhiv za arbanasku starinu, jezik i
etnologiju, I (1923), 54-67.
5 Ibid., 66.
6 V. (ajkanovic, "Motivi prve arnautske pesme o boju na Kosovu" (Motifs
of the First Albanian Song on the Battle ofKosovo), Arhiv...., I (1923),68-77.




THE BATTLE OF Kosovo


59


Serbian) - the Albanian original is contained in Hylli i Drites, XIV
(1938), 169-179 - and the other is in Prilozi, I, which it has not been
possible to find. About the first, Djordjevic writes: "This is somewhat shorter, simpler, and less detailed than that recorded by Gl.
Elezovi6; but from the point of view of content it differs slightly from
it."1 A fifth variant was published by M. Hasluck in 1936 in the
Gaster anniversary volume. It has an interlinear translation in
English and copious notes. But this also was recorded from an
Albanian who was a native of Metohija. Of all these versions the most
complete in content and the best in form is that published by G.
Elezovic.
Perhaps it is better, before starting the analysis and comparison
between the Albanian and the Serbian songs about the Kosovo
battle, to give briefly the plot of Elezovi6's version. The Sultan has a
dream which the dream-interpreter explains as the conquest of
Kosovo by the Turkish army and the "martyrdom" of the Sultan.
The Turks march toward Kosovo. On the way Murat I performs
several miracles: he separates the waters of the sea, strikes a rock
from which water springs out, he dissipates the fog on Kacanik. After
the battle in the latter place, he and the Turkish army arrive at
Prishtina (Kosovo). Prom here the Sultan asks Milos to surrender.
The Serbian hero goes to the Kralj, who at first is reluctant and later
gets ready for the battle. Milos goes to the Sultan's tent and stabs
him. Pursued by the Turkish army, ho is seized and decapitated..
The subject matter of the Albanian song shows clearly that there
is a great difference between it and the variants about the Kosovo
battle of Serbian Christian tradition. This is natural. If the Albanians
of Kosovo were attracted by the 1389 battle, it is because in it the
Mohammedan world, represented by the Turks, played as important
a part as the Serbs. On the other hand, living exactly in the region
where the tradition about it is most dominant, they could not escape
the influence of the Serbian songs. The interpretation of the battle
of Kosovo, however, would be their own.
Oajkanovic holds the opinion that "the Albanian song is nothing
else but a song about Milos."2 This does not correspond to the truth.
Apparently he has been impressed by the role Milos Kopilic plays in
the second part of Elezovic's version. In it the main Serbian figure is
not Lazar (as in Vuk), who is not even mentioned by name, but
Milos. He seems to forget, however, that in the first half of the poem
the Albanian singer has made Murad the central figure. Besides, if
1 T. Djordjevi6, Na~ narodni ivot (Our Popular Life) X, Beograd, 1934,
p. 50.
2 V. Cajkanovic, op. cit., 68.




60


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


such great importance is given to Milos, one of the principal reasons
is that of all the Kosovo heroes he is most directly associated with the
person of the Sultan: he goes to the tent and murders him. Indeed,
one is inclined to think that Elezovi6's variant is more a Murad song
than a Milos song.
The only name of a Serbian hero used in Elezovic's poem is Milos.
He is called Kopili6 and not Obilic, as in the Serbian poems.
In a firman of the Sultan Bayazid, issued in July, 1389, the statement is
made that the Turks had won the battle at the field of Kosovo, but that one
Milos Kobili6, by means of a ruse, entered the Sultan's tent and stabbed him
with a poisoned dagger; that he then tried to run away, but was caught and cut
down by Turkish soldiers. The fresh detail in this document is Milos's surname,
Kobilid.1
The Albanian version follows closely the events as described in the
firman, which supports our opinion that the importance given to
Milos depends much on his close relation to the Sultan.
Yet it is also possible that originally Milos played a greater role in
the Kosovo cycle. Even today a good number of songs are grouped
around the "wrath of Milos."2 Milos is also a hero among the Serbian
people in the south-western part of that country. Quite a few of the
Bosnian songs have been dedicated to him (Collection Petranovic),
but his greatest and special cult is found in Montenegro.3 Even in the
mountains of northern Albania people tell about the life and exploits
of Milos.4 In the song "Sestra Leke Kapetana" (The Sister of Captain
Lek), (Vuk, II, No. 40), the place of Milos is mentioned as being somewhere "near Kosovo" (67). In fact,
In the district of Drenica, midway between Pe6 and Mitrovica, there is a
village still called Kopili6, which seems, on the Albanian principle, to have
furnished Milosh, Serb though he was, with his surname.5
Since Elezovi6's song is from Vucitrn, in Kosovo, it is highly probable
that all these factors have contributed to the importance of Milos.
For some time it was difficult for the present author to make up his
mind about Elezovi6's song and the other Albanian variants of the
Kosovo battle: were they Albanian originals, with Serbian influences,
or were they Albanian elaborations of Serbian songs? The Serbian
songs so far read were very different from the Albanian versions. At
this point the author came across "Boj na Kosovu" (The Battle on
1D. Subotic, Yugoslav Popular Ballads, Cambridge, 1932, p. 75; Cf. C.
Jire6ek, op. cit., p. 120, note 2.
2 V. dajkanovic, op. cit., 68.
3 Ibid., 69; J. Cviji6, La p6ninsule balkanique, Paris, 1918, p. 290.
4 Cf. E. Koliqi, Epica popolare albanese, Padova, 1937, p. 73.
5 M. Hasluck, op. cit., p. 231.




THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO


61


Kosovo), (Vol. I, No. 650), in the still unpublished Parry Collection.
This Serbian Moslem poem resembles strikingly that of Elezovic. In
both we find common motifs. The difference is that in the Parry
variant Lazar plays the most important role and there are other
characters as well, in addition to Murad and Milos, like Brankovi6,
Bosko Jugovic, Goluban, Milan Toplica, Stefan, 6uprili. The song
was recorded in Novi Pazar and was sung by Salja Ugljanin, an
Albanian from the village of Ugao (in the Sandzak) and living in
Novi Pazar. This new Serbian song furnished a good clue for the
problem.
But this was not the only song of the kind. A few months later an
article by A. Smaus was discovered, comparing the Albanian poem of
Elezovic with a Serbian Moslem song which he himself had recorded.1
Strangely enough, the Mohammedan song had been recorded from
Salja Ugljanin, the same bard who had sung "Boj na Kosovu."
Smaus has not published the whole poem in his article; he has only
published those parts which served him for comparison. He tells us,
however, that his song is very long: it requires five to six hours to be
sung. Since the song in Parry's Collection is a new complete variant
and much shorter than that of Smaus, it will be worth while to make
a comparison.
Both the Serbian and the Albanian songs begin with a dream. In
the first Queen Milica has the dream and tells it to Lazar; in the
second the Sultan Murad has the dream and tells it to his mother.
There are common and different symbols in the two dreams:
Serbian Moslem                   Albanian
1. All the stars are running to-  1. Two eagles fall on Murad's
ward the edge of the sky and  right arm, all the stars fall on
the morning star falls, to-   the ground and they group
gether with two small stars.  together. The moon and the
The moon falls onto the plain  sun have fallen into the sea.
and Kosovo is covered with    (18-22)
fog. Two black crows come
from Kosovo to Krusevac and
break the golden apple on the
tower. (10-23)
King2 Lazar calls a priest for the interpretation and the Sultan
asks his "famous dream-interpreter." While in the Serbian variant
1 A. Smaus, "Kosovo u narodnoj pesmi muslimana (Srpska muslimanska
pesma o Kosovu)," (Kosovo in the Popular Songs of the Moslems (Serbian
Moslem Song about Kosovo)), Prilozi prou6. nar. poez., V (1938), 102-121.
2 Historically he was only a Knez (comes). Cf. C. Jire6ek, op. cit., pp. 115,269.




62


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


the interpretation is systematic - every symbol is taken one by one
- in the Albanian the concern is about the meaning:
2. The Sultan will come to Ko- 2. The "Holy banner" (the flag
sovo and ask the kingdom to   of Islam) must be unfurled
surrender; Milica will remain  and the army be mustered.
a young widow; Murad's army   The Sultan will go to Kosovo
will be gathered; Turkish mes-  Plain, which he will conquer
sengers will arrive, and the  but where he will fall as a
Sultan will prepare a firman  martyr. (45-52)
for King Lazar. (40-54)
Such symbolic dreams are met in the songs of the Serbian Christians and Moslems, as well as in the Albanian. The "eagles," which
we find in Elezovi6's version, were regarded in the Orient as symbols
of triumph or conquest, while the moon is considered among the
Moslems to be a symbol of power.1
The march of the army from the Turkish capital to the plain of
Kosovo comes next in the Albanian version. The army experienced
on its way miracles and events. Like another Moses, the Sultan separated the waters and the Turkish army crossed the sea. While in
Elezovic's variant the waters again flooded the open space, after the
passing of the soldiers, in that of Djordjevic they remained separated
for three days. The second miracle was performed by Murad when, in
order to quench the thirst of the Turkish army, he hit a rock and the
water gushed out. This is like the miracle of Moses in the desert. One
is reminded also of a Scanderbeg legend. In order to quench the
thirst of his soldiers, the Albanian national hero struck a rock with
his sword and water sprang forth. Because he met a girl there, the
spring is called to this day "Gurra e Vashes" (The Spring of the
Maiden).2 On the way the Sultan asked his soldiers whether they had
repented having followed him and, consequently, desired to return
home. He gave permission to leave to those who expressed the desire.
This brings to one's memory Senjanin Ivo, who allowed his zskoci to
leave, when they were reluctant to follow him. In the battle that took
place on the mountain of Kacanik the Sultan performed another
miracle: he dissipated the fog and his army was victorious.
All the above part is contained in more than two hundred verses. It
is completely lacking in Parry's Serbian variant and, judging from
1 Cf. V. tajkanovi6, op. cit., notes on vv. 43 and 52.
2 M. Sirdani, Skanderbegu mbas gojdhlnash (Scanderbeg according to Tradition), Shkoder, 1926, pp. 26-27.




THE BATTLE OF Kosovo


63


the article in the Prilozi... and the fragments therein, it is also
missing in that of Smaus. From this point on the Serbs are in the
picture:
3. The Sultan sends a letter to  3. The Sultan sends a letter to
Lazar asking him to hand over  Milos asking him to deliver
the keys of the fortress, the  the keys of nine fortresses and
tribute of seven years, and be-  surrender, or else accept the
come his vassal, for two Kings  battle. (268-271)
cannot rule the same land, or
else he must come and fight at
Kosovo. (79-92)
The contents of the Serbian version, and to a lesser degree of the
Albanian, are exactly like those in Vuk, II, No. 50, I. This shows the
influence of the Serbian Christian tradition on the Moslems. The
numbers seven and nine, referring to the years of tribute, are often
met in both Serbian and Albanian epic poetry. Nine is a multiple of
three, and three is a constant number in the songs. It is a number that
prevails in the pagan and the Christian world. In paganism we are
surrounded by trinities of deities, and Plato speaks of: God, demiurge,
and world-soul. It is needless to mention the divine trinity of Christianity. Seven is another constant number in the Serbian and the
Albanian epic poems. In them the world is divided into two: on one
side is the Sultan and on the other the Emperor of Austria with the
"Seven Kings" under him. Nopsca tells us how some of the mountaineers of northern Albania still believed that the "Seven Kings of
Europe" sat together in a fortress and discussed their affairs.' But
the explanation for seven is rather difficult. At first, Maretic writes,
one may think that it came to be used by the people when Christianity
was introduced (seven days, seven holy mysteries, seven deadly sins,
etc.). But this is less probable when we think that seven is used by
Homer.2 Perhaps we can complete the explanation begun by Mareti6,
if we add that Pythagoras maintained that all reality can be put into
the numbers three and seven and that for Oriental astrology the
number seven represented the sun, the moon and the five planets.
The numbers three and seven, then, had from very old times a magic
power for the people.
In the Serbian version King Lazar asks the priest to advise him as
to what should be done. In the Albanian variant Milos asks his wife
about the course to be followed. The priest tells Lazar to call the
1 F. Nopsca, Aus gala und Klementi, Sarajevo, 1910, pp. 6-7.
2 T. Mareti6, Naga narodna epika (Our Popular Epic Poetry), Zagreb, 1909,
p. 92.




64


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


princes to come with their armies. The wife of Milos has no advice to
give her husband:


4. King Lazar calls Milos and the
other princes, among them
the Duke of Dukadjin, to
come with their armies to
Krusevac. The princes arrive
and Milos tells Vuk Brankovic, whom he calls "disloyal,"
that he will kill the Sultan in
the tent. (93-170)


4. Milos goes to the Kralj, who
was in Pec, and tells him that
the Sultan has come to Prishtina (Kosovo). He then asks
the King what is to be done,
receiving from him the answer
that they had better surrender. Milos makes known to the
Kralj that he will not surrender but intends to kill the
Sultan. (286-298)


The Duke of Dukadjin (Serbian spelling) in Parry's version is an
Albanian. Apparently the singer had knowledge that Albanians had
taken part in the battle of Kosovo. It is not known, however, whether
one of the Dukagjinis (Albanian spelling) was present in that battle.
The singer has used the name of this Albanian family because it was
old and famous. "The family of the Dukagjinis has been one of the
most powerful in Albania. Its origin, according to a document
published by Makusev, goes back to a very old period."l It is interesting to note that the Duke in the song comes from ravna Dukadjina
(the plain of Dukagjin). This corresponds exactly to rrafshat e nalta
te Dukagjinit (the high plains of Dukagjin), the name by which the
Albanians of Metohija call their own region, which they consider as a
continuation of the Albanian province of Dukagjin.2 In fact, for the
Albanians the division into Metohija and Kosovo is alien; they consider both provinces as one and call them by the name Kosovo. In
Parry's variant we also remark that Milos Obilic is given Prizren
(Metohija) as his city. He is called, as in Vuk, veran i neveran (faithful
and unfaithful), which is another indication of the influence of the
Christian tradition.
1 A. Gegaj, op. cit., p. 12. Gegaj writes further on this page that, according
to the same source (published by Makushev), in the seventh century already
the Dukagjini ("Dukagjini d'Albania") had fomented a revolt in Bosnia,
particularly in Dubrovnik, but they had to retreat after a defeat, inflicted by
the Bosnian lords. Indeed, it is in 1281 that Gin Tanusio (ducem Ginium
Tanuschum) carries this title for the first time.
2 Before the nineteenth century the SandZak of Pe6 was called in the Ottoman administration the Sandiak of Dukagjin. See Th. Ippen, "Beitrage zur
inneren Geschichte Albaniens im XIX. Jahrhundert," Illyrisch-albanische
_Forschungen, I, Minchen und Leipzig, 1916, pp. 343-344.




THE BATTLE OF Kosovo


65


In the Serbian Moslem song Vuk Brankovic proposes to send three
hundred beautiful girls to the camp of the Turks who will later report
about the forces of the Sultan. In Elezovic's song the Kralj (Lazar)
makes the same proposition for thirty girls:


5. The girls led by Milan Toplijca, disguised as a maiden, arrive at the camp of the Turks.
They carry things for sale.
They are well received, well
fed, and are allowed by the
Sultan to sell their objects.
No one buys. The Sultan invites them to his tent and
gives one hundred ducats to
Milan and thirty to each of
the girls. The mission leaves.
(171-334)


5. The girls go to the camp of the
Turks with large trays full of
money. The soldiers do not
look at them, no one touches
them, no one offers them food,
and no one is tempted by
their money. When the Sultan
hears about the Serbian girls,
he orders his men to give
them food. The company
leaves. (300-331)


In both versions the Sultan is kind. In Parry's he is even called
Dedo, meaning "father," and he sends his regards to King Lazar,
telling Milan: "Such is the Sultan's custom: to give gifts to his
guests." (337-338) This reminds one of the behavior of Ali Pasha of
Gusinje1 in the Bosnian song "Das Lied von Gusinje." He sends back
with a present of forty ducats the messenger of his enemy, the Prince
of Montenegro.2 On the other hand, the sending of the girls to the
camp of the Turks brings to one's mind the Mujo-Halil cycle of the
Bosnians, where women play such an important role. The stratagem
is in keeping with the mentality of the harems.
Milos goes to meet the girls. In the Serbian Moslem poem he speaks
with Milan; in the Albanian, with the girls. When he hears about the
strength of the Turkish army, he warns the mission not to tell the
truth to the King:


6. The Turkish army does not
number more than thirty
thousand and all of the soldiers are either very young or
very old. (409-420)


6. The soldiers are sound asleep
because they are completely
exhausted. (346-348)


1 The Albanian town of Gusinje, near the Montenegrin frontier, was ceded to
Montenegro by the Congress of Berlin (1878). The Albanians refused to surrender it and went to war against Montenegro. Ali Pasha, an Albanian, was the
governor of Gusinje at that time.
2 J. von Asb6th, "Das Lied von Gusinje," Ethnographische Mitteilungern aus
Ungarn, I (1887-1888), p. 149.
5




66


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


When Lazar hears the news, he orders the whole army to get ready
for the battle. In Parry's variant Milica asks her brother, Bosko, to
stay with her, as in "Car Lazar i Carica Milica" (Vuk, II, No. 45).
Bosko does not reply here to his sister that he will fight for "the
Cross" and "for his faith," but simply that "he will fight an heroic
battle" (499). Obviously, the change is because the variant is a
product of a Moslem environment. In the Albanian version, on the
other hand, all this is contained in three lines: the King gathers a
great army and is prepared for the battle (361-363). The Albanian
singer has given us only the facts. In the Serbian Moslem version
Lazar sends a letter to the Sultan in which he states that he is ready
for the battle, which the latter accepts.
The motif of the assassination of the Sultan by Milos- which
follows - is very much alike in the two songs:


7. Obilic tells the King that he
will fight the Sultan in the
tent. He goes and is met by
the guard. He asks if he may
see the Sultan. After consulting the Vezir iuprilic, Mahmud allows the hero to enter.
As he stretches to Milos his
foot and not his hand, the
latter stabs him. (561-597)


7. Kopilic tells the King that he
will see the Sultan. If he gives
him his hand, he will surrender; if he gives him his foot,
he will stab him. He arrives at
the camp and is stopped by
the guard. He is permitted to
call on the Sultan, after the
latter has consulted the Seislam  (Sheh-ul Islam  -  the
highest Moslem religious authority). The Sultan does not
extend his hand but his foot
and Milos stabs him. (367 -400)


The kissing of the foot of the Sultan was a sign of subordination.
Milos could not degrade himself. Perhaps the Moslem tradition in
Yugoslavia, desiring to belittle the heroic gesture of Milos, reduces it
to the outcome of a provocation by offense.
In both versions Milos mounts his horse, after the assassination,
and runs away. He is pursued by the Turkish soldiers who cannot
capture or kill him:


8. An old woman tells the Turkish soldiers to hit Milos's horse
po ki6ici (above the hoof), the
vulnerable part. They do so
and capture Milos. Milos asks


8. An old Slavic woman (Skine)
tells the Turkish soldiers that
they can seize Milos only if
they strike his horse above
the hoofs. They do so and




THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO


67


for the, old lady, pretending    catch him. Milos asks to see
that he desires to give her a    the old lady in order to speak
message for his mother. When     to her. When they bring her
she approaches, he seizes her    to him, he seizes her by the
by her nose and throws her       ear with his teeth and hurls
"one hour far." Milos is then    her to Babivoc. Milos is then
beheaded. (604.-635)             decapitated. (408-448)
Milos's horse in both songs is a supernatural horse - the vilovit
(bewitched) of the Christian songs - for he is invulnerable, We cannot help associating his "hoof" with Achilles' heel. In the fight between Halil and the Slav Ilija, "Zenidba gojenog Halila" (The
Marriage of the Elegant Halil), the vilas (Serbian mountain fairies)
tell the Moslem hero that his opponent's strength lies in the mane of
his horse:
Ve6 mu udri vranca od mejdana, (426)
Odsjeci mu grivu od vranina,
U grivi su moci Ilijine. (428)
Hirmann, I, No. XXXVI
(Transl.: Strike at his black horse for the combat, cut the mane of his
black horse, in the mane is the strength of Ilija). This reminds us of
Samson in the Bible. In Parry's song, Milos's horse is also "a black
horse," in that of Elezovic's the horse is an atkica (mare). Probably
this is not by chance, maintains Najkanovi6, since in Serbian tradition
Kobila rodila (born from a mare), has been established.1 It appears
more probable to me, however, that the name Kopili6, as written in
the Albanian song, does not suggest to the singer the word kobila
(mare) but rather the common Albanian word kopil (bastard).2 Yet
this does not mean that the Serbian tradition Kobila rodila was not
known to the singer and that the association presumed by Cajkanovic
could not have been made. It simply minimizes the chances of atkica
having been chosen on purpose.
Eajkanovic thinks that the motif of the keys hidden in Milos's
moustache has no parallel in Serbian poetry.3 In Djordjevi6's variant
the keys - which are the keys of the armor - are concealed in
Milos's helmet. In Parry's song this motif is missing. It can very well
1 V. Oajkanovi6, op. cit., note on v. 284. In reports of the 16th century
Milos is called both Kobili6 and Kobilovi6 and only in 1763 his name was
changed into Obilid (< obilan-abundant) by the historian Julinac. Cf. C.
Jire6ek, op. cit., p. 120, note 2.
2 Kopil comes probably from Latin copilis, 'ein mit einer copa, Tavernenwirten, erzeugtes Kind,' Gustav Meyer, Etymologisches Worterbuch der albanischen Sprache, Stral3burg, 1891, p. 198.
8 V. Cajkanovi6, op. cit., note on v. 414 (actually v. 423).
5*




68


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


be Albanian, when we think of the importance the moustache has in
Albanian songs. A long moustache is a characteristic of a hero. It is
sometimes described as dy desh galana (like two big rams), (Vis. e
Komb., II, No. 20, v. 64) with the hyperbolism of epic poetry. If the
moustache can be so big and bushy, keys can be hidden in it. But
Marko's moustache is described also in a Serbian song as big "as a
lamb six months old."
In the Serbian Moslem poem the Vezir Ouprilic asks the dying
Sultan for his last wish. Murad advises him how to treat the Serbs
and appoints as successor his son Pajazit (Bayazid) (642-656). This
is altogether lacking in the Albanian song. What follows is nearly the
same in both poems:


9. The Sultan is told the story of
the old woman and how the
decapitated Milos took his
head under his arm and walked. He also learns how a
mother and a daughter were
blinded because they were
astonished at the state of
Milos -  the curse of Milos
caused the blindness - and
how the latter fell dead on the
lawn. (657-700)


9. Mother and daughter are
washing their laundry in the
river Sallaban. They see the
body of Milos walking without
the head and they wonder.
Milos curses them and they
become blind, while he falls
dead on the ground. (451-460)


The head that has been severed and speaks seems to be more of an
Albanian than a Serbian motif, a Marchenmotiv. In "Obretenije glave
kneza Lazara" (The Discovery of the Head of Prince Lazar), (Vuk,
II, No. 53), the severed head of Lazar moves on the plain in order to
meet the body (52-53). In an Albanian song from Dibra (northeastern
Albania) a "scythe" and a "spade" work by themselbes because the
body of the dead Selman, which is invisible, moves them. (Vis. e
Komb., IV, 1, No. 85). But still nearer to the motif of the Kosovo song
are the following verses:
The head of Kola, divided from the body, spoke: (57)
Mother, take care not to weep,
Take care not to weep and not to worry
Because this [man] does not respect the besal or
blood-brotherhood. (60)
Prennushi, No. 19.


1 It is a typical Albanian word meaning faith, word of honor.




THE BATTLE OF Kosovo


69


When Murad hears the story, and he is still alive, in Parry's version,
he gives orders as to what must be done. The Sultan is not mentioned
and there are no orders in Elezovic's song:
10. In order that Milos Obilic's 10. It is reported that the priests
heroism may not perish, the    came together and erected a
Sultan orders that a church be  church at the place where
built in his honor. As for the  Milos fell dead. There healing
old woman, who helped the      water sprang up. (461-473)
Turkish soldiers, a bridge
shall be erected in her memory. After he expresses the
wish to be buried in Brusa,
the Sultan dies. (701-716)
The motifs of the construction of the church and of the fountain of
healing water are considered by Najkanovic as completely Albanian.1
Is it only in Albanian, since we find it also in the Serbian Moslem
song? It seems to me that both the building of the church and the
spring of curing water are connected with tradition and belief which
are Christian. Among the Serbs, as among the French, heroes have
become saints: King Lazar has been canonized. When a hero becomes
a saint, and many saints have been heroic martyrs of their faith, it is
natural that people erect a sanctuary in his honor. Milos then could
be entitled to a church. As regards the healing water, Najkanovic
tries to explain it by tying it to Hercules and Esculapius. He says:
"We know from the history of religion that heroes who cure are
readily united to warm curing springs."2 I believe that this explanation, which by itself is true, is far-fetched and cannot apply to the
Albanian song. First of all, it is not explicit or implicit that the water
is "warm." It is merely stated that it is a "healing water," or more
precisely "an effective medicine." In the village of Dardha, in southern Albania, a spring of sulphurous water is considered by the people
as a "medicine," and it is neither warm nor connected with a holy
place. Secondly, since a church has been built on the spot where
Milos died, it means that the place has acquired a certain sanctity. It
is natural that the water of a fountain in such a locality should be
regarded by the people as "holy water," and holy water is believed by
Christians to have a miraculous power, a healing effect. Such instances abound in the Christian world. Lourdes is an example.
At the end of the Serbian Moslem version the losses in the battle
are described, accompanied by the consequences. In Elezovic's song
1 Cf. V. 0ajkanovi6, op. cit., p. 69.
2 Ibid.




70


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


there are two other motifs, which are not so well connected with the
poem as a whole and give the impression that they are later additions
or fragments of them.


11. A certain Visoki Stefan inquires of a Bulgarian girl near
a river about the party that
lost in the battle. A description of the caps and emblems,
which are those of the Serbian
princes, floating on the water,
is given. Stefan tells his
mother that Milos and his
army fought and perished. At
the very end the enemies go to
Krusevac, destroy the palace
of Lazar and, "They trample
over all Serbia; the whole of
Serbia remains a rayah."
(750-796)


11. The mother of Murad hears
about the death of her son,
curses Kosovo, and dies.
(475-484)
12. A girl asks her mother where
they are going. Upon the
mother's answer that they are
fleeing from the Turks, she
wants to know when they
will return. The mother says:
"When the Turks perish."
(485-489)


The Bulgarian girl and her talk with Stefan, in connection with the
caps and emblems floating on the water, are a reflection of Serbian
Christian tradition. In "Music Stefan" (Vuk, II, No. 47) the Serbian
hero met on his way to the plain of Kosovo the Kosovka devojka (the
Kosovo girl), who told him that, when she came to the River Sitnica,
she saw the water was muddy and carried corpses of heroes and
horses, Turkish caps and white turbans, and white Serbian caps,
stained red. If Music Stefan and the "Kosovo girl" have respectively
been changed into Visoki Stefan and the Bulgarian girl, this is a
corruption of no importance, for the correspondence is still very clear.
The above picture presented by the comparison of contents shows
that the Serbian Moslem and Albanian songs contain events and
episodes which in Vuk's collection are met in separate poems. In this
respect they resemble those Serbian attempts which represent the
battle of Kosovo in one long song - a sort of Lazarica. A Moslem
from Ravna, on the frontiers of Bosnia and the Sandzak, told Smaus
that there were three variants of the Kosovo song: 1) "As it is written
in books" (similar to Petranovi6's); 2) how the Serbs sing it; 3) how
he sang it, having learned it kod albaneza (among the Albanians)
"and among mountain people, among the Kosovo people." When he
said kod albaneza, he meant those of the Sandiak or Old Serbia.'
1 Cf. A. Smaus, "Kosovo u narodnoj pesmi muslimana," Prilozi..., V
(1938), 103-104.




THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO


71


The majority of the population in the Sandzak are Moslems. A part
of them speak Serbian and another part both Albanian and Serbian.
Salja Ugljanin, the singer of Parry's version, belonged to the latter.
He had learned the song which Smaus recorded from (or Hus Hosovic, fromKolasin, a bard famous among the Bosnians and the Albanians of the Sandzak and Kosovo. The "Boj na Kosovu" of the Parry
Collection, which is another version of that of Smaus, must have been
learned also from for Huso Hosovic. It is probable then that the
Serbian Moslem variant had its origin in Bosnia, where attempts at
including the whole Kosovo tradition in one song have been made
and are to be found in Petranovi's Collection and in the Bosanska
vila.1
The comparison between the two songs has further made another
point clear. Several motifs of the Serbian Christian songs about the
Kosovo battle are present in Parry's version, while they are lacking
in the Albanian song. On the other hand, Elezovic's variant has
certain motifs, Marchenmotive, such as the miracles of the Sultan,
which are absent in the Serbian Moslem version. In Parry's poem the
names and the roles of the heroes of the Kosovo battle are the same
as in Vuk's collection, while in the Albanian song only two names are
mentioned: Murad and Milos. King Lazar, who is the principal character in the songs about the battle of Kosovo, is simply mentioned
vaguely as the Kralj (the King). This illustrates that the Serbian
Moslem poem has been influenced by the Serbian Christian tradition
of the songs.
All that has been mentioned above leads us to the conclusion that
the Serbian Moslem poem is an intermediary variant. It is between
the Kosovo song of Serbian Christian tradition and the Albanian
versions of Elezovic and others, regardless of the place of its origin.
However, if the Parry variant is an elaboration of a Bosnian song, as
I am inclined to believe - Smaus writes that his version can be
compared more or less to the long Kosovo song in Petranovic2 - and
the Albanian is in turn an elaboration of a Serbian Moslem variant,
the road of influence becomes clear: Bosnia - Sandzak - Kosovo
and Metohija.
1 Cf. ibid., 103.
2 Ibid., 121.




CHAPTER V


INTERPRETATION OF SONGS
The pattern of oral epic poetry may vary, for the conditions affecting its development differ from place to place. Descending in an unbroken line from the Middle Ages, the time before the coming of the
Turks and the first century of their occupation of the Balkans, the
heroic songs of the South Slavs are divided into two groups: the nonhistorical and the historical.
The songs in the first group are few. In them are included such
poems as "Zarucnica Laza Radanovi6a" (The Bride of Lazar Radanovic), (Vuk, II, No. 7), in which the curse of the mother weighs
heavily upon her daughter, even when the latter is dead and in the
grave, or "Jovan i divski starjesina" (Jovan and the Gigantic Chief),
(Vuk, II, No. 8), where a mother betrays her son in order to have a
good time with his opponent. We also find Christian legendary subjects like "Sveci blago dijele" (The Saints Divide the Treasure), (Vuk,
II, No. 1), in which there is a conversation between Virgin Mary and
St. Elija and the assignments to the saints of their respective realms
on earth and in heaven.
The non-historical poems appeared very early. Often the motifs
are those found in romances, narratives, apocryphal or hagiographic
writings of the Middle Ages.1 Zmajevi (pl.) (dragons) and vilas
(mountain fairies) are active in some of them. The belief in vilas and
dragons cannot be of a later origin, although belief in these creatures
is preserved in later songs. The non-historical poems have more
features of ancient animistic, magic, and anthropomorphic Weltbild.2
They possess fewer traits of feudal life than the historical songs.
The historical songs are those which have as a basis some historical
fact, such as the battle of Kosovo, or an historical person, like Milos
Obili6 or Senjanin Ivo, but where imagination is left free to exaggerate and invent. The old historical songs, which form the nucleus of the
Serbian epic poetry, have been composed in princely dominated
1 P. Popovid, Pregled srpske knjizevnosti (Outline of Serbian Literature),
Beograd, 1925, p. 64.
2 Cf. N. Kravtsov, Serbski epos (Serbian Epos), Moscow-Leningrad, 1933,
pp. 31 and 60.
72




INTERPRETATION OF SONGS


73


circles. The leading characters in them are usually either members of
princely families or persons closely connected by marriage with them.
Persons of lower rank than the squires of nobles seem not to be
mentioned by name, except in poems relating to Marko Kraljevi6.
Some Russian scholars tend to see in the Serbian old historical songs
a reflection of a feudal society. Kravtsov exaggerates it.1 Before him
Khalanski wrote:
The probable flourishing of the oral epic creation among the South Slavs in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries should be connected with the development of the feudal regime among them and the establishment of continuous
and stable relations with the knightly states of Western Europe... It [the epic
poetry] is the product of the appanaged or feudal order of the life of the Slavic
tribes in the Middle Ages. Its source, its strength and vitality consist of these
complex phenomena.2
But it is a contradiction in terms to speak of "feudal order" and
"tribes" at the same time, as Khalanski does, for a feudal regime is
far beyond the tribal stage. Nor can we admit that the South Slavs
were in the late Middle Ages in "continuous and stable relations with
the knightly states of Western Europe." No doubt there had been
relations between them and the West, but these had not been of a
permanent character. Although, strictly speaking, the medieval
South Slavs did not live under a "feudal regime," there existed
among them a sort of feudalism:
La propri6te fonciere avait deux formes: bagtina et pronia... On voit par le
Code que le tsar avait l'habitude de donner en present come bastina [hereditary
domain], non seulement des villages isol6s, mais des Zupas [provinces] toutes
entieres comme le faisait aussi le ban de Bosnie. La pronia, qui est mention6e en
Serbie apr6s 1300, etait une espece de fief analogue au domaine h6r6ditaire
byzantin, dont les impots pay6s par les paysans 6taient assign6s au proniarius
ou stratiste pour son entretien... Les paysans payaient au proniarius le
'perper imperial' et lui devaient... de journ6es de travail.3
In the Serbian society "ne manquait pas de gens sans parente: serfs,
affranchis, pauvres et hommes rejetes par la societe... "4 But in the
Serbian lands the serf (or otrok) was the smallest class in the community, and the small free landholders were the largest. "In the West
lords and landowners forced their serfs to till the land, exercised
justice upon them, and led them to battle when occasion called. In
Serbia very few landowners had the rights of justice over their
1 Cf. ibid., Chapters II and IV.
2 M. Khalanski, Yuzhnoslavyanskie skazaniya o Kralyeviche Marko (Yugoslav Legends about Kraljevi6 Marko), I, pp. 167-168, as quoted by N. Kravtsov, op. cit., p. 61.
3 C. Jire6ek, La civilisation serbe au moyen age, Paris, 1920, pp. 39-40.
4 Ibid., p. 84.




74


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


numerous free tenants, only over a few serfs."l However, by the time
of Stefan Dusan there were "feudal barons holding their own lands
for the tax of blood."2 Yet "there was never a complete surrender to
the feudal system."3 It is this society, partly princely and partly
feudal, that the old historical songs of the South Slavs reveal.
After the death of Stefan Dusan (1355), the Serbian Kingdom was
divided into many provinces, ruled by independent lords. The
question of who would come to the throne became a burning one, as
it is reflected in the epic song "Uros i Mrljavcevi6i" (Uros and the
Mrljaveevici), (Vuk, II, No. 34). "La haute noblesse etendit sans
cesse son pouvoir en exploitant les discordes des membres de la
dynastie."4 The rulers depended for their strength on the great tracts
of land they possessed and the number of subjects they controlled.
They had a retinue, the druzina (company), and some of the more
powerful had smaller lords among their dependents.
The dependence of the vassal on his lord was reflected, in the
Serbian heroic songs, in the ideal of the loyal servant. The adjective
vjeran (faithful) next to sluga (servant) is significant from this point
of view. When Prince Lazar serves wine to Tsar Stefan, the popular
poet sings:
Vino sluzi vjeran sluga Lazo. (3)
Vuk, II, No. 32.
(Transl.: The "faithful servant" Lazar serves wine.)
The relation of dependence is also manifested when the king, reproaching treason, says to his voyevods that they have soon forgotten "his bread and salt," or the heroes, swearing on earth, call it
carevina, that is of the king, as it was received from him for service.5
Nobility was held in high esteem in Serbian medieval society. It
was divided into classes: the high nobility and the knights, similar to
"barones" and "milites" of the Western states. "La difference de
classes est tres nette dans les lois."6 The place at the table was given
according to the eminence of birth. On the right side of King Lazar
sits his father-in-law "the old Yugbogdan," but on his left is Vuk
Brankovi6. The rest of the lords "sat according to rank," for there
was a hierarchy in the feudal regime. Then Tsar Lazar, raising his
glass, says:
1 H. W. V. Temperley, History of Serbia, London, 1917, p. 87.
2 Ibid., p. 86.
3 Ibid.
4 C. Jire6ek, op. cit., p. 14.
5 Cf. N. Kravtsov, op. cit., pp. 62-63.
6 C. Jirecek, op. cit., p. 13.




INTERPRETATION OF SONGS


75


Ako 6u je napit' po gospostvu, (18)
Napi'u je Vuku Brankovi6u; (19)
Vuk, II, No. 50, part III.
(Transl.: If I will drink it for "nobility", I will drink it to Vuk Brankovi6). And King Stefan, trying to impress Prince Lazar about the
latter's future father-in-law, reasons:
Jer je Bogdan roda gospodskoga, (46)
Vuk, II, No. 32.
(Transl.: Because Bogdan is of "noble birth").
The interest in a handsome and mettlesome horse, in beautiful
weapons, in duels, which we find in this epic poetry, is to a great
extent a reflection of the feudal society. "Lorsqu'il etait nomme a une
dignite militaire ou administrative, le Vlastelin (member of the high
nobility) recevait du souverain une investiture solenelle par la
remise d'un cheval de bataille et d'armes."' We also read in Jirecek:
"Orbini raconte que le tsar Etienne faisait executer des jeux equestres
(giostre) et des tournois (bagordi) par ses courtisans, et donnait aux
vainqueurs de riches presents."2 The interest in hunting with falcons
which we meet in the heroic songs reflects also one of the most
appreciated amusements of the fighting aristocracy in the Serbian
provinces: "La chasse la plus appreciee etait le fauconnage."3
But with the coming of the Turks in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries the situation changed. Serbian military aristocracy tried to
oppose the Turkish invasion. Repeated clashes took place, but without any profitable results for the Serbian lords, although some of
them had been successful. These collisions finally brought about the
downfall of the feudal aristocracy and the destruction of their
cultural centers. A part of the rulers were eliminated and the other
part passed over to the vassalage of the Turks, as Marko, or to that
of the neighboring states. Significant in this respect is the letter sent
by Sultan Murat to Prince Lazar, before the battle of Kosovo:
Oj Lazare, od Srbije glavo! (5)
Nit' je bilo, niti moze biti:
Jedna zemlja, a dva gospodara;
Jeihda raja, dva hara6e daje;
Carovati oba ne mozemo,
Vec mi poslji kljuce i harace,
Zlatne kljuce od svijeh gradova,
I harace od sedam godina; (12)
Vuk II, No. 50, part I.


1 Ibid., p. 13.


2 Ibid., p. 93.   3 Ibid., pp. 91-92.




76


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


(Transl.: "Oh Lazar, head of Serbia! This has not happened nor can
it happen: one land and two rulers; one Rayah to pay two tributes;
we cannot rule both of us, but send me the keys and the tributes
the golden keys of all the cities and the tributes of seven years.")
In spite of the Turkish occupation of the country, the hope for
restoration continued to live among the Serbian people. This hope
was able to promote the flourishing or the continuation of the epic
songs in the western and northern "despotats" (provinces). The
peasants, ruined by wars, naturally saw the cause of their misfortune
within the national framework. They thought that the only way out
was in a return to the past. In this way the songs about the battle of
Kosovo were born and grew, those songs which explain the collapse
of Serbia by the fall of the old heroes, i.e. of strong and powerful
despots.1
The epic poetry of the Serbs began to answer now new demands
and to live in a new social environment. The singers were obliged to
find listeners and supporters among the lower classes. Gradually, the
cdruzina (conpony, retinue) poetry became the poetry of the peasants.
They principally preserved it, communicated to it their tendencies
and introduced their own heroes. In the peasant environment we see
the rise of the hajduci and uskoci songs.
The movement of the hajduci was a people's movement, for the
upper classes had adapted themselves to the new conditions. It was
a protest against the existing order. The peasantry suffered under the
oppression of the Turks. In order to free themselves and take vengeance, they took to the mountains and formed bands. They carried on
a guerrilla war against the oppressors - beys, Turkish authorities,
Ottoman army - for the defense of the Rayah, led by the best hajduci, called harambasi (chiefs of brigands),2 a term often met in the
songs. The field of operation of the hajduci was primarily Bosnia,
Hercegovina, and Serbia. The Sultan sends a letter to Zule of Udbina,
in Bosnia, to pursue Kostres harambas, who:
U Tijani visokoj planini, (10)
Dje im nije s mirom prolaziti
I po Bosni timar' oblaziti,
Ni had-ijam' cabu polaziti,
Od Kurvica Kostres - harambase;
No pokupi cetu po Udbini,
Idi snjome Tijani planini
Te potrazi silna kaurina. (17)
Vuk, III, No. 46.
1 Cf. N. Kravtsov, op. cit., p. 74.
2 J. Cvijic, La p4ninsule balkanique, Paris, 1918, p. 255.




INTERPRETATION OF SONGS


77


(Transl.: Because of Kostres-harambas, the son of a whore, no one
can pass peacefully through the high mountains of Tijana and visit
the timars (Turkish fiefs) in Bosnia, or leave as pilgrim for the Ka'ba.1
Gather then a band in Udbina, go with it to the mountains of Tijana
and look for the powerful giaour (infidel, Christian)). Their bands were
strong unions, strengthened especially by pobratimstvo (blood brotherhood), and they fought bravely, disdaining death. The hayduks went
to the mountains in spring and came down to the villages in winter,
where they lived dispersed, either hidden or in the open. Jovan
Popovic has given a picture of their life in Ajduci, based on the song
"Predrag i Nenad," (Vuk, II, No. 16). After the abolition in 1766 of
the Patriarchate of Pe6 by the Turks, the movement of the hayduks
increased, particularly in Sumadija.2 Their battles prepared the great
movement for Serbian independance.
The Serbs who fled to Dalmatia and the Croatian littoral, after the
fall of Bosnia and Hercegovina (1482), and from there attacked the
Moslems on the borders, were called uskoci. There is no doubt that the
term comes from the root skok - to jump, which is also the root of
the verb usEkociti, meaning to jump into. Scholars, however, seem to
differ as to the place these South Slavs jumped into. Suboti6, for
instance, says that "they often 'jumped into' (uskociti) Turkish territory to inflict punishment for injustice done to their conquered
brethren."3 Kravtsov, on the other hand, states that "the uskoci
'uskakali' (ran off) from Serbia to Austria or the lands of the Venetian
Republic."4 In fact, the uskoci "jumped into" in order to be free
from Turkish domination. One is inclined, then, to believe that
Kravtsov's interpretation is right, but not on the basis of the verb
uskakat', which in Russian means "to gallop away."
The uskoci made war their profession. At first their center was the
fortress of Klis, in Dalmatia, but when that was conquered by the
Turks in 1537, the city of Senj, which is on the Croatian coast, became their headquarters.5 The uskoci gathered in bands, led by a
serdar, a name often encountered in their songs, and carried on their
attacks primarily around the Turkish villages of Udbina and Ribnik,
in the district of Lika, and in Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Hercegovina.6
They fought as Christians: Komnen the standard bearer
1 Ka'ba is the holy stone in the principal mosque of Mecca which every
Moslem pilgrim has to visit and worship.
2 J. Cviji6, op. cit., pp. 131-132.
3 D. Suboti6, Yugoslav Popular Ballads, Cambridge, 1932, p. 131.
4 N. Kravtsov, op. cit., p. 50.
5 Cf. G. Gesemann and others, Das Konigreich Siidslawien, Leipzig, 1935,
pp. 50-51; J. Cviji6, op. cit., p. 364.
6 N. Kravtsov, op. cit., p. 93.




78


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Pa razvija krstata barjaka, (72)
A pod barjak pozivlje druzinu: (973)
Vuk, III, No. 26.
(Transl.: He unfurled the "flag with a cross" and called the companions
to gather under it). The exploits of such leaders as Ivo and Tadija
Senjanin, Ilija Smiljanic, Stojan Jankovic are sung in the Yugoslav
heroic songs. The uskoci longed for freedom. When Smiljanic Ilija
was a prisoner in Istanbul, he thought of a plan of escaping with his
friend Jankovic Stojan:
Da bezimo u kotare ravne (24)
Da gledamo roblje nerobljeno (25)
Vuk, III, No. 25.
(Transl.: Let us run away to the plain of Kotar and see never enslaved folks). The uskoci maintained the unequal fight against the
Turks until early in the seventeenth century, when their action was
suppressed by Austria (under the pressure of Venice, who also had
been attacked by them from time to time). The granicari (the frontier
men), who formed their first organization in 1538, on Austrian territory, continued their struggles against the Turks long after the disappearance of the uskoci. Their military frontier lasted until 1881.1
In this war environment, Serbian epic poetry lived in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. The hajduci and the uskoci singers used
and elaborated the old feudal songs, but they also created new ones.
They gave to them new subjects and heroes, and made them less
solemn in form. As they came from the ranks of the peasantry, they
were in sympathy with the people. Their songs spread all over the
Serbian provinces. The stories of their "fierce and desperate resistance
were well known among the Serbian families who had submitted to
the Turks, and tales round the hearthstone spoke as much of the
doings of the local brigands as of Dushan the Mighty and Marko the
Hero. Thus memory and hope, the two sources of nationality, never
died out among the Serbians."2
The oral epic poetry which followed was that of Montenegrin
revolt and the liberation of Serbia. The Montenegrin cycle includes
the songs about the extermination of the "renegades," brought about
by the massacre of the beginning of the eighteenth century, which
Petar Petrovic Njegos has glorified in the Mountain Wreath, and the
war of the Montenegrin brothers Martinovici. The songs sing of wars
1 Narodna enciklopedija srpsko-hrvatsko-slovena6ka (edited by St. Stanojevic), IV, Zagreb, 1929, p. 1128; Cf. J. Cvijic, op. cit., p. 500.
2 H. W. V. Temperley, op. cit., pp. 114-115.




INTERPRETATION OF SONGS


79'


against the Turks which took place during the eighteenth as well as
the nineteenth centuries. In this cycle are included the wars with the
Bushatis, the Albanian rulers of Shkodra. "In the Montenegrin
songs", as Vuk said, "there is more history than poetry."' In the
cycle of the liberation of Serbia, the poems sing events of broad
national interest: the insurrection of the Serbian people against the
Turks, the battles of Kara-Gjorgj and the flight from Serbia. They
are realistic in content, and their basic tendency is the unification of
Serbia, in which all the classes of Serbian society took part, the most
important role being played by the rising middle class. It is a patriotic
epic poetry. Since religion was a powerful element in the patriotism
of the Serbs, this heroic poetry is strongly christianized. Here
patriotism has become broader, the heroes speak of "Serbia, their
glorious country," and the Turks come from many parts of the
Empire in order to fight. Listen to the monk Sundi6 addressing the
druzina:
Braco moja i druzino draga! (12)
Od kako smo carstvo izgubili
Na Kosova, polju krvavome,
Jos ne nije sunce ogrijalo,
A danas je ogrijalo sunce:
Zaratio Petrovicu Djuro
Od Srbije, nase zemlje slavne,
Robi bule a sijece Turke,
A prifata careve gradove,
A na Djura Turci dolazise
Od sve Bosnje i Hercegovine,
Arbanije i Urmelije,
Jos od mnogo turskijeh gradova; (24)
Vuk, IV, No. 42.
(Trans.: My brothers and dear druzina! Since the time we lost the,
kingdom in Kosovo, the bloody plain, the sun had not yet shone, but
today the sun has shone; Djuro Petrovi6 from Serbia, our glorious.
land, has begun to fight, enslaves Turkish women, massacres Turks,
and seizes cities of the Sultan. But Turks from all Bosnia and Hercegovina, from Albania and Rumelia, even from many Turkish cities,.
came against Djuro). Indeed, the patriotic element runs all through
the epic songs of the Yugoslavs.
Passing now to the Albanian epic songs, we notice that historical
conditions and social structure have determined their kinds. The
1 P. Popovi6, Pregled srpske knjiUevnosti (Outline of Serbian Literature),,
Beograd, 1931, p. 84.




80


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


songs also constitute a broken line, with obvious gaps, and the bulk
of them are creations of the last two centuries. Of these songs, however, only those of the diaspora may be compared to the songs of the
South Slavs.
The forefathers of the Yugoslavs came to the Balkan peninsula as
a great number of tribes (plemena). Most of them were small, ruled by
hereditary chiefs.1 As they were tribes engaged in agriculture, they
settled down and gradually evolved. When we hear about their
heroic songs, in the late Middle Ages, they had already created a high
culture. The ancestors of the Albanians, the Illyrians, on the other
hand, lived in tribes of wandering shepherds, and their descendants
"entered history not as a nation but as a group of tribes."2 It was
natural for them to migrate, whenever conditions favored migration.
The epic songs of the Albanians who migrated to Italy resemble in
more than one respect the old historical songs of the South Slavs.
The prevailing motif in them is the fight against the Turks, when they
invaded Albania in the fifteenth century. The Turk is always called
qeni Turk (the dog Turk). A wounded Albanian hero tells his friends:
Qeni Turk mua m' arru (12)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 104.
(Transl.: "The dog Turk" reached me). In no song of Albania proper
do we ever find the word "dog" to qualify the Turk. The Greeks,
however, have often used that name for the Turks on account of the
hatred they nourished against them. One is also reminded of Digenis
Akritas, where the Saracens are called skylia (dogs).3
The atmosphere of the songs of the Italo-Albanians is Christian.
Indeed, their principal hero, Scanderbeg, stood as the champion of
Christianity at a time when the enthusiasm that had aroused Western
Europe against the Turks, in the Middle Ages, had vanished.4 It is in
keeping with the Christian feeling of the hero to read in a rhapsody
that Scanderbeg made a cross before beginning the battle against his
opponent, Ballaban Pasha:
Boeri kriq e u leshe.
Sirdani, No. II, p. 145.
1 Cf. H. W. V. Temperley, op. cit., p. 11.
2 M. Sufflay, "Biologie des albanischen Volksstammes," Ungarische Rundschau, V (1916), 4; see also G. Stadtmiiller, "Die albanische Volkstumsgeschichte als Forschungsproblem," Leipziger Vierteljahrsschrift fiir Siidosteuropa, V (1941), 62.
3 Cf. H. Gr6goire, Ho Digenes Akritas (Digenis Akritas), New York, 1942,
p. 210.
4 A. Gegaj, L'Albanie et l'invasion turque ant XVe siecle, Louvain, 1937,
p. 101. See also F. S. Noli, George Castrioti Scanderbeg, New York, 1947, p. 37.




INTERPRETATION OF SONGS


81


(Transl.: He "crossed himself" and rushed). On the other hand, the
Albanian girl who is carried off by a Turkish rider is frightened because the land to which she is led has "no church of our God" (Scura,
p. 230).
Another resemblance the songs of the Italo-Albanians bear to the
old heroic songs of the Serbs is that they reveal a lordly and partly
feudal society. Beginning with the end of the twelfth century,
Albania appears under the domination of local lords. When Stefan
Dusan conquered almost the whole of Macedonia and a great part of
Albania, he was obliged to fight against the Albanians who had
helped him in the creation of his empire. After his death,
Albania came again under the feudal regime. Favored by Western influence,
particularly by the Angevins, the feudal lords tried to enlarge their domains.
The house of the Thopias, representatives of Angevin policy in Albania,
succeeded in occupying the greatest part of the country, forming thus for the
first time regnum Albaniae. The same policy was pursued until the Turkish
conquest by many other Albanian lords.1
Among these rulers, as among their Serbian counterparts, disputes
and fights took place, which have left an echo in a song preserved
among the Italo-Albanians, "Leshi Dukagjini" (Lek Dukagjini),
(Scura, p. 252). In it we have the murder of Zakaria, an Albanian
duke, by Lek Dukagjini, the lord of the region around Shkodra and
Lesh and a descendant of an old family about which we hear as early
as the end of the thirteenth century.2 The cause of it was vengeance.
At the wedding of Scanderbeg's sister, the two feudal lords were
competing for the favors of Jerina, an Albanian noble woman. A duel
ensued in which Lek Dukagjini was wounded. He could not stand the
dishonor and in 1445 he killed the Duke Zakaria.3 The song reflects
the sad impression produced in the Albanian world at that time.
There are other local lords as heroes of the epic songs of the ItaloAlbanians. History does not speak about some of them, like Milo and
Pjet6r Shini, Kost Murtari, Ndrek Turjela, Jan Frashini, Nik Peta,
Gjin Bardela. Also four names of noble Albanian families - Gjika,
Pal Golemi, Radavani, Ded Skura - are mentioned in the songs, but
it is difficult to establish which one of its members is meant.
When such are the heroes of the Italo-Albanian songs, they do not
live in simple houses but in pelasi (palaces), corresponding to the
Serbian dvorevi. Scanderbeg, addressing his companions, the Albanian
1 A. Gegaj, op. cit., p. 6.
2 Cf. M. Sufflay, Srbi i Arbanasi (Serbs and Albanians), Beograd, 1925,
p. 123.
3 Cf. A. Gegaj, op. cit., p. 64ff.; M. Sirdani, Skanderbegu mbas gojdhdnash
(Scanderbeg according to Tradition), Shkod6r, 1926, pp. 53-54.
6




82


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


druzina, calls them Zotera (Lords), and Pal Golemi, expressing his
last wishes to his friends, says:
Se ju, shoke, e ju buljare (6)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 105.
(Transl.: Because you companions, and you "noblemen.") In the
"Song of Vlastar," the sister answers proudly to the brother who does
not recognize her:
Jam g'rle e t6 s6 miri (15)
Jam g'rie murgiare (16)
Marchiano, No. XVI.
(Transl.: I am a woman from a "noble family," I am a woman from
a "family of knights.") The love for the horse is as great as in the
Serbian songs. The hero, dying, desires that they bind his horse to the
grave:
Te m6 lidhni atje murxarin: (13)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 105.
(Transl.: To bind there my "steed.")
Not all the traditional songs of the Italo-Albanians are the expression of a period of agitation and war. There are some which reflect
more peaceful times, when Albanians had not yet experienced the
Ottoman invasion. Nor do all the songs bear the stamp of the native
land, Albania. Several of them have the seal of the Albanian exile
from Greece. Such an example is "Al campo di Nauplia" (At the
Camp of Nauplia), (Marchiano, No. 1, p. 2). It is the description of an
attack on the port of Nauplia (Naupaktos), in Peloponnesus, which
must have taken place either in 1440 or in 1537, when the Turks
tried to get possession of the littoral of Morea.1 But there are also
songs which originated in Italy like "K6nga e Nik Petese" (The Song
ofNik Peta), (Marchiano, No. X, p. 46) or "Oh! e bukura More"
(Oh! Beautiful Morea), (Camarda, No. 1 (a), p. 126).
Little can be said, on the other hand, about the epic songs of the
Albanians living in Greece. In the Rheinhold collection, and in the
still smaller one of Sotiriou, in Laographia, I, we do not find any
heroic songs. Only the word trim (brave, hero) is met in some of them:
Shkod6r, Shkod6r! trima ke
Qe dufeqi nuk i ze,
Edhe vole ata nd'i marte,
Faremiri ishte af6r,
Camarda, No. 10, p. 80.
1 M. Marchiano, Canti popolari albanesi delle colonie d'Italia, Foggia, 1908,
p. 4 (footnote),




INTERPRETATION OF SONGS


83


(Transl.: Shkoder, Shkoder! You have "brave men" who are invulnerable, and even when they are shot, God is near [them]). But
the word trim among the Albanians of Greece has the meaning of
man, young man, in general, for they conceive of man as being brave:
Trimate qe shkonjene
Mua veshtonjene.
Laographia, I, No. 39, p. 87.
(Transl.: The "men (the young men)" who pass by look at me.)
Although in Helleno-Albanian popular poems we notice the inclination for the sea - they lived near the sea - the piratic invasions
are better shown in a song of the Italo-Albanians, who came from
Greece, the so-called "Canzone di Caterina" (Marchiano, No. XV,
p. 71), in which the lover of a girl kills and wounds the pirates who
attacked them. Indeed, under the Ottoman domination, the Albanian
songs of Greece have lost many of their old traits.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century we have a few beautiful
heroic songs of the Albanian inhabitants of Epirus (Greek mainland).
They fought against All Pasha Tepelena (alias Janina) for their freedom and the preservation of their Christian Orthodox religion. One
of their songs, "E Sulit" (From Suli), shows this:
Turqite na mbuluane, (19)
Duan t'na roberojne,
Ne Tepelen' t'na shpjene
Besen t'na ndrojne. (22)
Vis. e Komb., I, No. 98.
(Transl.: The Turks have overwhelmed us, they want to enslave us,
to carry us to Tepelena,1 to change our faith.)
The love of the Suliots for their native land and their heroism have
remained legendary. They have given rise to a rich Greek epic poetry
- a good number of the songs are contained in Fauriel's collection
Chants populaires de la Grece moderne (Paris, 1924) -  in which
Moslem Albanians are the enemies. But Ali Pasha's war against the
Suliots was not purely religious. The Pasha of Janina cared more for
power. He did not destroy the Christian Albanian village of Suli until
its inhabitants refused to submit to his rule. It was more of a political
war.
Forced to leave their dear village by Ali Pasha's forces, the
Suliots crossed over to the island of Corfu. While in the service of the
Russians there (1805), they tell their leader Foto Xhavella:
1 Tepelena is a small town in southern Albania. It was the birthplace of Ali
Pasha, who had constructed a palace there.




84        ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL Epic POETRY
Me Moskov6 lith kuv~ndin
T6 vem'e te marr~m v~ndin,
Vein' e vdesim nd6 dhe t~n83,
Atje tek' e pat~m thi~n6.
Vdesim me dyfek n6 dor8,
Si dh~ndur6 me kuror6.
Mitko (ed. Pekmezi), No. 21, p. 136.
(Transi.: Make an agreement with Moscow to go and free our country.
We will go and die in our native land, there where we have been
destined [to die]. We wili die with the gun in our hand, like bridegrooms with wreaths.) In the songs of the Albanians in Greece
liberty and faith are the leitmotiv.




CHAPTER VI


GENUINE ALBANIAN SONGS
The genuine Albanian songs, those which constitute the bulk of
Albanian heroic poetry, offer no basis for comparison with the epic
songs of the Yugoslavs. They are not hajduci songs.
After the death of Scanderbeg, and still more in the following centuries, Mohammedanism made progress in the country. There is a
contrast between the South Slavs and the Albanians. Among the
former, the Moslems were a minority in a large world of Christians;
among the latter, they were a majority in a small Christian world. In
Albania, any attempt at revolt on the part of the Christians would be
doomed to failure. The Mohammedans were the rulers of the country
and felt secure in it. The very cause which gave birth and food to the
popular epic poetry of the Serbs - the continuous struggle against
the Turks - was lacking in Albania.
The Albanian heroic songs are called among the northern mountaineers kange terthorpe (literally, slant songs) or kange maje krahit
(literally, songs on the edge of the wing),1 but a more general term for
them is kange trimnije (songs of valor). In southern Albania the name
of the same songs is kenge pleqgrishte (ancient songs) or kengy trimash
(songs of heroes), corresponding respectively to the Serbian starinske
and junacke. Vuk Karadzic used the last term for the mythological
songs and the poetic legends also, but the Yugoslav people themselves
call "heroic" (pjesme junacke, o junacima, o jumnactvu) or "ancient"
(starinske) those songs which celebrate heroes or persons of a more or
less historical character.2
The greater part of the songs of "valor" tell of events and episodes
in a particular section of the Albanian world. They are like a chronicle. Vendetta murder is chiefly their subject, but there may also be
murder for the protection of women, like "Kupe Danja" (Vis. e
Komb., I, 1, No. 44). Treason is another topic (Prennushi, No. 19, Vis.
e Komb., I, 1, No. 14), or clashes between Turkish authorities and
Albanian mountaineers, as in "Brahim Uka" (Vis. e Komb., I, 1,
1 Cf. E. Koliqi, Epica popolare albanese, Padova, 1937, pp. 51 and 54.
2 M. Murko, La podsie populaire 4pique en Yougoslavie au d6but du XXe
sidcle, Paris, 1929, p. 10.
85




86


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


No. 8) or "The Rifle of Shala" (Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 7a and 7b).
Seldom are there clashes between two clans, as that of Kthella
against the inhabitants of Lura (Prennushi, No. 21). In most of them
the underlying motif is honor, which can be that of an individual, his
family, the clan, or his friend. They arise everyday when something
occurs which is significant for the inhabitants of a certain region.
Although their character is strictly local, they reflect Albanian life as
a whole - and herein lies their importance.
Most of the Albanian heroic songs are to be found in the northern
part of the country, where there is a strong heroic milieu. Since the
Kanun i Leke Dukagjinit (The Code of Leke Dukagjini)1 has permeated the life of the mountaineers, it is necessary, for a better
understanding, to consider the heroic songs in the light of this code.
We stated that the predominant motif in the "valor" songs is
honor. According to the Kanun, "Great God has attached to the
center of our forehead two fingers of honor" (Kanuni, No. 594,
p. 65). The following are some of the instances when a mountaineer
feels that he has been stripped of his honor:
a) If someone tells him, in front of men who are gathered in an
assembly, that he is lying;
b) If someone spits at him or threatens to beat him, or pushes him
or beats him;
c) If someone destroys his mediation or his besa (faith, word of
honor);
d) If someone manifests contempt toward his weapons of the
shoulder or of the belt;
e) If someone disdains his bread, that is, offending his guest or his
laborer;
f) If someone has relations with his wife or elopes with her.
(Kanuni, No. 601, pp. 65-66).
As long as the mountaineer has not regained his honor, his place in
the assemblies is at an end, even if he is an influential member of the
Bajrak (clan). The glass of raki (a kind of drink, aqua-vitae) is
offered to him half empty, and he is not allowed to sing with the
others in the feasts or on holidays.2 In fact, "he who has lost his
honor is considered dead" (Kanuni, No. 600, p. 65).
But how can one regain his honor? There is only one way: to
1 This is an old customary code of the mountains of northern Albania,
which acquired authority and diffusion in the fifteenth century, thanks to the
historical figure of Lek Dukagjini. Henceforth, we shall refer to it as Kanuni.
The quotations used in the present study are taken from At Shtjefen K.
Gjevov, Kanun i Leke Dukagjinit, Shkoder, 1933.
2 E. Koliqi, op. cit., p. 16.




GENUINE ALBANIAN SONGS


87


avenge the offense by murder. The Kanun says: "Nothing can compensate lost honor, except murder or noble forgiveness (after mediation of good friends)" (Kanuni, No. 598, p. 65). This is why murders
are frequent in the mountains of northern Albania, and very often
give rise to songs. The spirit prevailing there exists, in a milder form,
in other parts of the country also, particularly in Kurvelesh, the
mountainous region of the south, near Gjinokaster (Argyrokastro).
Here we find at the same time a sporadic preservation of an ancient
traditional code.1
Generally, the cause of the feuds is offended honor. It is then that
the Albanian mountaineer is not sorry to die. I should rather say that
he is happy because death would mean birth to him:
Nuk na dhimet ne kjo jete
Si me le ashtu me deke.
Taipi, p. 131.
(Transl.: We are not sorry for this life; to die is the same as to be
born.) But when he takes his vengeance, he usually warns the victim
before shooting:
Stop, Demush, because I have a word: (11)
I have not forgiven you for my brother's blood. (12)
Vis. e Komb., IV, 1, No. 51.
He is proud when he has avenged his people. Listen to Gjok Doda:
I have fought much against Lagi, (2)
I'have honored four feuds,
I have killed all his males; (4)
Prennushi, No. 109.
But he is also aware of the disaster that follows, once the feud has
begun. Albanians fighting in Egypt for Mehmed Ali, the founder of
the Egyptian dynasty, are cautious in a quarrel:
For if it happens that we fall in feuds, (7)
The whole of Egypt cannot stop us. (8)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 23a.
The guest is greatly honored in Albania: "The guest will be
honored- 'bread and salt and heart"' (Kanuni, No. 608, p. 66), and
again: "The home of the Albanian belongs to God and to the guest"
(Kanuni, No. 602, p. 66). The importance given to the guest is shown
by the fact that his "blood" is never paid and no attempt at recon1 E. (abej, "Sitten und Gebriuche der Albaner," Revue Internationale des
Etudes Balkaniques, I-II (1934-35), 556.




88


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


ciliation is made by "good friends." The matter is left entirely to the
person who received the guest. The family of that person has not
wiped off the dishonor until it has avenged the guest: "If the guest
has been outraged, the law has left him two ways: death or shame"
(Kanuni, No. 644, p. 68). Ndoe Preka goes as far as Montenegro to
avenge his friend:
When the seven kings heard it:
Never has this happened, [they said],
To take blood-vengeance in Montenegro.
Taipi, p. 189.
Marka Kuli, the hero of a song, pursued by the Turkish gendarmerie,
arrived at the region of the three bajraks. When he asked the people
what he ought to do, they replied that, as far as they were concerned,
he was their guest and they would not deliver him:
The force of the king can take you, (9)
The law of the Mountains does not deliver you. (10)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 27a.
In Vuk Karadii6's Albanian collection there is a song in which the
readiness of the Albanian to sacrifice himself for the guest is shown:
I do not deliver my guest as long as I live (6)
Elezovi6, No. 8, p. 68.
The right of the guest among the Albanians impressed Hecquard.
He writes:
des qu'il a pass6 le seuil de la maison, l'h6te devient sacr6, et jamais un Turc
(i.e. a Mohammedan Albanian) ne consentirait a le rendre A l'autorit6...
Eut-il meme une vendetta a exercer contre lui, le musulman se laissera plut6t
bruler dans sa maison que de le rendre aux koulouks.1
Another Albanian characteristic which is revealed in the heroic
songs is besa. "Besa is a term of freedom and security which the family
of the murdered gives to the murderer and his family that it will
refrain from revenge until the end of the term" (Kanuni, No. 854,
p. 83). Besa can exist also between two villages or even two clans. It
corresponds to "the Italian tregua, Fr. treve, Mdl. treuga from Ohg.
triwa, triuwa, Nhg. Treue, which more exactly corresponds to the
Albanian bese."2 The meaning of besa is also that of any agreement
based on honor. Besa is typically Albanian and has been borrowed by
1 H. Hecquard, Histoire et description de la Haute-Albanie ou Ghdgarie,
Paris, 1858, p. 332.
2 N. Jokl, "Vuks albanische Liedersammlung," Zbornik A. Beli6, Beograd,
1921, p. 73.




GENUINE ALBANIAN SONGS


89


the Greeks who use it in the sense of "faith," "loyalty", or in the
stereotyped expression mpesa gia mpesa (faith for faith), "mutual
promise of abiding by the word."'
In the song "Xhiu i Faj6s" (Giu of Faya), the hero leaves his family
in Kruja, his native town in central Albania, and goes to Istanbul to
avenge his lord, who had been killed by the son of the Turkish
premier. This was an event which deeply impressed the Albanians and
gave birth to songs in many parts of the country (Vis. e Komb., I, 1,
No. 51a and 51b). Xhiu had given his lord, who was departing for the
Turkish capital, his word of honor, his besa, that he would avenge
him, should he suffer any harm there:
I have given my besa for the life beyond: (54)
To die for him in Istanbul. (55)
Prennushi, No. 113.
The besa is sacred. Woe to him who tramples it! The consequences
are very grave:
Musta Tahiri has broken the besa, (12)
Reka has assembled and wants to burn him (13)
Vis. e Komb., IV, 1, No. 79.
The value of besa for the Albanians is extolled even by the Sultan, in
a song from Gjakova (Metohija), when he counsels the Albanian Ali
Pasha Gusija:
Keep the besa as of old (15)
Keep the besa for each other
Then there will be no nation
That can harm you. (18)
Prennushi, No. 75.
Closely connected with besa is loyalty. In the mountains of Albania
this is generally due to the chieftains. Byron, singing the qualities of
the Albanians in the south, says:
Unshaken rushing on wher'er their chief may lead (9)
Childe Harold, Canto II, st. LXV.
In some Albanian heroic songs we find another kind of loyalty,
loyalty to the feudal lord. In Albania, particularly in her middle and
southern parts, there were big Moslem landowners, the beys, who did
not have vassals but kept followers. One of them in the company of
followers, attacked by his enemies, hears one of the former saying to
his companion:
1 MegalM hellenike egkyklopaideia (Great Greek Encyclopedia), XVII,.
Athens, 1926 (first volume), p. 636.




ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Today our valor is revealed, (61)
When our lord is being killed. (3)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 20b.
In Kosovo, too, where Albanian beys owned large land properties,
such a loyalty would appeal. In fact, in Elezovic's collection, No. 35,
we have a variant of "Xhiu i Fajes" in which the hero says:
Don't be afraid, you Prime Minister, (14)
Because I have avenged my lord (beg); (15)
Inseparable from honor is shame. One cannot exist without the
other. That is why in the Albanian language shame and dishonor are
interchangeable. One of the greatest preoccupations of the mountaineer is mos me u-marrue (not to have shame (dishonor) on oneself),
mos me u-korrit (not to be dishonored (have shame on you)). One of
the heroes says proudly to his offender:
I have not stood dishonor since I was born, (14)
I have never brought shame to my family,
As my gun now tells you. (16)
Prennushi, No. 12.
In "Mehmet Begu" (Mehmed Beg) we are requested not to be
sorry for the dead who are brave but for those who live in shame:
Be silent! you unhappy wife, (43)
Don't lament Mema or me,
Shed tears for the dishonored Sali. (45)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 20a.
And when a group of Albanians, besieged in a fortress, were fighting
against the Montenegrins, they pledged their faith to fight to the
end, for:
Is it not better to die with honor (83)
Than live a shameful life? (84)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 26.
In such an environment, where honor becomes the highest ideal
and shame is regarded as worse than death, it is natural that people
should prize an heroic death. A common saying among the mountaineers of northern Albania is "better dead than to become a woman
(coward)." But even women despise a non-heroic death. In one of the
popular traditional poems of the south, "Abas Selim," the sister who
learns about the death of her brother asks:
Were you killed in battle?
If you fell among women,
I feel shame and cannot weep.
Camarda, No. 32, p. 41.




GENUINE ALBANIAN SONGS


91


But if a man has fought a brave battle and is dying, he is happy to
tell his friends:
If my mother asks about me, (19)
Tell her, your son has been married.
By God! What a bride he married!
Three shots into his own breast. (22)
Prennushi, No. 95.
Another Albanian hero, dying under the same circumstances, begs
his friend:
Don't let my mother weep, (12)
Because Nnoj is born and has not died. (15)
Prennushi, No. 105.
Perhaps the conception of an heroic death among the Albanians is
most eloquently expressed in a dirge included in Hecquard's collection:... ses d6pouilles...renfermaient... un coeur... que la crainte de la mort
n'epouvanta jamais.
Malheur a celui qui p6rit d'une mort obscure et vile, sur la plume, au milieu
des remedes et des pleurs. - La vraie mort qui dome la vie X l'homme (litteral)
est d'expirer sur la terre nue pour l'honneur et la gloire.1
But you cannot think of a hero without a weapon. Weapons are, ~
another feature of the Albanian songs. Not so much the description
of the arms (they are rarely described) as their importance and the
love which the heroes have for them. They are usually fire weapons.
This is also a sign, when considered in the whole complex, that the
songs are not very old. It is with weapons that an Albanian can defend his honor or perform acts of heroism. One of the mountaineers of
Mirdita told a traveller in the early '30's: "When the gun is taken
away from us, there is no more heroism."2 We saw above that looking
contemptuously at a mountaineer's arms is a great offense to him.
When, during King Zog's regime, arms were withdrawn from all the
citizens, a Mirditas was complaining: "They have taken away our
arms and have turned us into old women."3
As long as they have cartridges, the heroes in the Albanian oral
epic poems never surrender. Here is the answer of a mountaineer:
I am Mirditas, I do not surrender: (24)
My ancestor has been a hero,
He has left a testament to us:
Not to deliver the loaded arms. (27)
Prennushi, No. 12.
1 H. Hecquard, op. cit., pp. 353-54.
2 S. Th. Frash6ri, Perrnes Mirdites n6 dimer (Through Mirdita in Winter),
Korge, 1930, p. 31.   3 Ibid.




92


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


A deadly wounded hero expressed the wish:
Tell my mother not to weep for me: (22)
Let her weep for the gun that did not fire, (23)
Prennushi, No. 9.
The Albanian hero loves his weapon as much as the Bosnian hero
loves his horse. In the mountains of northern Albania, it is the duty
of the father "to buy arms for his sons when they come of age"
(Kanuni, No. 60b, p. 22). The Albanian hero talks affectionately to
his weapons. Shaqir Grixha, from the Bajrak of Temal, surrounded
by Montenegrin soldiers in his house, despairingly takes leave of his
arms:
Where are you, my rifle? (6)
Where are you, my sword?
Don't you know that you have been surrounded?
That they want to take you to yonder depot?
If they will take you to that depot,
Shaqir will not touch you [any longer].l
Vis. e Komb., IV, 1, No. 43b
When one realizes the affection existing between brother and sister in
Albanian society, one can understand how fond the mountaineer is of
his weapons when he considers them as "his sisters."
Another Albanian trait manifested in these heroic songs is the
desire for fame and glory. In a milieu like that of Albania such a
desire could be fulfilled by an act of courage. There is a special expression for it: m'u-vi ne kacngi (to be named in a song) or me ja
kendue kdngen (to sing his song). Murko says that the Montenegrins
also have the same ideal:
Ptre cite et mis en scene dans un poeme etait au Mont6n6gro la plus grande
marque de distinction, comme dans les autres arm6es les mendailles et les
decorations.2
In a battle against Montenegro Mustafa Broci revealed himself such a
great hero that:
His song should be sung with the lahuta (19)
So that he be never forgotten in Albania. (20)
Taipi, p. 88.
And in a dirge, collected by A. Sirdani and included in Koliqi's book,
the woman Drande Keqja, who weeps over the body of Rrok Tom
Dashi, a mountaineer known for his courage, says:
1 The last two lines are found in a variant in M. Lambertz, Die Volkspoesie
der Albaner, Sarajevo, 1917, p. 20.
2 M. Murko, op. cit., p. 26.




GENUINE ALBANIAN SONGS


93


People are praising you:
Your song is sung every day.1
Other heroic songs of the Albanians are the soldier songs. Albanians;
have always had the reputation of being brave warriors. They were
among the best soldiers of the Ottoman Empire and they took part
in many battles, outside their own country, for the defense of that
Empire as well as against it. Serving in groups, they established
arnavud (a Turkish word meaning Albanian) colonies of soldiers all
over the Turkish Empire, from the Ukraine to Egypt and north
Africa.2 Their life gave rise to new songs - the soldier songs - which
generally sing the victories of the Albanians in battles. There are
songs about the battle of Crimea (Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 77), that of
Plevna in 1877 against the Russians (Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 90), or
about the fighting in Egypt against the Turks (Vis. e Komb., I, 1,
No. 23a).
The Moslems were not the only Albanians who went as soldiers.
The mountaineers of the north, in return for the autonomy granted to
them by the Sultan, were obliged to send from each family one male
as a soldier, when the Turkish Empire was engaged in war:
The Sultan has asked for a soldier, (9)
For a soldier has asked the state. (10)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 40.
One can imagine how hard life was for an Albanian mountaineer,
who had been so much attached to his village and his clan. In
"Qindro loke, fort mos kjaj!" (Stop, dear mother, don't weep much)
we are moved by his despair. Aware of the impossibility of seeing his
own people again, he wishes for death, which he manifests in a way
peculiar to the northern mountaineer:
Oh you rifle, I wish I could leave you deserted, (48)
breaking at the end into a complaint against the Sultan:
It is your guilt, father of the world, (50)
To take away the sons of the poor. (51)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 40.
But in their own country the Albanian mountaineers were fighting
against the Montenegrins along the border. Some of the songs which
emerged from the fighting have correspondences in the Serbian
heroic songs. The wars between the Montenegrins and the Albanians
started after the massacre of the Turks (they were mainly Slavs con1 E. Koliqi, op. cit., p. 54.
2 G. Stadtmuller, "Die albanische Volkstumsgeschichte als Forschungsproblem," Leipziger Vierteljahrschrift fir Siidosteuropa, V (1941), 77.




94


ALBANTAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


verted to Mohammedanism) in Montenegro, during the time of the
ruler Danilo (1702)).
The Mohammedan was now eternally abhorred:
during the eighteenth century a Turk who approached the boundaries of
Montenegro was fired on as a matter of course without being challenged. The
Albanians, who had often been friendly with the Montenegrins, became their
most resolute foes, and the enmity has existed until the present day...1
Indeed, one of the first songs which deals with the eighteenthcentury fight of the Albanians against the Montenegrins is "Kanga e
Kara Mahmud Pash6s Kundra Malazezve" (The Song of Kara
Mahmud Pasha against the Montenegrins), (Taipi, p. 22). The Pasha
ruled over Shkodra and a great part of northern Albania:
Mahmut vezir vijec ucinio (1)
U bijelu Skadru na Bojanu, (2)
Vuk, IV, No. 10.
(Transl.: The Vezir Mahmud gathered the council in white Shkodra,
on the Bojana River.) He was a member of the famous Albanian
family of the Bushatis who were vassals of the Sultan. He fought
three times against Montenegro, taking part in person:
Sad da silnu vojsku podignemo, (8)
Da mi goru Crnu osvojimo
Goru Crnu i primorje ravno
Kojeno smo odavna zudjeli (11)
Vuk, IV, No. 10.
(Transl.: Let us now muster a mighty army in order to conquer
Montenegro, Montenegro and the flat sea coast, which we have long
coveted.) In the third war against Montenegro Mahmud Pasha was
killed by the Palabardhi fighters in 1796.2 Breathing his last, in an
Albanian song, he regretted that he left no son to avenge him:
How miserable I am that I left no son
To make war against the Palabardhe.
Taipi, p. 45.
The Palabardhe are a tribe in Montenegro, near the Albanian frontier,
called in the song "Boj Crnogoraca s Mahmut-Pasom" (War of the
Montenegrins against Mahmud Pasha), (Vuk, IV, No. 10), as Bjelopavlici. Another heroic poem which sings the wars of Mahmut
1 H. W. V. Temperley, History of Serbia, London, 1917, p. 149.
2 Mitko Collection (edit. Pekmezi), p. 208; Cf.K. Jirecek, "Albanien in der
Vergangenheit," Illyrisch-albanische Forschungen, I, Miinchen und Leipzig,
1916, p. 90.




GENUINE ALBANIAN SONGS


Pasha in Serbian is "Opet Crnogorci i Mahmut Pasa" (Again the
Montenegrins and Mahmud Pasha), (Vuk, IV, No. 11). It is the
opinion of Karadic6 that these last two songs were composed by
Vladika Petar I (1782-1830), and that they later became popular.l
As the frontier wars against Montenegro were not waged by
Moslem Albanians alone, but also by Albanians of the Roman
Catholic faith, the struggle was transposed on an ethnic level:
Albanians against the Slavs. No doubt the opposition of Albanian
Roman Catholicism to Montenegrin Christian Orthodoxy intensified
its ethnic nature. As early as 1685 Pjeter Bogdani, an Albanian
author, wrote: "The Slavs... call the Catholic faith Arbanagka vera
(Albanian religion)."2
The wars between the Albanians and the Montenegrins continued
after the death of Mahmud Pasha. They were principally fought by
the Shkodrans and Malcija (the mountaineers of the north). They
both pledged their faith to fight the Montenegrin encroachments on
their soil. When Turkey ceded Tuzi to Montenegro, they took arms
and defeated the Montenegrins: "Lufta e Miletit" (The Battle of the
Nation), (Vis. e Komb., 1,,, o. 38a and 38b), in which the hero Ded
Gjo Luli distinguished himself. The battles followed one after the
other, when at the Congress of Berlin Turkey ceded to Montenegro
the towns Ulqin (Dulcigno), Plava and Gusinje. They have given rise
to some of the most beautiful Albanian songs.
In "Ali Pash' Gusija" (Ali Pasha of Gusinje), (Hylli i Drites, XIV
(1938), 304-312), the Albanian Pasha summoned the heads of the
country who vowed that they would not cede Plava and Gusinje to
Montenegro but that they would "die for the land of their fathers."3
It was the Albanian reaction to a letter sent by Prince Nicholas of
Montenegro. In the Bosnian song "The Song from Gusinje" the
"thirty captains" urge the Prince:
Pa opravi knjigu do Gusinja,
Al se voli s nama udarati
Al ce nama teslim uciniti!4
(Transl.: And sent the letter to Gusinje, if he (Ali Pasha) wants to
fight against us or surrender to us.) Prince Nicholas of Montenegro
1 Vuk, IV, p. 68 (footnote).
2 M. Sirdani, Skanderbegu mbas gojdhdnash (Scanderbeg According to Tradition), Shkod6r, 1926, p. 131.
3 See for the battle of Gusinje, Theodor Ippen, "Beitrage zur inneren Geschichte Albaniens im XIX. Jahrhundert," Illyrisch-albanische Forschungen,
I, pp. 372-373.
4 J. von Asb6th, "Das Lied von Gusinje," as reproduced in Ethnologische
Mitteilungen aus Ungarn, I (1887-1888), p. 324.




96


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


then sends a large army, under the command of Mark Milan, against
the Albanians. In the battle that ensued the Albanians were victorious: they beat "the vile Shkja" (Slav), (227).
We must stop for a moment at the term shkja - plural shkje - as
it is often used in the oral epic poetry of northern Albania. The
Albanians call shkje the neighboring Slavs. But how did this come
about? G. Meyer gives the etymology of Shkja from the Latin word
Sclavus, meaning Slav.1 Could this form, as well as the term Sclavonia,
have been familiar to the Albanians in ancient times?
It is known that a great geographical zone, which in the seventh to
the tenth centuries comprised all the lands between Zara, Salonica
and the Rhodope mountains, was called in Greek Sklavinikai and in
Latin Sclavinica. In a trade agreement between Dubrovnik and
Ancona (1292), under the name Sclavonia was understood the region
between the rivers Narenta (in Dalmatia-Bosnia) and Drin-Bojana
(in Albania). In the fourteenth century, the statutes of the city of
Kotor make an exact distinction between the northern Croats and
the Sclavi, who were mixed with the Rumanians (Vlachs) and
Albanians.2
From the above historic facts it becomes obvious that the words
Sclavi and Sclavonia, the latter for the land of the Slavs near Albania,
must have been familiar to the Albanians in the Middle Ages. But
how can the change from Latin Sclavus to the Albanian shkja be explained? Latin s before k has become in Albanian sh, as for instance,
Latin scala has become Albanian 8hkalla, Latin episcopus has become
Albanian peshkop. Thus Latin Sclavus became first Albanian shklavus.
For one reason or another, the sounds of the syllable -vus disappeared
and shklavus became shkla. As kl in Albanian of Albania proper has
given kj, which became k' (q) -  klani (you weep) became first
kjani and ultimately qani - in the same way we have shkla first
becoming shkja and then shqa. These last two forms are encountered in
the heroic songs of northern Albania.
To my knowledge, the date of the form shkja is not known. A
certain relative chronology, however, can be established. We are
aware that kl has been preserved among the Albanians of Italy. As
their migrations took place at the end of the fifteenth century and the
beginning of the sixteenth century, kl was in use until then. Furthermore, kl is preserved in the writings of an ancient Albanian writer of
the north, Buzuku (1555). In a Latin-Albanian dictionary of 1635 the
1 G. Meyer, Etymologisches Worterbuch der albanischen Sprache, Stral3burg,
1891, p. 410.
2 For this historico-linguistic treatment about Sclavi and Sclavonia, see:
M. gufflay, Srbi i Arbanasi (Serbs and Albanians), Beograd, 1925, p. 109.




GENUINE ALBANIAN SONGS


97


noun Sclavonia (Slavonia) has been translated as schienia (shkienia)l,
a form which exists in the Albanian of today. This is a proof that by
that time kl had become kj. We can then say that the form shkja
dates from some year between 1555 and 1635. It is used only in northern Albania.
Against the shkje there is another beautiful song, "Te ramt e
Plaves e t6 Gucis" (The Fall of Plava and Gusinje), (Vis. e Kornb., I,
1, No. 37). In it Prince Nicholas of Montenegro goes to Istanbul to ask
of the Sultan the cession of the two Albanian towns. The conversation
with him is informal, and such is the discussion of the Sultan with his
Council, who for the mountaineers are merely zabita (officers). A new
element enters the picture: the Princess of Montenegro urges her
husband to occupy the Albanian territories and become as powerful
as the Sultan. On his return from Istanbul, Prince Nicholas tries to
carry out the promise of the Sultan, which is that he occupy the
Albanian towns, but the Albanian mountaineers reply:
We will not leave them without honor, (55)
He can take them only by arms. (56)
And a fierce battle began to rage at Brezovic.
There are no descriptions of great battles in the oral epic songs.
Only episodes in them are described. The ordinary popular singer is
not able to give a description of a whole combat in which a number of
battalions have taken part. Murko maintains that this is "the reason
one does not find, in the South Slavic epic poetry, any description of
great battles, but only episodes and events related to the battle, and
rarely [the description] of such an event as the siege of a city."2
The Albanian songs of the wars against Montenegro reveal in
general a hatred of the Slavs, who want to encroach upon Albanian
soil. In "Kanga e Mehmet Shpendit Dukagjinit" (The Song of
Mehmed Shpendi Dukagjini), the Albanian hero, dying on the battlefield, is sorry, like Mahmud Pasha, that he does not leave a son:
To oppose Montenegro (48)
To fight and to massacre
The Shkje of Montenegro,
To fight and to die
Until the blood runs like a stream. (52)
Vis. e Komb., IV, 1, No. 20.
1 Cf. R. D. Franciscum Blanchum, Dictionarium Latino-Epiroticum (edited
by Mario Roques under the title Le dictionnaire albanais de 1635), Paris, 1932,
p. 144.
2 M. Murko, op. cit., p. 26.
7




98


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Certainly, the wars against the Montenegrins deeply disturbed the
life of the northern Albanians. The city of Shkodra took the lead in
the wars, and its troubles were great. We read in a song which
originated there:
Always Shkodra, with these worries, (1)
Has never had a quiet moment;
It has spent the years in troubles,
Fighting against Montenegro. (4)
Taipi, p. 117.
There emerged no oral epic poetry dealing with frontier wars in the
southern part of Albania. Until 1912 the Turkish boundaries went
pretty far into Greek territory, when they did not cover the whole of
it, so on both sides there were Greeks. In the south there appeared
songs about Ali Pasha Tepelena. But these can never be compared in
volume to the Greek songs about the independent ruler of southern
Albania which form a whole cycle. The Albanian songs about Ali
Pasha deal mostly with the siege of his capital, Janina, by the Turks,
as in "T' Ali Pashe Tepelenes" (From Ali Pasha Tepelena's Songs),
(Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 65), and sometimes with the destruction of
villages like Gardhiqi (Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 62) or the persecution
by him of the Suliots (in Epirus), (Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 60). His
songs, however, have crossed the frontiers of southern Albania. An
heroic poem on his resistance to the Turkish Empire and his death is
sung in Shkodra (Taipi, p. 6), and Smaus tells us that songs about the
Pasha of Tepelena are heard as far away as Kosovo.1
1 Cf. A. 8maus, "Nekoliko podataka o epskom pevanju i pesmama kod
Arbanasa (Arnauta) u Staroj Srbiji." (Some Information about Epic Singing
and Songs among the Albanians in Old Serbia), Prilozi..., I (1934), 112.




CHAPTER VII


THE MuJo-HALIL CYCLE
In the mountains of northern Albania - and only there - there
is also a cycle which contains some of the most beautiful epic songs.
This is the Mujo-Halil cycle. It has a particular interest for our study,
for in it we find many points in common with the songs around the
brothers Hrnjica -- Mujo and Halil- among the Mohammedans of
Bosnia and Hercegovina. Some of these points - particularly the
motifs - have attracted the attention of scholars, but their studies
have been cursory.
The songs concerning Mujo and Halil are called in Albanian kange
kreshnikesh, meaning "Songs of Heroes." They are also known as
kadng lahute, that is, "Songs of the Lahuta," for they are always
sung to the accompaniment of the lahuta (the Albanian musical
instrument of the mountaineers similar to the gusle). We find an
analogy in Serbian, where the heroic songs are also called guslarske
pjesme (Songs of the Gusle). In Bosnia the songs of the Mujo-Halil
cycle form part of a larger group of songs of which the name is
kraji~nice, because they originated in Krajina, the frontier region.
The etymology of the word kreshnik (hero, heroic) has interested
Albanian scholars of epic poetry. Koliqi, admitting that the suffix
-nik is Slavic, supposes that the root kresh is derived from Slavic krst
(or more correctly KpbCTb -  cross). He then adds: "It would be
interesting to establish that the word is related to 'crusader' (literally,
could be an echo of the 'crusader')."1 Qabej, on the other hand, granting, too, that the ending is Slavic, thinks that the radical of the word
kreshnik is the Albanian kreshte, meaning long hair. He concludes
that here we have to do with the ancient custom inherited from old
Indogermanic times when the freeman, the nobleman, had long hair.
Kreshnik then means "noble, brave, heroic."2
It seems to us that both etymologies are based on groundless and
far-fetched suppositions. As we shall show in this chapter, the kange
kreshnikesh treat the same subjects as the Bosnian songs of the Mujo
i E. Koliqi, Epica popolare albanese, Padova, 1937, p. 49.
2 E. Qabej, "Per gjenez6n e literatures shqipe" (About the Genesis of
Albanian Literature), Hylli i Dritis, XV (1939), 163-164, footnote 2.


7*


99




100


100     ALBANIAN A1RD SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL Epic POETRY


cycle. It is also an historical fact that Udbina and Kladus'a, the two
localities most often mentioned in the Albanian songs, were situated
in Lika of Croatia, in the region which was called Krajina. The inhabitant of Krajina, who at the same time was a warrior, was called
Kraji'8nik or Kraj'8nikc - plural, Kraji~nici or KrajA8'nici. In one of the
Bosnian songs, Mujo arvnat Kotar, addresses his companions:
Cuj ete I' me brac'o Kraj isnici, (5 61)
Htrmann, II, No. LV.
(Transl.: Listen to me., brothers Krajis'nici.) In another, Babic' Husejn
calls Mujo:
0 Hrnjica, od Krajine glavo! (10)
Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 38.
(Transl.: 0 Hrnjica, the head of Krajina.) And Smiljani4' Ilija says to
his sister Jela, who wants to marry Halil:
Zar ti j'turska vjera omilila (126)
Sto c'e tebi Turci Krajis'nici
Sto C'e tebi Hrnjica Halilu.? (1 28)
Mat. 1kv., IV, No. 40.
(Transl.: Do you like the Turkish religion? Why do you need the
Turks of Krajina, why do you need Hrnjica Halil?). While in an
Albanian song of the Mujo-Halil cycle we see kreshnik connected
with Udbina:
Sot na ka msye nj6 Kreshnik Jutbine (64)
Vis. e Komb., IV, 2, No. 5.
(Transl.: Today a Kreshnik from Jutbina has attacked us.) And
elsewhere:
Fill n' Jutbin6 Muji ka shkue,
N'treg t'Jutbin~is kur ka ra, (248)
Ja ka dha'ne zanin Krahin~s. (249)
Vi8. c Komb., I, 2No. 1.
(Transl.: Mujo went directly to Jutbina, when lie arrived at the
lnarket-place of Jutbina, he called (the inhabitants) of Krajina.)
There is no doubt that the Albanian lkre~shnik stems from the
Serbocroatian 1craji8'nikc. Smaus tells us that the Albanians of old
Serbia call the songs of the Moslem heroes of Krajina, as well as
other heroic songs, Icrainct or kraina me laut (icraina with 1ahuta)?1- In
' A. 9maus, "Nekoliko podataka o epskom pevanju i pesmama kod Arbanasa (Arnauta) u Staroj Srbiji" (Some Information about Epic Singing and
Epic Songs among the Albanians of Old Serbia), Prilozi prouc'. rnar. poez., I
(1934), 109. See also T. Vukanovi6', "0 pevac'ima narodnih pesama u Drenici"
(About the Singers of Folk Songs in Drenica), Prilozi..., I (1934), 256-257.




THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


101


this instance, a geographic area with its battles has been associated
with the heroes and their songs, and later with heroic songs in general.
On the other hand, Salja Ugljanin, the famous Albanian singer of
Novi Pazar, called krejsnic the heroic songs of the Bosnian Moslems
warring against their Christian opponents, those songs which in
Serbocroatian are called krajignice.1 The derivation of Kreshnik is
evident: Serbocroatian krajisnik becomes the Albanian krejshnik,
and this in turn, becomes kreshnik, the intermediary form offered by
Novi Pazar. If in the Albanian of the north the word kreshnik has the
meaning of both a hero and a nobleman (or heroic and noble), it can
be explained by the fact that in the krajsnice the heroes are generally
warriors and noblemen, Moslem "begs" and "agas."
In both the Albanian and Bosnian cycles the main subjects are the
wars between the "agas" of Udbina, led by Mujo, against the Christian Slavs beyond the border, who in the Albanian songs are often
called Shkje. The causes of the wars are mostly the rape of women or
the plundering of castles and towns. In the Bosnian songs the
opponents of Mujo and his followers are the uskoci, those who have
fled the Turkish occupied territory, or the hajduci, who in turn raid
the Moslem lands. Disputes and imprisonments are not rare in either
the Albanian or Bosnian cycles, but the duels are more frequent. In
all the wars and duels, Mujo is the victor, either by his own ability or
with the help of the vilas, in the Bosnian songs, or of the ztna-s and
ore-s (Albanian mountain fairies) in the Albanian songs. Jutbina,
where the fortress of Mujo is situated, is never conquered by fighting;
only from time to time the Slavs beyond the frontier penetrate into
the town by treasonous means and set fire to Mujo's castle.
However, general subjects alone are not a good criterion for showing influences in cycles. There should also be identities or similarities
in details within the cycles. If we can show that in the Mujo-Halil
cycle there are characters (although their names may be Albanianized),
separate motifs, themes and plots, as well as localities, which are
found at the same time in the Bosnian Mujo-Alil songs, the influences
of the latter on the former cycle will be clear. We shall now proceed to
deal with these details, beginning with the characters.
According to a story told by Bosnians, Mujo was born in Udbina, in
the district of Lika. His father came from Asia Minor, together with
Fazil Pasha, who at that time was the governor of Knin (in Bosnia),
and married the sister of Kozlic Hurem. When Mujo's father died, the
uncle took care of the three orphans - Mujo, Halil, and Omer. Later
the sons and the mother were constrained to move to Velika (Big)
1 A. Smaus, "Bele~ke iz Sandiaka, I" (Notes from the Sandzak, I), Prilozi
proud. nar. poez., V (1938), 276.




102


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Kladusa. The date of Mujo's first exploit is mentioned as having been
1637, when he freed Banjaluka from a group of bandits.1
What the songs have to say, however, is more important. Mujo
begins his life, in the Albanian rhapsodies, as a cowherd from Kladusa
in the service of a rich man. One day while looking for his herd (in
another song for wild goats) in the forest, he finds two babies crying
in their cradles. He puts them to sleep. At that moment two radiant
ladies, zdna-s (Albanian mountain fairies), arrive. Pleased by the care
he has taken of the babies, the zdna-s ask him to choose, as a reward,
among riches, wisdom, and strength. Mujo desires strength, which he
acquires with the milk he sucks from the breast of the zdna-s. From
that day he becomes strong and the zdna-s become his blood-sisters,
helping him whenever he is in straits (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 7).
That same story is told among the Bosnians about Djerzelez Alija,
one of their great heroes. Djerzelez was in the habit of going to the
forest every day to cut wood for his bey from Sarajevo. One day he
heard a baby crying. He took care of it by preparing a bed and placing
it in the shade. A vila in a white dress appeared to him in the forest
asking him what he desired as a recompense. He requested only
strength and a good horse. She gave him the strength by letting him
suck her breast.2
A Serbian song which resembles most closely the Albanian rhapsody of how Mujo acquired strength is one sung by Salja Ugljanin. It
is to be included in the first volume of Parry's collection and it bears
the title "Mujo and the Vila."
Mujo did not request a horse of the zana-s. Djerdjelez Alija, who
asked for one, was told by the vila to buy a mare with a foal in the
market place, and the foal was to be his horse; Mujo did not buy a
horse in the market place. Mujo's horse, in the Albanian songs, is
sometimes a "white horse" (gjog) and sometimes a "foal" (mez). He
first belongs to a krajl. Halil steals him but is obliged to return him to
the owner. When he saves the kingdom of the krajl from a dangerous
enemy, he is given the foal as a reward. He does not keep him for
himself but gives him to Mujo. The foal has a star on his forehead,
and when he runs, he seems to be flying. In the Serbian songs Mujo's
horse has wings. Mujo's son is mounted on "his winged white horse"
(1027) in Hrnjiic6 Omerica (Horm., II, No. XL). He is sometimes
called in Albanian by a proper name, "Hargelja" (Vis. e Komb., II,
No. 9). We meet the same name hergela or herdjelase in the Serbian
songs:
Odvede nam konje herdjelase. (17)
Horm., II, No. LV.
Cf. HMrmann, I, pp. 613-614.  2 Cf. Ibid., pp. 588-592.




THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


103


(Transl.: He took away our horses, herdjelase.) Hergele (< Per.) in
Turkish means stallion; in Turkish slang, however, it has come to
mean a rascal. The Albanian mountaineers have borrowed it from the
Bosnian rhapsodies, but considering it evidently as belonging only to
Mujo's horse, changed the word from a common to a proper noun.
In both the Albanian and the Serbian songs Mujo is the commander
of the agas of Jutbina (Albanian) or Udbina (Serbian) whose respect
he enjoys. He is extremely brave and ready to fight against the Slavs,
except when he is advised otherwise by the zana-s, ore-s, and the vilas,
who always come to his help when he needs them.
No mention is made, in the Albanian and Serbian cycles, of Mujo's
father. The mother, on the contrary, appears quite often, without any
name, loved and obeyed by her sons. Another member of the family
is mentioned - Mujo's wife. She is called Ajguna, Ajkuna, or in an
abbreviated form, Kuna. But the hero often marries other women
whom he rapes. The two last names, as well as Ajka, are also used for
the sister of Mujo, the only sister in the songs:
Pa on sestri Ajki govorio. (21)
Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 42.
(Transl.: And he spoke to [his] sister, Ajka) or:
Your sister, Kun6n Devojke. (81)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 15.
The word Devojke is significant in this connection. It is the Serbian
word devojka, meaning "girl," which has been transformed into a
proper name in Albanian. Since frequently in the Bosnian songs the
name of the sister of Mujo is followed by devojka, the Albanian bards,
unaware of its real meaning, have held it to be a proper name.
As in the songs of Albania Mujo is often called "Gjeto Basho
Muji," one may wonder in the beginning at the appearance of this
name. But this name is not difficult to explain. Its first two parts
come from the word 9etobasho, meaning the "head of a guerrilla band,"
so frequently used for Mujo in Serbian poetry:
Ja ko li je ceti cetobaaa?
Cetobaga Hrnjetina Mujo,
Barjak nosi sirotan Alile.
Vuk, III, p. 278.
(Transl.: But who is the "chief of the guerrilla band?" Hrnjetina
Mujo is "the chief of the band," poor Alil carries the flag.) The
Albanian singer, considering the epithet as a proper name, divided it
into two: Ceto Basho, the first part changed to Gjeto. This can be
proved by the fact that in other songs, in which the singer has been




104


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


conscious of the meaning of cetobasa (composed of Slavic ceta-band
and Turkish basX-head), the term has been preserved:
Fill e msyen 9etobasho Mujen. (103)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 3.
(Trans.: He immediately attacks the "guerrilla commander" Mujo.)
This is in keeping with the tendency in northern Albania for names
composed of three parts, as for instance: Ded Gjo Lull, Prenk Bib
Doda, Prele Meme Ujka, etc.1
The hero, next in importance in both cycles, is Halil, the brother of
Mujo. He is young and impulsive. In the Serbian rhapsodies he is
often called gojen (elegant):2
Gojen Halil na noge skocio. (449)
Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 40.
(Transl.: The "elegant" Halil jumped to his feet.) While another
epithet for him, sokol (falcon), is often met in the Albanian songs. He
is quarrelsome. He asks his brother Mujo for a duel (Vis. e Komb., II,
No. 25) or is ready to fight against a dervish (Horm., I, No. XXXIV).
He is always fond of girls:
Had there been a girl to be snatched away,
The falcon Halil would never have refrained.
Taipi, p. 238.
In the Albanian poems Halil is married to Tanushe, the daughter of
the krajl; in the Serbian he takes as his wife Jela, the sister of
Smiljanic Ilija. Like his brother, he also marries women whom he
carries off.
The third brother who was mentioned in the Bosnian story is not
encountered on the rhapsodies. Mujo's son has a similar name to him,
Omer. Being young, he is sometimes called nejacak (immature, boy):
Sluzi vino nejacak Omere. (15)
Horm., II, No. XL.
(Transl.: "Immature" Omer serves wine.) Actually, he is very strong.
Alone he goes and frees his father and the agas from the prison.
The whole family of Mujo, as it appears in the songs, with the exception of his mother and sister, is included in the following lines:
1 Cf. E. Qabej, op. cit., p. 162.
2 Vuk explains goian, gojen, or gojani as gepflegt, cultus. See Vuk Stef.
Karadzi6, Srpski rje6nik (third edition), Beograd, 1898, p. 96.




THE MUJO —HALIL CYCLE


105


Kolo vodi Ajka Karajkova (445)
Jauklija Muje Kladuskoga. (446)
Kada Halil biloj kuli dodje (575)
Mujo sjedi kod dzame pendiere (583)
Nejak Omer Muji uz kolino. (584)
Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 40.
(Transl.: Ajka Karajkova, the fiancee of Mujo from Kladusa, leads
the dance. When Halil arrived at the white castle, Mujo sat at the
glass window and the infant Omer on his knee.)
In the epic poetry of the Albanians and the Serbs the masses seem
to disappear in the hyperbolization of heroes. They are counted by
big general numbers, such as thirty thousand, three hundred, etc., or
by indefinite numbers, like the warriors of a city, as in the Albanian
song "Ali Pash' Gucija" (Hylli i Drites, XIV (1938), 304-312):
Por i'a mrrini Peja me Gjakove, (160)
Jan' me' ta Rek6 e Malsi,
Kta jan ardh6 me ne me deke. (162)
(Transl.: But Peja and Gjakova [two cities] arrived; Reka and
Malsija [two regions] are with them; these have come in order to die
with us.) In reality, however, the masses do not disappear completely:
they stand behind the heroes. In the Mujo-Halil cycles behind the
hero of Kladusa are the agas of Jutbina. Among the latter there are a
few who distinguish themselves as minor heroes. But in general the
hero and his followers represent a whole in epic poetry.
One of the characters frequently mentioned in the Albanian and
Bosnian cycles is Disdar Osman Aga, Dizdar meaning in Turkish the
fortress commander. He is the uncle of Mujo and, in the Albanian
wedding of the hero, he leads a party of three hundred agas. He is
ready to offend others, and he is the bloodbrother of the krajl of Senj.
Zuku Bajraktar is a young and handsome hero like Halil. He pursues
bravely the Christian harambase (leaders of hajduci bands), as for
instance Kostres Harambas, and can also carry away promptly the
daughter of the krajl. His brother, Ali Bajraktari, shows himself to be
a brave and loyal aga. Another hero who plays the same role in both
cycles is Plaku (the old) Qefanak. He was in his youth a brave leader
of a guerrilla band, but old age has now turned him into a senile. In a
song recorded by Elezovic, which is a variant of "The Wedding of
Old Qefanak" (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 20), he is called starac (the old)
Gjergjeran. Qefanak is the same hero as Oejvan-aga,1 who in the
Bosnian songs is also "an old man" and "the chief of a band":
1 It will be explained later how the Serbian (ejvan-aga becomes the Albanian Qefanak.




106


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


6etobasu starca Oejvana. (70)
Vuk, III, No. 46.
or
Al ne htjede Cejvan-aga stari. (26)
H6rm., II, No. LVI.
(Transl.: The old Oejvanaga, the guerrilla leader; or But the old
Cejvan-aga did not want.)
Another aga not infrequently met in the Mujo-Halil cycles is
Budalina Tale. He is a hero for minor jobs. He does not hesitate to
hurt people. His name in Albanian is Bud Aline Tali, which undoubtedly stems from the Serbian Budalina Tale:
Eto t', Mujo, Tale Budalina. (994)
Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 38.
or
I pred njome dvije poglavice, (113)
Jedno bjese Budalina Tale, (114)
Vuk, III, No. 20.
(Transl.: Mujo, there is Tale Budalina; or Two leaders [were] in front
of her, one [of them] was Budalina Tale.) We find the exact Bosnian
name in an Albanian song from Kosovo:
Then Tale Butalini arrived. (205)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 2.
The Albanian transformation to Bud Aline Tali can be easily
understood. The Albanian mountaineers are inclined, when names
are unfamiliar and long enough to be separated, to make three-part
names, as already mentioned. Budaline then was divided into Bud
Aline, both evoking familiar names, giving thus the complete
Albanianized form: Bud Aline Tali.
In both the Albanian and Bosnian Mujo-Halil songs the opponents
of the hero and the agas of Jutbina are the Christian Slavs. Among
the most important is Smiljani6 Ilija whom we meet in the song
"Zenidba HrnjiceHalila sa Jelom Smiljani6a" (Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 40).
His name in the Albanian songs has passed as Smililiq Ali (Vis. e
Komb., I, 2, No. 5), or Smi Nanice Serdari (Taipi, p. 261).
Smiljani6 Ilija was an historical figure and a great Dalmatian hero
in the latter half of the seventeenth century.l In real life and in songs
he was a serdar (leader of guerrilla bands) who fought from Venetian
Dalmatia against the Turks of Lika. "About his death, it is told in
Croatia and Dalmatia, that having ravished a slave from Udbina, he
1 Cf. T. Maretic, Nasa narodna epika, Zagreb, 1909, p. 169.




THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


107


stopped in the mountain Vucjak, exactly on the Dalmatian frontier,
in order to relax, but the Turks reached and killed him." (Vuk, III,
No. 23, footnote on p. 142.)
The name of Smiljanic Ilija has undergone in Albanian the striking
change to Alija, a Moslem name. It seems that the name, Ilija, for the
Albanians of the north, particularly of Kosovo, is an unfamiliar
Christian name. The nearest to it an Albanian Moslem could think of
would be Ilijas, the accent on the last syllable. As the accent in
Serbian never falls on the last syllable, the phonetic resemblance is
greater to the common Moslem name Alija. This change does not
prevent the Albanian singer from making of Alija a serdar (an uskoci
leader) who captures Dizdar Osman or sets fire to Mujo's castle and
rapes his wife. As for the Albanian name Smililiq, it apparently is
the form Smiljanic acquires after a progressive assimilation, n of
the last syllable assimilated to I of the previous syllable, becoming
Smiljalic, which later gives the Albanian name Smililiq. With respect
to the other Albanian form Sminaniq, we cannot say that it is Serbian,
for we have never come across Sminjanic in the South Slavic songs.
True, in Serbian n becomes sometimes (in dialects) 1: mnogo becomes
mlogo (much). The family name of the three noble brothers in"Zidanje
Skadra" is in some variants Mrnjaveevici and in others Mrljavcevi6i.
But we know of no instance when the opposite occurs: l>n, lj >nj.
It seems then that the Albanian singer, for whom the name Smiljanic
was alien, did not care whether he substituted Sminaniq for it. If
he also lived in a Serbian speaking environment and had heard
mnogo and mlogo, Mrnjavcevi6i and Mrljavcevi6i, such a substitution
would appear reasonable. As for the name Smi Nanice Serdari,
it is obvious that it is formed from Sminanic Serdari by the application of the Albanian tendency for three-part names.
A redoubtable enemy of the heroes of Kladusa is Bani Zadrili (Vis.
e Komb., II, No. 15). He corresponds to the Serbian ban od Zadra or
Zadranin ban:
Vicu cini bane Zadranine. (1)
Mat. Hrv., III, No. 14.
(Transl.: The ban of Zadar is holding council.) He is a great hero who
carries off Mujo's sister. Mujo fights against him, but he is able to kill
him only with the assistance of the zina. The Albanian name zadrili
is formed from the Serbian Zadar (for the city of Zara) with the
Turkish suffix -li, used in Albanian also for the formation of adjectives.
Paji i Harambashit (10), (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2) is another leader
of hajduci whose field of operation is Lika:




108


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Osta cardak pokraj sinjeg mora (459)
I u njemu Pavo harambasa
I kod Pavla trideset druzine. (461)
Mat. Hrv., III, No. 14.
(Transl.: There is a cottage next to the blue sea on which Pavo
harambasa (leader of hajduci) is, and with Pavo thirty companions.)
Although it is obvious that the Albanian Paji comes from Pavo, one
wonders about the form i Harambashit. We first notice that the
common name harambaX became a proper name in the Albanian song.
Once this happened, it is a common Albanian custom to use the
determinate genetive for it: i Harambashit, meaning [the son] of
Harambash.
Other characters met in the Mujo-Halil cycle whose names speak of
their Bosnian origin are: Uroshi i Detit, Maliq Bylykbashi (Mujo's
blood-brother), Krapuniq Krali (he snatched away Mujo's sister),
Kresht Kapidani (the krajl of Kotar), Turk Gjuro Jabanxhija (a
brave aga who wanted to fight against the krajl of Senj), the krajl of
Senj (blood-brother of Osman Disdar), Hasan beg (he marries the
daughter of a Hungarian pasha), Mustafa Boshnjaku (a strong hero
tied by the wife of the krajl), the krajl of Taliri (the father of Tanushe),
Gjur Harambashi (a powerful chief of bands), Stefan Jovani (who
was engaged to the daughter of the krajl of Senj), Rushe (the daughter of the krajl of Kotar).
The Albanian names in -iq, corresponding to the Serbian -ic, which
we meet in the Mujo-Halil cycle, are not Serbian only because of the
ending. The position also of the surname, as Smililiq Alija or Krapuniq Krali, is characteristic of Serbian epic poetry. In everyday
life, Yugoslavs call each other by the Christian name, but inthe epic
songs they first use the family name and then the Christian name:
Kraljevic Marko, Senkovic Ivo, Smiljanic Ilija. This is particularly
conspicuous in the Vuk collection. Women, however, are generally
called by their first name: Zlata, Jevrosina, Ruza, Ajkuna.1
The heroes mentioned above play their parts in the motifs of the
Mujo-Halil songs. Koliqi who maintains that the Albanian MujoHalil songs, as far as the spirit is concerned, are through and through
Albanian, admits that "No one can doubt that the greater part of the
motifs of these songs have come from Bosnia and Hercegovina."2 But
if the motifs are the same, it does not necessarily mean that the songs
in the Bosnian and Albanian cycles should be the same. It is natural
that in the process of propagation and Albanian elaboration the


1 Cf. ibid., p. 239.
2 E. Koliqi, op. cit., p. 91.




THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


109


Bosnian songs have lost certain motifs and have acquired others.
This becomes more obvious when we consider the fact that one and
the same singer can give us various versions of a song at different
times, let alone the instance when a singer borrows the subjectmatter from a song in another language. Moreover, the motifs and the
heroes are not always borrowed from the Bosnian songs of the MujoHalil cycle. The topics we find in the Christian Yugoslav songs of the,uskoci and hajduci are similar to those of the Mujo-Halil cycle. The
same can be said about the themes. By a theme is meant a group of
ideas which has taken a fixed form - a pattern (cliche) of ideas -
and is either repeated in the same song or is met in other songs. Some
of these elements are from Vuk's collection. One cannot escape from
contaminations in oral epic poetry.
Keeping these considerations in mind, we can now begin a comparative analysis of various songs in the Bosnian and Albanian MujoHalil cycles. We have two oral poems in these cycles which bear the
same title: Albanian - "Gjeto Basho Muji-Martesa" (Gjeto Basho
Muji's Marriage), (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 1), Serbian- "Zenidba Muja
Hrnjice" (The Marriage of Mujo Hrnjica), (Horm., I, No. XXXVII).
In the Serbian song the mother tells Mujo to marry. He listens to her
and asks for the hand of Vidosava. In the Albanian poem Mujo is
already engaged and a wedding party sets off to bring him the bride.
In Htrmann's rhapsody Vidosava refuses to join Mujo and decides to
become the wife of Jovan. On the wedding day Mujo snatches her off
on the way. In the Albanian song the bride has never seen Mujo but
is willing to marry him. Their wedding takes place after he meets her
in a forest and with her help forces the zdnas to bring back to life the
party they have petrified. It becomes evident that the Albanian
"Gjeto Basho Muji-Martesa" and the Bosnian "Zenidba Muja
Hrnjice" have in common only the fact that Mujo gets married. Two
other Bosnian songs about Mujo's marriage - "Buljukbasa Mujo na
Malti" (Mujo the Chief of a Band on Malta), (Hirmann, I, No.
XXXIII) and "2enidba Hrnjice Muje s Malteskinjom" (The Marriage
of Mujo Hrnjica to a Maltese Girl), (Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 38), have
nothing in common with the Albanian rhapsody. This shows that
titles are not reliable criteria for the contents of songs. In fact, the
singers do not use titles for the songs. Titles are the creations of
collectors for the purpose of convenience.
Another Albanian song, "Rrembimi i s6 shoqes s6 Mujit" (The
Rape of Mujo's Wife), (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 21), includes motives we
find in various Serbian rhapsodies. The sumptuously constructed
palace, in the first verses, resembles that which we meet in "Filip
Madzarin i gojeni Halil" (Filip the Hungarian and Elegant Halil),




110


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


(H6rmann, I, No. XXXII). The motif of Mujo's wife in the Albanian
rhapsody, on the other hand, is found in "Halil Hrnjica u Indiji"
(Halil Hrnjica in India), (Horm., I, No. XXXV). Mujo is informed by
the vilas that his palace has been burned and his wife, together with
his son and sister, have been carried away by Sinoc Zori6. In the
Albanian song, a prophetic dream informs Mujo that his castle has
been burned and his wife has been snatched away by the krajl. A
recurring theme in "The Rape of Mujo's Wife" is contained in
"Zenidba Iva Sarajlije" (The Marriage of Ivo Sarajlija), (Vuk, III,
No. 73):
Albanian                      Serbian
He chose three hundred men for Kupi, sine, ki6ene svatove, (36)
the wedding party, (80)    Sve junake mlade nezenjene,
All without mother and without Koji nejma ni oca ni majke,
father,                    Koga nema niko zazaliti. (39)
All without sister and without
brother,
All without nephews and without
uncles,
All unbetrothed and unmarried,
Who have none to leave behind.
(85)
(Transl.: Gather together, son, a smart wedding party, all of them
young heroes not yet married, who have no father and no mother,
who have none to pity them). But nearer to the Serbian theme is
that found in another Albanian song about the rape of Mujo's wife,
with the title "The Song of Smi Nanice Serdari" (Taipi, p. 261). It
runs as follows:
I shall gather three hundred harambage,
All without mother and father,
All without sister and brother,
That no one can weep over them,
All unmarried young men.
Taipi, p. 262.
Although "Gjogu i Mujit-Hargelja" (Mujo's White Horse-Hargelja)
(Vis. e Komb., II, No. 9) does not treat exactly the same subject as
the Serbian Bosnian rhapsody "Kotarani otimlju Mujova djogata"
(The inhabitants of Kotar Take Away Mujo's White Horse), (HOrm.,
II, No. LV), they have important motifs in common. In the Serbian
song the Slav leaders want to steal Mujo's white horse; in the
Albanian poem it is the krajl's desire to steal it. In the Hormann song




THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE1


II


Pau harambasa goes to Mujo's castle with a plan for carrying out the
theft; in the Albanian rhapsody Arnaut Osmani invites Mujo to his
house and the krajl, with the connivance of Osman, steals Mujo's
horse. In both poems money is promised to the successful thief:
Albanian                    Serbian
If a hero snatches away Mujo's Ko ukrade Mujova djogata, (37)
foal, (124)                Te djogata svede u Kotare,
He will get three hundred purses Dva tovara dacu mu novaca; (39)
[of money]. (125)
(Transl.: I would give two packages of money to the man who would
steal Mujo's horse and bring him to Kotar). In both songs the horse is
finally restored to Mujo.
Between "Muji i varruem" (The Wounded Mujo), (Vis. e Komb.,
II, No. 32), and "Muja lijece vile planinkinje" (The Mountain Vilas
Cure Mujo), (Horm., II, No. XLVIII), there are more similarities in
motifs. In the Serbian rhapsody Mujo goes to save Halil. He is
wounded in the mountains by the hajduci:
Netiri su puske udarile (138)
Sve se svile oko srca moga. (139)
(Transl.: Four guns were fired, all the shots concentrated on my
heart.) According to the Albanian song, Mujo rides in the forest
accompanied by the thirty agas of Jutbina. He is attacked by the
Shkje and wounded:
Nine fire-weapons were fired, (15)
All the nine touched his heart. (16)
When the zdna-s and the vilas hear of what has happened, they
descend from the mountains:
Albanian                      Serbian
Three zana-s began to fly (48)  Poljetese samohite vile (177)
And swiftly came to Mujo. (49)  Sa Prologa, visoke planine. (179)
(Transl.: Mountainous vilas flew from Prolog, the high mountain.) In
both instances they take care of the hero's wounds and send him
home.
But far greater is the number of resemblances between "Omeri
prej Mujit" (Mujo's Omer), (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 26), and "Omer
Hrnjicin izbavlja svog oca buljuk-basu Muja i trideset suzanja"
(Omer Hrnji6 Frees His Father the Band Leader Mujo and Thirty
Prisoners), (Horm., I, No. XXXIX).
The plot in the two songs is identical: Omer, offended by the agas,
goes to his mother. He learns from her that his father and his uncle,




112


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Halil, are in the prison of a Christian ruler. He goes there and, with
the assistance of the daughter of the ruler, frees his father, Mujo, and
his uncle. There is no mention of the liberation of the thirty prisoners
in the Albanian song.
The two rhapsodies also have several analogies in detail. In the
Albanian, Osman and the other agas of Jutbina worry greatly about
who will fight against a brave pirate. In the Serbian, Mustaj beg
looks for a hero who can go and see his daughter Zlata in the "white"
city of Janok. In both cases Omer offers to face the danger himself:
Albanian                     Serbian
Inform the pirate from the sea Ja cu ici do Janoka b'jela (57)
(130)                       Providje6u u Janoku gradu,
To come soon to the dueling place. Je li u njem tvoja k6erca Zlata
(131)                       I pravi ti haber donjeti. (60)
(Transl.: I shall go to the white Janok [a city] and I shall see whether
in it is your daughter Zlata and immediately I will bring you the true
news.) This readiness of Omer gives rise to offense.
Omer is a boy who does not know the identity of his father. Stung
by the offense of Osman, in the Albanian poem, and of Mustaj beg, in
the Serbian, he goes to his mother and inquires of her about his
father. She replies, in the first, that she is constrained to tell him
about Mujo and Halil that "seven years have passed since I saw
them last." Her answer, in the second, is that when Omer's father
was captured, the boy was one year old and "since then sixteen years
have elapsed." In both rhapsodies Mujo and Halil are imprisoned in
foreign lands.
Omer mounts his horse and leaves for the venture. In the Albanian
song, he is disguised as a Hungarian; in the Serbian poem, he is
dressed like the standard-bearer of Ledan, which also means as a
Hungarian, for the moment Halil sees him, he shouts: "O Madiare!"
(Oh, Hungarian.) The manner in which the agas are disguised as
Hungarians is one of the persistent themes in the Albanian but
particularly in the Bosnian rhapsodies.
In Visaret e Kombit, Omer meets the daughter of the krajl of
Kotar, Rushe, who helps him free Mujo and his uncle. In Hormann,
Omer meets the daughter of the ban of Janok, Andjelija, who aids
him in getting his father, Halil, and the thirty prisoners out of prison.
The method used in the two songs is the same: Omer, with the help
of Rushe, carries away the twin sons of the krajl; Omer, with the aid
of Andjelija, kidnaps the two year old son of the ban. In another
Serbian song, however, "Hrnjicic Omerica" (The Small Omer
Hrnji&ci), (Horm., II, No. XL), the name of the girl who helps Omer




THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


113


is Ruza and the kidnapped sons are twins, as in the Albanian
rhapsody.
The father of the kidnapped children is informed, in both songs,
that as long as the captives are kept in jail, the children will not be
returned. The krajl and the ban, and in "Hrnjici6 Omerica" the
kralj of Talja, are forced to set the prisoners free. In the first two
songs Omer is married to the daughter of the ruler; in the last he is
married to Andja, the daughter of Kapitan Vlahinja.
A Serbian song, however, which most closely resembles an Albanian
rhapsody was sung by Salja Ugljanin and bears the title "Mujo
ranjen" (The Wounded Mujo), (Parry Collection, I, No. 656). It is
identical in many respects to the Albanian "Halili merr gjakun e
Mujit" (Halili Avenges Mujo), (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 23). In order to
make this clear, I shall take the two epic poems step by step as they
develop.
In both songs Mujo is out in the mountains. There he is surrounded
by Slavs and is wounded, in the Albanian, by krajl Llabutani, and in
the Serbian, by Captain Djelos. The horse saves Mujo, bringing him
home, where he lies in bed.
In Visaret e Kombit, Bud Aline Tali proposes to the agas of Jutbina
that some one should go and see Mujo, and the old man, Dizdar
Osman Aga, is sent for this purpose. In the Serbian rhapsody, Tale of
Lika leaves to call on Mujo. On their way, at Kladusa, they both
meet Mujo's mother washing the blood-stained clothes of her son.
They ask her and she tells the agas the story of how Mujo was
wounded.
Dizdar Osman, in the Albanian, and Tale, in Hormann, come to the
hero's house. The first enters Mujo's bedroom and sees on the wounds
of the patient's chest a serpent "having nine medicines under the
tongue," a wolf sitting at his feet, and a zana at his head - all taking
care of the hero. The second peeps through a loophole and notices the
white hounds and a serpent on Mujo's chest, the serpent sucking his
wounds and the hounds licking them.
The two visitors ask Mujo how it happened that he was wounded.
He tells them the story, omitting in the Albanian song the presence of
his thirty companions and his entrance to Captain Djelos's castle,
where he saw a marvel, the beautiful Andjusa, whom he carried
away on his horse. While Mujo is continuing the story to Tale, in the
Parry Collection, two agas, Dizdar of Udbina and Tankovic Osman,
step into the room.
Dizdar Osman requests of Mujo that Halil join their band in their
attack against the Shkje. When Halil goes among the agas, he is
offended by Bud Aline Tale. In the Serbian poem, Mujo tells the
8




114


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


three companions to take Halil in his stead. Dizdar is not satisfied
because he does not consider Halil an exceptional hero. He also
makes a deal with Pavle, the doctor of leeches to poison Mujo. This
latter motif is lacking in the Albanian song.
Some of the motifs in Parry's "The Wounded Mujo" which are
missing in "Halil Avenges Mujo" are to be found in "Muji, Halili and
Desdar Osman Aga" (Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 7). In this song the horse
brings Halil to the castle of Kresht Kapidani, as in Parry's Serbian
song to that of Captain Djelos. He puts the daughter of the Captain
on his horse and rides away. In a battle that ensues he kills Kresht
Kapidani.
Halil liberates the agas, in the Serbian rhapsody (The Wounded
Mujo), from the prison of the Captain and ties up Dizdar who had
offended him. When the plot with the doctor of leeches is discovered,
Mujo beheads Dizdar. This motif, absent from the two previous
Albanian songs, is met in "Muji i varruem" (The Wounded Mujo),
(Vis. e Komb., II, No. 32). Mujo decapitates Osman Arnauti because,
when he was wounded, not only did he not come to his assistance, but
he also insulted him.
We can draw certain conclusions from the above comparisons of
Albanian and Bosnian songs of the Mujo-Halil cycles. There are
songs on the same subject which have such a different treatment
that the only things remaining in common are the titles. On the other
hand, Albanian and Serbian rhapsodies which do not deal with the
same topic contain similar or identical motifs and themes. There are
also songs, which in spite of totally different titles, have in common a
majority of motifs and the whole development of the plot.
"Halil Avenges Mujo" (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 23) and "The Wounded
Mujo" (Parry, I, No. 656) belong to the last category. The resemblance in contents is so striking that one may call the Albanian song a
variant of the Serbian. Salja Ugljanin said to Parry that he had
learned the Serbian song from an inhabitant of Plava, an Albanian
town on Montenegrin soil near the frontiers of Albania and the
Sandiak. The localization of the song is important. It explains the
great similarity between the two songs. Whether Parry's "The
Wounded Mujo" originated in Plava in a symbiosis of Christian Serbs
and Moslem Albanians -  in Montenegro the songs of Mujo are
extensively sung - or in the Sandcak, where there is a symbiosis of
Moslem Albanians and Moslem Slavs, is a secondary matter. The
thing of consequence is that this particular song, "Mujo ranjen," is
sung in Plava, near the present Albanian boundary.
It is not only striking that names and roles of heroes are the same in
the Mujo-Halil cycles and many motifs and themes in them are




THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


115


similar or identical, but also that a considerable number of places
bear the same names in both the Bosnian and Albanian songs.
The battles between the heroes of Udbina and the Slavic rulers
take place in the cities of Budina, Zahara, and particularly Kotar,
known in the songs of the uskoci and among the Moslems of Bosnia
and Hercegovina as Ravni Kotari, below the present city of Zadar
(Zara):
Vicu cini bane Zadranine (1)
Na Kotaru u Zadru kamenu, (2)
Mat. Hrv., III, No. 14.
(Transl.: The ban of Zadar gathers the council in Kotar, in the stonebuilt Zadar.) In the Albanian songs Kotar is sometimes called
Kotorre te rea (The New Kotar). It seems to me that this last name is
the Serbian Ravni Kotari (the plain of Kotar). It is possible that the
Albanian singers who heard Ravni (flat, in plural) associated it with
the Albanian adjective Ra, one of the plural forms of "new" in the
dialect of the north, the others being (te) rea or reja. As Kotari in
Serbian is plural, so Kotorre in Albanian is plural. We have then:
Ravni Kotari becoming in Albanian Kotorre te rea. The combats are
also carried on in the mountains. A mountain often mentioned in the
Serbian songs is Kunara-planina (mountain). This, I believe, has
given Kunora e Bjeshkes (The Crown of the Mountain) of the Albanian
rhapsodies. In both cycles, in these particular mountains there is a
place where the agas frequently rest. The phonetic resemblance between the Serbian Kunara and the Albanian Kunora (crown) is great.
As planina in Albanian is bjeshke, and Kunara became a "crown,"
bjeshke had then to be in the genitive in order to give a meaning to
the name. In addition to Kladusa, the place of Mujo, we meet in
Serbian poetry Mala Kladusa (Little Kladusa), which is absent in
Albanian songs. While in Serbian epic poetry we find Jan or Janina
(122), (Vuk, II, No. 68), Mujo asks Halil, in the Albanian songs, to go
with him to Janine e vogel (Little Janina) and then to Janine e madhe
(Great Janina), in order to fight against the krajl. No one knows
where the Janinas were located or whether they are fictitious localities.1 Is it possible that they refer to the city of Janina of Greek
Epirus? As for the River Danube, it is mentioned in both cycles.
All the above treatment gives us ample reason to believe that the
Mujo-Halil cycle originally had been a Bosnian cycle. The corresponding Albanian heroes, motifs, and toponymies are due to the influence
of the Bosnian songs. If at times the roles of heroes from one variant
to the other or from an Albanian song to a Serbian oral poem change,
1 Cf. T. Maretic, op. cit., p. 17.




116


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


this should not bewilder us. It is in keeping with popular epic poetry.
In it names by themselves are not important. They are often substituted for others, depending on the singer and the place the songs
emerge from. Sometimes the singer has a store of names of minor
heroes whom he uses indiscriminately. At other times he desires to
glorify his patron and introduces him in a song in the place of another
hero. In the case of the Mujo-Halil cycle, the Albanian singer may
enjoy greater liberty in the use of the names of heroes, for they do not
mean as much to him as to his Bosnian colleague. The same can be
said about motifs. One variant may have motifs which are missing in
another and may have come from an altogether different song. Bards
sometimes merge events and episodes which have taken place in
different periods and places. Such a mixture is more natural in
instances of loans, as in the Albanian Mujo-Halil cycle. Contaminations and anachronisms are therefore unavoidable. Localities, too,
are subject to change. They are at times completely transformed,
when passing to songs in another language.
The Serbian influence on the Albanian Mujo-Halil cycle has not
been exercised directly, but by means of variants risen in places
where both Albanian and Serbian speaking elements lived together,
as for instance in the Sandcak and Metohija. On the other hand, the
disposition of the motifs, the Albanianized forms of names, as well as
the introduction of other motifs, prove that the Albanian songs of the
Mujo-Halil cycle are elaborations of Bosnian rhapsodies with a strong
Albanian imprint, often so powerful that they become totally new
songs.




CHAPTER VIII


CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALL CYCLE
The conquest of Bosnia by the Ottomans brought about a great
change in the life of the Bosnian aristocracy. Bosnia became "Turkish" in religion, in the regulations of society and the conception of the
state. In the ethnic-national sense, however, the Bosnians remained
South Slavs. Some Anatolian blood was infused only in the Bosnian
krajina by the Turkish garrisons sent there.l Nor did the Bosnians
change their customs. They merely adjusted them to the new faith.
Few were the Turkish customs they introduced. Nor did they give up
their mother tongue; their language remained always Serbocroatian.2
It is no wonder then that they should have cultivated a traditional
poetry of the same type as the Christian South Slavs, but strongly
influenced by Islam.
In the heroic songs which emerged in this Moslem environment we
see the reflection of the life of the Serbian feudal lords of the Middle
Ages, which the begs of Bosnia and Hercegovina preserved until the
latter half of the nineteenth century, when their power was broken
(1850-1851) by the Sultan's commander, Omer Pasha, of Serbian
origin.3 Till then these lords carried on wars among themselves and
kept in their troops singers who celebrated their glories and entertained and inflamed in battle their soldiers. They also fought against
the enemies of Turkey on their boundaries, as well as in the interior
of the country in the Ottoman Empire. Their epic songs describe
faithfully this kind of life.
As the u8koci, the Moslems of Bosnia and Hercegovina cared little
about the official peace. A good number of their songs tell of guerrilla
wars in Hungary and particularly in the district of Lika and Krbava,
in Croatia. Lika and Krbava had once been fertile lands, where
Croatian feudal lords had their fortresses. When occupied by the
Turks (1528), they were transformed into a military zone, the
1 Cf. G. Gesemann and others, Das Konigreich Siidslawien, Leipzig, 1935,
p. 47.
2 HIrmann, I, p. 5.
8 M. Murko, La po&sie populaire dpique en Yougoslcvie au d6but du XXe
sidce, Paris, 1929, p. 29.
117




118


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Krvava krajina (the bloody frontier land), to which a similar zone
corresponded on the other side:1
Ovaka je krvava Krajina: (1647)
S krvi rucak, a s krvi vecera,
Svak krvave zvace zalogaje,
Nikad b'jela danka za odmorka (1650)
Hormann, I, No. XXI.
(Transl.: This is the bloody Krajina: bloody is the lunch and bloody
is the supper; everybody chews bloody mouthfuls, never having a
bright day for rest.) It was the scene of bitter daily skirmishes, a
Christian-Moslem no man's land, a cultural desert. In these guerrilla
fights, which offered occasions for personal heroism, were distinguished
Mustaj Beg of Lika and the brothers Mujo and Alil, the principal
heroes of the rhapsodies of the Albanian monutaineers of the north.
Albanian scholars are at variance as to what degree the songs of the
Mujo-Halil cycle are Albanian. Prennushi states that "the rhapsodies
and legends, as for example the song of Mujo and Halil... seem to us
to be translated from the Slavic."2 We think the esteemed poet and
collector has gone too far. Perhaps at the time he put down the statement few songs of the Mujo-Halil cycle were known to him. It is
possible that the Albanians who lived near the Bosnians may have
translated the songs, for Salja Ugljanin, the singer of Novi Pazar,
told Smaus that when his countrymen came back home from Bosnia
"okrecali od bosnjackog na arnautski" (they translated [the songs]
from Bosnian to Albanian.)3 But the songs did not remain translations
after they had travelled a long distance and were sung in the mountains of northern Albania: they underwent great changes on their
way. Koliqi, on the other hand, maintains that the songs of the
kreshniks "are permeated from beginning to end with the mentality
of the country in which they are sung,"4 meaning Albania. The same
point of view is expressed by Palaj and Kurti, the editors of the MujoHalil cycle: "The spirit of the rhapsodies is purely Albanian, for it
shows clearly all the characteristics of the Albanian, and only of the
Albanian."5 It seems to the author that these writers go to the opposite extreme.
1 Cf. G. Gesemann and others, op. cit., pp. 24, 56-58.
2 V. Prennushi, Kange popullore gegenishte (Popular Gheg Songs), Sarajevo,
1911, p. IX.
3 A. Smaus, "Beleske iz Sandzaka (I)" (Notes from the Sandzak, I), Prilozi
prouc. nar. poez., V (1938), 277.
4 E. Koliqi, Epica popolare albanese, Padova, 1937, p. 93.
5 Visaret e Kombit, II, p. XI.




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


119


There is no doubt that the songs of the brothers Mujo and Halil are
imbued with the Albanian spirit. There are, however, several traits
in them which at first sight seem Albanian but are both Bosnian and
Albanian. Indeed, if the krajisnice had an appeal for the Albanians of
the north, it is because they fitted in many ways their own pattern of
life. It is our belief, however, that the rhapsodies of the Albanian
Mujo-Halil cycle, although they originated in Bosnia, passed through
so many changes in the mountains of northern Albania that today we
can distinguish in them three different cultural patterns: a) Bosnian,
b) Bosnian-Albanian, and c) Albanian.
a) In the Moslem epic songs of the Bosnians the wars are not
carried on only against the Christian Slavs, but also against the
Hungarians. One of their principal heroes in battle against the latter
is Djerzelez Alija, whose name is found in a most wonderful Albanian
heroic poem (Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 1). Indeed, the Mohammedan
songs of Bosnia which deal with the struggles against the Hungarians
are so many that they form a separate group: the ungjurske pjesme
(Hungarian songs).1 The Hungarians were their neighbors.
One is surprised to meet the Hungarians in the Albanian MujoHalil cycle. The Magyars have never been the neighbors of the
Albanians. The tenuous relations between Albania and Hungary
date from before the occupation of the former by the Turks - and
then the relations had been friendly.2 The Hungarians appear also as
the allies of Scanderbeg during the time of Yanko Hunyadi.3 If the
name of Filip Madzarin appears in the Albanian songs, it is not
because "The fame of his exploits could have reached as far as Albania and have remained in the songs,"4 but because together with
the motifs and the Moslem heroes of the Bosnian songs the Hungarian
heroes were also introduced in Albania. If what Koliqi pretends is
true, why should we not encounter Filip Madzarin's name in other
Albanian songs and not just in those of the Mujo-Halil cycle?
Filip Madzarin is only mentioned as an enemy of Halil in the
Albanian heroic songs, while in the epic poetry of the South Slavs
there are several songs about him. In one of them he fights a duel
with Marko Kraljevic (Vuk, II, No. 59), in another he is a Hungarian
tyrant who exacts heavy marriage taxes (Mat. Hrv., II, p. 340), and
in the third he fights against the "elegant Halil" (H6rmann, I, No.
XXXII). Besides, the Serbian people know him not only because of
1 Luka Marjanovi6's Introduction, Maticac Hrvatska III, p. XXXIV.
2 Cf. M. gufflay, "Ungarisch-albanische Beriihrungen im Mittelalter,"
Illyrisch.albanische Forschungen, I, Miinchen und Leipzig, 1916, pp. 294-298.
3 Cf. F. S. Noli, George Castrioti Scanderbeg, New York, 1947, p. 14.
4 E. Koliqi, op. cit., p. 93.




120


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


his exploits (he died at the end of 1426 in Vidin, in a war against the
Turks), but also because he ruled over the northwestern part of
Serbia, when it was under Hungary.1
One is more surprised to see the heroes in the Mujo-Halil cycle
dressed in the Hungarian fashion in order not to be recognized by the
enemy. Halil going to fight against his Slav opponent:
In the Hungarian fashion he puts on clothes (36)
In the Hungarian fashion he harnesses his steed (37)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 8.
And Zuku Bajraktar, preparing himself to cross the Hungarian
frontier,
Nicely he opened his trunk (214)
Nicely he put on the Hungarian clothes (215)
Vis. e Komb., II, 1, No. 11.
It becomes more evident, however, that the heroes are not in
Albania but on the Bosno-Hungarian boundaries, when Mujo, counting the 300 fortresses of Maxharri (Hungary), hears the ora (Albanian fairy):
Do you see that painted castle? (16)
There is the captain-king: (17)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 10.
As Marjanovi6 writes, there were fortresses on both sides of the BosnoHungarian frontiers, the Bosnian part comprising 77 fortresses.2
We mentioned above that skirmishes were carried on along the
border of Krajina between the Christians and the Moslems. On both
sides there were bands. In both the Albanian and the Bosnian songs,
the band of Mujo was composed of thirty members, the "agas of
Jutbina." The titles cetobasa (head of a band), buljukbasa (chief of a
small band), serdar (leader of a band, uskoci, usually), harambasa
(head of hajduci, robbers), kapetan (captain), so common in the Bosnian songs, are also found in the Albanian Mujo-Halil cycle. But of
all the above names those mostly used, in connection with Mujo, are
Fetobasho and bylykbasho (chief of a small band), and rarely serdar.
The Christian leaders are often called krajle (king) or Krajle-Kapetan.
This is not a coincidence. First of all, we do not find them in the
other Albanian songs. Only once have we come across the rank of
harambash in the songs of Albania proper, and the same has been the
case for serdar. These are names attached to the leaders of specific
1 Cf. T. Mareti6, Na~a narodna epika (Our Popular Epic Poetry), Zagreb,
1909, pp. 129-130.
2 Matica Hrvatska III, p. XL.




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


121


guerrilla units which emerged on Slavic territory but which did not
exist in Albania. Secondly, the Albanian Mujo-Halil cycle abounds in
such titles as ~etobash and bylykbash, which are so common in the
corresponding Bosnian cycle.
Another Bosnian characteristic in the Albanian songs is the longing
of the Moslem heroes for Christian women and of the Christian
heroes for Moslem women. In the Bosnian songs, one of the favorite
conversational topics of the agas of Udbina, when they get together
in the londza (the square) or in the mehana (the tavern), are devojke
(girls). One of their beloved occupations is to make raids and take
away girls from the lands of the Christians: odvode divojke (they take
away girls; 55; Mat. Hrv., III, No. 14). Halil snatched away Jelica,
the sister of Smiljanic Ilija, and brought her to Kladusa (1857, Mat.
Hrv., IV, No. 40). But Sinoc Zoric also carried off the "white
throated" wife of Mujo (16; Hormann I, No. XXXV). The Mohammedan heroes are assisted in their ventures by Christian women.
Omer liberated Mujo and his companions with the aid of Andjelija,
the daughter of the ban (governor) of Kotar (Hbrmann, I, No.
XXXIX). Often these women are their posestrime, that is, they have
established with them relations of sister-brother nature - they are
the posestrime krg6anke (Christian blood-sisters).
We find the same situation in the Albanian Mujo-Halil songs. The
Moslem heroes yearn for the women of the Shkje and the latter for
the Mohammedan women. But more often the Moslem heroes are
successful. Halil meets the daughter of the krajl (king, and Christian
leader) washing her breast. He likes her and rides off with her, shouting to her father:
Where are you, captain Kreshta? (153)
Halil the lover has carried off your daughter! (154)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 7.
In a gathering of the agas of Jutbina, Zuku Bajraktar boasts that he
slept "three nights with Rushe, the wife of the krajl" (26) (Vis. e
Komb., II, No. 18). On the other hand, Ali Bajraktari is afraid that
the krajl will ravish his wife (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 13), and the wife
of Mujo, who desired the krajl, is taken away by him (Vis. e Komb.,
II, No. 21). As in the Bosnian songs, Christian girls often become
tools through which the Moslem heroes attain their ends. In "Omeri
prej Muji" (Omer of Muji), the daughter of the krajl, Rusha, helped
Omer to deliver his father and his uncle from prison. The song says:
Rusha desired eagerly the boy (194)
And has thought of treachery, (195)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 26.




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ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


But posestrime krscanke are completely absent from the Albanian
Mujo-Halil cycle. In fact, we encountered probatesha, the equivalent
of the Slavic posestrima, only two or three times in the study of the
Mujo-Halil cycle, and then in connection with zana and ore. The
northern mountaineer of Albania, whether Moslem   or Roman
Catholic, could not have posestrime kcrsanke, for he thought of the
enemy across the border primarily as a Slav.
The role played by women in the Mujo-Halil cycle is alien to the
Albanian mentality. Nowhere else in Albanian heroic poetry are
women involved, except as mothers advising their sons or helping
them fight the enemy. In no other Albanian song can you find a
mother betraying her son, in order to enjoy herself with a Slav, as in
"Zuku Bajraktar" (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 11). This reminds us also of
another Serbian song, "Jovan and the Gigantic Chief" (Vuk, II,
No. 8). The conception of the honor of women is high among the
Albanians. The Kanun has stipulated that a man has lost his honor
"when his wife has been violated or taken away" (Kanuni, No. 601, d).
Dora d'Istria says that in Albania "a law against seduction is lacking,
but a father, a brother, is ready to punish severely any attempt
against the honor of a maiden. The slightest weakness can have as
consequence, in this country of the vendetta, the bloodiest tragedies."l It seems significant that among the numerous women of the
Mujo-Halil cycle there should be a Fatime Shqyptare (the Albanian
Fatime), whom the krajl of Kotar had carried off. Probably the
Albanian singer, who elaborated the Bosnian song, regarded all the
women in it as foreign and thought that there should be an Albanian
woman about whom Mujo could say:
Never has there been a better woman in Jutbina (115)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 2.
Indeed, the ideal Albanian woman behaves like the sister of Gjergj
Alez Alija. Offended by the blood-brother of Gjergj who desired her
"two eyes," she answered:
These two eyes belong, first of all, (100)
To father and mother who rot under the earth,
Then to my Gjergj whom the wounds decay on earth.
(104)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 1.
When her honor is really in danger, she may even use her dagger as in
the bugarstica "Kako Jele Arbanaska umori Turcina Mostarina"
(How the Albanian Jele Kills the Turk from Mostar), (Bogisic, No. 55),
1 Dora d'Istria, "La nationalite albanaise d'apres les chants populaires,"
Revue des Deux Mondes, XXXVI (1866), 395.




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


123


which shows how highly the South Slavs themselves thought of the
honor of Albanian women.
But the punishment inflicted upon unfaithful women appears to be
Bosnian also. In the song of "Zuku Bajraktar," the son, who managed
to free himself and kill the Shkja, bound his treacherous mother to the
tail of his horse and dragged her, while he was riding on it. This kind
of torture, absent from Albanian songs, we see in "Djerzelez Alija i
Vuk Jacanin." Jakup Pasa tells his slave Kumrija, who informed
him about the love affair between Husein and the young Pasinica:
Sut' robinjo, nemoj nikom kazat: (12)
Ja cu Husu posije6i glavu,
Pa.inicu konjma na repove;
Tijem 6u ih mukam' umoriti (15)
Hormann, I, No. IV.
(Transl.: Keep silent, slave, don't tell anybody. I will cut off the head
of Husein and (will bind) the Pasinica to the tails of the horses, and
with such tortures I will kill them.)
Hunting and interest in horses are other Bosnian features in the
Albanian songs of the Mujo-Halil cycle. The agas of Jutbina mount
their horses, take their hounds, and go hunting. In "Hysen Gradenica" we have:
The young man had taken hounds (2)
And went in the mountains a-hunting (3)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 3.
When the agas get together and relax:
They praise the steeds with saddle (7)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 8.
Halil harnesses his horse and that of Mujo most luxuriously: "golden
reins," "soft cow leather saddles," and "diamonds" (Vis. e Komb., I,
2, No. 14).
Hunting and horses are pastimes of a feudal society. In Bosnia the
begs and the agas lived in sarajs (palaces) and kulas (castles), and
owned large tracts of land. They could afford these pastimes: "Ils [the
Bosnian noblemen] elevaient des chevaux de selle de pure race bosniaque et l'equitation devint leur occupation de predilection."' In
Bosnian Moslem epic poetry the horse is one of the most important
elements. The tradition of the horse dates back from mediaeval
times:


1 J. Cvijic, La pdninsule balkanique, Paris, 1918, p. 348.




124


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


"La sculpture d'un tombeau du moyen-age dans la vallee du Trebizat, en Herzegovine, represente un tournoi, avec deux cavaliers
armes de lances, en face l'un de l'autre, deux pages entre eux, et
un cercle de spectateurs."'
The horse is "the brother" and "the companion" of the hero. Gjerzelez Alija speaks to his horse:
Davor sarac, moje desno krilo! (656)
Mat. Hrv., III, No. 1.
(Transl.: Oh! dappled horse, my right wing!) And when Omer comes
to see his father Mujo in prison, the latter, inquiring about his horse,
exclaims:
Jeda pusta mojega djogina! (458)
HOrmann, I, No. XXXIX.
(Transl.: My poor forsaken white horse!)
The Bosnian heroes have a great affection for the horse and not
only do they give him special names but they also talk to him. In
difficult moments it is quite common to hear them speak in Turkish
to their steeds. Apparently the Bosnian Moslems believed that
Turkish, being the language of the Sultan Caliph, would have a
magic power over the horses. It is very strange, however, to find the
same thing in the Albanian songs of the Hrnjici brothers. In one of
them it is said about Mujo:
The Turk immediately got angry, (46)
And shouted to his horse in Turkish: (47)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 10.
It is also significant that his horse has in the Albanian songs the same
name as in the Bosnian songs: Serb. djogat, Alb. gjog (white horse).
All this is extraneous to the environment of the Albanian mountaineers. The amusements of the Bosnian feudal lords could not be
those of the Albanian chieftains, who did not live in palaces but in
houses little better than those of the other mountaineers, although
called kulla.2 When they went hunting, they did so in order to kill an
animal they could eat. Horses are rare and are mostly used as beasts
of burden. The mountaineers cannot afford to keep steeds- they are
too poor. In a genuine Albanian song, Shemsi Pasha begs the Sultan:
O father, preserve Albania, (11)
[Where] Seven houses own one horse (12)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 43.
1 C. Jire6ek, La civilisation serbe au moyen dge, Paris, 1920, p. 93.
2 Ibid., p. 34: "Pour designer une forteresse elev6e ou acropole, les Serbes
ont repris des Byzantins le mot arabe kula, connu dans les livres grecs des le
XIe siecle (aujourd hui en turc et en serbe kula, tour)."




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MIUJO-HALIL CYCLE


125


Indeed, if we exclude the Mujo-Halil cycle and "Gjergj Elez Alija,"
in no other epic songs of Albania proper are horses to be found.
b) The Bosnian songs of the Hrnjica brothers would not have
attracted the Albanians had they not found in them elements which
corresponded to their own conditions. As the Bosnian and Albanian
worlds were similar in some respects and different in others, we observe in the Mujo-Halil cycle a mixed layer of Bosnian and Albanian
traits. This mixture, however, cannot be expected to be uniform.
The principal attraction for the Albanian has been the subject: the
fights of the Bosnian Moslems against the Christians across the frontiers. The Albanians of the north were in a similar situation. Their
enemies across the borders were the Slavs and against them they
carried on wars. The difference between the struggles of the two
peoples is that those of the Bosnians were totally religious, those of
the Albanians were primarily ethnical. As has already been mentioned,
religion too was a factor in the Albanian fights against the Slavs, but
rather in order to strengthen their ethnic character. The word Shkja -
Shkje, used so often in the Mujo-Halil songs, means both Slav and
Christian Slav, but primarily the former. Mujo says to his brother
Halil:
Gjak as fis me Shkje na nuk i kemi (389)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 23.
(Transl.: The Shkje are not of our blood nor are we related to them.)
The agas of Jutbina and their leaders represented for the Albanians
the heroes of the battles they carried on against the Slavic population
of the borders. Mujo was not regarded as a particular figure by them,
as he was by the Bosnians. Characteristic from this point of view is
the answer given to Koliqi by Vuksan from Boga. Asked who Mujo
was, the singer replied: "There was not only one Mujo: in the old
times the name Mujo was given to any strong man."l
Yet the songs have not been stripped of the religious tinge. The
heroes are Moslems, although some of the names have been Albanianzed, like Gjeto Basho Muji for cetobaso Muji. But they do not have
the strong Moslem color of the Bosnian songs. The Bosnians were
fanatical. In their songs they do not know of a higher aim than to
fight for the din (Moslem faith) and the Sultan. In order to give an
idea of the adoration of the Sultan, here are the titles attributed to
him in one song only, "Gerzelez Alija, carev mejdandiija" (Gerzelez
Alija, the Duel Fighter of the Sultan), (Mat. Hrv., III, No. 1): car -
(Sultan; 304), car alifet - (Sultan Caliph; 162), car alifet, sveta6ko
kolino - (Sultan Caliph of holy descent; 447), cara cestitoga (gen; the
1 E. Koliqi, op. cit., pp. 48-49.




126


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


honored Sultan; 585), devlet-padigah - (the Autocrat; 219). All these
show that they had a theocratic conception of the Sultan. In the
same song we find the attraction Mohammedan centers had for the
Bosnians. Gerzelez tells his steed to take him to Istanbul in order to
see "the great mosque" of St. Sofia (790) and the "palace of the
honored car" (970). In "Kostres Harambasa," Zuko orders the
standard-bearer:
Ne budali, moja vjerna slugo! (83)
Nego razvij zelena barjaka (84)
Vuk, III, No. 46.
(Transl.: Don't tarry, my faithful servant! But unfold the Green
Banner [that of Islam]). We have also instances of islamization. In
"Hrnjici6 Omerica" (Hormann, II, No. XL), Petar djemidzija (the
boatman) is converted to Islam. Gesemann writes: "The Bosnian
was... the most faithful to the Sultan... the better Mohammedan,
the true believer:... he was more 'Turkish' than the Sultan."l
In the Albanian songs of the Mujo cycle the fight is not for the
Sultan but against the Shkja. The daughter of Kurt aga says:
I want [to marry] a very brave man (30)
Who would fight every day against the Shkje (31)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 24.
The Sultan does not bear the titles we find in the Bosnian songs. He
is simply Sultan, mbret (king), lala mbret (father king) or baba (father).
These imply that the Albanians had a worldly conception of the
Sultan - that of a protector. The Albanian heroes are not interested
in seeing the Moslem holy places. In Albania, Mohammedanism was
not deeply felt as in Bosnia. It was not based on religious feeling but
rather on political and economic interests: to enjoy the protection of
the Turkish state and be relieved of taxes. The islamization of Albania was more an outward phenomenon:2
"In some of the mountains of Dukagjin and especially around Pec,
where Laramanet (the Motley), the cryptochristians, are living, the
people are called by two names, one Christian and the other Moslem."3
Cryptochristians are also living in the Kosovo plain.4 The Albanian
Moslems preserved Christian customs, as for instance the celebration
1 G. Gesemann and others, op. cit., pp. 47-48.
2 G. Standtmiiller, "Die albanische Volkstumsgeschichte als Forschungsproblem," Leipziger Vierteliahrsschrift fur Siidosteuropa, V (1941), 75-76.
3 V. Prennushi, op. cit., p. 10 (footnote).
4 F. Cordignano, L'Albania atraverso l'opera e gli scritti di P. Domenico
Pasi, I, Roma, 1934, pp. 134-135.




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


127


of saints. Christian legends, as the song of "Aga Ymeri," passed to
Mohammedans. Islamic sects began to grow in their country, and
Bektashism (a pantheistic Moslem sect), which in Albania showed
conspicuous nationalistic tendencies, has numerous points of contact
"with Christianity, to which it acknowledges itself akin."' We can
speak of a religious syncretism in Albania.
The sort of Islamism which developed in Albania accounts for
much of the attenuation of the Turkish-Moslem element in the MujoHalil cycle. True, the kaur-s (the infidel - Christians) in the Albanian
songs are the enemies of the heroes of Jutbina. Osman aga says to
Halil:
We set off to attack the Kaurr (90)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 7.
But we do not meet them very often, for the Shkje take their place.
The name Turk, however, is quite frequently used. When Halil
returns to Jutbina, the song goes:
Straight to Jutbina the "Turk" went (119)
And brought the three [Turkish] girls there (120)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 8.
And in another song:
The "Turks" began to occupy the place (7)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 7.
Yet in the variants of the mountains of the north the use of "Turks"
is less frequent. It is replaced by burrat (men), or aget (agas), or trimat
(the brave). In the versions of Kosovo, however, the term "Turks" is
more often used. The Albanians in Kosovo greatly felt the influence
of Bosnia, where the fight was between Turci and Kauri and the land
was divided in two: Turkish and Christian. Janko from Kotar writes
to Mujin Alil:
Treci cu ti megdan ostaviti (20)
Pod Kunarom u polju Kotaru,
A na medji Turskoj i Kaurskoj. (22)
Vuk, III, No. 20.
(Transl.: I will grant you a third place for the duel: in the plain of
Kotar beneath Kunara [mountains] and on the "Turkish" and
"Christian" frontier). A reflection of this division is seen in "Martesa
e Halilit" (Halil's Marriage). Here Mujo does not use Christian for
1 F. W. Hasluck, Christianity and Islam under the Sultans, I, Oxford, 1929,
p. 166; Cf. also J. K. Birge, The Bektashi Order of Dervishes, Hartford, 1937,
pp. 210, 215-18.




128


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


the other side of the frontier but the krajli (Slavic Kingdoms). IHe
warns Halil:
N'megje t' krajlive kur t' bajsh per me dal6; (175)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 4.
(Transl.: When you will leave the border of the [Slavic] "kingdoms.")
In general, however, the people in the Bosnian and Albanian MujoHalil cycle are divided into two categories. The Bosnian fights against
the kauri and the vlasi (Vlachs), both being the Christian subjects of
the German Emperor or of the Doge of Venice. The Christian citizens
within the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire are called in their
songs raja (Rayah). The Albanians wage wars on the Shkje and the
kaurr (infidel). The terms vllah (Vlach) and raja are used in their
songs, but they are rare, particularly the former. The Moslem subjects
of the Sultan, on the other hand, are in the Bosnian songs "begs," or
"agas," or spahijel - all titles of Turkish nobility - and they are
called by a generic name Turci (Turks). In the Albanian Mujo-Halil
songs we come across the "begs" and the "agas" but not the "spahis."
The Albanian spahis flourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries; towards the end of the seventeenth century, however, their
decline started in the Turkish army and the name gradually began to
disappear,2 being replaced by that of "beg." Besides, the Albanian
spahis were unknown in the mountains of the north, where the inhabitants had the right to collect tribute themselves and send it directly
to the Ottoman government beyond the frontiers of the Kanun.3
The Bosnian songs abound also in Moslem religious practices. The
heroes in them take their avdes (ablution before the prayer) before
the namaz (prayer):
Da uzimam turski avdes na se (134)
Da ja klanjam turskoga sabaha (135)
Hbrmann, II, No. XL.
(Transl.: In order to take the Turkish avdes and worship the Turkish
morning call to prayer - azan.) And in another song:
Kad odose u dzamije Turci (532)
U dzamije klanjati jaciju (533)
Mat. Hrv., III, No. 1.
1 The meaning of the Serbian spahija does not correspond exactly to the
spahi in English. Although at the outset a member of the Turkish irregular
cavalry, the Serbian spahi became later a big landowner with the right to
collect taxes from the Rayah. The same can be said about theAlbanian spahis.
2 P. G. Valentini, "La migrazione stradiotica albanese," Rivista d' Albania,
II (1941), 233.
3 Cf. Gj. Fishta in the introduction of Kannun i Leke Dukagjinit, p.
XXVIII.




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


129


(Transl.: When the Turks went to the mosques in order to say their
"evening prayer".) The women in the Bosnian songs are eager to fast
during the period of ramazan. The bands of the heroes when large are
often escorted by the imam-efendije, the Moslem high-priests, who
pray for victory before the battle and encourage the members to fight
against the Christians, for they would be martyrs if they fell on the
battlefield.
In the Albanian songs of the Mujo-Halil cycle such cases of
Mohammedan practices are rare:
The heroes got up to take avdes (65)
When they began to say the namaz
Then the kral shouted to the army (67)
Vis. e Komb., IV, 2, No. 10.
But nowhere in the Albanian epic poetry do we witness an imamefendija leading a band and praying for victory. Only one instance
has been encountered where martyrdom is mentioned. Mujo, besieged
in the fortress, says to Halil:
Grate e fmin, Halil, tane po i presim, (21)
Shehitli nd6r Shkje po desim. (22)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 28.
(Transl.: We will kill, Halil, all our women and children, and we will
fall "martyrs" fighting against the Shkje.) But even here the term
"martyrs" is rather dubious, because it is not said of kaurre but of
Shkje, which may mean both Slavs and Christians.
It is to be remarked, however, that the Mohammedan religious
practices are more frequent in the versions of Kosovo and very rare
in those of the mountaineers of northern Albania. The Albanians of
Kosovo almost all belong to the Moslem religion and it is natural
that their opposition to the Slavs should be more on religious grounds.
Besides, being nearer to Bosnia, which possessed a high prestige for
the surrounding Moslem world, they felt more deeply the influence of
Islam.l
In the wars between Moslems and Christians in the Bosnian songs,
we are struck by their close relations in the form of pobratimstvo
(blood-brotherhood) and posestrimstvo (blood-sisterhood). These two
customs are not a trait of Bosnian songs only. We find them in all the
epic poetry of the Yugoslavs. If in the songs there is no mention of
how two good friends became blood-brothers, it is understood that
they were such from their teens, when they played together. Other1 Cf. A. 8maus, "Kosovo u narodnoj pesmi muslimana" (Kosovo in the
Popular Song of the Moslems), Prilozi proud. nar. poez., V (1938), 103.
9




130


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


wise, pobratimstvo and posestrimstvo must have arisen in some
difficult situation for one of them. The formula is the same. The
person who is in need calls the other: Bogom brate! (brother in God)
or Bogom sestro (sister in God). In the Christian Serbian songs we
also have Bogom brate i svetim Jovanom! (brother in God and St.
John), the latter being the patron saint of pobratimstvol The relationship is completed, when the other person accepts the name of "bloodbrother" or "blood-sister" and usually carries out the request. In
"Zidanje Skadra" (The Construction of Shkodra) the wife of Gojko
asked the master-builder, "Bogom brate, Rade...!" to fulfill certain
desires of hers. Rade fulfilled them all. (Vuk, II, No. 26).
The Bosnian songs are full of blood-brothers and blood-sisters.
For the former, the words pobratim, pobra, or brat in contradistinction
to brat rodjeni (brother by birth), as Mujo and Alil often call each
other, are in use; for the latter, the terms posestrima or sestra are
employed. The blood-brothers and blood-sisters may be of same or
of opposing religions. When Kraljevic Marko learned that his rival
in a duel was Djerzelez Alija, he exclaimed:
Hvala Bogu i danasnjem danu,
Kad ja nadjoh svojeg pobratima!
Ja sam, pobro, Kraljevi6u Marko!
Hormann, I, p. 595.
(Transl.: Thanks to God and to the present day that I found my
blood-brother! I am, "blood-brother," Kraljevic Marko!) And in
another song:
Vino pije Bi6sanine bane (1)
Svojim pobrom Drazic-kapetanom  (3)
Mat. Hrv., III, No. 3.
(Transl.: The ban of Biha6 was drinking wine with his "bloodbrother" Captain Drazi6.) The blood-sisters of the Bosnian heroes are
usually kr6marice (women inn-keepers). Alil addresses one of them:
Posestrimo moga brata Muje (422)
Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 41.
(Transl.: "Blood-sister" of my brother Mujo.) Very often their
posestrime are the vilas (the Yugoslav fairies), who help them in case;
of need. In one of the Bosnian songs, the vila calls Mujo:
O moj brate, od Kladuse Mujo (9)
HOrmann, I, No. XXXV.
(Transl.: O my "blood-brother," Mujo, from Kladusa).
1 T. Mareti6, op. cit., p. 240, footnote 1.




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


131


Here we see that, in spite of the fight between Moslem and Christian
South Slavs, both elements fraternize. It was the old ethnic custom,
the roots of which were too deep to be uprooted by Islam. It superseded religion. We also remark that besides the Christian God and the
Moslem Allah there are pagan supernatural beings, the vilas. These
belong to both Christians and Moslems - they are a link between
them. Both the old custom and the old belief show the Slavic heritage
of the Bosnian Moslems - the poturice (the Turkicized Slavs, the
renegades).
In the Albanian songs of the Mujo-Halil cycle we often meet bloodbrothers but very seldom blood-sisters. The words used for them are
of Slavic origin. They are called probatim, probatin, or probe, all three
corrupted forms of the Serbian pobratim and pobra. The term for
blood-brotherhood in the northern mountains of Albania is probatimllek1 (probatim plus Turkish ending -llk - T. lik - for the formation of nouns). Very seldom do we meet the Albanian equivalent of
vllath (little brother), the diminutive of vila (brother). As in the
Bosnian songs, Christians and Moslems fraternize here. Mujo tells
Halil to go and see Vuk Harambash:
Probatin Vuken vete e kam pase: (178)
Fal1 me shndet Muji, thuej t'ka que;
Per nji punS, ti vllath, sot me m'ndihmue, (180)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 4.
(Transl.: Vuk has been my "blood-brother." Tell him: Mujo sends
you regards [and asks] you, "blood-brother," to help me in an undertaking). Gjergj Alez Alija says to his sister:
E t'm'shkojsh tu nalban-e probatini (77)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 1.
(Transl.: And to go to the farrier, the "blood-brother"). The word
probateshe (blood-sister) is evidently formed from probat with the
Albanian feminine ending -eshe, and then in relation to the Albanian
supernatural beings: zdna and ore. Mujo says:
Probatesha zane mue me ka thane (9)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 5.
(Transl.: The "blood-sister" zana has told me.)
Although the Albanian terms for blood-brother and blood-sister
are of Slavic origin, the customs pertinent to them have not been
borrowed from the Slavs. The Slavic term of pobratim has been introduced into Albanian apparently because of symbiosis between the
1 Cf. F. Cordignano, op. cit., p. 107.
9*




132


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Slavs and the Albanians of the north and the wide use of the term by
the former. They are the product of a tribal society, in which bloodkinship is the foundation. It seems that these customs existed among
the Slavs when they came in tribes to the Balkan peninsula. Among
the Albanians of the north they still exist because there we have a
tribal organization, a continuation of the old Albanian tribes. We
read in the Kanun: "Blood-brotherhood, brought about by drinking
blood, prohibits forever marriage between the fraternized, their
families and their kinship" (Kanuni, No. 704, p. 72). In one of the
heroic songs of the north, not of the Mujo-Halil cycle, the hero, asked
by his sister who was the person who shot him, replies:
Per gjashte plume s'po kam dert; (61)
Por per t'shtaten mos pevet:
Plumja e probes fort po m'vret. (63)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 46b.
(Transl.: I don't mind the six shots; but don't ask me for the seventh:
the shot of the "blood-brother" is hurting me very much.)
In the southern part the custom of blood-brotherhood has almost
disappeared. There where it is still sporadically preserved, we have
the Albanian word vellame (from vella - brother), a reflection of
which we see in the northern vllath, before it was supplanted by the
Serbian pobratim. In the song "Mbledhja e Himariotevet" (The
Assembly of the Himariots), which took place in 1770 between the
Christian Himariots and the surrounding Moslem villages, we read:
Vritemi shok' e villame (33)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 56.
(Transl.: We are killing each other's friends and "blood-brothers.")
Today the term vellami has generally acquired in the south the
meaning of best man in a wedding. But it would be interesting to
note, in this connection, that as pobratim spread in the northern part
of Albania so vellame travelled deep into Greece and has given there
the word vlames (blood-brother), possessing in addition the meaning of a man with dignity and valor but irritable.1
Alongside of pobratimstvo, another custom which reveals itself in
the Bosnian and Albanian songs of the Hrnjici brothers is kumstvo
(god-fatherhood). Among the Albanians of the north it is called
kumbarija and also Shengjonija (Kanuni, No. 706, a and b, p. 72).
They use it, as in Serbian, for god-fatherhood, and god-fatherhood at
the wedding ceremony, a sort of best man. The song which deals with
1 Megale hellenikej Egkylopaideia (Great Greek Encyclopedia), VII, Athens,
Pyrsos (first volume published in 1929), p. 400.




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


133


the marriage of Zuku Bajraktar to Rushe, the daughter of the krajl,
concludes:
E ki'n ba dasm6n e daname (186)
Per kumare Mujin e ki'n zane (187)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 11.
(Transl.: They made the wedding and the feast, and for their "best
man" they had Mujo.) It is interesting to note that Shengjonija is a
noun formed from Shen (Saint) and Gjon (John), -ija being the ending
of the definite form of a feminine noun. It appears that here we are
before a Slavic influence, for St. John is considered among the Serbs
to be the protector of both pobratimstvo and kumstvo:
Sveti Jovan kumstvo i bratimstvo (57)
Vuk, II, No. 1.
(Transl.: Saint John [receives] "god-fatherhood" and "blood-brotherhood.")
Another Bosnian and Albanian characteristic manifested in the
songs around the brothers Hrnjici is the respect for old age. This we
find in a patriarchal society. Such has been the Moslem family not
only in Bosnia, but in Albania and elsewhere. Patriarchy does not
oppose Bosnian feudalism; it is rather a part of it. But the respect for
the elders is in keeping also with a tribal society, like that of the mountains of Albania. "The rule of the house belongs to the oldest in the
family or to the eldest brother..." (Kanuni, No. 20, p. 7). Among the
mountaineers of the north the Council of the Elders is very powerful.
Old age is connected also with wisdom and experience, and in this
way the respect grows: "Elders are also called the men who are
reputed for wisdom and who have experience in discussions and
counsels." (Kanuni, No. 994, p. 94). It is the duty of youth then to
obey old age. When Mujo offended Zuku Bajraktar, the latter
answered:
Had you not been the "oldest" of us, (35)
I would not have stood those words (36)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 18.
And in a Bosnian song, when Mujo ordered Halil to go to the stable
and prepare the horses, the poet sings:
U mladjega pogovora nema (138)
Hormann, I, No. XXXIV.
(Transl.: The "younger" must not argue.) As the young should not
marry before their elder brothers, Babi6 Husejn tells Mujo:




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ALBANIAN AND SOUTI SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Tvoja s bra6a da ozene ne ce (23)
Priko tebe, brata starijega (24)
Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 38.
(Transl.: Your brother will not marry before you, the "older" brother.)
The Bosnian songs and those of Mujo and Halili in Albanian show
the importance of nobility. Birth is a part of feudal society, as we saw
in the oral epic poem of King Lazar and the Jugovici. But noble birth
is also valued in a tribal society, where there is a certain hereditary
hierarchy, as among the chieftains. The fact also that there are
several tribes and clans, among which a certain gradation by comparison would be imposed, would lead to the importance of descent.
Mujo says to his wife-to-be:
If you are a "noble" woman, (153)1
Will you listen to a word from me? (154)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 1.
Mother advises Ali Bajraktari:
Either you stay, son, a bachelor for life (3)
Or you marry one from a "noble" family! (4)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 14.
In "Zenidba Kumaliji6a Mujaga" (Marriage of Kumalijic Mujaga)
seven "begs" had asked for the hand of a young lady and the eighth
was Mujaga. Although the mother likes Mujo because he is a true
"hero in the duel," she adds to her daughter:
Vec on sto je soja fukarskoga, (34)
A tebe je gospoja rodila
I gospodskim mlikom nahranila. (36)
Mat. Hrv., III, No. 22.
(Transl.: But he is of "low lineage," while a "lady" gave birth to you,
with "lordly" milk nourished you.)
It is interesting to note that when this last song was sung by the
famous bard Meho and at a certain place he referred to the begs as
nejunaci (coward), one of those present in the group got up and said
to him: "Stani, pivacu, ne valja ti pisma. To je pisma za govedare, a
mi govedari nismo, ve6 stari begovi. Kako mozes begovsku divojku
udavati za govedara, za fukaru?"2 (Transl.: Stop, singer, your song
is worthless. This is a song for cowherds, and we are not cowherds but
1 The Albanian words are grue fisit - lit. woman of gens (in Latin). The
Roman gens is nearer to the Albanian fis, which for convenience we translate
as tribe.
2 Matica Hrvatska, III, p. XV.




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


135


old begs. How can you give the girl of a beg to a cowherd, to a lowclass?)
The frequency of duels is another common feature of the Albanian
and the Bosnian songs of the Mujo-Halil cycle. The duels, called in
Serbian and in Albanian mejdan-s (from Turk. [Pers.] meydan - open
space, arena), were survivals of the customary law, namely, "God's
judgment." This method of solving disputes was preserved in the
epic poetry, where the contentions between heroes ended in a duel.
The epic songs of the Yugoslavs are filled with examples of duels,
particularly the old historic songs. Although "God's judgment" was
prohibited even by Dushan's Zakonik, it continued to live in the
warrior's code.l In the Albanian heroic songs we have several examples of duels. The difference is that in them the heroes do not fight
on horseback, as is the case in the Serbian songs. This fact speaks
also for the relatively recent origin of the heroic songs of Albania
proper. Only in the Mujo-Halil cycle and in "Gjergj Elez Alija," if we
exclude the traditional songs of the Italo-Albanians, mejdan-s take
place on horseback. This kind of combat is a manifestation of a
feudal society, of a fighting aristocracy: the knights.
The individuals take part in the duels rather as representatives of
their religions or of their bands. Sometimes they participate in order
to show who is the greater hero, as in the case of Janko from Kotar
who asked Mujin Alil for a duel (Vuk, III, No. 20); at other times in
order to defend their honor or that of their family. Gjergj Elez Alija
fought a duel against the "black pirate" in order to defend the honor
of his sister (Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 1). It seems strange to an Albanian, however, to let an old man fight a duel against a "pirate,"
when the former asks the agas to replace him, as in "Omeri the
Young" (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 10) of the Mujo-Halil cycle. It is
significant that in the duels on horseback the weapons often used are
mediaeval, like topuz (club) and mazdrake (spear). In the genuine
Albanian songs the weapons used are pistols or rifles, which may be a
sign that they are more recent in origin. A beautiful description in
such a song is the duel between Pr6le Meme Ujka, an Albanian, and
Vuksan Leka, a Shkja (Prennushi, No. 56).
From the songs of the Bosnians and the Albanians, we know that
the agas of Jutbina made raids in enemy lands and pillaged what
they could. It was their habit to live by their arms. When they remained peaceful for a long time, they were not satisfied. They made
raids. In an Albanian song, Tali was asked by Mujo to gather the
agas of Jutbina:
1 Cf. N. Kravtsov, Serbski epos (Serbian Epos), Moscow-Leningrad, 1933,
p. 29.




136


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Because we want to make a "raid" (49)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 2.
Raiding and plundering Shkja territory were a part of the life of
the Albanian mountaineers of the north. But they did not penetrate
into cities to pillage shops. Such lines as:
They [the agas] praise the stores with goods (6)
Vis. e Komb., No. 8.
seem out of place in their songs. Perhaps this is the reason why in the
following lines the "stores" are not mentioned. These are proper for
the Bosnian songs. Around Krajina there were cities like Zadar and
Kotar, which the agas of Udbina plundered.
War and pillage are as much a part of a tribal society as of a feudal.
The druzina of a lord lived partly on the spoils of war which they
divided.
Revenge is another feature common to the Bosnian and the Albanian songs. Indeed, it is universal. Mujo, with the aid of krajl's
wife, succeeds in killing the krajl and burning his former wife
Hajkuna (Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 13). But it sounds more Albanian
than Bosnian, when Mujo hears the ora of the mountains informing
him:
Gjakun Halili t'a ka marre. (166)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 7.
(Transl.: Halil has "taken your blood" [has avenged you]). Or when
Halil asks his brother by whom he was wounded:
Tell me, Mujo, who wounded you, (137)
For I don't know on whom "to take vengeance"! (138)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 23.
Or again when Mujo replies to the ore, who asked him whether he
would avenge them:
If I will not "avenge" you, (94)
Life will be worthless for me! (95)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2.
The causes of sorrow for the heroes in the songs of the Albanian
Mujo-Halil cycle are both Albanian and Bosnian. They seem to be
more Albanian than Bosnian, when the mother asks Ali Bajraktari:
Why are you so sad, my son? (24)
Have you been offended by any one?
Has your blood-brother died?
Has some Shkja asked you for a duel? (27)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 6.




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


137


But the slightly different questions put to Zuku by his mother appear
to be more Bosnian than Albanian:
Has a friend or a blood-brother died? (47)
Has a pirate asked you for a duel?
Have you begun to feel lazy about the duel? (49)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 18.
c) Side by side with the Albanian-Bosnian part, we recognize in the
Albanian songs of the Mujo-Halil cycle a stratum which is purely
Albanian. It was natural for the gifted mountaineers of the north to
put the stamp of their own culture on them. They are sung in their
own environment and they should respond to their own needs and
ideals, else they would have been felt as alien and would have died
out.
The importance of honor, so conspicuous in the Mujo-Halil cycle,
is Albanian. In "Omeri i ri" (The Young Omer), the old man, who is
incapable of fighting the duel against his adversary, says to his
daughter, who has decided to substitute for him, that if she should be
killed in the mejdan:
Twice shame will cover me, (55)
Now in old age to be dishonored. (56)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 10.
When Sminaniq Serdari burns Mujo's castle and takes away his
wife Ajkuna, the agas of Jutbina tell the hero, on his return, that he
must not worry because they will rebuild the castle and will find him
a wife. Mujo replies like an Albanian mountaineer:
Fine! you build again my palace; (84)
Fine! you will betroth the girl,
But what about my honor? (86)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 13.
The agas of Jutbina worry about the frequent visits of Halil to
Kotorre te rea (the new Kotar). They are afraid that he will be caught
by the Shkje and dishonor them. They tell Mujo:
They [the Shkje] will not destroy your palace; (59)
Worse, Mujo: they will dishonor our tribe. (60)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 4.
Mujo's answer is characteristically Albanian:
If he [Halil] wants to bring shame on my house (70)
Let God deprive him of his share of the sun! (71)




138


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Even the last line is completely Albanian. We have not come across
such an expression in Serbian epic poetry. It also shows a democratic
conception: all of us are sharing the benefit of light, and perhaps
equally. But Mujo continues, for he is a mountaineer and is interested
in the honor of the whole tribe:
And if he intends to dishonor our tribe, (72)
Hit him, cloud, immediately with a thunderbolt! (73)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 4.
The reply of Mujo has a deeper meaning. It reveals the blend of
religious conceptions among the Albanian mountaineers. Line 71
represents monotheism (Christian or Moslem), while line 73 is pagan
- the element of nature as a free agent.
It is altogether in keeping with the spirit of the Albanian mountaineers of the north to see that even the enemy, the Shkja, is protected, when he comes as a guest. In one of the songs of the MujoHalil cycle, Ali Bajraktari says to the leader of Jutbina:
How do you want to kill the Shkja, (37)
When he happens to be my guest? (38)
Vis. e Komb., IV, No. 10.
The Kanun states: "If the guest enters your house, even if you are on
vendetta terms with him, you will say to him: 'Welcome!'" (Kanuni,
No. 620, p. 67). The right of the guest is so deeply felt that, when
Arnaut Osmani's wife is reluctant to give water to Huso in order to
quench his thirst, the women of Jutbina remind her that Huso is a
stranger and:
If we don't give water to this young man, (93)
We shall dishonor the whole of Jutbina. (94)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 12.
The foundations of fis (tribe) are blood relationship. Consequently,
the ties among members of the family are strong. It is Albanian to
see Alija ask Krajl Kapedan, who had invited Zuko to a duel, to be
the substitute for his brother. It was also his right to ask the messenger that the letter addressed to Zuko be handed to him:
You should give me the letter (41)
Because I am the brother of Zuk Bajraktar (42)
Vis. e Komb., IV, No. 10.
The feeling of identity with one's brother is also revealed in another
song of the Mujo-Halil cycle. When a letter was brought for Halil
from the daughter of the krajl of Taliri, Mujo says to the Tartar:




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


139


I am the brother of Sokol HaUl, (42)
Whatever you have for him,
You will speak it here with me. (44)
Vis. e Komb., IV, No. 11.
Totally Albanian is the test which the mother proposes to her son
in order to understand the Young Omer, his fiancee disguised as a
boy:
Give him your lahuta to his hand (107)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 10.
In Yugoslavia women play the gusle, and there are even professional
gusle-players who are women. In the mountains of Albania no woman
is allowed to play the lahuta. In order to eliminate any suspicion, the
Young Omer plays the lahuta as a man and
Better still: he accompanies it with a song (118)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 10.
Nor is it possible to find in the Albanian Mujo-Halil cycle coffee
served with Xerbet medovinu (honey sauce). This must have been a
Bosnian custom. In the Albanian songs only "coffee" or "coffee with
sugar" are served, the latter found in the Bosnian songs as "sugary
coffee". Women also do not serve them, as in epic songs of Bosnia,
where we read:
Tada cure kahvu donijese (126)
I uz kahvu serbet medovinu; (127)
Hormann, I, No. XI.
(Transl.: Then the "girl" brings coffee and with it honey sauce).
Another Albanian trait to be found in the poems of the Mujo-Halil
cycle is besa. As we have previously explained, this is a custom which
prevails among the mountaineers of northern Albania. It has the
meaning of "word of faith," "word of honor" or of a "truce." It is
sacrosanct and cannot be trampled. Ali Bajraktari had given it to the
krajl. He had promised to return to the prison within six days:
I must go back to the krajli (the country of
the krajl), (311)
Because I have given the krajl the besa of God
To be there six days from today. (313)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 13.
In the meaning of truce, given to enemies on certain occasions, as for
instance when the mountaineers need to till the ground or fight
against a common adversary, we meet besa in the following lines of
Halil:




140


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


And I myself have seen Tanusha (83)
When we have had besa with the krajli. (84)
Vis. e Komb., No. 4.
So Albanian is the besa that the Bosnians themselves consider it as a
particular word of honor. In "Das Lied von Gusinje" we read in the
reply of Ali Pasha to the Prince of Montenegro:
Posalji mi do dva Kapetana
Na boziju vjeru arnaucku,
Nista njima uciniti ne cu.l
(Transl.: Send me two captains, "on God's Albanian faith," I will
not harm them at all.) And a little further Ali Pasha asks his thirty
bajraktars:
Je li u vas ona besa prva
da svog lica zaklonit ne cete2
(Transl.: Have you that besa of old that you would not care about
danger?)
It sounds very Albanian to hear Mujo tell his wife, who was complaining that seven of her sons died in the mountains:
Don't weep for the sons who have died in war, (15)
Don't weep for the men who want to fight in the Alps,
For there is no sweeter death than to fall on
the battlefield. (17)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 29.
The hero is admired by the Albanians. He is also admired in the
Bosnian songs, only there, when fighting against the Christians, he is
permitted to use shrewdness and slyness: "Devet hila deseto junastvo" (Nine tricks, the tenth should be heroism; Hormann, p. 6).
In the Albanian songs no such distinction is made. Heroism transcends religion and nationality. The Albanian hero is ready to recognize it in his enemy. Huso speaks of the valor of his opponent:
That the Shkja is brave and faithful (205)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 12.
And Mujo after the hard battle he had with Zadrani of Tetovo, whom
he finally killed, exclaimed:
Had I known that you were such a brave man, (113)
I would have sacrificed Halil to you.
We would have ruled over Turk and Christian. (115)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 31.
1 J. von Asb6th, "Das Lied von Gusinje," as reproduced in Ethnologische
Mitteilungen aus Ungarn, I (1887-1888), p. 324.  2 Ibid., p. 325.




CULTURAL PATTERNS IN THE MUJO-HALIL CYCLE


141


The last line is characteristically Albanian. It shows how much
importance he gave to domination and how little to the TurkishChristian opposition.
But of all the songs of the Mujo-Halil cycle the one which seems
most full of the genuine spirit of the Albanian mountaineers in the
north is "Martesa e Halilit" (The Marriage of Halil; Vis. e Komb., II,
No. 4). It is also written in pure Albanian, with the least use of
Turkish and Slavic words, with simple and strong expressions, a
product of the physical and social environment in which the song was
composed.
It is not the custom among the northern mountaineers of Albania
to marry within the clan or tribe. Halil swears that he is not going to
marry any girl from his bajrak1 (banner, clan), that is any one of the
girls from Jutbina, because he considers them as sisters. We read in
the Kanun: "The Albanian, even separated four hundred fires
(generations), does not take or give, i.e. he does not intermarry"
(Kanuni, No. 697, p. 71).
Halil's speech, when captive in the hands of the Krajl, before the
latter ordered his execution, reveals the spirit of the Kanun:
The youth began to speak like a man: (584)
- Listen, you captain - krajl!
-One is not in straits but on the day of death.
- Death comes when your guest has been offended,
-Death comes when besa has been broken
- Or when you lack a slice of bread for your
guest. (589)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 4.
The above lines reveal that death is not dreadful for a people who
value honor more than life.
The spirit of the mountains of the north reemerges, when Halil
replies to the krajl, who asks him to express his last wish:
- Our ancestors have left us no other good: (597)
- The death of none of us should be on the blanket,
- But with swords to die singing. (599)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 4.
These three verses show the respect for tradition and a truly heroic
conception of life.
1 The bairak seems to have been introduced in the highlands of Albania
during the Turkish occupation; it increased in value apparently during the
rule of Kara Mahmud Pasha of Scutari, who needed the highlanders for his
wars against Montenegro and wanted them more efficiently organized. Cf.
F. Cordignano, op. cit., p. 123.




142


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPic POETRY


The appreciation of the chivalry of the enemy on the part of the
singer - the krajl accorded Halil his last wish, to play the lahuta - is
also typically Albanian:
How manly the krajl behaved (599)
As much as you want, Halil, you can sing! (600)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 4.
Halil takes the lahuta in his hands and complains in the language of
"the forefathers" to the sun, the moon, the zdna-s, breaking out into
a protest he most deeply feels as an Albanian mountaineer:
But is this the besa you had given me? (610)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 4.
We have endeavored in the above analysis to point out the different
cultural patterns which are found in the Albanian songs of the MujoHalil cycle: a) purely Bosnian culture; b) a mixed culture, partly
Bosnian and partly Albanian, varying in proportion; c) genuinely
Albanian culture. If this has been demonstrated, it can be said that,
as far as the spirit and the mentality are concerned, the songs are
not translations but elaborations bearing a strong Albanian stamp.
On the other hand, as the rhapsodies of Mujo and Halil are sung only
in northern Albania - particularly in Malcija e Madhe, Dukagjin,
Kosovo, Puka, Dibra, Ljara, and Shestanl-above the Drin River, it
can be remarked by looking at the existing collections, that the
farther from Bosnia the oral poems are sung, the more predominant
the Albanian cultural pattern of the mountains of the north is in
them, culminating in "Omer the Young" and the "Marriage of
Halil," sung respectively in Mertur and Curraj, near the region of
Dukagjini.
1 Visaret e Kombit, II, p. IX.




CHAPTER IX


LANGUAGE AND STYLE
The language of the heroic songs of the Albanians and the Yugoslavs is simple. Even when members of the druzina have composed
the songs, the language has not been far from that of the people.
There were no great cultural differences between the upper and the
lower classes in Serbian mediaeval society. The druzina was not a
learned but a fighting retinue. The same can be said - and with
greater reason - about the language of the Albanian songs which
have emerged from a more or less feudal environment.
As the oral epic songs were transmitted from one generation to the
other, their language underwent changes. But certain archaic traits
were preserved. Marjanovic wrote of the Bosnian Mohammedan
songs he collected: "The forms are predominently old, but new
[forms] struggle against them."' In Albanian popular epic poetry,
however, the old forms are rare, except in the poetry of the ItaloAlbanians, because of its relatively recent date.
The language of the songs is felt as a special language. The singer
and the listener understand its character and particularity but they
never speak in it.2 The difference is not only in the vocabulary, containing words which have changed their meaning or have become
obsolete, but also in the language of the songs which has a particular
harmony and rhythm.
In Albanian and South Slavic epic songs we find a language purer
than the spoken language. It contains almost no words from Western
European (Romance or Germanic) languages. Only in the traditional
songs of the Italo-Albanians are Italian words met. This is natural,
since the songs are sung on Italian soil. They also include a certain
number of Greek words - of course, not as many as the traditional
poems of the Greco-Albanians - dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when the Albanians emigrated from Morea. But
both South Slav and Albanian heroic songs have been greatly in1 Matica Hrvatska, III, p. LIV.
2 Cf. N. Kravtsov, Serbski epos (Serbian Epos), Moscow-Leningrad, 1933,.
p. 155.
143




144


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


fluenced by the Turkish language. This influence has been stronger or
weaker according to the region and the religious element in which the
songs arose. Many of the Turkish words are of Arabic or Persian
origin.
The epic songs included in Vuk's collection have a considerable
number of Turkish words. They are such words as mejdan (duel),
topuz (club), or delija (hero). In the Bosnian songs, on the other hand,
Turkish words abound. The Bosnian Moslems filled their mother
tongue with Turkish words and expressions. A Yugoslav who does
not know Turkish will not find it easy to understand the heroic poems
of the Mohammedans of Bosnia and Hercegovina. Obviously, this is
the reason that Hormann and Marjanovi6 have added, at the end of
their collections, a glossary of the Turkish words contained in the
songs. In order to show the frequency of Turkish words in Bosnian
and Sandzak songs, here are some examples, chosen at random:
a. I pravi ti haber donijeti. (60)
HIrmann, I, No. XXXIX.
b. Sve katane butum zapjevase. (172)
HIrmann, I, No. IV.
c. Kad vidjela pticu na pendzeru. (186)
Hormann, I, No. IV.
d. Odavlen je do Stambola bila
ta sezdeset i sedam konaka;
pani meni na Stambol-kapiju.
Mat. Hrv., IV, 184.
e. Al' mu sarac tiho odgovora
gospodaru, delibasa Marko!
Mat. Hrv., IV, 184.
f. Pozdravi se vase car Lazaru! (338)
Takav hadet jeste u Sultana.
Darujemo nase musafire. (340)
Parry, I, No. 650.
If the above verses had been found in Serbian Christian songs, the
underlined Turkish words would have been replaced by good Serbian
words: haber (news): Serbian - glas; butum (Tk. - biutin -  complete-ly): Serbian - sav; pendzer (Tk. - pencere - window): Serbian
- prozor; Stambol (Tk. - Istanbol or Istanbul (< Gr. eis ten polin):
Serbian - Carigrad; konak (Tk. - konak - a day's journey, night
quarters): Serbian - dan; kapija (Tk. - kapi - door, gate): Serbian -
vrata; delibasa (Tk. - deli - daring, hero, plus bas- chief): Serbian -




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


145


vojvoda; hadet (custom): Serbian - obicaj; musafir (Tk. - miusafir and
modern misafir ( < Ar. - musafir - guest)): Serbian - gost.
The Albanian oral epic poems which have undergone the influence
of the Turkish language are those created in a Moslem environment.
Since the majority of the Albanians are Mohammedans and the
Turkish rule of their country lasted for about five centuries, the
Turkish words are more frequent in Albanian than in Serbian. I have
noticed that the songs which have originated in Kosovo usually have
more Turkish words than the other Albanian heroic songs. The
Kosovo towns have been influenced more because they have been
inhabited partly by Turks. Also the songs of Kosovo have Turkish
words - often of Arabic or Persian origin - which are altogether
foreign to the Albanians of Albania proper. To illustrate, the following
is a list of Turkish words in Elezovi6's Albanian variant on the battle
of Kosovo (Arhiv..., I, 1923, 54-66):
A. Words familiar to Christian and Moslem Albanians: asqer (army),
Tk. asker (< Ar.) (soldier); shehit (martyr), Tk. sehit (< Ar.); kabull
(acceptance), Tk. kabul (< Ar.); hanxhar (dagger), Tk. hanger (<?);
duva (prayer), Tk. dua (< Ar.); ordi (horde, army), Tk. ordu (< Tk.);
haram (illicit, taboo), Tk. haram (< Ar.); tepsi (tray), Tk. tepsi (<?);
hallal (legitimate), Tk. halal (< Ar.); hajvan (beast), Tk. hayvan (< Ar.);
beriget (cereals), Tk. bereket (< Ar.) (bliss, fruitfulness); durbi (binocle), Tk. diirbin (< Pr.); teslim (surrender), Tk. teslir (< Ar.);
marak (worry), Tk. merak (< Ar.).
B. Words familiar mostly to Moslem Albanians: avdes (ablution),
Tk. avdes (< Per.); namaz (prayer), Tk. namaz (< Per.); sheh-islam
(religious head of the Moslems), Tk. seyhulislam  (<  Ar.); jaci
(evening prayer), Tk. yatsz (< Tk.); sadrazem (prime minister), Tk.
sadrazam (< Ar.); dovlet (nation), Tk. devlet (< Ar.); shehr (city,
town), Tk. sehir or qehr (< Per.); besh vak (the five times [of Moslem
prayer]), Tk. bes (< Tk.) (five) and Tk. vakit (< Ar.) (time).
C. Words generally unknown even to Moslem Albanians: dime
takbirxhi (dream interpreter), Tk. (?) dime (<?) and Tk. takbih-ci
(< Ar. - < Tk.); xhihon (world), Tk. cihan (< Per.); serasqer (commander-in-chief of the army), Tk. sarasker or ser -i asker ( < Per. - <
Ar.); sanxhak e sherif (the banner of Islam), Tk. sancag or sancak-iserif (< Tk. - < Ar.); hak (justice, right), Tk. hak (< Ar.); ragbet
(fate), Tk. ragbet (< Ar.) (desire) but possibly from Ar. ra'b (charm,
incantation); betei (guard), Tk. bek9i (< Tk.).
Much different is the picture presented by the Turkish words in
"Oret e Muji" (The Fairies and Mujo; Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2), sung
in the mountains of northern Albania. The words in it have become
part of the Albanian language. In fact, the majority of them have
10




146


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


become Balkan words. In the three hundred and thirty three lines of
the rhapsody we meet the following Turkish words: kulla (castles),
harambash (haram, Ar., bas, Tk.- chief of brigands), haps (Turkishhapis (h) ane, hapis, Ar., hane, Pers. -  prison), mejdan (duel,
square), pajre (remedy), boje (size), saraj (palace),!elik (steel), topuz
(club), oda (room), kalldram (paved road), qemer (vault), qeraxhi
(tenant, hired hand), xheze (coffee-pot), inat (anger), hall (state,
condition, worry), hajr (good, benefit), at (steed), oxhak (hearth), hig
(nothing). Words like beg and aga, used in other languages also, are
not included in the list.
Very few Greek words are met in the heroic songs of Albania
proper. In those of the mountaineers of the north you can scarcely
find any. The Greek words are encountered in the songs composed
around Gjinokaster (Argyrokastro), in southern Albania. In this
region lives a Greek minority. Besides, from the time of Ali Pasha
Tepelena, the inhabitants of Gjinokaster have been in touch with
Janina and northern Greece. The majority of the people in this
province are Orthodox Christians and until the creation of the Albanian state, in 1912, they went to Greek schools. It was natural,
therefore, that Greek words would have been introduced into their
language.
Serbian words are common in the epic songs of northern Albania;
they are lacking in those of southern Albania. The Slavic words
which are found in the latter date from a remote past, have undergone changes and have acquired Albanian citizenship. The Serbian
words in the songs of the north are of a more recent period, due to the
constant contact between Albanians and Slavs, after the occupation
of Kosovo by the former. The Albanian songs which have arisen in
Kosovo, those which have the greater number of Turkish words, have
also the greater number of Serbian words. Apparently, quite a few
Serbian words have entered the Albanian rhapsodies through the
motifs borrowed from Yugoslav heroic songs, particularly from
Serbian Moslem songs. Words of this kind are: dorim (Vis. e Komb.,
II, No. 4, v. 376): Serbian - dorin-konj (reddish-brown horse); baca
(Vis. e Komb., II, No. 6, v. 192): Serbian - baca (brother); ndeja~ek
(Vis. e Komb., II, No. 8, v. 11): Serbian - nejacak (from Serbian
nejak - immature, boy); gjog or gjokat (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 11, v.
258): Serbian - djogat (white horse) < Tk.; me kashagite (to curry a
horse; Vis. e Komb., II, No. 9, v. 40): Serbian-kasagija (curry comb)
< Tk.; sharan (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 6, v. 362): Serbian - saren
(dappled, usually pertaining to a horse); harambash (Vis. e Komb., I,
2, No. 13, v. 32): Serbian-harambasa (from Turkish harambas - chief
of brigands). The lexical influence of the Serbian heroic songs is also




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


147


shown in other words which are met in more than one Albanian song:
opet: Serbian -  opet (again); megje: Serbian -  medja (frontier),
shevarine (a place of reeds): Serbian - sevar (reed); kozhar: Serbian -
kozar (skinner, pelt monger); hidra: Serbian - hitra (sly); travine:
Serbian - traviste (lawn); vrac: Serbian - vrac (sooth-sayer); prezor:
Serbian - prozor (window). In "Gjergj Elez Alija" (Vis. e Komb.,
I, 2, No. 1), however, the following Serbian words are to be found:
bunar: Serbian - bunar (well) < Turk; probatin: Serbian - probratim (blood-brother); prezore: Serbian - prozor (window); zharg
(heat): Serbian - zar (ardor, live coal); tumak: Serbian - tumbak
(brass); gjok: Serbian djokat (white horse); rrekin (they speak): from
Serbian reci (to speak). Of these words only prezore, tumak, and rrekin
are rare; the others have become part of the Albanian language of
the north. When in a rhapsody of about two hundred lines so few
Slavic words are found, it is evidence that in the mountains of Albania
the singers who create their own heroic songs or elaborate these with
Bosnian motifs use a language stripped of Serbian words.
Serbian words have not always preserved their original form when
passing into Albanian. Serbian pobratim (blood-brother) became in
Albanian the much used probatin, and nejacak (immature) of the
Bosnian songs gave the rare Albanian word ndejaeek. But names of
heroes have undergone greater changes. We have already spoken
about some of them in a previous chapter. It is now the proper time
to point out the changes brought about by the Albanian language in
the names Jazap aga and 6ejvan aga.
The hero of the South Slavic songs Jazap aga (Vuk, III, No. 47)
has become Hasap aga in Albanian (Vis. e Komb., II, 1, No. 27). The
name Asap, without the h, is in use among Moslem Albanians. It is
undoubtedly the nearest to Jazap, for in Moslem names, in which
intervocalic z is not a differenciating feature (often Mohammedan
names stem from Arabic or Persian and have no meaning in Albanian)
z may change into s: Nazim and Nasim, a Moslem personal name of
which Nazim is the more usual form. This is probably an influence of
the neutralization s/z in final position we meet in Albanian (and also
in Turkish):1 hafts (nom. sing., indefinite form, a proper name or a
person who knows the Koran by heart) - hafezi (nom. sing., definite
form). As for the h in initial position, there are instances in Albanian
where both forms with h and without h are correct: hikin (they go, in
Shkodra), ikin (they go, in Korga), for h does not replace j in initial
position. However, the j often replaces intervocalic h in Albanian, if it
does not give rise to a confusion in meaning: te lehin (3rd person plural,
subjunctive of the verb to "bark") becomes te lejin. In cases of hiatus
1 See for neutralization p. 246.
10*




148


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


one can be used for the other: drgo - e (imperative, sendit) becomes dergoje or dergohe. Thus Serbian Krajina has become Krahina in Albanian.
It is not so clear at first sight how Cejvan aga - the "old Cejvan
aga" of the preceding chapter - was transformed into the Albanian
Qefanak. The Albanian sound which corresponds to the Serbian c is
q (k'). Since v is the voiced partner off, it is easy to pass from v tof,
still more so since the name Oejvan (the Persian name for the planet
Saturn) is not common among Albanians and qef (from Turkish keyf -
well-being, pleasure) is very widely spread. Thus Oejvan aga became
Qefan aga. In fact, in a song from Kosovo we read the following line:
Kankan kane plak e Qefan aga. (2)
Vis. e Komb., IV, 2, No. 5.
The indefinite form of aga in Albanian is age (age). In the dialect of
the north the final e is not pronounced, but the vowel in the preceding
syllable is lengthened. It is similar to the phenomenon we witness in
Serbian of: bogz becomes bog (God) - compensatory lengthening.
Therefore, Qefan age becomes Qefan ag or Qefanag. It is one of the
features of the Albanian language to neutralize in final position
voiced and unvoiced phonemes of the same pair. Thus the hero
Qefanag becomes Qefanak because of the neutralization of (g/k).
Certain expressions may be the same in the epic poetry of various
peoples and still may have risen independently. The Albanian t'unxiftefaqja (may your cheek be blackened) is exactly the same as the
Serbian cm ti obraz; cf. also obraz zacrniti (to blacken the cheek),
found in so many heroic songs. In both languages it has the meaning
of "to be ashamed." It is hard to say that the Albanian expression is
a translation from Serbian. But when we find in the Albanian
rhapsodies that "with the blood of the face" (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 22,
v. 61) or "with the blood of her cheeks" (Vis. e Komb., IV, 2, No. 11,
v. 7) a lady wrote a letter, we see a direct influence of the Yugoslav
songs, where women "strike the face with a pen" (146) and with the
blood write letters (Vuk, II, No. 66). There is no doubt that the expression me kall kamishin me duhan (to light the pipe), encountered in
the Mujo-Halil cycle, is a translation from Serbian, corresponding to
kamis zapalio (Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 40, v. 26). An expression which has
passed beyond the circle of the Mujo-Halil rhapsodies and has become
a common expression in other Albanian heroic songs is me da mejdanin
(literally - to divide the square, then to make a duel). The same expression is frequent in the Yugoslav songs, Christian and Moslem:
Nek sabljama megdan podijele. (58)
Vuk., III, No. 20.
(Transl.: Let them "divide the square [fight a duel]" with sabres.)




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


149


Is the expression me da mejdanin a translation from Serbian? I
believe it is. While megdan dijeliti (to divide the square) is a constant
expression in the Serbian songs, me da mejdanin has other equivalents
in Albanian songs, sometimes with mejdan and sometimes without it,
as me lyp mejdan (to ask for a duel; Taipi, p. 148), n' mejdan me dale
(literally - to come out to the square, meaning to come out for the
duel, to fight a duel), (Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2, v. 187), me dale n' rrok
(to come out for measuring, to fight a duel; Prennushi, No. 56, v. 9),
me u ndesh (literally - to meet each other, to fight a duel), (Vis. e
Komb., IV, 2, No. 10, v. 55).
There are certain words in both Albanian and Yugoslav oral epic
poetry which can be used as boundary words. In the Christian
Serbian songs dvor (court, palace) is used for house, while in the
rhapsodies of the Bosnian Moslems kula (castle, palace) replaces the
house. In Albanian kulla may be considered as characteristic of the
heroic songs of the north. In fact, in northern Albania the stone
houses are called to this day kulla (castle, tower). While in the
Albanian epic songs of the south karte (literally - paper) is used for
letter, in those of the north the word leter (letter) is generally used.
Distinctive traits of the rhapsodies of the Ghegs are also such words
as bre burre (oh, man - oh, hero), besa (on my honor), pasha zotin
(by God).
But more important as frontier words in the Albanian heroic songs
are probatin and sokol, the latter being the Serbian soko (falcon, hero).
These two words are used only in the Albanian mountains of the
north and around Shkodra - in the regions where the spirit of
Kanun i Leke Dukagjinit prevails and in the surrounding neighborhoods. You will never find probatin or sokol in the Tosk songs. They
are replaced respectively by the Albanian vellame and petrit. These
two Serbian words show how far the Serbian influence has penetrated.
Another key word used in the songs of northern Albania is drom or
drum (road). This is the Greek word dr6mos (road) borrowed first by
the Serbs and then through their songs - perhaps through symbosis
also - introduced into northern Albania. The word drom or drum is
not found at all in the songs of the Tosks, who live next to the Greeks.
It is never used in the southern Albanian dialect, spoken or written.
The word drom is met only in the traditional songs of the Albanian
settlements in Italy and in Greece. In a song from the Albanian
colonies in Sicily we read:
Marre dromine perpjelte.
Camarda, p. 128.
(Transl.: You were following the upward "road".) In the songs from
Greece published by Sotiriou we find, in addition to the common




150


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Albanian rruge (road), the Greek word drom (Laographia, I, 1909, pp.
22-23). While in these last examples we see the direct influence of
Greek, we cannot admit that drom-drum in the songs of the north is
of direct Greek influence, because this word has not existed and does
not exist in south or central Albania. This is further evidence of the
Serbian influence on the Albanian language of the songs.
In the oral epic poetry of the Albanians and Yugoslavs we notice
that there are certain grammatical peculiarities. In the South Slavic
songs the change of cases is common. As in Serbian there are two
masculine accusatives, one for animate beings and the other for
inanimate objects (as in Russian), the animate is not infrequently
used for the inanimate:
a) Da ja klanjam turskoga sabaha, (153)
HErmann, II, No. XL.
where turskoga refers to sabaha (morning), which also has taken the
animate form;
b) Znas onoga vakta i zamana, (14)
Kad od cara sitan ferman dodje,
Da se ide k Stambolu bijelom,
Da smjestimo again' agaluke. (17)
HOrmann, I, No. XXXIX.
where onoga vakta i zamana is not a genitive of time, but the animate
form of the accusative, although vakta and zamana, to which onoga
(that) refers, both mean "time." The vocative is also used in place of
the nominative as for example crni Arapine (vocative), and instead of
pred svetovira (instrumental pl., before the saints) we find the old
instrumental form svatovi. Sometimes the nouns or adjectives remain
undeclined, as for instance star Juga Bogdana instead of starog Juga
Bogdana, tending to the form of a compound.
In the Albanian epic songs, on the other hand, the nominative is at
times used for the accusative:
Ali Pasha, 'i Turk i hollU, (9)
Thirre na ka mbreti n' Stambolle. (10)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 49.
(Transl.: The King has summoned Ali Pasha, a slim Turk, to Istanbul.) The accusative case would be Ali Pashen or Ali Pashane and,
with it, the apposition had to change into 'i Turk te holle (a slim
Turk). The locative, which is always used with the preposition ne (in),
is met sometimes in the songs without a preposition:
U-mlodhe Tosket Berat. (1)
Vis. e Komb., I, No. 96.
(Transl.: The Tosks were gathered [in] Berat).




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


151


The diminutives are frequently used in the heroic poems of the
Yugoslavs. We have such examples as:
a. Ime, sinko, tri bijela dana. (281)
H6rmann, I, No. IV.
b. Dok zasija sabah i zorica. (101)
Hormann, I, No. XI.
where sinko is the diminutive of sin (son) and zorica the diminutive
of zora (dawn). As in Serbocroatian personal names acquire a diminutive form when they become bisyllabic ending in o,l we find examples in songs such as the following:
Majka Omu tiho progovara. (20)
Hormann, I, No. XI.
Omu here is the dative of Omo, which is the diminutive of Omer.
Extensive use is also made in the Yugoslav heroic songs of the
elative degree of adjectives: lijepa (beautiful) - prelijepa (elative);
velika (great) - prevelika (elative).
In the Albanian epic songs the diminutives are extremely rare, but
in the traditional songs of the Italo-Albanians they are widely used.
We encounter diminutives not only of the noun and the adjective,
but also of the pronoun, the verb, and the adverb. The ending of the
diminutive is -ith or -ze. So strong is the tendency for diminutives
that in "Constantine the Small" (Marchiano, No. VIII) even the
adjective "small" is in the diminutive form:
Kostandini i vogelith, (1)
Tri dit6 dhenderith. (2)
(Transl.: Constantine the "very small," a "little bridegroom" of
three days).
Apparently the wide use of diminutives among the Italo-Albanians
is an influence of the Italian language, which has a special predilection
for them. In the language of Albania proper diminutives are rare.
Only in the city of Korga (Korcha) is there a tendency to make considerable use of them. It seems that this can be explained by the
cultural influence of modern Greek, which uses diminutives widely.
In the Albanian rhapsodies of the north there is sometimes a queer
use of the preposition prej (from). Prej generally denotes origin and it
takes the ablatite case. In the dialect of the south prej is replaced
quite often by nga (from), with the nominative, which corresponds to
the kah of the north. This special use of prej with the ablative in the
1 Cf. A. Meillet et A. Vaillant, Grammaire de la langue serbocroate, Paris, 1924,
pp. 157-158.




152


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


rhapsodies does not signify "from," which is its normal meaning, but
that of "toward," direction:
Prej Jutbinet kryet ia ka dredhe. (117)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 9.
(Transl.: He turned the head [of the horse] "toward Jutbina"). The
right construction for the northern dialect would be: Kah Jutbina...
A special feature of the Slavic languages are the aspects of the
verbs. In oral epic poetry of the Slavs the aspect generally used is the
imperfective, because it pictures the action vividly as presentic:
Knjigu pise od Kotara Janko. (1)
Vuk, III, No. 20.
(Transl.: Janko from Kotar "is writing" a letter.)
There are no aspects of verbs in the Albanian language. It has, however, a feature which is unique: the admirative mood. This mood
shows an unexpected action or state - a surprise.l It is formed with
the present participle of the verb, attaching to it the indicative mood
(present or imperfect) of the verb "to have." For example, to form
the present admirative mood of the verb kerkonj (I ask), add to the
present participle, which is kerkuar, the present indicative of kam
(I have), thus forming kerkuakam, the final r of the participle being
eliminated. It is, so to say, the perfect tense kam kerkuar reversed.
The admirative mood is used in simple and compound tenses, as well
as in all the voices.
The admirative mood is not often employed in literary works, but
in popular poetry, and particularly in heroic poetry its use is widespread. The rhapsodies of the Mujo-Halil cycle are full of verbs in the
admirative mood. The following examples will illustrate how effective
the language of the songs becomes with the use of this mood:
a. A Moslem-Albanian hero sees a Turkish soldier attempting to
dishonor a Christian-Albanian woman. He takes out his revolver and
shoots the Turk. He then says:
Katillikun s'e kam dashte, (17)
Por kismet kshtu paska qgne,
Se na erzin e kena bashke,
Sikur bulle ashtu e kshten6. (20)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 44.
(Transl.: I have not wanted to be a criminal, but such "has been"
[admirative - it was not expected to be] destiny, because we are
1 Cf. G. Weigand, AlbanesischeGrammatik im siidgegischen Dialekt, Leipzig,
1913, pp. 120-122; K. Cipo, Gramatika e gjuhes shqipe (Grammar of the Albanian Language), Tirana, 1949, p. 160.




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


153


bound to honor equally both a Moslem or a Christian woman). The
admirative mood here indicates that it was a surprise that such a hero
should have committed a murder, for he had always disliked being a
criminal. How much force the lines would have lost had the indicative
mood ka qene been employed!
b. Harambashi (proper name) who wanders in the mountains meets
suddenly three mountain fairies:
N' tri or6 t' bardha kenka ndeshe. (18)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2.
(Transl.: "He has met unexpectedly" the three white fairies.) The
effect of surprise would undoubtedly have been lost, had the singer
used the indicative asht ndeshe.
Sometimes the imperfect admirative together with the conjunction
te of the subjunctive - forming a composite mood, admirativesubjunctive - is used for effect. When Mustafa bej Qaf6zezi is killed
during the Greek revolution of 1821, and the news reaches the
heroine Bubulina, his opponent, the latter replies:
Pse m'a that6 k6et fjale,
M'erdhi keq, si per nje djale,
Te m'a zenkeshin te gjalle,
Burr' e keshe per te marre.
Mitko (ed. Pekmezi), p. 152.
(Transl.: Why did you tell me this news: I am sorry as for a son. "Had
they caught" him alive, I would have married him.) Here the mood is
admirative-subjunctive in the imperfect tense (the translation into
English is in the pluperfect), but it forms a conditional sentence. Its
effectiveness lies in the fact that it expresses the idea that if such an
unexpected thing should have happened, that the Albanian hero had
been captured (Mustafa bej was very brave), Bubulina would have
married him.
Both Albanian and Yugoslav oral epic poetry makes use of the
ethical dative. This creates an atmosphere of intimacy. The singer
and the heroes in the song feel nearer to each other:
a. Albanian:
M'a ka gil6 dritoren e sarajt. (59)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2.
(Transl.: He has opened "me" the window of the palace.)
b. Serbian:
Pozdravi mi Vilip-Madzarina. (84)
Vuk, II, No. 59.
(Transl.: Greet "me" Vilip-Madiarin.)




154


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Direct and indirect speech are at times mixed. We do not expect
the common people to be careful of such particularities of syntax.
They are used to dialogues among themselves and they jump from the
third person to the second. The following are two Albanian instances
of direct and indirect speech combined:
a) M'a pvete djalin prej kahje. (110)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 10.
(Transl.: Ask the boy from where "are you.")
b) Besen e Zotit ne leter po i a 9on, (173)
Qi n'vend t'motres nusen t'a due. (174)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 12.
(Transl.: He sends the faith of God in the letter that "I want" your
wife in the place of a sister.)
It is difficult to estimate to what extent the morphological and
syntactical irregularities in the oral epic poems are due to ignorance
of the language on the part of the singers. Such irregularities are often
used to meet the requirements of verse, particularly in the Serbian
heroic songs, where the meter is rigidly maintained. So great is the
role of verse in certain forms of oral poetry that K. Witte thought
that "the language of the Homeric poems is the work of the epic
verse."1
No doubt Albanian and Yugoslav heroic songs bear the traits of the
dialects of the places in which they arose or were sung. In the latter
we meet the three principal Serbocroatian dialects: "ekavian,"
"jekavian," and "ikavian." They are called by these names because
of the reflexes of Slavic e in them. As the old Serbocroatian e, because
of the accent, was both long and short, it has given in these dialects
the following reflexes: "ekavian," e and e; "jekavian," ije and je;
"ikavian," i and i. These dialects are spread from one end of the
country to the other, but as their diffusion is not uniform, we find
songs in which a mixture of dialects is revealed.
As migrations have been a frequent phenomenon in the history of
the Yugoslavs, it is difficult to localize the songs on the basis of
dialect. To generalize: the songs recorded in the "ekavian" dialect
come from lands which form the greater part of Serbia, like Sumadija,
Vojvodina, and Macedonia. Those written down in "jekavian" are
from the western part of Yugoslavia, i.e., from Croatia, BosniaHercegovina, Dalmatia, and Montenegro (a part of southern Serbia).
Yet in these regions we do not always find the pure "jekavian"
1 K. Witte, Pauly-Wissowa, VIII, 2214ff., as quoted by M. Parry, L'.dpithete traditionel dans Homere, Paris, 1928, p. 5.




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


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dialect. It is mixed in places with "ikavian." It becomes more
difficult to localize the songs recorded in the "ikavian" dialect, which
is scattered in the islands, Dalmatia, western and central Bosnia, as
well as in Slavonia. Usually this dialect is blended with "jekavian."l
The collection of Vuk contains primarily songs in the "jekavian"
dialect. Heroic poems in the other two dialects, however, are not
lacking. Harmann's collection and that of the Matica Hrvatska
(volumes III and IV), composed completely of Bosnian and Hercegovinian Moslem songs, are mostly in the "ikavian" dialect. Marjanovic writes about the songs he recorded: "The dialect of these
songs is predominantly 'ikavian,' but 'jekavian' struggles with it. This
is indeed a representative battle."2 It is natural that this mixture of
dialects should take place in Bosnia, where Roman Catholics,
Mohammedans and Orthodox live side by side, and where often the
Catholics and Moslems speak "ikavian," whereas the Orthodox (often
in the same localities) use the "jekavian" dialect.3
In order to give an idea of these dialects in the Yugoslav songs, here
are a few examples:
a. ekavian:
Rasrdi se vila Ravijojla, (42)
Pak odsko6i u Miroc planinu;
Zape luka i dve bele strele. (44)
Vuk, II, No. 38.
b. jekavian:
Dv'je Hrnjice nase osuznjise (174)
Mi ostasmo robinje do v'jeka! (175)
Hbrmann, I, No. XXXVIII
c. ikavian:
Lipa Ajka Novi6-Jusufage (49)
Sad sam cuo za krsnu divojku (46)
Ja sam se, brate, vjeri zaticao. (51)
Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 38.
It is easier to distinguish the dialects in the Albanian songs. They
are written either in the Gheg (northern) or Tosk (southern) dialects.
These are the two main Albanian dialects. The line of demarcation
1 See for territorial expansion of the dialects, A. Meillet and A. Vaillant, op.
cit., pp. 4-5;F. Poljanec, Istorija srpskohrvatskog knjizevnog jezika (History of
the Serbocroatian Literary Language), Beograd, 1931, pp. 179-181, and map
at the end of the book.
2 Matica Hrvatska, III, p. LIV.
3 Cf. A. Meillet and A. Vaillant, op. cit., p. 5.




156


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


between them is considered the.Shkumbini River, which runs across
central Albania from east to west, following roughly the Via Egnatia
of the Romans.
The distinctive features of these dialects are both phonological and
morphological. In the Gheg dialect there is nasalization of vowels,
whereas in the southern there are no nasalized vowels at all:
a. Gheg nasalization, sign A:
Kur t'a l vete gjakun t'uej pa e marre, (94)
T'gjallet nuk kam 9'e baj! (95)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2.
Rhotacism is another important trait. Intervocalic n of the northern
dialect is often changed into r in the Tosk dialect.
b. Tosk rhotacism:
Nde u-vra nga trime'rija,
Namn 'e morri Shqiperija.
Mitko (ed. Pekmezi), p. 168.
Another significant characteristic is that, while the Gheg dialect has
preserved the infinitive, the dialect of the south has eliminated it
completely and has substituted for it the subjunctive, as in modern
Greek and Bulgarian - a tendency which is gaining ground in
present Serbocroatian:
c. Gheg infinitive:
A ma mire me deke me ndere (83)
A me rrnue me faqe t' zeze? (84)
Vis. e Komb.,.I, 1, No. 26.
d. Tosk subjunctive:
Syt' e mij t6 zes, t' m'i falni.
Mitko (ed. Pekmezi), p. 188.
These four differentiating features are sufficient as criteria for
determining the dialect of an Albanian song and localizing it north or
south of the Shkumbini River.
The phenomenon of neutralization of the final consonants, which is
characteristic of Albanian as a whole, can also be helpful. While in the
Gheg dialect you will always find written fund (end), in the Tosk it
will usually appear as funt; the Gheg brez (belt) will be written in the
Tosk heroic songs as bres. This tendency is noticed particularly in
Turkish words, ending in consonants, which have been introduced in
the southern dialect in their devocalized form - the same phenomenon of neutralization occurs in Turkish- and remain as such




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


157


throughout the inflection: Turkish, pilaF (boiled rice) -  pilatv:
Albanian, (To.) pilaF - pilafi; Turkish, hesaP (bill) -  hesabz: Albanian, (To.) hesaP - hesapi1 As migrations similar to those of the
South Slavs did not take place in Albania proper, we do not encounter in the songs a mixture of dialects.
Regarding the traditional songs of the Albanian settlements in
Italy, they, too, can be easily recognized. Their dialect is that of
southern Albania, but it has certain conspicuous particularities. As
already mentioned, diminutives abound. The clusters kl and gl,
which inAlbanian have given q (=k') and gj (=g'), are preserved in
the Italo-Albanian songs. The following lines illustrate the two
differentiating traits:
Klofsha juve truarith (7)
Kemba e jime s'u perglunj (10)
Pran me shkane kembezit. (11)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 104.
The clusters kl and gl have also been preserved in the songs of the
Albanian colonies in Greece.
One of the most important Albanian collections, that of Mitko,
contains mainly heroic songs in the southern dialect, while that of
Prennushi is composed totally, as the title clearly indicates - Popular Gheg Songs - of poems in the northern dialect. Visaret e Kombit,
I, includes songs in the Gheg and the Tosk, as well as in the ItaloAlbanian dialects. Volume IV of the same collection contains primarily popular heroic poems in the northern dialect. Also Gheg are
all the songs included in Visaret e Kombit, II.
One can hardly separate the syntactical from the stylistic elements
in oral epic poetry. They are both constituent parts of it and are interdependent. The difference lies in the nature of the language and in
the temperament of the people who create the songs. A highly inflected language, like Albanian or Serbocroatian, has more possibilities for changing the order of words, within the limits of a meter,
than a less inflected language like English. On the other hand, the
beauty of the images, which are an important part of the style of the
songs, depends on whether the people who create them are more or
1 The capital letters denote the archiphoneme. In A. Martinet, "Parler
Franco-Provengal d' Hauteville," Revue de Linguistique Romane, XV (1939), 13,
we read:"L'ensemble des traits pertinents communs a deux phonemes qui
sont dans un rapport exclusif est appel6 archiphoneme... Deux phonemes
sont dits dans un rapport exclusiflorsqu' ils ne se distinguent que par un seul
trait pertinent et qu' ils sont seuls a pr6senter tous les traits qu' ils ont en
commun.". See also R. Jakobson, "Remarques sur l'6volution phonologique du
xusse..." Traveaux du Cercle Linguistique de Prague, II, (1929), p. 5.




158


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


less imaginative - poetic. Of course, this trait of the people is not a
product of physical environment only, but of centuries of culturalhistorical and social-economic conditions as well.
Words which are closely connected and should be next to each
other are separated, in the oral epic songs, for emphasis or for verse
requirements. We find such examples in the Yugoslav and Albanian
heroic songs:
a. Yugoslav:
1. Sto Stambolu more biti gradu, (163)
Hormann, I, No. VIII.
2. Te sjedose mrko piti vino. (138)
Vuk, III, No. 46.
3. Dobru ima na Kladusi kulu. (81)
Hormann, I, No. XXXIII.
The regular order of words in the above lines would have been:
Stambolu gradu (in the city of Istanbul), mrko vino (dark wine), dobru
kulu (accusative, a good fortress).
b. Albanian:
1. Na mejdanin bashke me e da. (49)
Vis. e Komb., IV, 2, No. 10.
2. Kurr ma ngusht kane edhe nuk jam. (339)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 21.
3. Te madhe Muja i ka brite. (267)
Vis. e Komb., IV, 2, No. 8.
If we put the separated words in the regular order, we would have:
Na me e da mejdanin (to make a duel), nuk jam kane (I have not been),
ka brite te madhe (he shouted much).
Another feature of popular epic poetry is syntactical parallelism.
It may show simultaneity of motion in opposite directions:
1. Ode Mitar natrag Sarajevu (111)
A Husein Vuku na cardake. (112)
HOrmann, I, No. IV.
(Transl.: Mitar goes back to Sarajevo, and Husein [goes] to Vuk on
the watch-tower.)
2. Nusja muer ashten e fell, (188)
Muji duel nder Lugje t' Verdha. (189)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 1.
(Transl.: The bride went into the deep pine forest, Mujo came to the




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


159


Yellow Valleys.) It may also describe a certain view of nature. We
can then get vivid pictures, as in the following:
Permbi asht ish shkam i gjalle, (105)
Per nan-ashta te tane rregalle. (106)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 1.
(Transl.: Above the pine trees all was solid rock, below the pine wood
all was abyss.) The syntactical parallelisms may be longer than two
verses. They depend on the descriptions given or on the ideas expressed. Here is an example of an effective contrast produced by a
syntactical parallelism:
Ustaj Mujo, na noge lagahne, (196)
Nase roblje ode u Kaure! (197)
and the dervish, holding the hero, says:
Sjedi Mujo, da se napijemo, (199)
Lasno cemo roblje povratiti. (200)
HOrmann, I, No. XXXIV.
(Transl.: Rise, Mujo, on swift legs, our slaves go to the Infidels! -
Sit down, Mujo, and let us get drunk, we shall easily get back the
slaves.)
Pairs of synonyms are another trait of epic songs. In the Albanian
and Yugoslav songs we find some peculiar pairs. Gjynafe e mkate in
Albanian are a pair of synonyms in which the first word, gjynafe
(sins), is Turkish (ganah, Per.), and its synonym mkate is Albanian.
In Serbian hogdjeldije i dobrodoslice, we have two synonyms united
by the conjunction i (and), which mean "welcome." The first of them
hog-djeldije, is Turkish, and the second is Serbian. Such instances are
met particularly in the Moslem Serbian songs. In these, at times, we
meet pairs of synonyms which are Turkish. In the line:
Znas onoga vakta i zamana. (14)
H6rmann, I, No. XXXIX.
(Transl.: Do you know those times.) both vakta and zamana mean
"time," and are Turkish. This reminds one of the modern Greek expression hronia kai zamania, in which hronia means "time" (years),
just as zamania means "time."
Pairs of synonyms go hand in hand with pleonasms and tautologies.
Djogat in Serbocroatian means "white horse."1 Nevertheless, we find
such a line in an heroic song:
Pa uzjaha na konja djogata. (464)
Hormann, I, No. XXXIV.
1 Djogat obviously stems from Turkish gok (light blue) and at (horse). In
Serbocroatian it always has the meaning of a white horse.




160


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


(Transl.: Then he mounted the "horse white horse"), where konja
(horse) is evidently tautological. In Albanian, on the other hand, the
adjective "white" becomes superfluous. We read such a verse:
M'ia ka ndale vrapin gjogut t' bardh&. (60)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 29.
(Transl.: He slowed down the speed "of the white horse white"),
where t' bardhi means "white."
The pleonasms are more often formed with verbs. Podraniti means
"to rise early" from rano "early." It is obvious then that the following
line is pleonastic:
A u jutru rano podraniti. (134)
Hormann, I, No. XXXIX.
(Transl.: And in the morning "early you will rise early"). Sometimes
we may come across expressions which are pleonastic only in appearance. Preno6iti in Serbocroatian means "to spend the night," "to
sleep for the night," and noc or nocca (diminutive) have the meaning
of "night." However, in the line:
Pa ces nodcu tude prenociti, (133)
Hormann, I, No. XXXIX.
(Transl.: And "you will sleep for the night the night.") noccu is an
inner object. In Albanian me nise vajin means "to begin the lament"
and me vajtue means "to lament." One of the two expressions would
be sufficient to convey the meaning, but the Albanian singer has
used both:
Kan nise vajin e po vajtojne. (315)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 1.
(Transl.: "They have begun the lament" and "are lamenting.") This
is more than a pleonasm; it is a tautology. But a more striking
tautology is the following:
Sadriazem un ty t' shof budalle, (26)
T' shof budalle e t' shof pa men. (27)
Prennushi, No. 113.
(Transl.: Premier, I find you stupid, I find you "stupid" and "without
brains.")
In oral epic poetry comparisons usually have as their purpose the
idealization of a hero. They then become hyperbolic. Hyperbolisms
are one of the main characteristics of the heroic songs.
The strength and bravery of the hero are exaggerated. ZmajOgnjen-Vuk (The Fiery Dragon Vuk) is described in a Montenegrin
song:




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


161


Kad on bjese od godine dvie,
Kano drugo e od pet godinah,
Kad imase pet godinah danah,
Kano drugo od deset godinah,
Kad napuni do deset godinah
Poce nosit svjetlo oruze
Pa idjase na mejdane cesto.
Milutinovic, pp. 280-281.
(Transl.: When he became two years old, he was as another at the
age of five; when he became five years old, he was as another at the
age of ten; when he completed ten years, he began to carry the shining
weapon and often was going to fight a duel.) This hyperbolism
reminds one of the Akritic songs, where it is said about the son of
Andronikos: "When he was one year old, he held the sword; when
two years old [he held] the lance; and when he entered the third
year, he holds himself like a hero."'
In the Albanian rhapsodies, Zuku hears the mother praise the
strength of his father:
He uprooted the three hundred years old fir trees (73)
He could lift up the three thousand okas2 rock. (74)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 11.
But more impressive for its original hyperbolisms is the description
about Mujo made by the wife of the krajl. It is in a speech to her husband who has been bragging about himself:
If you see Gjeto Basho Muji, (31)
You are not worthy to be his shepherd,
His moustaches are like two rams;
His shoulders are like two oak-trees with branches;
When you see his marvelous wife,
I am not worthy to be her day nurse;
If you see his sword for the duel,
Yours looks like the knife for cutting bread;
When you see his horse for duelling,
Yours will seem like a donkey that carries logs;
If you see his castles and palaces,
Yours will appear like huts. (42)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 21.
The role of description in epic poetry is primarily esthetic. In the
Yugoslav heroic songs the richness and the beauty of dresses, the
1 H. Gr6goire, Ho Digenes Akritas, New York, 1945, p. 219.
2 Oka is a Turkish measure of weight, equivalent to 2.83 pounds.
11




162


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


luxury of palaces, the harnessing of horses, and the decorations of
weapons are usually described. Nature is rarely described except as a
setting for the fight or for hunting. These descriptions are not found
in genuine Albanian heroic songs, which are short. They deal mainly
with action. Sometimes the hero is described, but briefly:
Who treads the high mountains? (10)
Musta Beg with the golden pistol!
Who treads the snowy mountains?
Musta Beg in light kilt. (13)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 69.
Even in the rhapsodies of the Mujo-Halil cycle, which have felt
deeply the influence of the Bosnian songs, the descriptions of dresses,
horses, and palaces are short. But in them we come across some
wonderful descriptions of nature. Nature has a strong hold on the
mountaineers. Their comparisons are drawn from their own physical
environment. They are both realistic and poetic. This role of nature
in the songs of the Mujo-Halil cycle is another Albanian seal. In order
to form an idea, let us take an example from the Yugoslav heroic
songs and one from the Albanian rhapsodies of the northern mountaineers.
Feminine beauty is best depicted in Yugoslav oral epic poetry in
the same manner as that of the daughter of Ljubovic beg:
U struku je tanka i visoka, (9)
U obrazu b'jela i rumena,
Kao da je do podne uzrasla
Prema tihom suncu proljetnome;
Oci su joj dva draga kamena,
A obrve morske pijavice,
Trepavice krila lastavice
Rusa kosa kita ibrisima;
Usta su joj kutija secera,
B'jeli zubi dva niza bisera;
Ruke su joj krila labudova,
B'jele dojke dva siva goluba;
Kad govori, kanda golub guce,
Kad se smije, kanda sunce grije; (22)
Vuk, III, No. 82.
(Transl.: She is slim and tall in stature, white and rosy in face, as if
she had grown in the morning, facing the soft spring sun; her eyes are
like two precious stones, and the eye-brows like sea leeches, the eyelashes are. like the wings of a swallow, and the reddish hair (Tiziano -




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


163


blond) is like a silk tassel; her mouth is like a candy box, the white
teeth as two rows of pearls; her hands are like the wings of a swan,
the white breasts like two grey doves; when she speaks it is as if the
pigeon coos, when she laughs, as if the sun shines.)
Balkan folk poetry in general uses a similar pattern for describing
the beauty of women. In it the forehead is compared to the moon; the
eyebrows are likened to a ribbon, or more frequently to leeches, as in
the above Serbian passage; the eyes are compared to olives, grapes,
or wild plums; the cheeks are described as apples and the lips as
corals; the neck is likened to porcelain or marble and the breast to
lemons or alabaster; the hands are compared to candles and the gait
to that of birds or animals.l
How different is the description Halil gives of the beauty of
Tanushe, the daughter of the krajl! Here all the similes and comparisons are from the physical environment and the life of the Albanian
mountaineers. It is regrettable that much of the beauty of the lines
will be lost in the English translation:
None can see a better thing under the sun! (85)
Her eyebrow straight like spring's falling water,
The slope of the forehead like the slope of the
mountain,
When the moon is about to set;
Her eye like the fruit of a cherry tree;
She has the eyelash as the wing of a swallow;
Her face is like the apple reddening on the branch;
The nose is straight as the pencil of Tusha;2
The mouth small like the blossoming flower;
The teeth white as the pebbles of a river,
Immediately after rain, when the sun shines on them.
Her throat like the throat of a dove;
Her stature like the trunk of a pine-tree;
The flesh of the hand as smooth as bronze. (98)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 4.
Many of the compraisons in the description of Tanushe are not
static. Her mouth is not like a "candy box," as in the Yugoslav song,
but like a flower in the process of blossoming. The eyebrows of the
daughter of Ljubovic Beg are like the "sea leeches," which, whether
1 Cf. K. Dieterich, "Die Volksdichtung der Balkanlander in ihren gemeinsamen Elementen," Zeitschrift des Vereins fi$r Volkskunde, XII (1902), 406.
2 Tusha was a famous smith. "The pencil of Tusha" means here symmetrical
in lines as the pencil of Tusha is capable of drawing. See about Tusha, Kanun i
Leke Dukagjinit (Code i Lek8 Dukagjini) p. XXII, footnote 2.
11*




164


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


living or dead, are rather a repulsive sight. The eyebrows of the
daughter of the krajl are straight, but with that small curve of the
line which falling water from a spring can form. Tanushe's mountaineer does not know what pearls are; he has not visited jewelry
shops or salons. But he has experienced the whiteness and brightness
of the pebbles of a river, when they have been well washed by the
rain and brightened by the sun. The teeth of Tanushe are likened to
such pebbles - they are inanimate objects receiving life. Halili is not
satisfied to say merely that his sweetheart has a "white and rosy"
face, as the Yugoslav singer does, but he wants to convey at the same
time the impression that she is young and her beauty is fresh. He
compares then the face of Tanushe not to a red-white apple cut from
the tree, but to one which is becoming red on the branch of the tree,
receiving all the sap to preserve it fresh. There is life and dynamism in
the Albanian description of the beauty of Tanushe.
In Yugoslav oral epic poetry descriptions which will show the
inner life of the heroes are extremely rare. In the rhapsodies of the
mountaineers of northern Albania they are not lacking. They may be
short, but they reveal the whole emotion. Describing the reaction of
an elderly hero offended in the assembly of the agas, the Albanian
bard sings:
How offended the old guerrilla felt! (116)
The hero gives no answer to his companions;
He only pinches with his hand the grass. (118)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 6.
And again, when Mujo tells the agas that they would never have been
able to achieve anything without him:
How afflicted the agas were, (31)
Suddenly all bow their heads,
And no one utters a word. (33)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 25.
Variety is obtained in the heroic songs of the Yugoslavs and the
Albanians by pieces of advice or aphorisms dispersed in them. When
the followers of Vuk Jaj6anin wanted to pillage the palace of Djerzelez, their leader counselled them:
Kad junaka doma ne imade, (203)
Sramota je porobiti kulu,
A grehota pogazit mu majku,
Jer je dobra rodila junaka. (206)
Hbrmann, I, No. IV.




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


165


(Transl.: When the hero is not at home, it is a shame to pillage the
castle, and it is a sin to trample down the mother, because she has
given birth to a hero.) In Albanian, the mother, advising Mujo and
Halil that they should never campaign without being together, breaks
into an aphorism:
Because woe to the heart that has no brother! (318)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2.
Pre-Christian elements are to be found in both the Yugoslav and
the Albanian oral epic poetry. They are still living with the common
people. In the songs about the construction of Shkodra the three
brothers are forced to make human sacrifice in order to conciliate the
vila or unknown spirit and build the city. The magic is also expressed
in the names of the sister and the brother, in the Serbian variant,
when the vila asks the three Mrnjavcevici to look for a sister and a
brother called respectively Stoja and Stojan, in order that the city
should stojati (stand, exist).1
Wish and malediction, which are based on faith in the power of
words, play the role of conjuration. Common people think that by
pronouncing them things will take the desired course. Both of these
are found in the Yugoslav and the Albanian epic songs:
a. Serbian:
1. 0 Hajkuna, da te Bog ubije! (154)
Vuk, III, No. 21.
(Transl.: 0 Hajkuna, "may God kill you!")
2. Gdje si Mujo, nigdje te ne bilo. (3)
HOrmann, II, No. XLVIII.
(Transl.: Where are you, Mujo, "may you not be anywhere.")
3. 0 junace, Bog te ne ubijo! (132)
Vuk, III, No. 21.
(Transl.: 0 hero, "may God not kill you.")
b. Albanian:
1. "May God kill you," o my son, (70)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 11.
2. Gett up, "may you never raise the head." (152)
Vis. e Komb., IV, 2, No. 13.
3. Summer has come, "be it white" (gay). (76)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 21.


Cf. N. Kravtsov, op. cit., p. 101.




166


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Curses sometimes are long. Music Stefan, one of the Serbian lords,
tells his servant Vaistina how Prince Lazar adjured them before the
battle of Kosovo:
He who is a Serb, with Serbian forebears, (18)
And of Serbian blood and Serbian nurture,
And comes not to battle at Kossovo,
He shall ne'er be blessed with descendants,
With descendants, either male or female,
And beneath his hand shall nothing flourish,
Neither yellow wine nor waving cornfield;
Let him rot, together with his children.1 (28)
Vuk, II, No. 46.
Generally long curses are not addressed to people. They are
addressed to the elements of nature: mountains, moon, sun. Nature is
animated, and this gives variety to the style of the epic songs and
produces pictures of poetic force. In the Albanian rhapsodies there
are eloquent examples. Mujo's wife curses the moon, when she learns
of the death of her son:
May the light be torn away from you, moon, (38)
That you did not send me a word that night
To come swiftly to the Yellow Valleys,
In order to enter the same grave with my son! (41)
Be damned, you moon, (52)
How can you leave a mother without a son! (53)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 30.
Mujo, on the other hand, hearing about the death of his brother,
damns the mountains:
May the Lord kill you, alps, and dry you up! (56)
And never a hunter be in you!  *
And never a band may campaign in you!
Never a flower may blossom in you!
That you took away the falcon Halil! (60)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 14.
Personifications, however, do not stop at apostrophes. Moon and
sun, stars and mountains reply and carry on conversations in the
heroic songs. Animals speak also. The horse, more in the Serbian
songs and less in the Albanian rhapsodies, speaks to the hero. Birds,
too, play an important role. They are often messengers.
The study of the language in this chapter has shown the influence
1 It is a free translation made by Dr. W. A. Morison and reproduced in
D. Suboti6, Yugoslav Popular Ballads, Cambridge, 1932, p. 58.




LANGUAGE AND STYLE


167


of Turkish on the epic songs of the Albanians and the Yugoslavs.
This influence has been particularly strong in the songs of the Bosnian
Moslems. On the other hand, we notice that the Serbian language
has influenced only the language of the rhapsodies of the Mujo-Halil
cycle. This is due partly to the borrowing of subjects from Serbian
songs by Albanians and partly to the symbiosis of Albanian and
Serbian speaking populations. The language of the Albanian songs
which have arisen in the region of Kosovo reveal greater Serbian
influence, while those which have emerged in the mountains of
Albania proper have felt Serbian linguistic influence only slightly.
As for the style, both the Albanian and the Yugoslav oral epic
poetry has characteristics which belong to epic poetry in general.
The genuine Albanian songs have little space for narration - they
are very short - but those of the Mujo-Halil cycle are predominantly
narratives. The narrative style is the prevailing style in the heroic
songs of the Yugoslavs, whether of the Christians or of the Moslems.
Although nature does not play, in general, a functional role, its
influence is felt more in the Albanian epic poetry than in that of the
Serbs. In the former both hyperbolisms and maledictions are taken
from it.




CHAPTER X


VERSE AND FORMULAS
Dieterich has divided oral epic verse in the Balkans into three
groups:
Die erste wendet mit Vorliebe den ffinfzehnsilbigen iambischen, die zweite
den zehnsilbigen trochaischen, die dritte den achtsilbigen trochaischen Vers
an; die erste Gruppe beschrankt sich lediglich auf die Griechen, die zweite und
dritte umfaBt samtliche iibrigen Volker derHalbinsel, und zwar die zweite die
Serben, die dritte die Albanesen, Bulgaren und Sudrumanen.l
In general, South Slavic epic poetry falls into the categories of long
verse and short verse. The short verse is composed of decasyllabic
lines, as mentioned by Dieterich, and called in Serbian deseterac (of
ten syllables). The heroic poems in long verse are in lines of fifteen or
sixteen syllables and are called bugarstice.
The bugarstice is outside the strict limits of our study, for metrically
it offers no basis for comparison with verse forms of Albanian heroic
songs. However, since their form has become a controversial issue
among scholars, it may be of interest to consider it.
The name bugarStice was first mentioned by the poet, Hektorovic,
in a letter to Pelegrinovi6 (1550).2 It was taken to mean "Bulgarian
song," and this explanation was supported by the authority of Jagi6.
In Mareti6 we read: "The old popular songs in the West were called
bugarstice, bugarstine, bugarkinje, from Bugarin, Bugarska (Bulgarian)."3 Kravtsov, on the other hand, believes that the name bugarstica or bugarkinja is derived from vulgaris (carmina vulgaria), analogous to the Russian podlye pesni (song of villains, of common
people).4 He further maintains that, since Khalanski pointed out
that bugar-kabinica was not "Bulgarian fur-coat" but peasant coat,
and Miklosi6 holds that the shepherds were called in Serbia bulgari
1 K. Dieterich, "Die Volksdichtung der Balkanlander in ihren gemeinsamen Elementen," Zeitschrift des Vereins fur Volkskunde, XII (1902),
409-410.
2 Cf. N. Kravtsov, Serbski epos (Serbian Epos), Moscow-Leningrad, 1933,
p. 54.
3 T. Mareti6, Nasa narodna epika (Our Popular Epic Poetry), Zagreb, 1909,
p. 11.
4 Cf. N. Kravtsov, op. cit., p. 59.
168




VERSE AND FORMULAS


169


or bugari - and the shepherds sang and preserved the songs -
bugarstice or bugarkinje mean pastoral songs.'
Jagic considered the poems of long verse older than those of the
short verse and thought that the transition from the former to the
latter was brought about by the demand for simplicity. According to
him, the poems of long line have a more aristocratic character and
those of the short a more democratic character. This transition was
brought about earlier in the east and later in the west. In this way
Jagi6 explains the preservation of the bugargtica in the west and its
earlier death in the east.2
The majority of scholars leans toward Jagic's opinion. They believe
that the long verse was used by both the Croats and the Serbs, and
that at the end of the eighteenth century it was replaced by the tensyllable verse. Kravtsov, on the contrary, thinks that the bugarstice
were "the imitation of Dubrovnik (Ragusa) poets of the heroic songs
of ten syllables, i.e., we do not consider them at all 'popular,' we do
not consider them as Serbian epic."3 He rejects the theory that the
long verse was Western (Croatian) and the short Eastern (Serbian).
He then concludes that there were not two types of oral epic poetry.
There were only many "epics," which were local cycles, and that the
meter of all was the ten-syllable verse.4 But this is only a theory. The
bugargtice are still considered popular creations and we feel obliged to
speak about their meter.
The line of fifteen or sixteen syllables has been accepted as the
typical line of the bugarstice, but considerable variety as regards the
length of the line is met within them. The caesura comes after the
seventh or the eighth syllable, and in a few instances after the sixth.
However numerous the syllables in a line may be, the second part of
it must consist of eight syllables; the irregularity is to be found in the
first part of the line only.5 All the feet are trochees, except the one
preceding the caesura in the line of fifteen syllables, which is a
dactyl. Many of the bugarStice have a refrain consisting of six syllables
or three trochees. It is put after the first line and then after each two
subsequent lines, but the last line has no refrain at all. The following
is an example of such a bugarstica, with the refrain underlined:
1 Ibid. Cviji6 also writes: "A l'extremite occidentale de la Peninsule, en
Dalmatie et enCroatie, ainsi que dans la Serbie moravienne, le nom de bulgare
(bugar) n'avait aucune autre signification que celle de paysan et la population
de ces regions appelle ses chants populaires les bugarMtice, les chansons bulgares",
J. Cviji6, La peninsule balkanique, Paris, 1918, p. 167.
2 Cf. Archiv f/ir slavische Philologie, Bd. IV, pp. 221-232.
3 N. Kravtsov, op. cit., p. 56.
4 For all the reasons in support of this theory, see N. Kravtsov, op. cit., pp.
56-59.   5 Cf. D. Subotic, Yugoslav Popular Ballads, Cambridge, 1932, p. 30.




170


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Tri ti glasa dopanuli / hrabre Marku Kraljevicu (1)
Kraljevicu Marku,
Prvi glas mu dopade / / od kralja od ugarskoga;
Da ga podje vjencati / / kraljicom slavnom gospodjom
Kralja ugarskoga; (5)
Bogisic, No. 7.1
which will give this metric picture:,,, v  /   /,, v,,  I
The verse form of the bulk of Yugoslav oral epic poetry (the bugarAtice are only one hundred in number) is decasyllabic with the break
after the fourth syllable. This verse has been widely studied by
scholars and their opinions here also vary. Karadic' maintained that
the quantity of the syllables and the caesura lay at the foundation of
the line of the Yugoslav heroic songs. He stressed the role of the
accent and tried to construct the Serbian meter by analogy with
Greek.
The next step was to stress the importance of the break and to
point out that the parts divided by it in the deseterac (four plus six)
corresponded to a syntactical division of the line, which was either a
complete sentence or an independent syntactical unit, i.e. without
enjambement.
Some scholars endeavored to go further in this connection and to
explain the verse more completely by its relation to music (Budmani
and Wollner). Recently   Kravtsov has suggested a new melodic
rhythm, one in which the first four syllables of the line are equal in
time to the other six syllables which follow, and each of the two
groups has four beats. This is Kravtsov's pattern::~     20 Li 11                 0
od o- no- ga    da- na i'e- mer- no- ga
The Russian scholar believes that his pattern explains all the features
of the Yugoslav heroic songs, and for this reason he considers it
nearer to reality.2
For our study the various theories are of little consequence. The
only important fact is that the line of the heroic song is composed of
ten syllables and that after the first four syllables there is a break.
e tFor other examples, see D. Suboti6, op. cit., pp. 28-30.
2 See for the reasons, N. Kravtsov, op. cit., pp. 162-166.




VERSE AND FORMULAS


171


There is no break between accented words, but such instances are
extremely rare.1 The following are some examples of typical deseterac:
1. Razvij barjak, / / udri u ledinu, (43)
I isturi / / pusku habernika, (44)
Vuk, III, No. 46.
2. Majka ciknu, / a iz grla viknu. (199)
Hormann, I, No. XI.
3. Vino piju / /do dva pobratima (1)
U visokoj / / kuli Hrnjidinoj, (2)
Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 38.
Lines composed of eleven syllables are rare, and then almost always
the superfluous syllable is in the first part. In the Mohammedan songs
of Matica Hrvatska, III and IV, eleven-syllable lines are found, but
bards sing three syllables as two in these lines.2 In the Hormann
collection, however, there are no lines of eleven syllables.3
Just as Karadzic tried to explain the meter of the Yugoslav heroic
songs on the basis of quantity, so there have been Albanians, like the
poets De Rada and Marchiano (Canti..., Ch. VIII), who have
maintained that there were traces of a quantity meter in the Albanian
heroic verse. True, the Albanian language has preserved a difference
in quantity between vowels. There is a difference in the length of the
vowel, between qe (was) and qe (oxen): the first being pronounced k'e
and the second k'E. Quantity, however, has ceased to be a differentiating element in the Albanian language. People understand what is
meant regardless of the pronunciation of the aforementioned words:
k'e or k'e. But even when the poet makes use of the quantity of
vowels, as Koliqi rightly says, he always has in mind the metric
pattern founded on the number of syllables and the rhythmic
accents.4
The true verse of Albanian popular heroic poetry - and of Albanian poetry, in general - is the octosyllabic verse. The great
Albanian poets, Naim Frasheri and P. Gjergj Fishta,5 have used in
their epic works the eight-syllable verse. Even in the translation of
1 See for South Slavic metrics the important article by R. Jakobson,
"Studies in Comparative Slavic Metrics," Oxford Slavonic Papers, III (1952),
pp. 21-66.
2 Cf. Matica Hrvatska, III, p. LV.
3 Cf. T. Maretid, op. cit., p. 37, footnote 2.
4 Cf. E. Koliqi, Epica popoklre albanese, Padova, 1937, p. 162.
5 Naim Frasheri, whose works are in the southern Albanian dialect, has
written the long epic Skenderbeu; P. Gjergj Fishta, who has written in the
northern dialect of Albania, has given us the powerful epic Lahuta e Malcis
(The Lute of the Mountains).




172


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


the Iliad Naim Frasheri has made use of the eight-syllable line. This
verse has two rhythmic patterns. The most common is that with the
accent on the third and seventh syllables. This rhythmic accent is
called by Fishta "the grammatical accent,"l meaning the ordinary
accent of the word. The following are some examples:
a. Southern dialect:
3               7
Nde/ u/ vra/ nga/ tri/ me/ ri/ ja
3      7
Namm' e mori Shqiperija
Mitko (ed. Pekmezi), p. 168.
b. Northern dialect:
3             7
1. Mu/staf/ Pa/sha/ del/ ke/ u/ra (1)
3               7
Fort shum halk kan dale tu kulla (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 18.
3                7
2. Tho/ni/, dja/li/ t'asht/ mar/ tu/e (20)
3             7
Vodh6 Zot! Se 9'nuse muer?
3            7
Mur tre pluma ne krahnuer! (22)
Prennushi, No. 96.
c. Italo-Albanian dialect:
3            7
Kur/ t'i/ shti/ni/ ve/ re/ Tur/kut
3              7
Pjot/ ju/ ku/pen/ me/ ja/ be/ni;
Scura, p. 280.
The other metric pattern of the octosyllabic heroic verse has the
accent on the fifth and seventh syllables. It is not often used. These
are examples:2
5       7
1. Te/ bar/dha/ si/ ci/p' e/ ve/se/
Mitko (ed. Pekmezi), p. 120.
1 Gj. Fishta, "Vjersha heroike shqyptare," (The Albanian Heroic Song),
Hylli i Dritis, XI (1935), 149.
2 See for more examples, E. Koliqi, op. cit., pp. 150-151; Gj. Fishta, op. cit.,
150.




VERSE AND FORMULAS


173


5      7
2. My/ftar/ be/ gu/ hi/pur/ ka/lit, (1)
5      7
Le/fton/ si/ pe/tri/t' i/ ma/ lit. (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 53b.
Lambertz has expressed the opinion that in the Albanian songs
there is the seven-syllable line, next to that of eight syllables.l But
Koliqi, who is himself a poet, maintains that the supposed heptasyllabic lines are deficient octosyllabic.2 There is a seven syllable verse
in the Albanian songs, but this is distinct, it is not mixed with the
octosyllabic line.
Unlike the Yugoslav, the Albanian heroic songs are characterized
by final rhyme or assonance. Only in the traditional songs of the
Albanian settlements in Italy are the assonances rare and the rhymes
still rarer. Yet the Yugoslav epic songs have now and then a kind of
rhyme. In the deseterac we meet with an inner rhyme:
1. Majka ciknu, a iz grla viknu: (199)
Hormann, I, No. XI.
2. Sve no pije, ni mukajet nije. (310)
Hbrmann, I, No. XXXIX.
This kind of rhyme is rare also in the bugargtice. Similar to Yugoslav
oral epic poetry, however, the Albanian heroic songs are composed of
lines which syntactically form a unit, i.e., the enjambements are
extremely rare.
There is a variety of rhymes and assonances in the Albanian heroic
songs. The most common pattern is a, a, but these can also be a, a, or
a, a, a, a. There are other songs which follow the model a, b, a, b.
Sometimes we find the same rhyme or assonance for a considerable
number of lines. In "The Song of Marko Bogari from Suli" (Mitko, ed.
Pekmezi, pp. 141-143), containing more than seventy octosyllabic
lines, only six end in y, all the other lines have as a rhyme or assonance i. The following are some examples of lines of Albanian heroic
songs:
a. rhyme:
1. Pse m'a thate kete fjale,
M'erdhi keq, si per nj djale.
Mitko (ed. Pekmezi), p. 152.
1M. Lambertz, Die Volkspoesie der Albaner, Sarajevo, 1917, p. 4.
2 E. Koliqi, op. cit., p. 153.




174


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


2. U dynd deti prej tallazit,
Vojti fjala n' Cetine Knjazit:
Ke bjen djelli e ke men hdna,
Si Gjin Leken s'ban ma ndna,
As n' Beglere, as n' Kapidana. (52)
Vis. e Komb., I, No. 48.
b. assonance:
1. Me te dyja e q11oi (6)
Neper dyzetmije shkoi: (7)
Vis. e Komb., I, No. 74.
2. Rakip bej te erth nje karte
Mblidh asqer'e kthen prape.
Mitko (ed. Pekmezi), p. 155.
3. Gjithmone Shkodra me kto halle, (1)
Kurr nuk pati rahati,
I shkoi moti neper male
Tue luftue me Mal' te Zi. (4). Vis. e Komb., I, No. 36.
When Dieterich wrote about Balkan folk poetry, the rhapsodies
about the brothers Mujo and Halil had not yet been printed. The first
to call attention to them was Professor Gasper Jakova, who in his
appendix to the Grammar of the Albanian Language (1904) published
one of the songs about Mujo.1 It was natural then that Dieterich
should not have mentioned anything about another Albanian heroic
verse, the ten-syllable verse. The rhapsodies which have this kind of
verse are those centering around the brothers Mujo and Halil and the
variants of "Gjegj Elez Alija." The fact that only these Albanian epic
songs, which have many common motifs and partly the same cultural
pattern as the Bosnian Moslem songs, as we endeavored to show in
the previous chapters, should have the same decasyllabic meter as
the Serbian rhapsodies is further evidence of the latter's imprint on
them.
In the Albanian rhapsodies of the Mujo-Halil cycle we do not meet
with the strict observance of the deseterac. There are reasons for this.
First of all, in the dialect of northern Albania all the vowels are not as
clear as in Serbocroatian. The semivowel e (a) at the end of a word,
as already explained, is ordinarily not pronounced and instead the
preceding syllable is lengthened. e is very frequently in the final
1 Cf. F. Cordignano, "Proucavanje narodne poezije u Albaniji" (The Study
of Popular Poetry in Albania), Prilozi prou6. nar. poez., VI (1939), 173.




VERSE AND FORMULAS


175


position in Albanian. The diphthong ue in the northern dialect is
often monophthongized, when the word is pronounced. It is then
difficult to know precisely when the e and the ue are pronounced in a
line, when the rhapsodies are sung. Secondly, the characteristics of
the Yugoslav heroic verse are the break at a definite place and the
ten-syllables verse - two rigidly fixed features. The genuinely
Albanian heroic songs are octosyllabic, with two patterns of accents
and a great variety of rhyme and assonance. The Albanian singer,
therefore, feels a greater freedom in dealing with verse. Thirdly, as
the deseterac is not the meter that the Albanian mountaineer feels
exactly as his own, it is natural not to stick closely to it.
It is not easy then to find the break in the Albanian songs of the
Mujo-Halil cycle. Koliqi maintains that the break is after the fourth
syllable, as in Serbian.1 The Franciscan collectors believe that it is at
the end of the line: "Every line has at the end a caesura, a long one,
which has a connection with the next line."2 What the Franciscan
brothers regard as the "caesura" seems to be the same as the end of the
syntactical unit, which is the end of the line in both the Serbian and
Albanian heroic poetry. We are inclined to side with Koliqi. The
difficulty is that in the texts one is confronted with a variety of
verses - heptasyllabic, octosyllabic, decasyllabic, etc. - and that
both the Franciscan editors and Koliqi agree that the lines of the
rhapsodies become ten syllables when sung. The former even say
textually: "All the songs of the lahuta [meaning the rhapsodies] are
sung without exception in ten syllables, according to the musical
rhythm; but when recited, they are nine or ten syllables frequently
mixed with eight or seven syllables."3 One cannot easily decide about
the place of the break because one does not know exactly how the
singer will complete the verse. The following are some examples of
lines which need completion in song:
1. Pashi gurrat, ku uj pini, (209)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 1.
2. E kurr odet nuk ka dalS; (254)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2.
3. Kush me sy kurr s'e ka pa! (255)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2.
4. Se trimnit na zbashkut i kem ba; (121)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 6.


1 Cf. E. Koliqi, op. cit., pp. 159 and 161.
2 Visaret e Kombit, II, p. XIII.        3 Ibid.




176


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


In the first instance the line is composed of eight syllables. The
second verse can be read both as heptasyllabic or octosyllabic, depending on whether we pronounce the final e or not. In the third line
the syllables are only seven. The fourth example contains nine
distinct syllables. While we can say that in the first two lines the
break falls after the fourth syllable, we cannot very well say the
same thing about the last two lines. There are, however, a great many
ten syllable lines in the collections in which the break clearly
appears to be after the fourth syllable. Such examples are:
1. T' gjitha lavdet // Muji po na i merr: (122)
Sot po dahna, / / Gjeto Basho Muji! (123)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 6.
2. Treqint topa / / per 'i here e kan gjue, (72)
Trimije Shkje / / mprapa i jane vu; (73)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 9.
3. Le konakun, / / Muj8, qi s' po t'a fikin, (59)
Ma zi fisin, / /Muje, po na koritin. (60)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 4.
In order to produce the required number of syllables for the lines,
the Albanian and Yugoslav singers use various devices. As in Serbocroatian there are two accusatives, one animate and the other inanimate, and the former contains more syllables than the latter, we
often find in the heroic songs one accusative replacing the other.
There are even instances when not only the adjective takes the animate form but also the noun which it qualifies:
Znas onoga vakta i zamana (14)
Hormann, I, No. XXXIX.
If the correct form had been used, we would have had a deficient line:
Znas onaj vakt i zaman, a seven syllable verse. The vocative is sometimes used instead of the nominative in order to complete the line:
Sa snjim brat mu Komnen barjaktare (5)
Vuk, III, No. 26.
Had the singer used the correct form, the nominative, we would have
had barjaktar, which would have given us a nine-syllable line. At
times the ethical dative serves the purpose:
Je 1' mi i sad na uspravo kula? (837)
Hormann, II, No. XL.




VERSE AND FORMULAS


177


A parasitic -ka or an ej are made use of for the completion of the line:
a. Dodat cu ti knjigu od sebeka (399)
Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 40.
b. Dico moja, vec ej-sahatile! (566)
Mat. Hrv., III, No. 1.
But sometimes the lines must be shortened in the Yugoslav songs in
order to preserve their rigid meter of ten syllables. The sounds i and e
are dropped at the end of monosyllabic words like bi, se, me, mi, and
in the middle of long words, such as ufat'te or doved'te. The same
takes place in ti's, ne's (from ti 6es, ne ce9). There are also short forms
of past gerunds as podvis instead of podvivSi (having enveloped), or
rekavs instead of rekavSi (having spoken).
Few scholars have written about the difference between the recitation and the singing of the Albanian heroic songs. One of the first was
Lambertz. He tells us that the mountaineers place after the first half
of the line an o, or o more, or o more o, meaning "Oh, you," and at the
end of each line an o. As they also begin with an o, Lambertz gives us
this example:
Tahir pasha qan me lot (recited)
Oooh! Tahir pasha, o more, qan me lot, oooh! (sung)'
It does not seem to us that the two oooh-s, at the beginning and at the
end, are used in such instances for the completion of the verse. If we
count them as syllables, we will have a line of twelve syllables, which
is not an Albanian heroic meter. But the word na which is often
inserted in the lines, as in the examples na i ca than (he has said to
him) or na u dridh toka (the earth has quaked), giben by Lambertz, is
used for the purpose of completing the verse. It is a mistake, however,
to explain na as a "deictic" and translate it as German "sieh," as
Lambertz does.2 Apparently Lambertz has confused it with the
Modern Greek na, which has exactly the meaning of "sieh." Na as a
"deictic" in northern Albanian does not exist at all; it can seldom be
found as such even in southern Albania, where there has been cultural
Greek influence. The Albanian "deictic" is ja, both in the north and in
the south of the country. Na in the instances given by Lambertz is
definitely an ethical dative, the dative of the plural of the first
personal pronoun. The ethical dative is a common element used for
completion of the verse. We sometimes find it attached to the verb:
Baca Muje, pa ndigjoma i fjale! (192)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 6.
1 M. Lambertz, op. cit., p. 6.
2 Ibid., p. 7.
12




178


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


Ndigjoma here is formed from ndigjo (listen, hear - imperative) plus
me (to me - dative) plus e (it, referring tofjale, which means "word"),
accusative. Me plus e give, by contraction, ma in Albanian.
Hasluck is another student of Albanian heroic songs who has been
interested in the difference between singing and recitation. Commenting on her variant about the battle of Kosovo, she adds that in singing
the lines became:
more similar in length, through the frequent insertion of an accented, though
meaningless, o and e, the former in the middle, and the latter at the end, of the
line. To quote from the manuscript of Nosi I, which gives the words as sung,
the spoken or printed line:
Kush ka marrun haram t'huej (104)
(Who has taken forbidden fruit)
becomes, when sung,
Kush ka marrun-o haram t'hueje (127)... Since the sole purpose of the o and e is to smooth the run of the verse,
they may be attached to any part of speech. Such insertions are characteristic
of Albanian song in general.1
It does not seem true that the position of the o is always in the
middle of the line. In one of the rhapsodies of the Mujo-Halil cycle
we read these lines:
Kan nise vashat kangen-o, (353)
Kan nis6 krushqit vallen-o,
Kan kersitun majet-o. (355)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 1.
As for the e, there are plenty of lines in the rhapsodies where its
position is within the line. Besides, the e is not used in order "to
smooth the run of the verse," but also in order to fill out syllables in
the line. The Franciscan collectors, Palaj and Kurti, tell us that the
Albanian singers complete the syllables by inserting an e between
consonants of a word or at the end of a word, as for instance pvete (he
asks) becomes pevete, kndon (he sings) becomes kendon, dhan (given)
becomes dhane, sot (today) becomes sot-e.2 E is also used in Montenegrin songs for the completion of the syllables:
A samsobom te e besedio:
I s njime e Hrnjavina Mujo
A s Mujom e Goenni Halile.
Milutinovic, p. 48.
M. Hasluck, "An Albanian Ballad on the Assassination in 1389 of Sultan
Murad I on Kosovo Plain," Occident and Orient, Gaster Anniversary Volume,
London, 1936, p. 223.
2 Visaret e Kombit, II, p. XIII.




VERSE AND FORMULAS


179


What e is for the mountaineers of northern Albania, vo is for the
singers of the Albanian settlements in Italy. The following are some
examples of the latter case:
1. Ku me jeshe trim i rijvo (6)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 103.
2. Po me lote te syvovet; (22)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 105.
Koliqi, who, like the Franciscan brothers, heard the mountaineers
recite as well as sing their rhapsodies, asserts that the greater part of
the rhapsodies follow an unequal rhythm and have a tendency to be
reduced to the octosyllabic, which, in order to be sung according to
the melody used for them and adhering only to the decasyllabic
verse, are prolonged after the third syllable with a more (Oh, you), an
interjection often used, and with a tha (he said).l More had already
been mentioned by Lambertz, and tha has been considered, along
with the word kqyr (see), as a means for completing the line by the
Franciscan collectors.2 But Koliqi has been too precise in placing the
two fillers after the third syllable, particularly since he maintains that
the break is after the fourth syllable. Whereas tha, being monosyllabic,
fits with the meter, for it completes the first part of the deseterac with
the first three syllables, the more, a bisyllabic word, infringes upon it.
The following are some examples in which the fillers are used:
Pa ndigjoni, more shoke kreshnike! (120)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 6.
Shpejt te nana - tha -- paska shkue (122)
Ka nise nanes - tha - me i diftue. (123)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 10.
Kqyr Halili shka i ka thane: (237)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2.
The Albanian singers do not have the grammatical facilities of
their Yugoslav colleagues for the completion of the line. Although
sometimes we come across the use of the nominative instead of the
accusative, we notice that it serves no purpose, for it does not increase
or decrease the number of syllables. Whether the singer sings trimi
(the hero, nominative) or trimin (the hero, accusative) does not change
the syllabic structure of the lime. However, when we look at the
rhapsodies of the Mujo-Halil cycle, we are inclined to believe that the
e, which is quite often found at the end of a name (and as a rule the
names have been borrowed from the Serbian songs), is the Serbocroatian vocative.
1 Cf. E. Koliqi, op. cit., p. 161.  2 Cf. Visaret e Kombit., II, p. XIII.
12*




180


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


The vocative in the Serbian songs is used more than correct speech
permits. As has already been mentioned, it often replaces the nominative. Since the proper names in the Yugoslav songs are masculine,
they often end in -e, this being the ending of the Serbocroatian
vocative. Halil is often met in the Serbian rhapsodies as sokole
(falcon) Halile, where both sokole and Halile are in the vocative case.
When we look more attentively at these expressions, we notice that
each is composed of six syllables. As sokole Halile is always found at
the end of a line, we draw the conclusion that it forms the latter part
of the deseterac. The singer uses the two words together; they are for
him a formula.
This appears to be the case in the Albanian rhapsodies. Sokole
Halili are encountered in them as constituting in the line the last six
syllables after the break, exactly as the Yugoslav counterpart:
Fort ka britun / / Sokole Halili (647)
Vis. e Komb., II, N. 4.
or
Njani p6r em6n / / Sokole Halili. (51)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 6.
But the introduction of the Serbian vocative becomes more apparent
in the line:
Pa nigjo, more krajle kapedane! (585)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 4.
Kralj and kapetan are two Serbian words frequently encountered in
the Yugoslav songs. There they often take the form of the vocative,
but they are never together. Apparently the Albanian singer took the
forms in which he had heard those words, making the Albanian
metathesis, for the e-s are not used for the completion of the verse. If
we count the syllables they are eleven. If the expression krajle
kapedane had taken the Albanian form, in two instances we would
have had lines of ten syllables without the need of e-s, and in one the
line would have been composed of nine syllables:
a. Pa nigjo, more krajli kapedan,
Pa nigjo, more krajl kapedani.
b. Pa nigjo, more krajl kapedan.
But -e is undoubtedly used for the completion of the line and has
absolutely no relation to the Serbocroatian vocative in the following
line:
Shum-e paret / / plaku po ja u njeh6, (37)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 10.




VERSE AND FORMULAS11


181


Shum is an Albanian word, which is not a noun but an adverb (much)
or a pronoun (many). It could not have been borrowed from Serbian.
When reading the Albanian or Yugoslav heroic songs one is struck
by the frequency of repetitions. These can be one word, half a line, a
whole line, and at times a considerable number of lines, in various
places in the song. The repetitions may also be found in the epic
songs of other Balkan peoples. IDieterich writes:
Der epische Charakter vieler Volkslieder des Balkans, besonders des serbischen, Axd~ert sich durch die h~iufige Anwendung des epischen Mittels, in
aufeinander folgenden Versen entweder einzelne Worte oder ganze Verse sich
wiederholen zu lassen. Das erstere kann geschehen durch Wiederholung
gleicher Worter im Anfang der Verse oder durch Hinudbernahme des letzten
Wortes in den Anfang des folgenden Verses.'
These are not the only repetitions we find in the Yugoslav and
Albanian oral epic poetry. There is a variety of them, particularly in
the two cycles about the brothers Mujo and Halil. The following are
some examples:
Serbian:
a. Pobratirne buljukbas'e Mujo, (8)
-  ~     Sto s'ne Z'enis', slatici pobratirne  (9)
Pobrcttime, Babi6 Huseine, (11)
I ja znadem slatki pobratime. (12)
H~rmann, I, No. XXXIII.
b. Da6un tebi pafina putalja, (55)
A da6u ti pagine haljine,
A dadu ti pas'?/no omzije,
I da~u ti hiljadu dukata. (58)
H~rmann, I, No. IV.
Albanian:
a. Kan6 marr8 shpatin porsi lop&~, (2)
Porsi lop&~ e pors~i dhit!
Prennushi, No. 17.
b. N'Karonic dona me hii (1 5)
N'Karonic na duem me shkue, (16)
Prennushi, No. 5.
c. T'u mrizu ndoshta qillojn6, (24)
T'u fiaditi6 ndoshta qillojnj. (25)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 1..


'-K. Dieterich, op. cit., 408.




182


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


d. Husen Huka, burre i holle. (1)
Kenka nise me ra n' Gjakove,
Husen Huka, burre i holle. (9)
Prennushi, No. 5.
e. Karadaku brigje, brigje
Prite Shqiperine prite.
Nje djal8 nga Qafezezi,
Mbante sqepare per brezi,
Karadaku, brigje, brigje.
Mitko (ed. Pekmezi), p. 171.
But often repeated single words, expressions, or complete sentences
and periods become stereotyped. They are met with in more than one
song. Meillet states:
L'epop6e homerique est toute faite de formules que se transmettaient les
poetes. Qu'on prenne un morceau quelconque, on reconnait vite qu'il se compose de vers ou de fragments de vers qui se retrouvent textuellement dans un
ou plusieurs passages. Et meme les vers dont on ne retrouve pas les morceaux
dans un autre passage ont aussi le caractere de formules, et ce n'est sans doute
que par hasard qu'ils ne sont pas conserves ailleurs.1
And Parry adds:
Les poetes epiques ont construit et conserve a travers les g6n6rations une
technique de formules tres complexe, constituee dans ses plus petits details a
la fois pour exprimer d'une maniere convenable les idees propres a '6epos et
pour attenuer les difficultee de la versification.2
No doubt the formulas have facilitated the work of the singer. Whenever he is at a loss, he can insert one of those he has in store and can
continue singing. But these formulas in the beginning were individual
expressions. They had to pass through a long road of development
before they became fixed expressions. As they are a way of idealization, they had to correspond also to the ideals of the society in which
they were created. Social selection gradually limited the circle of the
individual expressions and consecrated those which society accepted.
This is the reason why in Serbian oral epic poetry the epithets and
the formulas are generally reflections of a feudal society. This is also
the reason why in the Albanian heroic songs the formulas are reflections
of an environment in which men uphold honor and disdain life without it. The singer began to use them as such, when they had already
been codified into certain types.3
The simplest kind of formula is the epithet. As Parry defines it, it is a
1 A. Meillet, Les origines indo-europeenes des metres grecs, Paris, 1923, p. 61,
as quoted by M. Parry, L'dpithete traditionnelle dans Homere, Paris, 1928, p. 10.
2 M. Parry, op. cit., p. 10.
3 Cf. N. Kravtsov, op. cit., pp. 152-154.




VERSE AND FORMULAS


183


"word added to a noun, without the intermediary of a copula, in
order to qualify it."l It does not become ornamental
que lorsque son sens, perdant sa propre valeur, se confond tellement avec
l'idee de son substantif qu'il n'est plus possible de l'en s6parer. L'epithete fixe
donne alors a la combinaison de substantif et d'epithete un 6lement de noblesse
et de grandeur, mais rien de plus. Elle ne forme, avec son substantif, qu'une
maniere h6roique d' exprimer 1' id6e de ce substantif; et le lecteur, sentant cela,
se montre, pour le sens particularise possible de 1' 6pithete, d' une indifference.2
The following are some Serbian and Albanian epithets found in the
heroic songs:
a. Serbian: bijela ruka (white hand), bijeli grad (white city), bijela
knjiga (white letter), bijeli dan (white day), ravno polje (flat field),
vjeran sluga (faithful), tvrda vjera (firm faith), noge lagane (swift legs),
vile gorske (mountain vilas), vile planinkinje (mountainous vilas),
jabuka od zlata (golden apple), delija neznana (unknown hero), sivi
soko (grey falcon), gecerli kahva (sugared coffee), dobri junak (good
hero), dobri konj (good horse), puJka haberdara (alarm weapon), sitna
knjiga (thin letter).
b. Albanian: dita e bardhi (white day), leter e bardhe (white letter),
ore te bardha (white fairies), mjesnate e bardhi (white midnight), leter e
mire (good letter), leter e holle (thin letter), ora e bjeshkevet (the fairy of
the mountains), zana e malit (the fairy of the mountains), kafe me
sheqer (coffee with sugar), pika e djalit (the quintessence of a hero),
trim drague (brave dragon), sokol me flete (winged falcon), djali i djalit
(the hero of the heroes), pushka habertare (alarm weapon).
When one looks at the above list one recognizes certain similarities
and dissimilarities. The epithets for the heroes differ in the heroic
poetry of both lands. You will never find the epithet "unknown,"
applied to a hero, in Albanian songs. A "golden apple" is also an
expression you will not encounter in Albanian heroic poems. But the
epithet "white" is used almost as much in the Albanian songs as in
the Serbian songs. The same can be said about "mountainous," in
regard to vilas, zana-s, and ore (the fairies). These common epithets
are mostly found in the Albanian Mujo-Halil cycle. The most typical
Albanian borrowings from the Serbian songs are "a thin letter" - it
does not exist in the other Albanian songs - and the "alarm weapon,'
which are met only in the rhapsodies of the brothers Mujo and Halil.
Another observation one can make after examining the list, is that
the Serbian epithets together with their nouns are generally composed
either of four or six syllables. Those which are composed of five, as
noge lagane, can easily form six syllables with the aid of a preposition.
1 M. Parry, op. cit., p. 24 (footnote).
2 Ibid., p. 158.




184


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


In other words, the formulas which consist of four syllables can be used
by the singer to complete the first part of the deseterac, and those
which have six syllables can well fill out the second part. The same
tendency is noticed in the Albanian fixed epithets and the nouns with
which they are combined. However, it is difficult to speak with certainty on account of the e-s at the end. Yet in such an example as ora
e bjeshkevet (the fairy of the mountains) in the Mujo-Halil cycle, one
can easily see the six syllables. One thing is important about the
fixed epithets; they are not used for the meaning but primarily for
their value in regard to meter.l
This brings us again to the three-part names we meet in the MujoHalil cycle. "The heroes Gjergj Elez Alija, Destar Osman Aga, Bur
Eleze Krajli, Siran Osman Aga, Bud Aline Tall, Ager Isvan Aga,
Sokol' Halil Aga, Hake Vrak Shabani and others," writes Q(abej, "are
similar to the three-part personal names of northern Albania." He
then adds:
In the cycle of Mujo and Halil this tendency is so strong that even names
of two parts become, with the repetition of one part, names of three parts:
Aga Hasan Age, beg-e Mehmet begu, Begu Allaj Beg, Begu Hasan Beg, Pasha
Hasan Pashe, Ali Borxh Alija, et cetera.2
Indeed, Qabej is right when he speaks about the northern Albanian
fondness for three-part names and that "the three-part names of
persons, which are common to northern and southern Albania, are old
traces of an ancient Albanian unity,"3 although these "old traces" do
not seem to be as old as the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries, for the
names in that period appear as two-part names.4 But Qabej is wrong
when he believes, impressed by the frequency of such names as Aga
Hasan Age or Begu Alaj Beg in the Mujo-Halil cycles, that the three
part names are an indication of the "giving role of the Albanian
popular epic poetry within this cycle."5
The three-part names in the Bosnian rhapsodies of the brothers
Mujo and Halil have been determined by requirements of meter: they
fit the pattern of the deseterac. The three-part personal names in the
Serbian songs form, as a rule, the latter part of the line, the one after
1 Ibid., p. 208.
2 E. 9abej, "Per gjenezen e literatures shqipe" (About the Genesis of
Albanian Literature), Hylli i Drit&s, XV (1939), 161-162.
3 Ibid. See also by the same author, "Die albanische Volksdichtung,"
Leipziger Vierteljahrsschrift fir Siidosteuropa, III (1939), 204.
4 Cf. K. Jire6ek, "Albanien in der Vergangenheit," Illyrisch-albanische
Forschungen, I, Munchen und Leipzig, 1916, p. 70.
5 E. (abej, "Per gjenez6n e literatures shqipe," Hylli i Drites, XV (1939),
162; See also by the same author, "Die albanische Volksdichtung," Leipziger
Vierteljahrsschrift fur Siidosteuropa, III (1939), 203.




VERSE AND FORMULAS


185


the break. This happens when, as two-part names, they do not
consist of six syllables. In one line, Osman is a two-part name; in
another, he is a three-part name:
a. Ja sam junak iz Turske Udbinje, (160)
Po imenu / / Arnaut-Osmane (161)
Vuk, III, No. 28.
b. Pobratime, / / Tanak Osman-aga! (15)
Vuk, III, No. 24.
In the Albanian songs of Mujo and Halil the three-part personal
names are a reflection of the Bosnian tendency. Of course, the acceptance of this tendency by the singers of the north was facilitated because it suited the existing Albanian pattern of three-part names.
Nearly all the three-part names given in the first list by Qabej are
found in one form or another in the Serbian songs, particularly in
those of the Mujo-Halil cycle. Each of them is composed of six syllables. They fit the latter part of the deseterac well. As in the songs of
Mujo and Halil the ten-syllable verse, with the break after the fourth
syllable, is the Albanian meter, the names have been preserved in
their Serbian form.
There may be instances when the form of a Serbian name is transformed in Albanian. We have already seen that cetobaso Mujo has
been changed in Albanian to Gjeto Basho Mujo. A similar example is
Djerzelez Alija or Gerzelez Alija of the Bosnian songs - the bloodbrother of Kraljevic Marko - which in Albanian has become Gjergj
Elez Alija.
It becomes more apparent that we have to deal here with a loan
from the Serbian heroic songs, if we look at the second list of names
given by Qabej. In it the Turkish titles - age, beg, and pasha - are
repeated as is the custom in the Yugoslav songs. The repetition provides
the name with the necessary syllables to fill out the latter part of the
deseterac. Nowhere else in Albanian oral epic poetry do such repetitions of titles take place. In an Albanian song the title would be
mentioned only once, as in the following line:
Por thuej Pashes edhe Allaj begut; (30)
Prennushi, No. 12.
Since the Moslem names are generally composed of two syllables,
the Serbian singers found it convenient to repeat the title and give it
the form necessary to fit the pattern of the verse. We are inclined to
believe, however, that this is not the case with the Montenegrins,
judging from Milutinovi6's collection. We rarely find the repetition of




186


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


titles in songs included in it - and they are perhaps of Hercegovinian
origin. If name and surname are not given together with the title, the
epithet silan (strong) is often used for the completion of the verse:
1. Cetu kupi Lekic Hasan-Bego,
Od krvave seher Podgorica.
Milutinovic, p. 40.
2. Podizese silni Mehmet-paka.
Milutinovi6, p. 35.
3. Gradju gradi silan Alaj-pasa.
Milutinovi6, p. 37.
Both in the Serbian and the Albanian rhapsodies the Mohammedan
names with titles repeated are found at the end of the line. In (abej's
examples only Begu Allaj Beg and Begu Hasan Beg do not form six
syllables. This is the result of the Albanian language which gives the
definite form to one part of the name only. The following are some
examples which illustrate the correspondence between the Serbian
and Albanian three-part names of persons:
a. Serbian:
1. To kad zacu / / aga Jazap-aga. (83)
Vuk, III, No. 47.
2. Govori mu / / beze Mustaj beze. (13)
Hirmann, I, No. XXXIX.
3. Trazec kulu / / paae Djaja-page. (16)
Vuk, IV, No. 45.
b. Albanian:
1. Ndersa ishte / / beg-e Mehmet begu. (69)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 3.
2. As s' ia ka dhane / / Pashes Hasan Pashe. (9)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 15.
3. Kur kish ken6 / / Begu Alaj Begu. (3)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 15.
A three-part name, composed of titles, is very seldom found in the
first part of the ten-syllable lines. It must contain four syllables. This
can happen in Serbian only with beg, which is monosyllabic. We can
have then such an example, Beg Mustaj beg. Aga and paga may be
used only once in the beginning of a line, because if they are repeated,




VERSE AND FORMULAS


187


they will, by themselves, create the first part of the deseterac. If we
also take into account that in the Yugoslav and Albanian oral epic
poetry inversion is frequent, we can understand more easily why the
probability of coming across a personal name in the beginning of a
line is small. But in the event that in Albanian a two-syllable personal name comes at the beginning of a line, the only instance when
the title beg or age (ag) may be repeated, is in the vocative case. In all
other instances at least one of the titles will receive the post-positive
article of the determinate form or of the case, constituting thus a
bisyllabic word and eliminating the repetition of the title:
Mehmet begu / jete ka ndrrue. (120)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 3.
(begu is nominative of the definite form). The three-part names, used
as formulas for metrical purposes, are additional evidence of the
Serbian influence on the Albanian rhapsodies of the Mujo-Halil
cycle.
The formulas are not always epithets or repeated titles in a name.
They are often whole lines or a number of lines. They may be repeated in the same song or found unaltered, or only slightly changed,
in other songs. When used in the same song, they often produce the
retardation of the development of the subject. The singers have these
formulas in store and can use them when they feel them to be appropriate. The formula has been defined by Parry as "a group of
words which is regularly employed under the same metrical conditions
to express a given essential idea."' As epithets, the formulas bear the
stamp of the society which codified them. In Albanian oral epic
poetry the most striking examples deal with honor and heroism:
1. M'a ka lane baba amanet (40)
Mos me ra n6 dor6 sa te kem fysheke. (41)
Vis. e Komb., IV, I, No. 43a.
(Transl.: My father has left to me as a testament not to surrender as
long as I have cartridges.)
2. S' kam bajte marre se kam le, (14)
S' kam 9ue marre kurr te shpija, (15)
Si t' kallxon njitash alltija. (16)
Prennushi, No. 12.
(Transl.: I have not been dishonored since I have been born, I have
never brought shame to my family, as the pistol shows you now.)
1 M. Parry, "Studies in the Epic Technique of Oral Verse-Making," Harvard
Studies in Classical Philology, XLI (1930), p. 80.




188


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


3. Kah len djelli, kah len hana, (18)
Zhu Selman nuk ban ma nana,
As ne begler', as n' kapidana. (20)
Vis. e Komb., IV, 1, No. 7b.
(Transl.: In the east and the west, no mother can give birth to another Zhu Selman, either among the beys or among the captains.)
But in the Mujo-Halil cycle of the Yugoslavs and the Albanians we
meet quite a few common formulas. Obviously, they are Serbian in
origin, for we do not come across them in other Albanian songs. Such
are the following examples:
Serbian:
1. Tad Husein na noge skocio. (112)
Hormann, I, No. IV.
(Transl.: Then Husein jumped to his feet.)
2. Malo vrime, dugo ne poteze. (469)
Mat. Hrv., IV, No. 40.
or
Malo bilo, za dugo ne bilo. (94)
Vuk, II, No. 59.
(Both meaning: A little while [passed], it did not take long.)
3. Majko moja, kuhaj brasljenice. (103)
H6rmann, I, No. XXXIX.
(Transl.: My mother, cook provisions for the journey.)
Albanian:
1. Alla n' kambe vrik kenka que. (221)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 26.
(Transl.: He swiftly jumped to his feet.)
2. Pak ka ngjate e shum s' ka vonue.
Taipi, p. 251.
or
Pak vonon, shume s' ka vonue. (268)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 23.
(The meaning of both: A little time passed, it did not take long.)
3. Qou tri shujte haz6r me na i ba.
Taipi, o. 248.
(Transl.: Get up [mother] and prepare three journey provisions for
us.) However, we have never found in the Albanian songs the very




VERSE AND FORMULAS


189


common Serbian formula for counting the time by using always dan
(day), as for instance:
Evo ima tri nedilje dana. (296)
Mat. Hrv., III, No. 14.
(Transl.: See, three weeks of "days" have elapsed.) On the contrary,
we often encounter the very usual Serbian formula of shedding tears.
In the songs of the Yugoslavs, when the heroes receive letters from
people who are in straits - sometimes they are not, but the formula
is indifferent about their condition - they shed tears while or after
reading them. Marko Kraljevi6 cries when he reads the letter of
Vojvoda Milos, who informs him that he is in prison:
Roni suze niz juna6ko lice. (109)
Vuk, II, No. 69.
(Transl.: He sheds tears down the heroic face.) In the rhapsodies of
the Mujo-Halil cycle, - and only there - the Albanian heroes reacts
in the same way. When a letter reached Mujo, the bard sings:
E ka marre letren e ka kndue, (43)
Fort Muja isht ngushtue,
Lotet per faqe m' i kan6 shkue. (45)
Vis. e Komb., IV, 2, No. 8.
(Transl.: Mujo got the letter and read it. He was much grieved and
tears ran down his cheeks.)
Sometimes a complete description may take the form of a formula.
Such a description is that of a battle:
Magla pade od neba do zemlje, (226)
Nit' se vidi neba ni oblaka
Od onoga praha puscanoga. (228)
Vuk, IV, No. 26.
(Transl.: The fog falls from the sky to the earth; from that powder of
guns neither sky nor cloud are seen.) At other times a whole motif
may be included in a formula. The dressing of women or the harnessing
of horses are such instances. These may be called themes. Basically,
themes are not different from formulas. They are longer than the
latter and contain a group of ideas - they are a subject unit. Marjanovi6 tells us that Alija Prosia, a singer, used in his songs seventy to
one hundred lines in clothing a woman.' We have no such examples in
Albanian songs. Their length is not sufficient to permit such themes.


1 Matica Hrvatska, III, p. xxxvii.




190


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


In comparison to the Serbian songs of the Mujo-Halil cycle, they are
very short. Here is one of the longest themes in Albanian rhapsodies:
Qpejt, Halil, gjogat me i shillue (8)
E t'ja u shtim frenat e florinit
E t'ju veme shalat e telatinit,
T'ja u merthejme me kater kollana. (11)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 14.
(Transl.: Halil, let us quickly harness the white horses; let us put on
them the golden reins, let us put on them the calf leather saddles, and
let us fasten them with four girdles.) Its Serbian counterpart is much
more elaborate.
Another theme in the Albanian Mujo-Halil cycle is the way in
which prisoners are questioned. We have not come across it in a more
or less exact form in the Serbian heroic songs. An imprisoned hero is
asked:
A jau ka merzite balta deri n'gju, (81)
A jau ka merzit8 mjekra per pa u rrue,
A jau kan merzite kemisha per pa u ndrue. (83)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 16.
(Transl.: Have you been irked by the mud deep up the knee? Have
you got tired of the unshaven beard? Or are you disgusted by the
shirts because you have not changed them?) But the formula we find in
the Albanian rhapsodies about women writing letters in blood is more
elaborate in Serbian:
U lice je perom udarila, (146)
Od obraza krvi otvorila,
Marku sitnu knjigu napisala: (148)
Vuk, II, No. 66.
(Transl.: She pricked her face with a pen, from the face blood came
out, [and] to Marko she wrote a fine letter.)
It is hard to find themes in the genuine Albanian songs. They are
too short. Only one appears to be long. The dying hero tells his friend:
Ne te pevetet nana per mue!
Thuej Mahmudi t'a martue.
Ne te pevetet se 9'grue muer:
Muer dy pluma n6 krahnuer.
Taipi, p. 1.
(Transl.: If my mother asks you about me, tell her that Mahmud is
married. If she asks whom he took for a bride, [tell her that] he took




VERSE AND FORMULAS


191


two bullets into his breast.) This is met in other songs essentially
unaltered. The only change at times is that the third line is missing.
Many of the beginnings of Albanian and Yugoslav epic songs are
formulas. The variety is great in the genuine Albanian songs.l As they
are short, however, their beginnings are also brief. They sometimes
begin with the description of the hero:
1. Myftar begu hipur kalit (1)
Lefton si petrit' i malit. (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 53b.
(Transl.: Myftar bey mounted on his horse fights like a falcon of the
mountain.)
2. Sulejman aga i gjate e i holle (1)
Po ban veren tek bje bore. (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 42.
(Transl.: Sulejman aga, tall and slim, spends the summer where it
snows.)
3. Njatje poshte-o te mullini (1)
Lufte po bate Rexhep trimi. (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 50.
(Transl.: There below the mill, the hero Rexhep was fighting.)
At other times a question followed by an answer, introducing us to
the subject, forms the beginning of a song:
1. Kush i dogji kullat e Qarit? (1)
Rakip beu i zylyftarit! (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 706.
(Transl.: Who set fire to the fortresses of Qari? Rakip bey of
Zylyftari.)
2. Vesel Pasha po pevet6: (1)
Zot, asqerin shka e ka gjet6?
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 49.
(Transl.: Vesel Pasha is asking: God, what has happened to the
army?)
3. Kush e bori, proto fora? (1)
Kapedan Spiro Labova. (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 78.
(Transl.: Who distinguished himself first? The Captain Spiro Labova.)
A favorite beginning in the songs of northern or southern Albania,


1 The examples have been taken from Visaret e Kombit, I, because it contains
songs from all the most important Albanian collections.




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ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


as well as in those of the Albanian settlements of Italy, is that of
time:
1. Dolli diten e shen Mitrit, (1)
Nde saraj t6 Stambollit. (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 53a.
(Transl.: On the day of St.Demetrius, he appeared at the palace of
Istanbul [from the south].)
2. T6 m6rkur6n, n' dy sahati, (1)
Ishte mbledhun Mali i Zi; (2)
Vis. eKomb., I, 1, No. 26.
(Transl.: At two o'clock, on Wednesday, Montenegro was gathered
together [from the north].)
3. Sontenith, n6 dy or nate, (1)
Gjegjesh nje r6kim te math, (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 104.
(Transl.: Last night, at two o'clock, a great roar was heard [ItaloAlbanian].)
It is rare to find a song beginning with a description of nature
accompanied by an action of the hero - a psychological parallelism
-as for instance:
Ra nje ves6 e zbuti dhen6, (1)
Ra Pashaj n6 Tepelen6; (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 89.
(Transl.: The dew fell and softened the soil, the Pasha arrived at
Tepelena.)
As far as the endings of the genuine Albanian heroic songs are concerned, those of the Tosks have no stereotyped forms. The songs of
northern Albania, on the other hand, quite often end in formulas. They
are utterances of the hero himself or of the singer about the hero. The
following are some examples:
1. Mos qaj Memen, mos qaj mue (95)
Qaj Salihin qi u marrue! (96)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 20b.
(Transl.: Don't lament Mema, don't lament me, weep over Salih who
has been dishonored.)
2. A ma mire me dek6 me nder6 (83)
A me rrnue me faqe t' zez6? (84)
Vis. e. Komb., I, 1, No. 26.




VERSE AND FORMULAS


193


(Transl.: Is it not better to die with honor than to live in dishonor?)
3. Ke bjen djelli e ke men hana (50)
Si Gjin Leken s'ban ma nana,
As n' Beglere, as n' Kapidana. (52)
Vis. e Komb., I, 1, No. 48.
(Transl.: Where the sun rises and the moon sets, no longer can any
mother give birth to such a hero as Gjin Leka, either among the Begs
or among the Captains.)
The Yugoslav songs also have various beginnings. Several of them
begin with time, as the Albanian heroic songs:
1. Kadno Turci Kotar porobise (1)
Poarase dvore Jankovi6a (2)
Vuk, III, No. 25.
(Transl.: When the Turks pillaged Kotar, they plundered the court
of Jankovic.)
2. Jos zorica ne zabjelila, (1)
Ni danica lica pomolila, (2)
Vuk, III, No. 47.
(Transl.: The dawn had not yet appeared, nor had the day shown its
face.)
The songs of the uskoci and particularly of their Moslem opponents
begin in general with drinking:
1. Vino piju trideset Senjana (1)
U bijelu Senju na kamenju,
U dvorove Senjanina Ive,
A sa snjima Sijenjanin Iva,
Sa snjim brat n-u Komnen barjaktare. (5)
Vuk, III, No. 26.
(Transl.: Thirty Senjanins are drinking wine on the rock of the white
Senj [a city], in the palaces of Senjanin Ivo, and together with them
[are drinking] Senjanin Ivo and his brother the barjaktar Komnen.)
2. Pije vino trides't Krajisnika (1)
U Udbini na londzi zelenoj
Piju vino, razgovaraju se. (3)
Hbrmann, II, No. XL.
(Transl.: Thirty Krajisniks are drinking wine on the green square
in Udbina, they drink wine and they converse.)
13




194


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


3. Moja braco, da vam pjesnu kazem, (1)
Staru pjesnu od starog zemana.
Vino piju age Udbinjani. (3)
Hormann, II, No. XLVI.
(Transl.: My brothers, I will tell you a song, an old song of the old
times. The agas of Udbina are drinking...)
But a great number of the Yugoslav songs begin with an exclamation in which God is always included:
1. Mili Boze, cuda golemoga! (1)
Ja li grmi, ja 1' se zemlja trese. (2)
Vuk, III, No. 51.
(Transl.: Dear God, oh great wonder! Does it thunder or does the
earth quake?)
2. Mili Boze, cuda velikoga! (1)
Da 1' pucaju Zadarski topovi?
Da 1' duhaju primorski vjetrovi,
Te udara jeka u planinu? (4)
Vuk, III, No. 74.
(Transl.: Dear God, oh great wonder! Could it be that the cannons of
Zadar are shelling? Could it be that the coastal winds are blowing,
and the echo strikes the mountain?)
The endings of the Yugoslav heroic songs have not the same
variety as their beginnings. Usually they are the words of the singer
addressed to the audience:
1. Od nas pesma, a od Boga zdravlje! (271)
Nas lagali, a mi polagujemo. (272)
Vuk, II, No. 12.
(Transl.: The song [is] from us, and the health [is] from God! They
told us a lie, and we are telling a lie.)
2. Tako bilo, pa se pripovjeda, (242)
Mi pjevamo, kako nam je drago. (243)
Hormann, I, No. XXXVII.
(Transl.: As it is told so it was, we sing as it pleases us.)
3. Bog mu dao sa zivotom zdravlje! (387)
Nama, braco, na sretno veselje!
To velimo, da se veselimo,
Ne bi li nas i Bog veselio! (390)
Vuk, II, No. 31.




VERSE AND FORMULAS


195


(Transl.: May God give him health for life! To us, brothers, [may he
give] joy! We tell this in order to rejoice, and would not God give us
joy!)
4. Davno bilo, sad se spominjalo,
Nek se piva, dok je ovog svita,
A sve stari spominju junaci.
Mat. Hrv., III, No. 23.
(Transl.: This happened long ago, and now it was remembered. Let it
be sung, as long as there is life, and the old heroes remember all.)
As for the bugar.tice, they have no stereotyped beginnings. They
also lack dopjevkas (endings). Only a few of them end in lines similar
to the following:1
Vesel budi, gospodaru i vesela ti druzina, (67)
nas gospodaru!
Ova pisan da bude tvoj milosti na postenje! (69)
Bogisic, No. 6.
(Transl.: Be gay, lord, and be gay you druzina, our lord! May this
song be in honor of your grace.)
The rhapsodies of the Albanian Mujo-Halil cycle have different
beginnings than the rest of the Albanian songs. Sometimes they
begin with the name of the hero and then immediately introduce us
to the subject. Most of the time, however, they begin with praises to
God, similar to the Yugoslav heroic songs:
1. Kanka kane Hysen Gradenica; (1)
Kish marre djali langoj e zagare (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 3.
(Transl.: There was Hysen Gradenica; the hero had taken with him
hounds.)
2. Lum e lum, tha, per t' lumin Zot, (1)
Kur s' jem kane e Zoti na ka dhane! (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 4.
(Transl.: Happy we, he said, for the blessed God, we were not and
God created us!)
3. Lumi Zot, e i lumi Zot! (1)
Kanka kane Gjeto Basho Muja. (2)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 2.
1 For other examples of beginnings and endings in the Yugoslav epic songs,
see T. Mareti6, op. cit., pp. 69-76.
13*




196


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


(Transl.: Blessed God, and blessed God! There was Gjeto Basho
Muja.)
The endings of the rhapsodies of the Albanian Mujo-Halil cycle are
also different. Being narratives of the past, and not realities of everyday life, the Albanian singers end with a "so I have heard." Such
endings correspond in meaning to the Yugoslav songs. The following
are some typical examples:
1. Qeshtu thane atje nuk jam kane (236)
Mos me kan6 kshtu s'kishim dijte me thane (237)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 3.
(Transl.: So they said, I was not there. Had it not been so, we would
not have known how to tell [it].)
2. Kshtu m'kan than6 e dikur a ba motit (184)
Ma andej s'e dij e na i kjoshim fale Zotit. (185)
Vis. e Komb., I, 2, No. 14.
(Transl.: So it has been said to me that it has happened in the past.
I do not know it any further, and may we praise God.)
3. Njishtu thon6 se na atje kurr s'jem kane; (321)
Njishtu thone se kane motit,
Ndim6n pagim na prej Zotit! (323)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 2.
(Transl.: So they say, for we have never been there; so they say that
it has been in the past; may we have God's aid.)
It is rare that the end of a rhapsody includes a moral:
Por kush iu 9ofte shoqit per t' lig (212)
Kurr Zotyn mbare mos i a dhasht6! (213)
Vis. e Komb., II, No. 18.
(Transl.: But he who has bad intentions for his companion may God
never favor him.)
In the present chapter we pointed out that the characteristically
Albanian meter for heroic songs is the octosyllabic verse. It is used
all over Albania and in the Albanian settlements of Italy. Only the
rhapsodies of the Mujo-Halil cycle are in ten-syllable verse. The
decasyllabic meter is the Serbian meter par excellence, and this is
further evidence of the Serbian influence on the rhapsodies of northern Albania. If it is not well preserved in the Albanian songs, it is due
partly to the final e, which may or may not be pronounced, and partly
to its alien character for the Albanian singer, who is used to the
octosyllabic verse.




VERSE AND FORMULAS                 197
As in other oral epic poetry epithets, formulas, and themes are
used for the completion of the meter, so in the Albanian and Yugoslav
heroic songs the same means are employed. A considerable number of
beginnings and endings are also formulas. The three-part personal
names which we meet in the Serbian songs in general and only in the
Albanian rhapsodies of the Mujo-Halil cycle are devices used for the
completion of the decasyllabic meter. This use reveals the further
influence of the Serbian songs upon the rhapsodies of the mountains
of northern Albania. Both South Slavic and Albanian oral heroic
poetry are characterized by repetition of verses.




CHAPTER XI


CONCLUSION
The published collections of Albanian and South Slavic oral epic
poetry are not very old. They date from the last century. Differences
in cultural and historical conditions gave priority to the collections of
the heroic songs of the Yugoslavs.
Interest in Serbian oral epic poetry, at the outset of the last century, had two causes. It was due partly to the trend toward folklore
prevailing in Europe and partly to the Serbian war of independence.
Since the Serbian heroic songs dealt with the splendor of the past and
the struggles against the Turks, collections would serve to establish
the "historical right" to independence of the Serbs. The Albanian
collections of epic songs, on the other hand, were begun much later.
If we exclude the sporadic collections of a few heroic songs by foreigners, the first to collect them were the Albanians of the settlements
in Italy, among whom a certain Albanian culture had developed and
the songs about Scanderbeg's time had been preserved. It was after
the war for the unification of Italy, however, that the Italo-Albanians
began to publish their important collections. The nationalistic tendencies in Italy had apparently been a stimulus for them. The interest
of native Albanians in the heroic songs of their country did not start
until the 1870's.
The South Slavic heroic songs are also older than the Albanian
ones. They deal with topics from the history of the Serbs which go as
far back as the reign of the Nemanjici in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries, although the form in which they have been recorded may
be of some three centuries later, for no trace of Yugoslav heroic
poetry is to be found before the sixteenth century.' There are strong
reasons to believe that the Albanian songs of the Italo-Albanians are
the oldest. They treat the resistance of the Albanians to the Turks in
the fifteenth century, and they reveal a society of Christians and
local lords characteristic of the Albania of that period.
There is a difference in the subjects which the South Slavic and
1 Cf. D. Subotic, Yugoslav Popular Ballads, Cambridge, 1932, p. 145 and
158; T. Maretid, Nasa narodna epika (Our Popular Epic Poetry), Zagreb,
1909, p. 9.
198




CONCLUSION


199


Albanian oral epic songs develop. Those of the former may very well
be divided into two categories, non-historical and historical. The nonhistorical songs are few and carry vestiges of a remote past which we
see in their pagan or Christianized forms. As for the historical songs,
we saw that they form the bulk of Serbian oral epic poetry. They deal
with historical events and historical persons. Yet it is a mistake to
regard them as true history. Historical oral epic poetry is not history;
it is an interpretation of history - and herein lies one of its great
values. Of the Yugoslav historical cycles only two can be compared to
Albanian songs, the battle of Kosovo and Kraljevic Marko. The
resemblances in the first are due to the influence of the Serbian epic
tradition on that of the Albanians. The similarities between the
Marko Kraljevic and Scanderbeg cycles, on the other hand, are due
to the influence of the Akritic tradition on both the Serbs and the
Albanians and to times in which there reigned a mentality that was
basically the same: a semi-feudal mentality.
The heroic songs which grew on Albanian soil could not form
cycles. The configuration of the territory - valleys separated by
high mountains - led to isolation. The Turks who occupied Albania
for approximately five centuries did not build any roads and left the
country in much the same condition as they found it. The composition
of the Albanian population (two-thirds Moslem and one-third Christian) was also another obstacle, and a very serious one. Since Islam
had been the basis of the Ottoman Empire, the existence of a common
cause - the resistance against the Turks - was not possible in
Albania. There had often been opposition to Turkish rule, but it had
had a local character. The songs about the Bushatis in the north and
Ali PashaTepelena in the south bear witness to such a resistance. Not
until 1878, when the Congress of Berlin gave Albanian territories to
Montenegro did the struggle begin to take on a national character. It
is natural, then, that the epic songs of Albania proper should deal
with separate events and acts of heroism connected with certain
localities. These songs are, as a rule, short and their preponderant
motif is murder for the defense of honor. Although their significance
is not as great as that of the Yugoslav songs, they serve as a reflection
of the society in which they appeared. The songs of the north are of
particular interest from the point of view of social structure, for the
Code of Lekj Dukayjini is well illustrated in them. However, several
other Albanian songs are an interpretation of history, as they indicate
the role played by Albanians in the Ottoman Empire.
There is only one cycle in Albania proper, and that is the MujoHalil cycle, sung in the mountains of the northern part of Albania.
The central figures are Gjeto Basho Mujo and his brother Halil. The




200


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


same cycle is met among the Albanians of present Yugoslavia and the
Bosnian Moslems, who sometimes call the heroes the brothers Hrnjici.
Migrations provide us with a clue to the interpretation of a great part
of the Albanian and Yugoslav epic poetry. The Serbian migrations
played the role of propagators of the mediaeval heroic songs and
gave birth to the uskoci cycle. The Albanian migrations to Italy
preserved the old epic poetry, whereas the Albanian expansion in Old
Serbia brought South Slavic influences to bear on the heroic songs of
the mountaineers of northern Albania.
Relationship between the Bosnian and Albanian
Mujo-Halil Cycle
Scholars have expressed different opinions about the relationship
between the Bosnian and the Albanian Mujo-Halil cycles. Their
opinions have primarily been based on the similarity of general
motifs. A study of other aspects has been lacking.1 We have made it
our task in the present study to compare the two cycles from more
than one point of view and to show the exact relationship.
In comparing the contents of the Albanian and Bosnian songs
about Mujo and Halil, we noticed that they treat the same principal
subject: the fight against the Christian Slavs. The heroes raid the
regions of the enemy, rape and pillage. Imprisonments and liberations
of heroes are other common topics of these songs. When a comparison
between the names and characters of the chief figures in the two
cycles was made, we found that quite often they were identical. Sometimes the names are albanianized. The changes in the Albanian may
be so great that they seem to bear no relation at all to the Bosnian
original.
Certainly, the motifs met in the Mujo-Halil cycles are not exclusive.
They are also found in the songs of the Christian Slavs, particularly
of the uskoci. In oral epic poetry influences of peoples who live together or in the same neighborhood are natural. In the Albanian
songs of the brothers Mujo and Halil we come across motifs which
have been taken from other Yugoslav songs, just as we find motifs of
Christian Serbian tradition in the Bosnian Moslem songs. Sometimes
motifs travel a long way.
Veselovski himself, after a close study of the Serbo-Croat heroicpoetry, believed that the junacka pesma on the Marriage of KingVukasin had borrowed
its principal motif from the Italian novel Bovo d'Antona, which in turn originated from the chanson de geste, Bueves d'Hantone.2
1 Only F. Cordignano's, La poesia epica di confine nell'Albania del nord,
Venezia-Padova, 1943, treats in a general manner of other aspects.
2 D. Suboti6, op. cit., p. 102.




CONCLUSION


201


Motifs alone, however, are not a decisive proof of influence. The
same motifs may arise in the oral epic poetry of peoples who live far
apart, if conditions favor that emergence. The subject of frontier warfare is encountered in the Castilian romances, and precisely between
Christians and Moslems. Motifs are seldom restricted to one oral epic
poetry alone. It is difficult, then, to speak of the borrowing of motifs.
Yet motifs prove to be borrowed when they show, in their development, characteristics of another culture. Cultural patterns, consequently, are most decisive in revealing the foreign influences and
their degree. In our comparison of the Mujo-Halil cycles we pointed
out that in the Albanian cycle we see three cultural patterns: a) Bosnian, b) Bosnian-Albanian, and c) Albanian.
Bosnian influences are also revealed in the language of the Albanian
songs. The very word kreshnik (hero, nobleman), used for the heroic
poems of the Mujo-Halil cycle, is of Bosnian origin. It stems from the
Serbian Kraji~nik (the man from Krajina), from which the songs of
the frontier wars in Bosnia receive the name krajisnice. Such words
of Turkish origin as harambash (chief of bandits), serdar (chief of
uskoci), (etobash (chief of a guerrilla band) met in the Albanian songs
of Mujo and Halil are typically Bosnian, and are not found in other
Albanian songs. Words like ndeja~ek (Serbian, nejacak - immature,
boy) and hidra (Serbian, hitra - sly), which are never used in the
northern Albanian dialect, show Serbocroatian origin. The predominance also of such expressions as me da mejdamin, a word by word
translation of the Serbian mejdan dijeliti (to fight a duel), is another
indication of the influence of the Bosnian songs. These expressions
constitute stronger evidence of influence when they are found in
identical or similar formulas in the Albanian cycle.
As strong a proof of Serbian influence on the Albanian Mujo-Halil
cycle as the Bosnian cultural pattern - perhaps strong, because
more tangible - is the decasyllabic verse with the break after the
fourth syllable. In no other Albanian songs do we find this kind of
meter. We noticed, however, that this verse is not as rigidly preserved
as in the Yugoslav songs, for, on the one hand, it is felt as foreign,
since the true Albanian heroic verse is the octosyllabic verse, and on
the other, because the Albanian northern dialect does not lend itself
so well to the decasyllabic. Nevertheless, certain formulas met in the
Albanian Mujo-Halil cycle, especially the three-part personal names,
as beg-e Mehmet begu, are Bosnian and serve the purposes of the tensyllable meter.
All the above considerations lead to the conclusion that the
Albanian Mujo-Halil cycle is of Bosnian origin. It is rather astonishing
that such a reputable scholar as Maximilian Lambertz, who made the




202


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


first good study of Albanian popular poetry -  Die Volkspoesie der
Albaner (Sarajevo, 1917) - should have written a few years ago:
Zum altestenBestande der albanischen Volkspoesie geh6ren die Rhapsodien,
die die Figur des Gjeto Basho Muji umranken. Sie reichen in die vorturkische
Zeit zurick und bringen die Kampfe zwischen Slawen und Albanern zur Zeit
des Eindringen serbischer Heerscharen iiber die Donau ins illyrische Land.
Urspriinglich sind sie albanischer Herkunft, in den Gegenden entstanden, in
denen sie noch heute in beiden Sprachen gesungen werden...
However, the Bosnian Mujo-Halil cycle, passing to the mountainers
of northern Albania, underwent substantial changes, for it had to
adapt itself to the Albanian conditions of culture and society,
language and meter. It undoubtedly carries a strong Albanian seal.
In its elaboration the Mujo-Halil cycle has become a truly Albanian
cycle.
Manner and Road of the Influences
Once the influences have been established, it is necessary to trace
the manner and the road which they travelled. The Albanians settled
in Yugoslavia in the regions of Metohija, Kosovo, and the Sandzak.
Through the latter they could come in contact with Bosnia and
Hercegovina. Their relations with these two Yugoslav provinces date
from long ago. As early as the fifteenth century Albanians appear in
the region of Trebinje and Konavlje (Hercegovina) as mercenaries of
the Republic of Ragusa against the Vojvod Radoslav Pavlovic
(1430-1432).2 The relations of the Albanians with Bosnia-Hercegovina became more frequent during the Ottoman Empire. They
went to Bosnia not only as Turkish soldiers but also as tradesmen and
craftsmen, and they lived there for a long time.3 Albanian shepherds
have constantly used the lands of Bosnia and Hercegovina for their
herds. "During the winter Albanians from Rugovo and Malesija
brought the herds to Pester."4 Did not an Albanian bard inform
Koliqi that in "Rugovo, beyond Gusinje, the rhapsodies of Mujo are
widely sung?"5 Toward the end of the last century even the Albanian
Franciscans were sent to finish their studies in Bosnia. "Perhaps the
superiors of the order thought that, as Bosnia had been for more than
1 M. Lambertz, "Das Werden der albanischen Literatur," Leipziger Vierteljahrsschrift filr Siidosteuropa, VII (1943), 168.
2 Cf. V. Corovi6, "Napomene o albanskim tragovima u Hercegovini"
(Notices about Albanian Traces in Hercegovina), Arhiv..., I (1923), 204-205.
3 Cf. Ibid., 204.
4 A. Smaus, "Beleske iz Sandzaka, I" (Notes from the Sandzak), Prilozi
prouc. nar. poez., V (1938), 276; J. Cvijic, La peninsule balkanique, Paris, 1918,
p. 181.
5 E. Koliqi, Epica popolare albanese, Padova, 1937, p. 77.




CONCLUSION


203


four hundred years under the domination of the Turks, the Franciscans of Bosnia would give to the Franciscans of Albania an education which best fitted them."' As for the Bosnians themselves, they
are mentioned in the Albanian heroic songs as having taken part on
the side of the Turks in the war against the Bushatis of Shkodra, at
the end of the eighteenth century:
Selim Pasha with the Bosnians (5)
Attack the mountain of Hoti;2
Ahmed Pasha with the Albanians
Fought bravely as in the past. (8)
Rock and wood were washed with blood, (11)
Lo! What happened to unfortunate Bosnia! (12)
Taipi, p. 30.
But more important than these contacts was the prestige of Bosnia
for the surrounding Moslem world - and Moslem are the Albanians
in Kosovo, Metohija, and the Sandzak.
The Sandiak seems to have played the most important role in the
propagation of the Bosnian heroic songs among the Albanians.
Through it Bosnia kept her links with the rest of the Turkish Empire.
The songs and the traditions of Bosnia formed, until most recent
times, the greatest and most important part of the Moslem poetry
and tradition of the Sandzak.3 The songs generally sung here are
those of the heroes of Jutbina, Mujo and his cycle, as well as those
about Djerzelez Alija, and the word bosnjacki (Bosnian) even today
has a cultural meaning among the inhabitants of the Sandzak.4
The conversations of the Albanian singer Salja Ugljanin with the
interpreter of Professor Parry,5 on the one hand, and with Smaus, on
the other, are illuminating in this respect. Salja was an Albanian from
the village of Ugao (in the Sandzak), which was founded by Albanians. His parents had come from the region of Shkodra but his wife
was from the Sandzak. He had learned Serbian (Bosanski - Bosnian,
as he said) from his wife, and considered the Bosnians as "his friends."
He learned the first Bosnian songs from Cor Huso from Kolasin, who
went from town to town, in the provinces between Montenegro and
Serbia, and sang with the gusle. Besides, in his family there was a
certain Pam-Zuku, who had spent a long time fighting in Bosnia and
1 Gj. Fishta, in Kanun i Leke Dukagjinit, Shkod6r, 1932, p. XL.
2 Hoti is in northern Albania.
3 Cf. A. 8maus, "Kosovo u narodnoj pesmi muslimana" (Kosovo in the
Popular Song of the Moslems), Prilozi..., V (1938), 102.
4 Ibid., 102-103.
5 This conversation is contained in the first volume of Professor Parry's
manuscript collection No. 850-No. 867.




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ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


sang Bosnian songs, accompanying them with a lahuta (the Albanian
gusle).1 Salja Ugljanin had learned how to sing Albanian songs when
he was young, having heard them from Albanian shepherds who had
come with their flocks to Hercegovina. He himself had been quite a
few times in Shkodra on business - to buy cattle and sell them in
Salonica. It is important to note that in Ugao, Salja and other
inhabitants sang in Albanian songs about Mujo and Halil. Did he not
say that when they returned from Bosnia they translated the songs
"from Bosnian into Albanian 1"2 When he was met by Professor Parry
and Smaus, Salja Ugljanin was in the Sandzak and was singing there
both in Serbian and in Albanian.
But the contact of the Albanians was not restricted to the three
Yugoslav provinces mentioned above. During the Ottoman Empire,
the regions along the Montenegrin frontiers, from Shkodra to the
Sandzak, were inhabited by Albanians. The greater part of this
population was Moslem Albanian and the rest were Roman Catholic.
Their contacts were with the Christian Montenegrins and were not at
all friendly. TheAlbanians of this frontier were in a state of permanent
war against the Montenegrins. Herein lies the attraction that the
Krajisnice had for the Albanian mountaineers.
From the whole situation described above, it is apparent that the
Albanians came under the influence of the Bosnian songs of the MujoHalil cycle - and partly that of Serbian Christian epic tradition in
general - in three ways. First, through their contacts as soldiers,
traders, and craftsmen in Bosnia. "The bosanski put (Bosnian road)
joins the basin of Kosovo and Metohija to Sarajevo and during the
Ottoman regime was a first rate road. Its importance was increased
by roads departing from the Adriatic."3 Secondly, as shepherds in
periods of changing land, when they went to Bosnia or sat together
with Albanians of the Sandzak. These shepherds were also the best
agents for the diffusion of the songs, for their living space is large.
They travel in the summer from meadow regions to mountains, and
in the winter from mountains to meadow regions in river valleys and
coastal plains. Even today the oral epic poems are sung by shepherds
and mountaineers.4 Thirdly, through the symbiosis in the Sandiak
with the non-Albanian Moslem element and in Metohija and Kosovo
through the influence of the Christian Serbian epic tradition. The
1 Cf. A. 8maus, "Beleske iz Sandzaka, I" (Notes from the Sandzak, I).
Prilozi..., V (1938), 276.
2 Ibid., 277.
3 J. Cvijic, op. cit., p. 22.
4 W. Wuinsch, "Die Kunst - und Volksmusik der Slawen am Balkan,"
Leipziger Vierteljahrsschrift fur Siudosteuropa, III (1939), 57.




CONCLUSION


205


road of the Serbian (Bosnian) influences can then be easily traced:
Bosnia - Hercegovina - Sandiak - Metohija and Kosovo - northern
Albania.
A question which arises, as a consequence of the Serbian influence
on Albanian heroic songs, is whether Albanian influence can be found
in turn in the Bosnian epic songs. The difficulty here is that few
studies have been made - and those fragmentary - which can
throw any light on this problem. These do not show more than traces
of Albanian influence. The community of shepherds of the Burmazi
(from Albanian burr' [i] madh - big man) is of Albanian origin and
has been in Hercegovina since the beginning of the fourteenth century.
The vocabulary of the cattle-breeders reveals even today an Albanian
influence: balja - white sheep with a black spot on the head or with
black coat and white spots; deno - young dog; ke, keda, kid, ki6a are
calls which the Hercegovinians use when they drive the goats. Also
in toponymy and in family names Albanian influences are recognized,
as for example in Arnautovid (Arnaut is the Turkish name for Albanian) or Dukandzi6 (Dukagjin being a famous Albanian family of
the northern mountains).l But as for the influence of Albanian oral
epic poetry, we are still in darkness. J. Asboth heard in Bosnia, in the
house of a beg, an heroic song about Gusinje.2 When this town was
ceded, together with Plava, to Montenegro by the Congress of Berlin
(1878), the Albanians refused to deliver it and put up a strong resistance. There is no doubt that "Das Lied von Gusinje" is a reflection
of that fight.3
The relations of Gusinje and Bosnia had been quite close. Until not
long ago, writes Norovi6, the Albanians from the surroundings of
Gusinje and Plava went to Bosnia to spend the winter with their
herds.4 However, the contacts between the Bosnians and the Albanians did not only result in the song about the battle of Gusinje. The
Albanians have many songs about fights against Montenegro which
must have interested the Mohammedans of Bosnia-Hercegovina who,
also, sang songs of their clashes with the Montenegrins.5 Indeed, from
1 See for the Albanian traces, M. Sufflay, "Biologie des albanischen Volksstammes," Ungarische Rundschau, V (1916), 12; V. Oorovi6, "Napomene o
albanskim tragovina u Hercegovini," Arhiv..., I (1923), 202-203.
2 Cf. J. von Asb6th, "Das Lied von Gusinje," Ethnologische Mitteilungen aus
Ungarn, I (1887-1888), p. 149. See also by the same author, An Official Tour
Through Bosnia and Hercegovina, London, 1890, pp. 211-218.
3 The song in Serbian is in Ethnologische Mitteilungen aus Ungarn, I (1887 -1888), pp. 323-326.
4 Cf. V. Corovi6, op. cit., 203.
5 Cf. M. Murko, "Nekoliko zada6a u prou6avanju narodne epike" (Some
Problems in the Study of Popular Epic Poetry), Prilozi..., I (1934), 2.




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ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


1709, when Montenegro cast off the foreign yoke, her independence
"ne fut plus troubl6s que par les incursions des Turcs de Scutari ou
des beys d' Herzegovina."l We may assume that Albanian songs have
influenced the oral epic poetry of the Serbian Moslem population of
Bosnia, Hercegovina, and the Sandiak, since some of them, like
"The Death of Hasan (more correctly Oso) Kuka," are sung in
Serbian.2 The basis of the epic tradition was the same on both sides
of the frontier, and it is possible that Albanian songs have exercised
an influence on the Christian Serbian (the Montenegrin) songs.
Temperley wants to believe that the blood-feuds which existed in
Montenegro until the last century and certain "myths" are due to
Albanian influence.3 Moreover, in Montenegro there are Albanian
tribes which have been slavicized.4 Between them and the neighboring
Albanians there have been fights (Milutinovi6, No. 49 and 50).
The Albanian influence on the Serbian Moslem oral epic poetry
cannot date from very far back. The contacts of the Albanians with
Bosnia, Hercegovina, and the Sandzak began to be frequent after
their descent to the Kosovo plain, i.e., at the end of the seventeenth
and the beginning of the eighteenth centuries. But as the Albanians
came in contact with the Hercegovinians and the Bosnians through
the Sandzak, where both Serbian and Albanian are spoken, the
Moslem epic tradition of that region is more likely to show the influences of Albanian heroic songs. The duality of language is important because it makes the passage of influences from one poetry
into the other easier. This is one reason for believing that Albanian
influences on Montenegrin heroic songs could pass more easily by way
of Metohija, where there is a symbiosis of Albanians and Serbs, than
through the mountains of Albania proper. However, for a study of the
Albanian influences it is necessary that collections of the songs, both
Albanian and Serbian, sung in these regions should be made. Unfortunately, such collections are lacking. The epic songs which Professor Parry collected among the Moslems in the Sandzak - undoubtedly the first collection of the kind in English and perhaps the
only collection - have not as yet been published. To my knowledge,
there are no collections of the Moslem heroic songs in Metohija and
1 A. Mousset, Le royaume serbe, croate, slovene, Paris, 1926, p. 121.
2 Cf. A. Smaus, "Nekoliko podataka o epskom pevanju i pesmama kod
Arbanasa (Arnauta) u Staroj Srbiji," (Some Information about Epic Singing
and Epic Songs among the Albanians in Old Serbia), Prilozi..., I (1934), 112.
3 H. W. V. Temperley, History of Serbia, London, 1917, p. 141.
4 See E. (abej, "Per gjenezen e literatures shqipe" (About the Genesis of
the Albanian Literature), Hylli i Drites, XV (1939), 12; K. Jirecek, "Albanien
in der Vergangenheit," Illyrisch-albanische Forschungen, I, Munchen und
Leipzig, 1916, p. 69.




CONCLUSION


207


Kosovo. In fact, the epic tradition of these provinces had been
neglected by Yugoslav scholars. Not until after World War I was a
slight interest manifested and a few articles were published in Arhiv..
and Prilozi... As for the Albanian heroic songs of Metohija and
Kosovo, only a few have been published in the collection of Visaret e
Kombit. Much material still has to be gathered before such a comparative study can be launched. However, the Albanian influence on
Yugoslav oral epic poetry is not expected to be great. The Yugoslavs,
Christian or Moslem, have a richer epic tradition than the Albanians
and the content and meter of the Albanian songs are very different
from those of the Serbian songs.
Influence of Oral Epic Poetry on Writers
Popular epic poetry has often influenced the works of writers. The
influence has been greater on poets who come from environments in
which the heroic songs are still living. In such milieux there is a strong
link between the songs and the spiritual life of the people. The people
have grown with the songs. The great poets in such countries are
those whose poetry is rooted in that of the people. Sometimes their
poems are sung as popular songs. The poets under foreign influence
retain only empty form: their poetry does not appeal to the people.
Oral epic poetry has had a deep influence among the Yugoslav and
Albanian writers. As they strove for the national independence of
their countries, the patriot and the poet are often blended into one.
These writers have usually been epic poets because their desire or
struggle for the liberation of their people could not but deal with
heroism. Such has been Andrija Kaci6-Miosic among the Croats and
Petar Petrovi6 Njegos among the Montenegrins; such has been
Giuseppe Schiro among the Italo-Albanians and Gjergj Fishta among
the Albanians of Albania proper.
We are not going to discuss all the poets who have imitated
popular heroic verse. We shall limit ourselves to Kacic-Miosi6 and
Fishta, as they are the most important. Kaci6-Miosi6 was a Dalmatian
Franciscan Brother who lived in the eighteenth century. He interested himself in the history of his people, whom he constantly refers
to as the "Slavs." The national heroes, whether Roman Catholic,
Orthodox Christian, or Moslem, were the object of his admiration. In
his collection of poems, the Razgovor..., mentioned in the first
chapter, he glorifies important events and prominent personalities
among the Yugoslav people, from the time of Constantine the Great
until the Seven Years' War. He also sings in them of the Albanian
hero Scanderbeg. Kacic's collection consists of nearly one hundred




208


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


and forty poems, most of which were composed by himself but
modelled upon popular heroic songs. For a long time afterward they
were in fact considered to be popular heroic poems.l
The Albanian Fishta was also a Franciscan friar. He lived in
Shkodra and died during World War II. He did not compose, like
Kacic, poems about the history of the remote past of the Albanian
people. For him, no mere memories of past battles of the Albanians
against Montenegro were fresh in his mind, for he actually lived at a
time when such struggles were still going on. His epic poems, which
form the work Lahuta e Malsise (The Lute of the Mountains), sing of
the efforts, revolts, and strifes of the Albanians to attain their independence. As Fishta himself wrote about his work in 1935:
There are more than thirteen thousand verses, - published up to now - of
the Lahuta e Malsis6 which, in bloody battles against the Slav - at the time
of the Congress of Berlin and later - and against the New Turks, show the
revival of national conscience among the Albanian people and their 'happy'
triumph in the freedom and independence of Albania.2
The stress in them, however, is laid on the battles of the Albanian
mountaineers against the Slavs (Montenegrins), who are held to be
the bitterest enemies:
Ma mir dek nin dhe m' u kja, (716)
Se per t' gjall me ndej8 n6n Shkja. (717)
Lahuta e Malcis, I, c. IV.
(Transl.: It is better to be dead and lamented than to live and be
under the Slav). In Fishta's work we constantly come across sentences and whole lines of popular songs inserted in the proper places.
Indeed, when one reads his poetry, one feels the Albanian people
singing.3
Yet Fishta could not create a truly national Albanian epic. The
history of the Albanian people varies from place to place. The heroes
- if we except Scanderbeg - have remained local, for the interests
of the tribes have also been local, and the union of these tribes has
formed the nation. It is natural then not to meet in Lahuta e Malcis a
hero or a group of heroes who weave the history of the nation as a
whole, but to pass from one heroism to another, from one tradition to
another, from one faith to another.4 However, in the heroism and
1 Cf. D. Suboti6, op. cit., p. 168.
2 Gj. Fishta, "Vjersha heroike shqyptare" (The Albanian Heroic Song),
Hylli i Dritis, XI (1935), 146.
3 There is a German translation of the Lahuta e Malcis made by G. Weigand
in Balkan-Archiv, I (1925), 173-265.
4 Cf. F. Cordignano, "Kryevepra e At Gjergjit n6 zhvillim te historise
shqyptare" (The Masterpiece of Reverend Gjergj [Fishta] in the Development
of Albanian History), Hylli i Drites, VII (1931), 557.




CONCLUSION


209


traditions the soul of the Albanian people as a whole and its longing
for freedom are revealed -and this is sufficient to make the work of
Fishta a great Albanian epic.
Solution for the Formation of an Albanian Literary Language Suggested
by the Study of Albanian and South Slavic Oral Epic Poetry
The study of the Albanian and South Slavic heroic songs has
pointed out to us a solution of the important problem of the formation
of an Albanian literary language. Through the study of Serbian folklore Vuk Karadzic was able to write a grammar and compose a
dictionary which set the foundations of the Serbo-Croatian literary
language. The present literary language of the Yugoslav people is not
based on texts of the past but on the speech of the people. Could not
the same method be employed for the formation of the Albanian
literary language?
Up to the present time Albania does not possess a common literary
language. There have been no writers who, through their literary
works, could impose their language on all Albania. The authors use
their own dialects in writing. Isolation has created two distinct main
dialects, that of the north (Gheg) and that of the south (Tosk). An
effort was made in the twenties to establish the dialect of Elbasan
(central Albania) as the official language of the Albanian state. It
was believed that this could be accomplished because the dialect of
Elbasan, which is a Gheg dialect, can be understood better than any
other Albanian dialect by both the northern and southern Albanians.
Such an opinion had also been expressed in 1917 by Professor
Weigand.l It was not sufficient that the dialect of Elbasan could be
understood by the north and the south; it was necessary also that
Elbasan itself be a cultural or political center. Soon the Elbasan
dialect was abandoned and both officials and authors wrote once
more in their own dialects.
The two dialects which competed for supremacy in pre-war Albania
were the Gheg, with Shkodra as a center, and the Tosk, with the
centers of Korga and Gjinokaster (Argyrokastro). In such a situation,
however, it was hard to keep the two dialects distinct and apart.
There were individuals who mixed the two dialects in their speech
and writings. A new linguistic phenomenon began to rise; several
intellectuals acquired the habit of writing a fluid hybrid Albanian,
fluid because in the same writing you could meet both the southern
and northern forms of a word - a rather chaotic situation. Under the
1 Cf. G. Weigand, Albanesische Grammatik im s'idgegischen Dialekt, Leipzig,
1913, pp. iv-vi.
14




210


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


present regime the Gheg dialect has receded. The dialect most in use
is the Tosk because the communist movement emerged in the south
and its leaders have come from there. There is no doubt that the
northern Albanians are dissatisfied with the present preponderance of
the southern dialect.
When we consider the Balkan cultures, we become aware that the
Albanian culture possesses broader popular foundations than all the
rest. As the author has already explained in previous chapters,
historic conditions have prevented the development of a rich written
literature in Albania. In fact, the literature of Albania proper began
to grow, together with the nationalist movement, after the Congress
of Berlin (1878). Albanian culture had been preserved until then principally among the people, the greater part of whom were illiterate.
It is found in their tales, in their proverbs, in their songs, and particularly in their heroic songs. Since the genuine Albanian culture is
contained in folklore and the various Albanian dialects are represented in it, it seems logical to base the formation of a common
Albanian language - a literary language - on the folklore of the
people.
There are no Albanians at present of the stature of Karadzic whose
knowledge and authority on matters of folklore and language could
hardly be questioned. There might be, however, a group of scholars
who could undertake such a project. But how should they proceed in
their work? Their first task would be to collect the folklore material.
In the study of it, they should note the differences between the
various dialects and choose the form which is most common,
for a spoken language is dynamic and a form which is old cannot
be imposed upon it - although it may be considered correct -
if it is used only in a corner of the country. In Albania there is not
one single dialect extensive enough territorially, like the stokavian in
Vuk's Yugoslavia, to be chosen as the dialect. In selecting the most
common form, however, phonological considerations should not be
neglected. The neutralization of final voiced and unvoiced consonants
is a phenomenon of the Albanian language. But today the Ghegs use
in their writing the voiced consonant and the Tosks more often the
unvoiced. An agreement should be reached as to whether, in a word
ending in nd, for instance, the sound d should be preserved or replaced
in writing by its unvoiced partner t. Sometimes it may be necessary
to preserve a sound occurring in the dialect of a small area. Karadzic
first eliminated the letter h, but when he observed that its sound was
in use in most dialects, he reinstated it where it was etymologically
needed. In the Albanian dialect of Korga h is often dropped, but the
inhabitants are obliged to use it because h is a differentiating sound in




CONCLUSION


211


the Albanian language. Of course, the syntactical structure, as
manifested in folklore, should not be neglected. Hand in hand with a
study of the morphology and phonology of the dialects should go the
collection of words and expressions common to the two chief dialects.
In addition to them, unusual but effective words and expressions, preferably with a significance for Albanian culture proper, should be
recorded.
When all this material has been gathered, the scholars should sit
down and write a grammar of the Albanian language. A few grammars do exist today, but they are mainly grammars of dialects, and
the model followed by the grammarians has been that of the classical
or Western European languages. It is not expected that there will be
any difficulties in the writing of an Albanian syntax, for the syntactical
discrepancies between the two principal dialects are not numerous.
With the collected words and expressions the group of scholars should
compose a dictionary of the Albanian language which would also
serve in the establishment of Albanian style. The grammar - with
its syntactical part - should then be introduced in all the Albanian
schools, courses should be established for teaching all the government
employees, and the use of the dictionary should be required in all
secondary schools.
There is no doubt that this linguistic innovation would give rise to
a struggle. But did not Karadzi6 have to fight until his death for the
language which became the literary language of Yugoslavia and did
not the Croats resist it until the end of the nineteenth century? The
establishment of a common literary language is not a matter of
decree. It is a process of long duration, in which literary works play
the most decisive role. But a literary Albanian language on a popular
basis would be worth the struggle. The advantages would be great.
The popular literary language would be understood by all the Albanians, literate or illiterate. There is no Albanian literary language
based on ancient texts or the use of another related language - like
Slavo-Russian in Karadzic's time - which could be an obstacle, and
the best Albanian writers have written in the language of the people,
although each in his own dialect. As the foundations of the literary
language would be popular and all-Albanian, there would be no
regional dissatisfactions, and this fact would make its acceptance
easier. The unnecessary European words which have entered the
Albanian language could be eliminated. Also the fact that there is no
outstanding cultural center in Albania which could impose its dialect
on other centers and that the political center, Tirana, is, from the
cultural point of view, a component of many parts of the country,
make it reasonable to believe that such a literary language would be
14*




212


ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


the best solution. To these advantages should also be added the influence that this common language would have on the strengthening
of the national conscience of the Albanians, who have lacked during
the centuries the conditions favorable to its proper development.
Life of Oral Epic Poetry in Albania and Yugoslavia
One is apt to ask, after the present study, whether oral epic poetry
is still living in Yugoslavia and Albania. In 1929 Murko wrote: "La
poesie 6pique nationale [Yugoslav] meurt partout parce qu'elle n'est
plus d'actualite."' The feudal aristocracy of Bosnia-Hercegovina,
since the time of their defeat by Omer pasha and the occupation of
their country by Austria-Hungary, were no longer interested in
heroic songs. The decline in their economic conditions did not permit
them to keep singers in their houses. On the other hand, the songs of
the Krajina had become an anachronism. As for the Christian
Yugoslavs, the main support of their oral epic poetry, the resistance
against the Turks, had disappeared. Turkey was far off, and the
Yugoslavs had won their own independence. The Moslems who lived
in pre-war Yugoslavia also had to accept the reality and reconcile
themselves to the new civilization. Consequently, oral epic poetry no
longer responded to the demands and interests of the people. The
skirmishes were not common and the sword had yielded its place to
the automatic weapon, the cannon, and the bomb. There was no
longer individual heroism, there were no duels. "Ce qui regne aujourd'
hui," wrote again Murko, "ce n'est plus l'heroisme, mais, comme me
disaient mes chanteurs, la 'discipline,'"2 Moreover, the intellectual
Christians had reacted against the long weddings and other occasions
during which songs were sung. The young men preferred the lyric
songs, the gramophone, the radio and other amusements. But the
greatest enemy was the spread of modern general education. The
collections had dealt a blow to the singer because any student could
then use the songs for the amusement of the audience. Old singers
were dying and new ones were not arising.3
The twentieth century is that of the most rapid decay of the
Yugoslav oral epic poetry. In Slavonia, Srem, and Vojvodina popular
epic poetry had disappeared before World War II. It had long since
ceased to live in Serbia and Croatia. It lived only in regions less
touched by civilization: Dalmatia, Bosnia, Hercegovina, the Sandzak, Montenegro, and Kosovo-Metohija.4
1 M. Murko, La poesie populaire epique en Yougoslavie au debut du XXe
sikcle, Paris, 1929, p. 29.  2 Ibid.  3 Cf. Ibid., p. 30.
4 For the death of popular epic poetry in Yugoslavia, see M. Murko, op. cit.,
pp. 20-31; N. Kravtsov, Serbski epos (Serbian Epos), Moscow-Leningrad, 1933,




CONCLUSION


213


In pre-war Albania oral epic poetry had a more intensive life than
in Yugoslavia. The heroic songs of Albania proper did not find their
support in the fight against the Turks. They emerged from the social
conditions in the country, which in the north have as yet changed
only slightly. Here the patriarchal-tribal family and the code of
honor are still in existence. Heroism continues to have a meaning for
the mountaineers who live in secluded areas and relatively outside
the control of the state. Civilization has not brought to them the
gramophone or the radio and general education is still alien. The
heroic songs, then, remain their great entertainment.
The singers of northern Albania have not been dependent on feudal
lords, as in Bosnia. They have sung for the mountaineers and their
chieftains who were not much different from themselves. Only in
central Albania could the bey landowners have supported singers. In
southern Albania, on the other hand, oral epic poetry is on the wane.
The means of communication are not rare there and literacy has
greatly increased. The young men who studied abroad, just as in
Yugoslavia, were against the long celebrations of weddings and
desired to hear modern songs on the gramophone or over the radio.
They felt that weapons and blood-feuds had been an obstacle to the
progress of the country.
Another factor in the decline of the heroic songs in the south has
been the presence of the Orthodox Christians. In the north both the
Moslems and the Roman Catholics had the same heroic conception
of life, strengthened by the wars against Montenegro. The Christian
population of the south had not made any frontier wars and long ago
had ceased to be interested in the epic songs. They had as an ideal a
peaceful and productive life. The arms here were carried by the
Moslems, who ruled the country and served in the Ottoman army.
Thus in the south the heroic conception was weaker and not uniform.
After the creation of an independent Albania, the Christian civilizing
influence became stronger, and this had a detrimental effect on the
life of the heroic songs in the south. Until just before the last war,
oral epic poetry was living there in the mountainous region of Laberija
particularly in Kurvelesh, near the city of Gjinokaster.
This was the state of oral epic poetry in Yugoslavia and Albania
before World War II. After the occupation of these countries by the
axis powers, a resurgence of heroic songs was noted. The cause was
the resistance to the invader. It was in keeping with the whole epic
tradition of the South Slavs - the opposition to Turkish rule. It
agreed also with the tradition of freedom, local or national, of the
pp. 95-97; G. Gesemann, Der montenegrinische Mensch; zur Literaturgeschichte
und Charakterologie der Patriarchalitdt, Prague, 1934, p. 37.




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Albanian people. The guerrilla warfare which developed during the
years of enemy occupation offered favorable ground for personal
heroism, and among the two peoples many heroes were distinguished.
The Yugoslavs and Albanians sang of their achievements.
Toward the end of the war the guerrilla warfare took on another
aspect. It became a class war, as in Russia during the revolution of
1917. It was not always an open class war, for the Communists,
being aware of the nationalist feelings of the people, were careful to
camouflage it with the veil of national liberation. Yet it is said that
songs appeared which showed class hatred and extolled communism
as the ideal rule of the people.
Perhaps there has not been sufficient time in Yugoslavia and in
Albania to sing of the collectivization of farms or of the socialization
of the economy. Besides, conditions in these two communist countries
have been different from those in Russia. The majority of the peasants
owned their land. In Albania the economy has progressed at a slow
pace. Thus we do not expect to find songs of the kind created in the
Soviet Union. It is possible that in Yugoslavia the present ideological
resistance to Soviet Russia may have given rise to heroic songs, for in
communist regimes much importance is attributed to the influencing
of workers and farm laborers - the masses - and it is to the interest
of the governments to stimulate the production of songs in this
direction.
We do not know whether any collections of heroic songs composed
in Yugoslavia or Albania during World War II and after it have been
published. Such collections, if genuine - it is almost impossible to
find any thing "genuine" in communist regimes, where everything
has to serve a party purpose - will be of value for a social-political
interpretation of the history of these two peoples in the last decade.
Of course, the heroic songs of the opponents of communism must not
be neglected. In Yugoslavia, during World War II, Moslems took up
arms against Tito's forces - and they came from regions where oral
epic poetry is still living. This study, however, must be reserved for
the future. It would be a subject of interest not only to the folklorists
of Yugoslavia and Albania, but to those of other countries as well.




BIBLIOGRAPHY


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II1. GENERAL
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217


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Murko, Matthias, Ges8chiehte der?ilteren suidlakiwishen Litteraturen. Leipzig:
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218


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Sokolov, Yuri M., Russian Folklore. Translated by Catherine Ruth Smith. New
York: Macmillan Co., 1950.
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1917.
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Pesme o Musi Kesedziji i Djemu Brdjaninu (History in the Popular Epic
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Djemo Brdjanin). Beograd: Drzavna stamparija Kraljevine Srbije, 1909.
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III. PERIODICALS AND STUDIES
Albania; revue mensuelle albanaise de litterature, linguistique, histoire, sociologie: published in Brussels, 1897-1902 and in London, 1903-1909.
Archiv fiir Slavische Philologie: (a) Jagi6, V., "Die siidslavische Volksepik vor
Jahrhunderten," IV (1880), pp. 192-242.
(b) Soerensen, Asmus, "Beitrag zur Geschichte der Entwickelung der
serbischen Heldendichtung," XIV (1892), pp. 556-587; XV (1893), pp.
204-245; XVI (1894), pp. 66-118; XVII (1895), pp. 198-253; XIX (1897),
pp. 89-131; XX (1898), pp. 78-114.
Arhiv za arbanasku starinu, jezik i etnologiju (Archives for Albanian Antiquity,
Language and Ethnology), published in Belgrade, complete collection
1923-1926, particularly:
(a) Oajkanovic, Veselin, "Motivi prve arnautske pesme o boju na Kosovu"
(Motifs of the First Albanian Song on the Battle of Kosovo), I (1923),
pp. 68-77.
(b) Oorovic, V., "Napomene o albanskim tragovima u Hercegovini"
(Mention of Albanian traces in Hercegovina), I (1923), pp. 201-205.
(c) Elezovi6, Gl., "Arnautske narodne lirske i hajducke pesme iz Juzne
Srbije" (Albanian Popular Lyrical and Hayduk Songs from South Serbia),
II (1925), pp. 243-262.
(d) - -, "Jedna arnautska varianta o Boju na Kosovu" (An Albanian
Variant about the Battle of Kosovo), I (1923), pp. 54-67.
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(f) Treimer, K., "Byron und die Albanologie," III (1926), pp. 167-205.




BIBLIOGRAPHY21


219


Balkcan-Arehiv: (a) Mladenov, St., "Bemerkungen fiber die Albaner und das
Albanische in Nordmakedonien und Altserbien," I (1925), pp. 43-70.
(b) Weigand, Gustav, "Das Albanische in Attika," 11 (1926), pp. 167-225.
Denlcschrif ten der Kaisertichen Alcademie, der Wissensehaften in Wvien (Philosophisch-historische Kiasse): Jirecek, Constantin, "IL. Staat und Geselisehaft im mittelalterlichen Serbien," erster Teil, LVI1 (1912), pp. 1-83.
Ethnologisehe Mitteilungen aus Ungarn: Asb6th, Johann v., "Das Lied von
Gusinje,".I (1887-1888), pp. 149ff., 323-326.
Harvard Studies in Class8ical Philology:- (a) Parry, Milman, " Studies in the Epic
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(b) - -3, "Studies in the Epic Technique of Oral Verse-making. II,"
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Hylli i Drit&s (The Star of Liglbt), published monthly in Shkodra (Scutari) of
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(a) Cordignano, Fulvio., "Kryevepra e At Gjergjit n65 zhviilim t6 historisd
shqyptare" (The Masterpiece of Father Gjergj [Fishta] in the Development of Albanian History), VII (1931), pp. 530-557.
(b) Qabej, Eqrem, "Per gjenez~Sn e literatures shqipe" (About the Genesis
of Albanian Literature), XIV (1938), pp. 647-661; XV (1939), pp. 8-15,
84-93, 149-180.
(c) - -9 "Konstandini i vog~lith dhe kthimi i Odi~eut" (Constantine the
Small and the Return of Ulysses), XITV (1938), pp. 77-84.
(d) Fishta, P. Gjergj, "Vjersha heroike shqyptare" (The Albanian Heroic
Song), XI1 (1935), pp. 148-152.
(e) Paci, Murat, "Ali Pash' Gusija" (Ali Pasha of Gusinje), XIV (1938),
pp. 304-312.
(f) Sirdani, P. Marin, "Kfingd mbi ndertimin e Rozafatit" (Songs on the
Construction of Rozafat), VI (1930), pp. 549-560.
Laographia (Folklore), edited in Athens by N. G. Politis: Sotiriou, Constantine
D.,. "Alvanika asmatia kai paramythia" (Albanian Songs and Tales), I
(1909), pp. 82-106.
Leipziger Vierteljahrsschri/t filr Sildosteuropa:
(a) 9abej, Eqrem, "Die albanische Volksdichtung," 3 (1939), pp. 194-213.
(b) Stadtmtiller, Georg, "Die albanische Volkstumsgeschichte als Forschungsproblem," 5 (1941), pp. 58-80.
(c) Wfinsch, Walther, "Die Kunst - und Volksmusik der Slawen am
Balkan," 3 (1939), pp. 50-63.
(d) Lambertz,, Maximilian," Das Werden der albanischen Literatur," 7
(1943), pp. 160-174.                                           1
Occident and Orient, Gaster Anniversary volume, London, Taylor's Foreign
Press, 1936: Hasluck, Margaret, "An Albanian Ballad on the Assassination in 1389 of Sultan Murad I on Kosovo Plain," pp. 210-233.
Oxford Slavonic Papers: Jakobson, Roman, "Studies in Comparative Slavic
Metrics," III (1952), pp. 21-66.
Prilozi prou6avanju narodne poezije, (Contributions to the Study of Popular
Poetry)., an important journal published in Belgrade, collection 1934-1939,
particularly:(a) Cordignano, Fulvio, "Prou~avanje narodne poezije u Albaniji" (The
Study of Popular Poetry in Albania),, VI (1939), pp. 167-173.
(b) Djordjevi6', Tihomir, "Iz arbanaskog narodnog predan ja" (From
Albanian Popular Tradition), I (1934), pp. 187-200.




220


220     ALBANIAN A-ND SOUTH SLAVIC ORAL EPIC POETRY


(c) Elezovi6, GI., "Arbanaska tuz'na pesma Gug Isuf - Gug Istref" (The
Albanian Dirge Gug Isuf - Gug Istref), VI (1939), pp. 84-95.
(d) Esadovi6, Medz'id, "Narodna pesma kod Arnauta u okolini Kumanova" (The Popular Song among the Albanians in the Surroundings of
Kumanovo), II (1935), pp. 114-117.
(e) Jankovi6, Ljudica, "Narodne igre u Metohiji" (Popular Dances in
Metohija), IV (1937), pp. 118-123.
(f) Marjanovi6, D., "Problem Djerzelez Alije" (The Problem of Djerzelez
Alija), III (1936), pp. 90-101.
(g) Mati6, S.,. "Beles'ka o epskoj improvizaciji" (Note on Epic Improvisation), IV (1939), pp. 70-75.
(h) Medenica, Rad., "Guslar i njegovi slusaoci" (The Gusle-player and
His Listeners), V (1938), pp. 17 1-186.
(i Murko,' Matthias, "Nekoliko zada6a u proue'avanju narodne epike'
(Some Problems in the Study of Popular Epics), I1 (1934), pp. 2-5.
(j) Smaus., Alois, "Beles'ke iz Sandz'aka, I" (Notes from the Sandziak), V
(1938), pp. 274-280.
"Bele'ske iz Sandz'aka, II" (Notes from the Sandiak), VI (1939),
pp. 117-125
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—, "Kosovo u narodnoj pesmi muslimana" (Kosovo in the Popular
Song of the Moslems)., V (1938), pp. 101-121.."Nekoliko podataka o epskom pevaniju i pesmama kod Arbanasa
(Arnauta) u Staroj Srbiji" (Some Information about Epic Singing and
Songs Among the Albanians of Old Serbia),[I (1934), pp. 107-112.
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(k) Stefanovi6, Svetislav, "Daliji prilozi legendi o zidanju SkadraMadz'arske variante" (Further Contributions to the Legend of the Construction of Shkodra - Hungarian Variants), II (1935), pp. 173-184.
(1) Vukanovi,6,, T., "0 pevac'ima narodnih pesama u Drenici." (About the
Singers of Popular Songs in Drenica), (1934), pp. 255-259.
Revue de Linguistique Romarne: Martinet, Andre',"Description phonologique du
parler Franco-Provengal d' Auteville.," XV (1939), pp. 1-86.
Revue des Cours et Conferences: Vaillant, A., "Les Chants 6piques des Slaves du
Sud.," 331 (1931-32): 30 Janvier., pp. 306-326; 15 F6vrier, pp. 431-447;
15 Mars, pp. 635-647.
Revue des Deux Monde8:
(a) Istria, Dora d', "La nationalite6 serbe d' apre's les chants populaires,"
JS (1865), pp. 3 15-360.
(b) - -., "La nationalit6 albanaise d' apre's les chants populaires," 63
(1866), pp. 382-418.
Revue Internationale des Etudes Balkaniques:
(a) 9abej, Eqrem., " Sitten und Gebriuche der Albaner," 1-11 (1934-1935),,
pp. 556-570.
(b) Stefanovi6, Svetislav, "Die Legende vom Bau der Burg Skutari (Emn
Beitrag zur interbalkanischen und vergleichenden Sagenforschung)" I-Il
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Rivista d' Albania, a publication of the Studies Center for Albania of the Royal
Italian Academy, 4 volumes, particularly:
(a) Koliqi, Ernest, "I rapsodi delle Alpi albanesi," III (1942), pp. 83-92.




BIBLIOGRAPHY22


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Zbornik (M6langes) A. Beli6. Beograd: Akad. knjiz'ara s. b. Cvijanovi6a, 1921:
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Zbornik (Melanges) A. Beli6. Beograd: "Miada Srbija," 1937: Elezovi6', Gligor,
"Tri arnautske varijante o zazidjivanju neveste" (Three Albanian Vari.
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Zeitschrift des Vereis ftilr Volkskunde: Dieterich, Karl, "Die Volksdichtung der
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Magazanik, D. A. and Mihailov, M. S., Russko- Turecki Slovar (Russian.
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