Write up on Serbian history & Mythology(Revision 2)

Significance of the Study

Write up on Serbian history & Mythology

Chapter 1

The South Slavs have a long tradition of belief in protective domestic spirits and in malevolent

demons of the field, forest and water.(1) Such mythological creatures were prevalent among all Slavic

peoples and are part of the common Indo-European heritage.(2) Whereas most beliefs of this type receded

among the East and West Slavs by the end of the nineteenth century, they were maintained in many areas of

the Balkans until the beginning of the Second World War.(3) Ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the

1960s-1980s has shown that many farmers and stockbreeders in the more remote villages (of former

Yugoslavia) have not abandoned their traditional beliefs. For example, the protector housesnake,(4)

mischievous forest and dangerous water spirits, and many lesser mythological beings have been reported in

several South Slavic territories in the last forty years. Many traditional domestic rituals have their origin in

the conviction that the family ancestor’s spirit resides under the threshold or near the open hearth and, if

properly cared for, will ensure happiness and good fortune for the family. In Russia that spirit was manifest

in the domovoj, “house spirit,” but as this name itself was taboo, he was referred to in euphemisms such as

ded or deduška, “grandfather,” and xozjain “master.” Offerings of food, especially bread and salt, the

traditional symbols of hospitality, were routinely left for the domovoj at night before the family retired.

The corresponding belief in a protector-ancestor spirit in the South Slavic territories saw the male

founder of the family incarnate in a housesnake which was euphemized most commonly in Serbo-Croatian

as čúvarica “protector,” čúvarkuća “house protector,” and kúćarica “household one,” and in Bulgarian

stópanin or stópan “master of the house”; compare English “stoop,” i.e., the threshold, the resting place of

this spirit.(5)

The South Slavs’ perception of mythological beings was based on a dualistic view which

incorporated both positive and negative features. This was true of snakes as well. Most snakes were

considered incarnations of demons living in the Underworld (Donji svet) and were to be killed on sight,

poisonous or not. Yet the white snake rarely seen, but thought to live under the threshold, in the foundation,

or near the house was considered to embody the spirit of the family’s first male ancestor.

In Serbia the protector snake was sometimes believed to live in the foundation wall near the

threshold, but in most areas it was said to dwell in, behind, or under the hearth. Likewise, both locations

were thought to be the dwelling place of the domovoj in pre-Revolutionary Russia, and each has been the

site of domestic rituals in all parts of the Slavic world. The family’s albino protector snake not only caught

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mice and kept other, more dangerous snakes from the house, but was considered the source of good fortune

and well-being.

Representing a positive force, it was most often visualized as white. The white snake was called by

many names, the most common being (f.) sretna zmija “snake of (good) fortune” and (m.) zmijski

kralj/knez, “snake king/prince.” Incorporated into the Christian belief system, it was thought in some areas

to be sent by God Himself. Care was taken to protect the čuvarica, for it was believed that if it were killed,

the master or another person in the household would soon die. As a mediator between the Underworld,

Nature, and humans, this snake was thought to understand speech, to be able to teach man about medicinal

herbs, and to induce fertility in wives and female livestock. Many legends associate man and snake, and

metamorphosis of one into the other is common in South Slavic folklore.

Belief in a protector snake spirit has almost disappeared. Yet, as recently as the early 1970s

Macedonian field researchers examined evidence of a snake cult in the Skopje suburb of Orman, which is

known for the veneration of snakes, a custom surviving among the older generation. Many people still

believe in the power of the zmija-sajbija, or proprietor snake, and they are convinced that if the snake

should leave its dwelling place permanently, misfortune will come to the family of the house in which it

lives. Many Orman residents collectively celebrate both the coming of spring and the return of the snakes

from hibernation on March 22 (Orthodox), a day which is officially called Denot na proletta “Spring Day,”

but which retains its religious name, Četirieset mačenici, or “Forty Martyrs.” In 1969, after a new church

was built at the foot of Zmijarnik (“Snake Hill”), hundreds of villagers celebrated this holiday by bringing

bits of their clothing and laying them on the ground in the hope that the returning snakes might touch them

and thereby ensure good health and fortune for the owners. Belief in the magic power of this ritual imitation

of the snake’s shedding of its skin, i.e., a symbolic renewal of life, was strong enough that relatives brought

the clothing of the sick to the sacred hill. It is believed that only those whose clothes are “blessed” by a

returning snake will be cured or have their wish come true.

Post-World War II field research in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia has demonstrated that

mythological beings remain integrated into the belief system of a notable portion of the (mostly) rural

populations. For example, ethnographic research conducted in the 1950-1960s in the Bilo-gora region some

seventy kilometers east of Zagreb (including the sizeable towns of Bjelovar, Koprivnica, Virovitica,

Grubišno Polje, and Križevci) disclosed several tenacious beliefs stemming from pre-Christian

demonology. A prime example is the male spirit called ved, who lives in the forest (his name is derived

from the Old Church Slavic verb věděti “to know, to have secret knowledge”). Védi (pl.) were thought to be

as tall as a house and physically similar to men, but covered with hair. (Compare the Russian lešii who were

usually perceived as old men of human size and whose primary activity was frightening lone wanderers in

the forest.) The Croatian vedi were thought to inhabit the forest, long considered a transitional zone

between our world and the “other world”.(6) There they lived in sociable groups or even in their own cities.

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Their singing and talking could be “heard” from far away. According to local tradition, there were both

good and bad vedi. The latter usually avoided humans and stayed in the forest; hence, they were called

šúmski vedi, or “forest vedi.” If a person strayed into the forest and came upon one or more of the latter he

could be tortured, starved, or beaten before being released.

Conversely, good vedi could be counted on for help. Each family or household had its own ved for

protection against hail, floods, and other dangerous natural phenomena. Thus the dual perception of vedi

incorporated both the positive features of the domestic protector spirit, and negative, demonic qualities

associated with forces from the Underworld. Several expressions survived in the Bilo-gora area which attest

to the folk belief in this combination forest and domestic spirit. A common exclamation in the Kajkavian

dialect of this region was Daj, Bože, da nam naši vedi pomognejo! (“God, let our vedi help us!”) Another

expression suggests that the borderline between good and bad vedi was less than clear: while a family

depended on its own spirit for help, that same ved could be induced to harm an unliked neighbor’s family

and crops. This may be illustrated by the expression: Bože ljubljeni, daj da nam naši vedi pomorejo, a da

nam njihovi vedi ne nahudijo! (“Dear God, let our vedi help us and don’t let their vedi harm us”). It was

believed that after one pronounced such a prayer, the spirit would come quickly to the person’s aid. Belief in

the vedi has generally receded by now, but many of the older generation in Bilo-gora still spoke of the them

in the late 1960s.

A second male spirit, the vodénjak or vódeni čóvjek “water man,” has proven more durable in the

Bilo-gora region, as elsewhere in former Yugoslavia. The vodenjak is thought to live in whirlpools or other

places where there is deep water. When someone drowns it is usually said that the vodenjak has claimed his

victim, or has taken him to his realm deep below the surface. Reports as to the physical appearance of this

dangerous spirit are fairly consistent: when seen in the water, he is naked but his skin is green and entirely

covered with blue or green hair which makes him look like a submerged tree stump. Out of the water, he

looks like a man but is dressed in green and carries a stick for beating his victims and implementing magic

charms. He is thought to be very strong, so strong that a person can rarely escape his grasp. Explanations of

drownings as being caused by the vodenjak are very frequent in the Bilo-gora region (as elsewhere in

Southeastern Europe).

In Serbia, The water spirit is known as nečástivi, “evil one” or “devil,” especially in northeast

Serbia, surrounding the town of Donji Milanovac; because of the danger of invoking his presence by calling

his name he is usually referred to as ónaj stári “that old man” or onaj máli “that little man.” His reported

size varies between fifty and one hundred centimeters, and he is similar in appearance to the common

European devil, i.e., he has a cloven hoof, horns and goat’s ears (usually disguised by a bathing cap or red

[Turkish] fez), and he is dressed in black or white, colors of chthonic gods. He is said to change his shape at

will, and often to take the form of a baby or relative calling someone to the river. It is thought unwise to

answer if one’s name is called three times at night, for it means that the nečastivi has set the time for one’s

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death. The various localities’ water spirits are thought to gather once a year on Devils’ Day (djavolji dan)

and, after their elder gives them instructions for the remainder of the year, they are said to celebrate by

dancing the kolo (round dance).

The Serbian villagers of this Danube region believe that it is dangerous to see one’s reflection in

the water: should this happen the spirit will try to claim that person as his victim. Danger lurks not only in

the water, but also nearby: if one falls asleep on a river bank or in a moored boat there is a chance that the

water spirit(s) will dance the kolo around the site; or one may awake, as reported in the case of three

fishermen, several kilometers downstream. Field researchers have recorded much “eyewitness” testimony

telling of such incidents, and these and similar explanations are especially common in July, the month in

which the nečastivi is thought to be most active.

The mythology surrounding the Serbian variant of the water spirit is well developed. For example,

as in the case of vampires, the water demon can only be “seen” by persons born on a Saturday. And sighting

of the nečastivi by a villager is a sign that death or misfortune is soon to strike. Yet, it is also believed that

certain women voluntarily fraternize with them. Such women are reputed to go out at night in order to visit

with the spirits. They are said to be naked and with hair unbraided but with their genital area demurely

covered by a pan or pillow (to protect them from the devil’s lust). It is said that if a woman has sexual

relations with one of them her husband will soon die and she herself will become infertile or her next child

will be born without a skeleton.

Many villagers in this region are convinced that some women give themselves freely to the water

spirits and thereby gain power over them. Such women are usually the village conjurers (vráčare/bájalice).

They take care to reinforce their power by whispering magic charms (básme,)(7) and by performing special

rituals involving nine grains of wheat (i.e., thrice three, the most important magic number, which increases

their power threefold), nine pieces of salt, garlic, and a special staff with which they strike the water. When

the spirit appears the conjurer tosses money as a tribute to him, or promises an animal or human sacrifice. If

this ritual is done properly, her wish will be fulfilled.

Conjurers in this region are often hired to enlist the aid of the water spirit in support of the

customer’s desire for success in fishing, hunting, and even catching thieves. Furthermore, it is thought

possible to sell one’s soul to the nečastivi to ensure successful fishing. As in the case of other such demons

and devils, the pact guarantees only temporary success; eventually, the spirit will claim what is his. When a

drowned man is found, a proverbial expression confirms this belief: Došao ðavo po svoje. (“The devil came

for his own”).

A third male creature, and one considerably less dangerous than the water spirits, is the Croatian

vrag or “devil,” who can be met in a forest, a meadow, or on a path, but is most often encountered at

crossroads (the traditional haunting place of witches as well). This minor demon dares not enter a church,

yet he is often reported to have been in the vicinity of nearby cemeteries. In Croatian Bilo-gora he is

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described as physically similar to a man, but bearing the familiar distinguishing marks of traditional

European devils: a cloven hoof, horns, and a tail.

It is thought that the vrag is strong enough to stop a pair of running horses; however, in combat

with humans he is neither crafty nor agile. Rather he is thought to be a relatively simple and trusting

creature who can be deceived easily. For example, the vrag likes to fight with priests and women, but he

always loses the contest. He is afraid of the cross, holy water and rosaries, and his constant goal is to turn

believers from the “true faith,” to win over souls by “registering them in his book.”

The ved, vodenjak/nečastivi and vrag are examples of male mythological beings which are

supernatural extensions of, or mediators from the Underworld.

Yet there is a fourth male creature, one who originates from the soul of a deceased human: the

vampire. Belief in vampires is still strong in certain areas of Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean

basin, but for our purposes is most concentrated today in Macedonia. Common Croatian-Serbian terms for

vampire are vúkodlak “wolf-hair,” vámpir, and ténac “shade” (= ghost) or “werewolf;” in Macedonian he is

called vóper or vópir (cf. Russian upýr’, Polish upiór), gróbnik “graveman,” and tálasam, a term derived

from Arabic, which has a second meaning in Macedonian: (probably from Turkish) “evil house spirit.”

According to reports from Macedonia, when seen, the vampire may look like a person but, as he has no

skeleton, his body is filled only with blood. His voice can be heard and his red eyes seen, but he has no

shadow. He can also change his shape freely; he is most often seen as a cat, rabbit, rooster, or in fact any

living creature.

Like other South and East European vampires, the Macedonian voper attempts to suck blood or at

least to frighten his victim to death. However, when less violently inclined, he merely makes noises in the

house, stirs up the ashes in the hearth, or starts fires (!). Not a wholly negative creature, he is commonly

believed in Macedonia to return to his former place of work and even continue to live with his widow.

Explanations of the origin of this phenomenon are generally traditional, the most common being that an

animal jumped over the deceased as the body lay in state. For this reason, no corpse is left unguarded at

night: a “wake” is held for three days and nights. Should it happen that a cat, chicken, rooster or dog jumps

over the body, the offending animal (thought to be the devil in disguise) must be made to jump back over it

in the reverse direction so as to prevent the creation of a vampire from the Devil’s theft of the deceased’s

soul.

Other reasons given for the origin of Macedonian vampires are that a person died during the

“unbaptized days,” that is, in the period between Christmas and Epiphany (January 6) when Christ was said

to have been baptized; died a violent death and was not mourned properly by ritual lament; died with an

unfulfilled wish; or died on the spot where a star fell. In addition, there is another explanation which has

been given: a vampire is “a corpse which has been urinated on by the devil (mrtovec što go pomočal

ģavolot).

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To summarize, many of these spirits support a dual function: the family’s protector spirit, whether

snake or progenitor incarnate, is counted on for health, fertility, and prosperity. The family’s adopted ved is

likewise helpful, but those of neighbors may be detrimental to one’s well-being. The Christianity-inspired

vrag is a generally mischievous sprite, and one seen most often in a humorous light; still, the best defenses

are caution, one’s own superior wits, and a firm belief in the principles of the Church. But the pre-Christian,

purely mythological vodenjak, nečastivi, and especially the semi-human vukodlak, vampir or voper, are

dangerous spirits to be avoided if at all possible. The water spirits are demons lurking below to catch the

unaware, yet even they can be the source of power for certain villagers (ordinary women as well as female

conjurers); one must always be careful in and near the water.

There are yet other mythological beings in traditional South Slavic folklore which have become for

the most part only figures in legends and folktales. In addition to the male creatures discussed in this paper,

there are those such as the vúčji pástir “wolf shepherd” thought to control the countryside; drékovi, souls of

deceased soldiers; drekavci, souls of children who died during the nekršteni dani; and the Christian ánđeo i

đávo, angel and devil. Note: There are a number of female spirits including personified diseases such as

Ćúma or Kúga, the plague, and Karakónđula, an old hag who is thought to ride drunken men at night.(8)

There are likewise many meteorological and animal spirits, e.g., ala, the summer hail demon; duga, the

rainbow thought to drink from rivers, lakes, and oceans; Zmaj, the serpent which spreads fire everywhere

and is visualized as a bolt of lightning; or even Psoglava, a dog-headed monster with iron teeth who lives in

a dark cave in a land where there is no sun, but who comes to our world to seek out victims for gnawing. No

longer believed in as are the personified male and female spirits, these may still be named as the cause of

otherwise inexplicable phenomena in many parts of former (and present) Yugoslavia and constitute a

significant portion of the body of folk belief in the mythology of the South Slavs.(9)

NOTES:

1. Research for this study was conducted at the Zagreb Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku

(formerly Zavod za istraživanje folklora) under the auspices of a Senior Fulbright Research grant

(sponsored by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars) Consultations were held with folklorists

and ethnographers in the Slovene and Serbian academies of sciences and arts, as well as with those in

museums and universities in Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Belgrade.

A somewhat expanded version, “Mythological Beings in South Slavic Folklore,” was read May 6,

2000, at the Balkan and South Slavic Conference, held at the University of Kansas, Lawrence.

2. For a comprehensive survey of traditional Slavic mythology, see A Afanas’ev, Poètičeskija

vozzrenija slavjan na prirodu, I-III (Moscow: 1865-69; reprinted in Slavistic Printings and Reprintings

214/1-3 [The Hague-Paris: Mouton, 1970]). More specifically for the East Slavs, consult S.A. Tokarev,

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Religioznye verovanija vostočnoslavjanskih narodov XIX-načala XX v. (Moscow: Akademija Nauk, 1957).

See also the more recent Enciklopedičeskij Slovar’: Slavjanskaja mifologija (Moskva: Ellis Lak, 1995).

For discussion of Balkan mythology, Špiro Kulišić, Stara slovenska religija u svijetlu novijih

istraživanja posebno balkanoloških. Sarajevo: ANBiH, Dijela, knj. LVI. Centar za balkanološka

ispitivanja, knj. 3, 1979.

3. For a general introduction to South Slavic folk belief, see E Schneeweiss, Serbokroatische

Volkskunde. Erster Teil: Der volkstümliche Glaube (Second edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter and Co.,

1961), pp. 3-33. For a similar introduction to Bulgarian folk belief, see Christo Vakarelski, Bulgarische

Volkskunde. Zweiter Teil: Geistige Kultur (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter and Co., 1968), pp. 207-47.

Specialized information concerning almost all aspects of Yugoslav mythology can be found in Veselin

Čajkanović, Mit i religija u Srba. Izabrane studije (Beograd: Srpska književna zadruga, kolo LXVI, knj.

443, 1973). For a more recent treatment of the mythological spirits and demons discussed in this chapter,

see Slobodan Zečević, Mitska bića srpskih predanja (Beograd: Vuk Karadžić, 1981).

For traditional Bulgarian mythology, see Mikhail Arnaudov, Očerci po B”lgarskija folklor vol. 2

(Sofija: B”lgarski pisatel, 1969).

4. zmija, the usual word for snake, is fem sg. but refers to the male progenitor of the family. As it is

related to zmaj, “serpent” which is masculine, it fits into the category of male mythological spirits.

5. Please note that the accent marks are not those used by traditional linguists for Croatian/Serbian-

-rather they are merely to indicate the stressed syllable for those interested in South Slavic folklore

6. Similarly, rivers are considered fixed boundaries between “this” world and “that” or “the other”

world

7. For discussion and analysis of charms and rituals used by vračare, bajalice, and their basme, see

Joseph L Conrad, “Magic Charms and Healing Rituals in Contemporary Yugoslavia,” Southeastern Europe

10 (1983):99-120. See also my “Bulgarian Magic Charms: Ritual, Form, and Content,” Slavic and East

European Journal 31, 4 (1987):548-62; and “Slovene Oral Incantations: Topics, Texts, and Rituals,”

Slovene Studies 12/1 (1990):55-66. For comparison, see Conrad, “Russian Ritual Incantations: Tradition,

Diversity, and Continuity,” SEEJ 33, 3 (1989):422-444.

For a solid collection of South Slavic charms, see Ljubinko Radenković, Narodne Basme i Bajanja

(Udruženi izdavači: Niš: “Gradina,” Priština: “Jedinstvo,” Kraguevac: “Svetlost,” 1982). See also his recent

Narodna Bajanja kod Južnih Slovena (Beograd: Balkanološki Institut SANU, and “Prosveta,” 1996).

8. For information concerning more important female demons, see Conrad, “Female Spirits Among

the South Slavs,” SEEFA Journal vol 5, no. 2 (Fall 2000):27-34.

9. For commentary on these lesser demons in Northeastern Serbia, see Slobodan Zečević,

“Narodna verova

SEEFA Journal 2001, Vol. VI No. 1

Paganism and Religion

There is available but slender material concerning the pre-Christian

history of the Southern-Slavonic races, and their worship of Nature has

not been adequately studied. Immediately after the Slavonic immigration

into the Balkan Peninsula during the seventh and eighth centuries,

Christianity, which was already deeply rooted in the Byzantines, easily

destroyed the ancient faith. The last survivors of paganism lived

in the western part of the peninsula, in the regions round the river

Neretva, and these were converted to Christianity during the reign of

Basil I. A number of Croatians had been converted to Christianity as

early even as the seventh century, and had established an episcopate

at Agram (Zagreb). In the course of some thousand years Graeco-Oriental

myths and legends, ancient Illyrian and Roman propaganda and Christian

legends and apocryphal writings exercised so great an influence upon

the ancient religions of the Southern-Slavonic peoples that it is

impossible to unravel from the tangled skein of such evidence as is

available a purely Southern-Slavonic mythology.

The God Peroon

Of Peroon, the Russian God of Thunder, by whom the Russian pagans

used to swear in their treaties and conventions concluded with the

Byzantines during the tenth century, only a few insignificant traces

remain. There is a village named ‘Peroon’ near Spalato; a small number

of persons in Montenegro bear the name; [13] and it is preserved

also in the name of a plant, ‘Peroonika’ (iris), which is dedicated

to the god. There is hardly a cottage-garden in the Serbian villages

where one does not see the iris growing by the side of the house-leek

(Tchuvar-Koutchye). The Serbians say that the god lives still in the

person of St. Elias (Elijah), and Serbian peasants believe that this

saint possesses the power of controlling lightning and thunder. They

also believe that St. Elias has a sister ‘Ognyena Maria’ (Mary the

Fiery One), who frequently acts as his counsellor.

The God Volos

From the Russian God of Cattle, ‘Volos,’ the city ‘Veless’ has obtained

its name; also a village in the western part of Serbia, and there

is a small village on the lower Danube called ‘Velessnitza.’ But

the closest derivative appears in the Serbian word ‘Vo,’ or ‘Voll’

(in the singular) ‘Volovi’ (in the plural) which means ‘Ox.’

The Sun God

Other phenomena of Nature were also personified and venerated as gods.

The Sun god, ‘Daybog’ (in Russian ‘Daszbog,’ meaning literally ‘Give,

O God!’), whose idols are found in the group of idols in Kief, and

whose name reappears as a proper name of persons in Russia, Moldavia

and Poland, is to the Serbians the personification of sunshine,

life, prosperity and, indeed, of everything good. But there have

been found no remains of idols representing the god ‘Daybog’ among

the Southern-Slavonic nations, as with the Russians, who made figures

of him in wood, with head of silver and moustache of gold.

The Veele

The Serbian legends preserve to this day interesting traces of the

worship of those pagan gods and of minor deities–which still occupy

a considerable place in the national superstition. The “nymphai”

and “potami” mentioned by the Greek historian Procope, as inferior

female divinities inhabiting groves, forests, fountains, springs

or lakes, seem to have been retained in the Serbian popular Veela

(or Vila–in the singular; Veele or Vile–in the plural). There

are several fountains called “Vilin Izvor” in Montenegro (e.g. on

Mount Kom), as also in the district of Rudnik in Serbia. During

the Renaissance the Serbian poets of Ragusa and other cities of

Dalmatia made frequent reference to the nymphs, dryads, and oreads

beloved by them as “veele.” The Serbian bards or troubadours from

the early fourteenth century to our day have ever glorified and sung

of the veele, describing them as very beautiful and eternally young,

robed in the whitest and finest gauze, with shimmering golden hair

flowing down over snow-white bosoms. Veele were said to have the most

sweet voices and were sometimes armed with bows and arrows. Their

melodious songs were often heard on the borders of the lakes or in

the meadows hidden deep in the forests, or on high mountain-peaks

beyond the clouds. They also loved to dance, and their rings are

called ‘Vrzino (or Vilino) Kollo.’ In Mount Kom in Montenegro,

there is one of these rings which measures about twenty metres

across and is called ‘Vilino Kollo.’ The Treaty of Berlin mentions

another situated between Vranya and Kuestandil, through which ran

the Serbo-Bulgarian frontier. When veele were dancing nobody dare

disturb them, for they could be very hostile to men. Like the Greek

nymphs, veele could also be amicably disposed; and on occasions they

assisted the heroes. They could become the sisters of men and of women,

and could even marry and have off-springs. But they were not by any

means invulnerable. Prince Marko, the favourite hero of the Serbians,

was endowed with superhuman strength by a veela who also presented

him with a most wonderful courser, ‘Sharatz,’ which was, indeed,

almost human. A veela also became his possestrima (Spiritual sister,

or ‘sister-in-God’) and when Marko was in urgent need of help, she

would descend from the clouds and assist him. But she refused to aid

him if he fought in duels on Sundays. On one occasion [14] Marko all

but slew the Veela Raviyoyla who wounded his pobratim (brother-in-God)

Voivode Milosh. The veele were wise in the use of herbs, and knew

the properties of every flower and berry, therefore Raviyoyla could

heal the wounds of Milosh, and his pierced heart was “sounder than

ever before.” They believed in God and St. John, and abhorred the

Turk. The veele also possessed the power of clairvoyance, and Prince

Marko’s ‘sister-in-God’ prophesied his death and that of Sharatz. [15]

Veele had power to control tempests and other phenomena of nature; they

could change themselves into snakes or swans. When they were offended

they could be very cruel; they could kill or take away the senses of

any who threatened them with violence; they would lead men into deep

waters or raze in a night magnificent buildings and fortresses. [16]

To veele was attributed also the power of deciding the destiny of

newly born children. On the seventh night after the birth of a child

the Serbian peasant woman watches carefully for the Oossood, a veela

who will pronounce the destiny of her infant, and it is the mother

only who can hear the voice of the fairy.

Predestination and Immortality

The Serbians believe firmly in predestination, and they say that

“there is no death without the appointed day” (Nema smrti bez soodyena

dana). They believe universally in the immortality of the soul,

of which even otherwise inanimate objects, such as forests, lakes,

mountains, sometimes partake. After the death of a man, the soul delays

its departure to the higher or lower spheres until the expiration of

a certain period (usually forty days), during which time it floats in

the air, and can perhaps enter into the body of some animal or insect.

Good and Evil Spirits

Spirits are usually good; in Montenegro the people believe that each

house has its Guardian-Spirit, whom they call syen or syenovik. Such

syens can enter into the body of a man, a dog, a snake, or even a

hen. In the like manner every forest, lake, and mountain has each

its syen, which is called by a Turkish word djin. So, for example,

the djin of the mountain Riyetchki Kom, near the northern side of

the lake of Scutari, does not allow passers-by to touch a branch or a

leaf in the perpetually green woods on the mountain side, and if any

traveller should gather as much as a flower or a leaf he is instantly

pursued by a dense fog and perceives miraculous and terrifying visions

in the air. The Albanians dread similar spirits of the woods in the

region round Lurya, where they do not dare touch even the dry branches

of fallen firs and larches. This recalls the worship of sacred bushes

common among the ancient Lithuanians.

Besides the good spirits there appear evil spirits (byess), demons,

and devils (dyavo), whom the Christians considered as pagan gods,

and other evil spirits (zli doossi) too, who exist in the bodies of

dead or of living men. These last are called vookodlaks or Vlkodlaks

(i.e. vook, meaning ‘wolf,’ and dlaka, meaning ‘hair’), and, according

to the popular belief, they cause solar and lunar eclipses. This

recalls the old Norse belief that the sun and moon were continually

pursued by hungry wolves, a similar attempt to explain the same natural

phenomena. Even to-day Serbian peasants believe that eclipses of the

sun and moon are caused by their becoming the prey of a hungry dragon,

who tries to swallow them. In other parts of Serbia it is generally

believed that such dragons are female beings. These mischievous

and very powerful creatures are credited with the destruction of

cornfields and vineyards, for they are responsible for the havoc

wrought by the hail-carrying clouds. When the peasants observe a

partial eclipse of the moon or the sun, believing that a hailstorm is

imminent, they gather in the village streets, and all–men, women,

and children–beat pots and pans together, fire pistols, and ring

bells in order to frighten away the threatening monster.

In Montenegro, Herzegovina, and Bocca Cattaro the people believe that

the soul of a sleeping man is wafted by the winds to the summit of a

mountain, and, when a number of such has assembled, they become fierce

giants who uproot trees to use as clubs and hurl rocks and stones at

one another. Their hissing and groans are heard especially during the

nights in spring and autumn. Those struggling crowds are not composed

merely of human souls, but include the spirits of many animals, such as

oxen, dogs, and even cocks, but oxen especially join in the struggles.

Witches

Female evil spirits are generally called veshtitze (singular,

veshtitza, derived obviously from the ancient Bohemian word ved, which

means ‘to know’), and are supposed to be old women possessed by an evil

spirit, irreconcilably hostile to men, to other women, and most of all

to children. They correspond more or less to the English conception of

‘witches.’ When an old woman goes to sleep, her soul leaves her body

and wanders about till it enters the body of a hen or, more frequently,

that of a black moth. Flying about, it enters those houses where there

are a number of children, for its favourite food is the heart of an

infant. From time to time veshtitze meet to take their supper together

in the branches of some tree. An old woman having the attributes of

a witch may join such meetings after having complied with the rules

prescribed by the experienced veshtitze, and this is usually done by

pronouncing certain stereotyped phrases. The peasants endeavour to

discover such creatures, and, if they succeed in finding out a witch,

a jury is hastily formed and is given full power to sentence her to

death. One of the most certain methods used to discover whether the

object of suspicion is really a witch or not, is to throw the victim

into the water, for if she floats she is surely a witch. In this case

she is usually burnt to death. This test was not unknown in England.

Vampires

The belief in the existence of vampires is universal throughout the

Balkans, and indeed it is not uncommon in certain parts of western

Europe. Some assert that this superstition must be connected with

the belief generally held in the Orthodox Church that the bodies of

those who have died while under excommunication by the Church are

incorruptible, and such bodies, being taken possession of by evil

spirits, appear before men in lonely places and murder them. In

Montenegro vampires are called lampirs or tenatz, and it is thought

that they suck the blood of sleeping men, and also of cattle and other

animals, returning to their graves after their nocturnal excursions

changed into mice. In order to discover the grave where the vampire

is, the Montenegrins take out a black horse, without blemish, and

lead it to the cemetery. The suspected corpse is dug up, pierced

with stakes and burnt. The authorities, of course, are opposed to

such superstitious practices, but some communities have threatened

to abandon their dwellings, and thus leave whole villages deserted,

unless allowed to ensure their safety in their own way. The code of

the Emperor Doushan the Powerful provides that a village in which

bodies of dead persons have been exhumed and burnt shall be punished

as severely as if a murder had been committed; and that a resnik, that

is, the priest who officiates at a ceremony of that kind, shall be

anathematized. Militchevitch, a famous Serbian ethnographist, relates

an incident where a resnik, as late as the beginning of the nineteenth

century, read prayers out of the apocrypha of Peroon when an exorcism

was required. The revolting custom has been completely suppressed in

Serbia. In Montenegro the Archbishop Peter II. endeavoured to uproot

it, but without entire success. In Bosnia, Istria and Bulgaria it

is also sometimes heard of. The belief in vampires is a superstition

widely spread throughout Roumania, Albania and Greece. [17]

Nature Worship

Even in our own day there are traces of sun and moon worship, and

many Serbian and Bulgarian poems celebrate the marriage of the sun

and the moon, and sing Danitza (the morning star) and Sedmoro Bratye

(‘The Seven Brothers’–evidently The Pleiades). [18] Every man has

his own star, which appears in the firmament at the moment of his

birth and is extinguished when he dies. Fire and lightning are also

worshipped. It is common belief that the earth rests on water, that

the water reposes on a fire and that that fire again is upon another

fire, which is called Zmayevska Vatra (‘Fire of the Dragons’).

Similarly the worship of animals has been preserved to our times. The

Serbians consider the bear to be no less than a man who has been

punished and turned into an animal. This they believe because the

bear can walk upright as a man does. The Montenegrins consider the

jackal (canis aureus) a semi-human being, because its howls at night

sound like the wails of a child. The roedeer (capreolus caprea) is

supposed to be guarded by veele, and therefore she so often escapes

the hunter. In some parts of Serbia and throughout Montenegro it is

a sin to kill a fox, or a bee.

The worship of certain snakes is common throughout the Balkans. In

Montenegro the people believe that a black snake lives in a hole

under every house, and if anybody should kill it, the head of the

house is sure to die. Certain water-snakes with fiery heads were also

considered of the same importance as the evil dragons (or hydra) who,

at one time, threatened ships sailing on the Lake of Scutari. One

of these hydras is still supposed to live in the Lake of Rikavatz,

in the deserted mountains of Eastern Montenegro, from the bottom of

which the hidden monster rises out of the water from time to time, and

returns heralded by great peals of thunder and flashes of lightning.

But the Southern Slavs do not represent the dragon as the Hellenes

did, that is to say as a monster in the form of a huge lizard or

serpent, with crested head, wings and great strong claws, for they

know this outward form is merely used as a misleading mask. In his

true character a dragon is a handsome youth, possessing superhuman

strength and courage, and he is usually represented as in love with

some beautiful princess or empress. [19]

Enchanters

Among celebrants of the various pagan rites, there is mention of

tcharobnitzi (enchanters), who are known to have lived also in

Russia, where, during the eleventh century, they sapped the new

Christianity. The Slavonic translation of the Gospel recognized

by the Church in the ninth century applies the name ‘tcharobnitzi’

to the three Holy Kings.

To this same category belong the resnitzi who, as is apparent in

the Emperor Doushan’s Code referred to previously, used to burn the

bodies of the dead. Resnik, which appears as a proper name in Serbia,

Bosnia and Croatia, means, according to all evidence, “the one who

is searching for truth.”

Sacrificial Rites

From translations of the Greek legends of the saints, the exact

terminology of the sacrificial ceremonies and the places where they

had been made is well known. Procopius mentions oxen as the animals

generally offered for sacrifice, but we find that calves, goats,

and sheep, in addition to oxen, were used by the Polapic Slavs and

Lithuanians, and that, according to Byzantine authorities, the Russians

used even birds as well. In Montenegro, on the occasion of raising a

new building, a ram or a cock is usually slaughtered in order that a

corner-stone may be besprinkled with its blood, and, at the ceremony of

inaugurating a new fountain, a goat is killed. Tradition tells of how

Prince Ivan Tzrnoyevitch once shot in front of a cavern an uncommonly

big wild goat that, being quite wet, shook water from its coat so that

instantly a river began to flow thence. This stream is called even

now the River of Tzrnoyevitch. The story reminds one of the goats’

horns and bodies of goats which are seen on the altar dedicated to

the Illyrian god, Bind, near a fountain in the province of Yapod.

It is a fact that Russians and Polapic Slavs used to offer human

sacrifices. Mention of such sacrifices among the Southern Slavs

is found only in the cycle of myths relating to certain buildings,

which, it was superstitiously believed, could be completed only if a

living human being were buried or immured. Such legends exist among

the Serbians and Montenegrins concerning the building of the fortress

Skadar (Scutari) and the bridge near Vishegrad; with the Bulgarians

in reference to building the fort Lidga-Hyssar, near Plovdiv, and the

Kadi-Koepri (Turkish for ‘the bridge of the judge’) on the river Struma;

and again among modern Greeks in their history of the bridge on the

river Arta, and the Roumanians of the church ‘Curtea de Ardyesh.’ It

seems very likely that certain enigmatic bas-reliefs, representing

oval human faces with just the eyes, nose and mouth, which are found

concealed under the cemented surface of the walls of old buildings

have some connexion with the sacrificial practice referred to. There

are three such heads in the fortress of Prince Dyouragy Brankovitch

at Smederevo (Semendria), not far from Belgrade, on the inner side of

the middle donjon fronting the Danube, and two others in the monastery

Rila on the exterior wall close to the Doupitchka Kapiya.

Funeral Customs

During the siege of Constantinople in the year 626, the Southern Slavs

burnt the bodies of their dead. The Russians did the same during the

battles near Silistria, 971, and subsequently commemorative services

were held in all parts of Russia, and the remains of the dead were

buried.

The Slavs of north Russia used to keep the ashes of the dead in a

small vessel, which they would place on a pillar by the side of a

public road; that custom persisted with the Vyatitchs of southern

Russia as late as 1100.

These funeral customs have been retained longest by the Lithuanians;

the last recorded instance of a pagan burial was when Keystut,

brother of the Grand Duke Olgerd, was interred in the year 1382,

that is to say, he was burnt together with his horses and arms,

falcons and hounds.

There are in existence upright stones, mostly heavy slabs of stone,

many of them broken, or square blocks and even columns, which

were called in the Middle Ages kami, or bileg, and now stetyak or

mramor. Such stones are to be found in large numbers close together;

for example, there are over 6000 in the province of Vlassenitza,

and some 22,000 in the whole of Herzegovina; some can be seen also in

Dalmatia, for instance, in Kanovli, and in Montenegro, at Nikshitch;

in Serbia, however, they are found only in Podrigne. These stones

are usually decorated with figures, which appear to be primitive

imitations of the work of Roman sculptors: arcades on columns, plant

designs, trees, swords and shields, figures of warriors carrying

their bows, horsemen, deer, bears, wild-boars, and falcons; there

are also oblong representations of male and female figures dancing

together and playing games.

The symbol of the Cross indicates the presence of

Christianity. Inscriptions appear only after the eleventh century. But

many tombstones plainly had their origin in the Middle Ages. Some

tombs, situated far from villages, are described by man’s personal

name in the chronicles relating to the demarcations of territories,

for example, Bolestino Groblye (the cemetery of Bolestino) near Ipek;

Druzetin Grob (the tomb of Druzet). In Konavla, near Ragusa, there

was in the year 1420 a certain point where important cross-roads met,

known as ‘Obugonov Grob.’ Even in our day there is a tombstone here

without inscription, called ‘Obugagn Greb.’ It is the grave of the

Governor Obuganitch, a descendant of the family of Lyoubibratitch,

famous in the fourteenth century.

Classic and Mediaeval Influence

When paganism had disappeared, the Southern-Slavonic legends received

many elements from the Greeks and Romans. There are references to the

Emperors Trajan and Diocletian as well as to mythical personages. In

the Balkans, Trajan is often confused with the Greek king Midas. In

the year 1433 Chevalier Bertrandon de la Broquiere heard from the

Greeks at Trajanople that this city had been built by the Emperor

Trajan, who had goat’s ears. The historian Tzetzes also mentions

that emperor’s goat’s ears otia tragou. In Serbian legends the

Emperor Trajan seems also to be confused with Daedalus, for he is

given war-wings in addition to the ears.

To the cycle of mediaeval myths we owe also the djins (giants) who dwelt

in caverns, and who are known by the Turkish name div–originally

Persian. Notable of the divs were those having only one eye–who

may be called a variety of cyclops–mentioned also in Bulgarian,

Croatian and Slovenian mythology. On the shores of the river Moratcha,

in Montenegro, there is a meadow called ‘Psoglavlya Livada’ with a

cavern in which such creatures are said to have lived at one time

Chapter 2: Turks Presence

In 1169 a dynasty destined to rule Serbia for more than two centuries

(1169-1372) within ever-changing political boundaries, was founded

by the celebrated Grand Djoupan Stephan Nemanya (1169-1196) who was

created Duke (grand djoupan) of Serbia by the Byzantine Emperor after

he had instigated a revolution, the result of which was favourable

to his pretensions. By his bravery and wisdom he succeeded not only

in uniting under his rule the provinces held by his predecessors,

but also in adding those which never had been Serbian before, and he

placed Ban Koulin, an ally, upon the throne of Bosnia. Furthermore he

strengthened the orthodox religion in his state by building numerous

churches and monasteries, and by banishing the heretic Bogoumils. [7]

Feeling the weakness of advanced age, and wishing to give fresh proof

of his religious faith to his people, the aged Nemanya abdicated in

1196, in favour of his able second son Stevan, and withdrew into a

monastery. On his accession in the year 1217 Stevan assumed the title

of King of Serbia.

When the crusaders vanquished Constantinople, Sava, Stevan’s youngest

brother, obtained from the Greek patriarch the autonomy of the Serbian

Church (1219), and became the first Serbian archbishop.

Stevan was succeeded by his son Radoslav (1223-1233), who was dethroned

by his brother Vladislav (1233-1242), who was removed from the throne

by his third brother Ourosh the Great (1242-1276). Ourosh increased his

territory and established the reputation of Serbia abroad. In his turn,

he was dethroned by his son Dragoutin (1276-1281), who, owing to the

failure of a campaign against the Greeks, retired from the throne in

favour of a younger brother Miloutin (1281-1321), reserving, however,

for himself a province in the north of the State. Soon afterward

Dragoutin received from his mother-in-law, the queen of Hungary,

the lands between the Rivers Danube Sava and Drina, and assumed the

title of King of Sirmia. Dragoutin, while still alive, yielded his

throne and a part of his lands to Miloutin, and another part remained

under the suzerainty of the King of Hungary. Miloutin is considered

one of the most remarkable descendants of Nemanya. After his death the

usual discord obtained concerning the succession to the throne. Order

was re-established by Miloutin’s son, Stevan Detchanski (1321-1331),

who defeated the Bulgarians in the famous battle of Velbouzd, and

brought the whole of Bulgaria under his sway. Bulgaria remained a

province of Serbia until the Ottoman hordes overpowered both.

Doushan the Powerful

Stevan Detchanski was dethroned by his son Doushan the Powerful

(1331-1355), the most notable and most glorious of all Serbian

sovereigns. He aimed to establish his rule over the entire Balkan

Peninsula, and having succeeded in overpowering nearly the whole of

the Byzantine Empire, except Constantinople, he proclaimed himself,

in agreement with the Vlastela (Assembly of Nobles), Tsar of

Serbia. He elevated the Serbian archbishopric to the dignity of the

patriarchate. He subdued the whole of Albania and a part of Greece,

while Bulgaria obeyed him almost as a vassal state. His premature death

(some historians assert that he was poisoned by his own ministers)

did not permit him to realize the whole of his great plan for Serbia,

and under the rule of his younger son Ourosh (1355-1371) nearly all

his magnificent work was undone owing to the incessant and insatiable

greed of the powerful nobles, who thus paved the way for the Ottoman

invasion.

Among those who rebelled against the new Tsar was King

Voukashin. Together with his brother and other lords, he held almost

independently the whole territory adjoining Prizrend to the south of

the mountain Shar. [8]

King Voukashin and his brother were defeated in a battle with the

Turks on the banks of the River Maritza (1371), and all Serbian lands

to the south of Skoplye (Ueskueb) were occupied by the Turks.

The Royal Prince Marko

The same year Tsar Ourosh died, and Marko, the eldest son of King

Voukashin, the national hero of whom we shall hear much in this book,

proclaimed himself King of the Serbians, but the Vlastela and the

clergy did not recognize his accession. They elected (A.D. 1371) Knez

[9] (later Tsar) Lazar, a relative of Tsar Doushan the Powerful, to be

the ruler of Serbia, and Marko, from his principality of Prilip, as a

vassal of the Sultan, aided the Turks in their campaigns against the

Christians. In the year 1399 he met his death in the battle of Rovina,

in Roumania, and he is said to have pronounced these memorable words:

“May God grant the victory to the Christians, even if I have to perish

amongst the first!” The Serbian people, as we shall see, believe that

he did not die, but lives even to-day.

Knez Lazar ruled from 1371 to 1389, and during his reign he made

an alliance with Ban [10] Tvrtko of Bosnia against the Turks. Ban

Tvrtko proclaimed himself King of Bosnia, and endeavoured to extend

his power in Hungary, whilst Knez Lazar, with the help of a number

of Serbian princes, prepared for a great war against the Turks. But

Sultan Amourath, informed of Lazar’s intentions, suddenly attacked

the Serbians on June 15 1389, on the field of Kossovo. The battle

was furious on both sides, and at noon the position of the Serbians

promised ultimate success to their arms.

The Treachery of Brankovitch.

There was, however, treachery in the Serbian camp. Vook (Wolf)

Brankovitch, one of the great lords, to whom was entrusted one wing

of the Serbian army, had long been jealous of his sovereign. Some

historians state that he had arranged with Sultan Amourath to betray

his master, in return for the promise of the imperial crown of

Serbia, subject to the Sultan’s overlordship. At a critical moment

in the battle, the traitor turned his horse and fled from the field,

followed by 12,000 of his troops, who believed this to be a stratagem

intended to deceive the Turks. This was a great blow to the Serbians,

and when, later in the day the Turks were reinforced by fresh

troops under the command of the Sultan’s son, Bajazet, the Turkish

victory was complete. Knez Lazar was taken prisoner and beheaded,

and the Sultan himself perished by the hand of a Serbian voivode,

[11] Milosh Obilitch.

Notwithstanding the disaster, in which Brankovitch also perished, the

Serbian state did not succumb to the Turks, thanks to the wisdom and

bravery of Lazar’s son, Stevan Lazarevitch (1389-1427). His nephew,

Dyourady Brankovitch (1427-1456), also fought heroically, but was

compelled, inch by inch, to cede his state to the Turks.

The Final Success of the Turks

After the death of Dyourady the Serbian nobles could not agree

concerning his successor, and in the disorder that ensued the Turks

were able to complete their conquest of Serbia, which they finally

achieved by 1459. Their statesmen now set themselves the task of

inducing the Serbian peasantry in Bosnia, by promises of future

prosperity, to take the oath of allegiance to the Sultan, and in

this they were successful during the reign of the King of Bosnia,

Stevan Tomashevitch, who endeavoured in vain to secure help from the

Pope. The subjugation of Bosnia was an accomplished fact by 1463, and

Herzegovina followed by 1482. An Albanian chief of Serbian origin,

George Kastriotovitch-Skander-Beg (1443-1468), successfully fought,

with great heroism, for the liberty of Albania. Eventually, however,

the Turks made themselves master of the country as well as of all

Serbian lands, with the exception of Montenegro, which they never

could subdue, owing partly to the incomparable heroism of the bravest

Serbians–who objected to live under Turkish rule–and partly to the

mountainous nature of the country. Many noble Serbian families found

a safe refuge in that land of the free; many more went to Ragusa as

well as to the Christian Princes of Valahia and Moldavia. The cruel

and tyrannous nature of Turkish rule forced thousands of families to

emigrate to Hungary, and the descendants of these people may be found

to-day in Batchka, Banat, Sirmia and Croatia. Those who remained

in Serbia were either forced to embrace Islam or to live as raya

(slaves), for the Turkish spahis (land-lords) not only oppressed the

Christian population, but confiscated the land hitherto belonging to

the natives of the soil.

The Miseries of Turkish Rule

We should be lengthening this retrospect unduly if we were to describe

in full the miserable position of the vanquished Christians, and so

we must conclude by giving merely an outline of the modern period.

When it happens that a certain thing, or state of things, becomes

too sharp, or acute, a change of some sort must necessarily take

place. As the Turkish atrocities reached their culmination at the

end of the XVIIth century, the Serbians, following the example of

their brothers in Hungary and Montenegro, gathered around a leader

who was sent apparently by Providence to save them from the shameful

oppression of their Asiatic lords. That leader, a gifted Serbian,

George Petrovitch–designated by the Turks Karageorge (‘Black

George’)–gathered around him other Serbian notables, and a general

insurrection occurred in 1804. The Serbians fought successfully,

and established the independence of that part of Serbia comprised

in the pashalik of Belgrade and some neighbouring territory. This

was accomplished only by dint of great sacrifices and through the

characteristic courage of Serbian warriors, and it was fated to endure

for less than ten years.

Serbia again Subjugated

When Europe (and more particularly Russia) was engaged in the war

against Napoleon, the Turks found in the pre-occupation of the Great

Powers the opportunity to retrieve their losses and Serbia was again

subjugated in 1813. George Petrovitch and other Serbian leaders left

the country to seek aid, first in Austria, and later in Russia. In

their absence, Milosh Obrenovitch, one of Karageorge Petrovitch’s

lieutenants, made a fresh attempt to liberate the Serbian people

from the Turkish yoke, and in 1815 was successful in re-establishing

the autonomy of the Belgrade pashalik. During the progress of his

operations, George Petrovitch returned to Serbia and was cruelly

assassinated by order of Milosh who then proclaimed himself hereditary

prince and was approved as such by the Sublime Porte in October

1815. Milosh was a great opponent of Russian policy and he incurred the

hostility of that power and was forced to abdicate in 1839 in favour of

his son Michel (Serbian ‘Mihaylo’). Michel was an excellent diplomat,

and had previously incorporated within the independent state of Serbia

several districts without shedding blood. He was succeeded by Alexandre

Karageorgevitch (1842-1860) son of Karageorge Petrovitch. Under the

prudent rule of that prince, Serbia obtained some of the features

of a modern constitution and a foundation was laid for further and

rapid development. But an unfortunate foreign policy, the corruption

existing among the high dignitaries of the state and especially the

treachery of Milosh’s apparent friends, who hoped to supplant him,

forced that enlightened prince to abandon the throne and to leave his

country. The Skoupshtina (National Assembly) restored Milosh but the

same year the prince died and was succeeded once again by his son

Michel (1860-1868). At the assassination of this prince his young

cousin, Milan (1868-1889), ruled with the aid, during his minority,

of three regents, in conformity of a Constitution voted in 1869.

The principal events during the rule of Milan were: the war against

Turkey (1876-1878) and the annexation of four new districts; the

acknowledgment of Serbian independence by the famous Treaty of Berlin;

the proclamation of Serbia as a kingdom in 1882; the unfortunate war

against Bulgaria, which was instigated by Austria, and the promulgation

of a new Constitution, which, slightly modified, is still in force.

After the abdication of King Milan, his unworthy son, Alexander,

ascended the throne. Despite the vigorous advices of his friends and

the severe admonishments of his personal friend M. Chedo Miyatovich,

he married his former mistress, Draga Mashin, under whose influence

he entered upon a period of tyranny almost Neronian in type. He went

so far as to endeavour to abolish the Constitution, thus completely

alienating his people and playing into the hands of his personal

enemies, who finally murdered him (1903).

King Peter I

The Skoupshtina now elected the son of Alexander Karageorgevitch,

the present King Peter I Karageorgevitch, whose glorious rule will

be marked with golden letters in modern Serbian history, for it is to

him that Christendom owes the formation of the league whereby the Turk

was all but driven from Europe in 1913. But, alas! the Serbians have

only about one-half of their lands free, the rest of their brethren

being still under the foreign yoke.

Brief as is this retrospect it will suffice to show the circumstances

and conditions from which sprung the Serbian national poetry with

which we shall be largely concerned in the following pages. The

legends have their roots in disasters due as much to the self-seeking

of Serbian leaders as to foreign oppressors; but national calamities

have not repressed the passionate striving of a high-souled people

for freedom, and these dearly loved hero tales of the Balkans express

the ideals which have inspired the Serbian race in its long agony, and

which will continue to sustain the common people in whatever further

disappointments they may be fated to suffer ere they gain the place

among the great nations which their persistence and suffering must

surely win in the end.

General Characteristics

The Serbians inhabiting the present kingdom of Serbia, having been

mixed with the ancient indigenous population of the Balkan Peninsula,

have not conserved their true national type. They have mostly brown

visages and dark hair; very rarely are blonde or other complexions

to be seen. Boshnyaks (Serbians inhabiting Bosnia) are considered

to be the most typical Serbians, they having most strongly retained

the national characteristics of the pure Southern-Slavonic race. The

average Serbian has a rather lively temperament; he is highly sensitive

and very emotional. His enthusiasm is quickly roused, but most emotions

with him are, as a rule, of short duration. However, he is extremely

active and sometimes persistent. Truly patriotic, he is always ready

to sacrifice his life and property for national interests, which he

understands particularly well, thanks to his intimate knowledge of the

ancient history of his people, transmitted to him from generation to

generation through the pleasing medium of popular epic poetry composed

in very simple decasyllabic blank verse–entirely Serbian in its

origin. He is extremely courageous and always ready for war. Although

patriarchal and conservative in everything national, he is ready

and willing to accept new ideas. But he has remained behind other

countries in agricultural and industrial pursuits. Very submissive in

his Zadrooga [12] and obedient to his superiors, he is often despotic

when elevated to power. The history of all the Southern Slavs pictures

a series of violations, depositions, political upheavals, achieved

sometimes by the most cruel means and acts of treachery; all mainly

due to the innate and hitherto inexpugnable faults characteristic of

the race, such as jealousy and an inordinate desire for power. These

faults, of course, have been most apparent in the nobles, hence the

decay of the ancient aristocracy throughout the Balkans.

.

Significance of the Study

Chapter 3 : Moor Presence in Serbia

PRINCE MARKO AND A MOORISH CHIEFTAIN

A great and powerful Moorish chieftain had built for himself a

magnificent castle, rising to the height of twenty storeys. The place

he had chosen for the castle was by the sea, and when it was quite

completed he had panes of the most beautiful glass put in for windows;

he hung all the rooms and halls with the richest silks and velvets and

then soliloquized thus: “O my koula, [30] why have I erected thee? for

there is no one but I who is there to tread, with gentle footsteps,

upon these fine rugs, and behold from these windows the blue and

shining sea. I have no mother, no sister, and I have not yet found a

wife. But I will assuredly go at once and seek the Sultan’s daughter

in marriage. The Sultan must either give me his daughter or meet me

in single combat.” As soon as the Moor, gazing at his castle, had

uttered these words, he wrote a most emphatic letter to the Sultan at

Istamboul, [31] the contents of which ran thus: “O Sire, I have built

a beautiful castle near the shore of the azure sea, but as yet it has

no mistress, for I have no wife. I ask thee, therefore, to bestow upon

me thy beloved daughter! In truth, I demand this; for if thou dost

not give thy daughter to me, then prepare thyself at once to meet me

face to face with thy sword. To this fight I now challenge thee!”

The letter reached the Sultan and he read it through. Immediately he

sought for one who would accept the challenge in his stead, promising

untold gold to the knight who would show himself willing to meet the

Moor. Many a bold man went forth to fight the Moor, but not one ever

returned to Istamboul.

Alas! the Sultan soon found himself in a most embarrassing position

for all his best fighters had lost their lives at the hand of the

haughty Moor. But even this misfortune was not the worst. The Moor

prepared himself in all his splendour, not omitting his finest sabre;

then he proceeded to saddle his steed Bedevia, securely fastening the

seven belts and put on her a golden curb. On one side of the saddle

he fastened his tent, and this he balanced on the other side with

his heaviest club. He sprang like lightning on to his charger, and

holding before him, defiantly, his sharpest lance, he rode straight

to Istamboul.

The instant he reached the walls of the fort, he spread his tent,

struck his lance well into the earth, bound his Bedevia to the lance

and forthwith imposed on the inhabitants a daily tax, consisting of:

one sheep, one batch of white loaves, one keg of pure brandy, two

barrels of red wine, and a beautiful maiden. Each maiden, after being

his slave and attending on him for twenty-four hours, he would sell

in Talia for large sums of money. This imposition went on for three

months, for none could stop it. But even yet there was a greater evil

to be met.

The Entrance of the Moor

The inhabitants of Istamboul were terrorized one day when the haughty

Moor mounted upon his dashing steed entered the city. He went to the

Palace, and cried loudly: “Lo! Sultan, wilt thou now, once and for

ever, give me thy daughter?” As he received no answer he struck the

walls of the Palace with his club so violently that the shattered

glass poured down from the windows like rain. When the Sultan saw

that the Moor might easily destroy the Palace and even the whole

city in this way, he was greatly alarmed, for he knew that there was

no alternative open to him in this horrible predicament but to give

up his only daughter. Although overwhelmed with shame, therefore,

he promised to do this. Pleased with his success, the Moor asked for

fifteen days’ delay before his marriage took place that he might go

back to his castle and make the necessary preparations.

When the Sultan’s daughter heard of her father’s desperate resolution,

she shrieked and exclaimed bitterly: “Alas! Behold my sorrow, O

almighty Allah! For whom have I been taught to prize my beauty? For a

Moor? Can it be true that a Moor shall imprint a kiss upon my visage?”

The Sultana’s Dream

That night the Sultana had a strange dream, in which the figure of

a man appeared before her, saying: “There is within the Empire of

Serbia a vast plain Kossovo; in that plain there is a city Prilip;

and in that city dwells the Royal Prince Marko who is known among

all men as a truly great hero.”

And the man went on to advise the Sultana to send, without delay, a

message to Prince Marko and beg him to become her son-in-God, and at

the same time to offer him immense fortune, for he was without doubt

the only one living likely to vanquish the terrible Moor and save

her daughter from a shameful fate. The next morning she sped to the

Sultan’s apartments and told him of her dream. The Sultan immediately

wrote a firman [32] and sent it to Prince Marko at Prilip, beseeching

him to journey with all speed to Istamboul and accept the challenge of

the Moor, and if he should succeed in saving the Princess the Sultan

would give him three tovars [33] of pure golden ducats.

When Marko read the firman, he said to the Sultan’s young courier,

a native of Tartary: “In the name of God go back, thou Sultan’s

messenger, and greet thy master–my father-in-God–tell him that I dare

not face the Moor. Do we not, all of us, know that he is invincible? If

he should cleave my head asunder, of what avail would three tovars,

or three thousand tovars, of gold be to me?”

The young Tartar brought back Marko’s answer which caused the

Sultana so much grief, that she determined to send a letter to him

herself, once more beseeching him to accept the challenge and this

time increasing the reward to five tovars of pure gold. But Marko,

though generally so chivalrous and courteous to all women, remained

inexorable, replying that he would not meet the Moor in combat even

if he were to be presented with all the treasure the Sultan possessed;

for he did not dare.

The Princess appeals to Marko

When the broken-hearted bride heard that this answer had come from

Marko she sprang to her feet, took a pen and some paper, struck her

rosy cheek with the pen and with her own blood traced the following:

“Hail, my dear brother-in-God, O, thou Royal Prince Marko! Be a true

brother to me! May God and Saint John be our witnesses! I implore thee,

do not suffer me to become the wife of the Moor! I promise thee seven

tovars of pure gold, seven boshtchaluks, which have been neither woven

nor spun, but are embroidered with pure gold. Moreover, I shall give

thee a golden plate decorated with a golden snake, whose raised head

is holding in its mouth a priceless gem, from which is shed a light

of such brilliance, that by it alone you can see at the darkest hour

of midnight as well as you can at noon. In addition to these I shall

present thee with a finely tempered sabre; this sabre has three hilts,

all of pure gold, and in each of them is set a precious stone. The

sabre alone is worth three cities. I shall affix to this weapon the

Sultan’s seal so that the Grand Vizir may never put thee to death

without first receiving his Majesty’s special command.”

When he had read this missive, Marko reflected thus: “Alas! O my dear

sister-in-God! It would be but to my great misfortune if I came to

serve thee, and to my still greater misfortune if I stayed away. For,

although I fear neither the Sultan nor the Sultana, I do in all truth

fear God and Saint John, by whom thou hast adjured me! Therefore I

now resolve to come and, if necessary, to face certain death!”

Marko prepares to succour the Princess

Having sent away the Princess’ messenger without telling him what he

had resolved to do, Marko entered his castle and put on his cloak and

a cap, made of wolves’ skins; next he girded on his sabre, selected

his most piercing lance, and went to the stables. For greater safety

he fastened the seven belts under the saddle of his Sharatz with his

own hands; he then attached a leathern bottle filled with red wine on

one side of his saddle and his weightiest war-club on the other. Now

he was ready and threw himself upon Sharatz and rode off to Istamboul.

Upon reaching his destination he did not go to pay his respects either

to the Sultan or to the Grand Vizir, but quietly took up his abode in

a new inn. That same evening, soon after sun-set, he led his horse to

a lake near by to be refreshed: but to his master’s surprise Sharatz

would not even taste the water, but kept turning his head first to

the right, then to the left, till Marko noticed the approach of a

Turkish maiden covered with a long gold-embroidered veil. When she

reached the edge of the water she bowed profoundly toward the lake

and said aloud: “God bless thee, O beauteous green lake! God bless

thee, for thou art to be my home for ever more! Within thy bosom am I

henceforth to dwell; I am now to die, O beauteous lake; rather would

I choose such a fate than become the bride of the cruel Moor!”

Marko greets the Princess

Marko went nearer to the maiden and spoke thus: “O, thou unhappy

Turkish maiden! What is thy trouble? What is it that has made thee

wish to drown thyself?”

She answered: “Leave me in peace, thou ugly dervish, [34] why dost

thou ask me, when there is nought that thou canst do to help me?”

Then the maiden related the story of her coming marriage with the

Moorish chieftain, of the messages sent to Marko, and finally she

bitterly cursed that Prince for the hardness of his heart.

Thereupon Marko said: “O, curse me not, dear sister-in-God! Marko is

here and is now speaking to thee himself!”

Hearing these words the maiden turned toward the famous knight,

embraced him and earnestly pleaded: “For God’s sake, O my brother

Marko! Suffer not the Moor to wed me!”

Marko was greatly affected, and declared: “O dear sister-in-God! I

swear that so long as my head remains upon my shoulders, I shall never

let the Moor have thee! Do not tell others that thou hast seen me

here, but request the Sultan and thy mother to have supper prepared

and sent to the inn for me, and, above all things, beg them to send

me plenty of wine. Meanwhile I shall await the Moor’s coming at the

inn. When the Moor arrives at the Palace, thy parents should welcome

him graciously, and they should go so far as to yield thee to him in

order to avoid a quarrel. And I know exactly the spot where I shall

be able to rescue thee, if it may so please the true God, and if my

customary good luck, and my strength, do not desert me.”

The Prince returned to the inn, and the maiden hastened back to

the Palace.

When the Sultan and the Sultana knew that Marko had come to their aid,

they were much comforted, and immediately ordered a sumptuous repast

to be sent to him, especially good red wine in abundance.

Now all the shops in Istamboul were closed, and there was silence

everywhere as Marko sat drinking the delicious wine in peace. The

landlord of the inn came presently to close his doors and windows,

and, questioned by Marko as to why the citizens were all shutting

up their dwellings so early that day, he answered: “By my faith,

you are indeed a stranger here! The Moorish chieftain has asked

for our Sultan’s daughter in marriage, and as, to our shame, she is

to be yielded to him, he is coming to the Palace to fetch her this

day. Therefore, owing to our terror of the Moor, we are forced to close

our shops.” But Marko did not allow the man to close the door of the

inn, for he wished to see the Moor and his gorgeous train pass by.

The Moor in Istamboul

At that very moment, as they were speaking, Marko could hear from

the city the clangour caused by the Moorish chieftain and his black

followers, numbering at least five hundred, and all in glittering

armour. The Moor had roused his Bedevia, and she trotted in such

a lively manner that the stones, which she threw up with her hoofs,

whizzed through the air in all directions, and broke windows and doors

in all the shops she passed! When the cavalcade came up to the inn,

the Moor thought: “Allah! I am struck with wonder and astonishment! The

windows and doors of all the shops and houses throughout the entire

city of Istamboul are closed from the great fear the people have of

me, except, I see, the doors of this inn. There must either be nobody

within, or if there is anybody inside, he is assuredly a great fool;

or perhaps he is a stranger, and has not yet been told how terrible

I am.” The Moor and his retinue passed that night in tents before

the Palace.

Next morning the Sultan himself presented his daughter to the Moorish

chieftain, together with all the wedding gifts, which were known to

weigh twelve tovars. As the wedding procession passed the inn where

Marko waited, the Moor again noticed the open door, but this time he

urged Bedevia right up to it to see who might be there.

Sharatz and Bedevia

Marko was seated at his ease in the most comfortable room the inn

could boast, leisurely drinking his favourite red wine; he was not

drinking from an ordinary goblet, but from a bowl which held twelve

litres; and each time he filled the bowl he would drink only one

half of its contents, giving, according to his habit, the other half

to his Sharatz. The Moor was on the point of attacking Marko, when

Sharatz barred his way and kicked viciously at Bedevia. The Moor,

meeting such unexpected resistance, promptly turned to rejoin the

procession. Then Marko rose to his feet, and, turning his cloak

and cap inside out, so that to the first glance of those who saw

him he presented the terrifying appearance of a wolf, inspected his

weapons and Sharatz’s belts carefully, and dashed on his charger after

the procession. He felled horsemen right and left, till he reached

the dever and the second witness, and killed them both. The Moorish

chieftain was immediately told of the stranger who had forced his way

into the midst of the procession, and of those whom he had killed, also

that he did not look like other knights, being clad in wolves’ skins.

Marko and the Moor

The Moor astride his Bedevia, wheeled round and addressed Marko thus:

“Ill fortune is indeed overtaking thee to-day, O stranger! Thou must

have been driven here by Satan to disturb my guests and even kill my

dever and second witness; thou must be either a fool, knowing nothing

of to-day’s events, or thou must be extremely fierce and hast gone

mad; but maybe thou art merely tired of life? By my faith, I shall

draw in the reins of my Bedevia, and shall spring over thy body seven

times; then shall I strike off thy head!” Thereupon Marko answered:

“Cease these lies, O Moor! If God, and my usual luck, do but attend me

now, thou shalt not even spring near to me; still less can I imagine

thee carrying out thy intention of springing over my body!” But,

behold! The Moor drew in his Bedevia, spurred her violently forward

and indeed he would have sprung over Marko, had not Sharatz been

the well-trained fighter that he was, and in a trice he reared so

as to receive the adversary against his forefeet and swiftly bit

off Bedevia’s right ear, from which blood gushed forth profusely

and streamed down over her neck and chest. In this way Marko and

the Moor struggled for four hours. Neither would give way, and when

finally the Moor saw that Marko was overpowering him, he wheeled

his steed Bedevia round and fled along the main street of Istamboul,

Marko after him. But the Moor’s Bedevia was swift as a veela of the

forest, and would certainly have escaped from Sharatz if Marko had

not suddenly recollected his club, and flung it after his adversary,

striking him between his shoulders. The Moor fell from his horse and

the Prince severed his head from his body. Next he captured Bedevia,

returned to the street where he had left the bride, and found, to his

astonishment, that she with her twelve tovars of presents, was alone,

awaiting him, for all the wedding-guests and the retinue of the Moorish

chieftain had fled at full gallop. Marko escorted the Princess back

to the Sultan, and cast the head of the Moorish chieftain at his feet.

The hero now took his leave and started at once on his journey back

to Prilip, and the following morning he received the seven tovars of

gold which had been promised to him, the many precious gifts which

the Princess had described, and last of all a message thanking him

for the marvellous deeds he had done, and telling him that the vast

stores of gold belonging to his father-in-God, the Sultan, would for

ever be at his disposal.

The Spread of Christianity

When the pagan Slavs occupied the Roman provinces, the Christian

region was limited to parts of the Byzantine provinces. In Dalmatia

after the fall of Salona, the archbishopric of Salona was transferred

to Spalato (Splyet), but in the papal bulls of the ninth century it

continued always to be styled Salonitana ecclesia, and it claimed

jurisdiction over the entire lands as far as the Danube.

According to Constantine Porphyrogenete, the Serbians adopted the

Christian faith at two different periods, first during the reign of

the Emperor Heraclius, who had requested the Pope to send a number of

priests to convert those peoples to the Christian faith. It is well

known, however, that the Slavs in Dalmatia even during the reign of

Pope John IV (640-642) remained pagans. No doubt Christianity spread

gradually from the Roman cities of Dalmatia to the various Slav

provinces. The Croatians already belonged to the Roman Church at the

time when its priests were converting the Serbians to Christianity

between the years 642 and 731, i.e., after the death of Pope John IV

and before Leon of Isauria had broken off his relations with Rome.

The second conversion of those of the Southern Slavs who had remained

pagans was effected, about 879, by the Emperor Basil I.

At first the Christian faith spread amongst the Southern Slavs only

superficially, because the people could not understand Latin prayers

and ecclesiastical books. It took root much more firmly and rapidly

when the ancient Slavonic language was used in the church services.

Owing to the differences arising over icons and the form their worship

should take, enthusiasm for the conversion of the pagans by the Latin

Church considerably lessened. In the Byzantine provinces, however,

there was no need for a special effort to be made to the people,

for the Slavs came in constant contact with the Greek Christians,

whose beliefs they adopted spontaneously.

From the Slavonic appellations of places appearing in certain official

lists, one can see that new episcopates were established exclusively

for the Slavs by the Greek Church. The bishops conducted their

services in Greek, but the priests and monks, who were born Slavs,

preached and instructed the people in their own languages. Thus they

prepared the ground for the great Slav apostles.

The Slav apostles of Salonica, Cyrillos and his elder brother

Methodius, were very learned men and philosophers. The principal of

the two, Cyrillos, was a priest and the librarian of the Patriarchate;

in addition he was a professor of philosophy in the University of

the Imperial Palace at Constantinople, and he was much esteemed on

account of his ecclesiastical erudition. Their great work began in 862

with the mission to the Emperor Michel III., with which the Moravian

Princes Rastislav and Svetopluk entrusted them.

The Moravians were already converted to Christianity, but they wished

to have teachers among them acquainted with the Slav language. Before

the brothers started on their journey, Cyrillos composed the Slav

alphabet and translated the Gospel.

Thus the Serbians obtained these Holy Books written in a language

familiar to them, and the doctrines of the great Master gradually,

but steadily, ousted the old, primitive religion which had taken

the form of pure Naturalism. But the worship of Nature could not

completely disappear, and has not, even to our day, vanished from the

popular creed of the Balkans. The folk-lore of those nations embodies

an abundance of religious and superstitious sentiment and rites handed

down from pre-Christian times, for after many years’ struggle paganism

was only partially abolished by the ritual of the Latin and afterwards

of the Greek Christian Church, to which all Serbians, including the

natives of Montenegro, Macedonia and parts of Bosnia, belong.

Superstition

The foundations of the Christian faith were never laid properly in

the Balkans owing to the lack of cultured priests, and this reason,

and the fact that the people love to cling to their old traditions,

probably accounts for religion having never taken a very deep hold on

them. Even to this day superstition is often stronger than religion,

or sometimes replaces it altogether. The whole daily life of the

Southern Slav is interwoven with all kinds of superstition. He is

superstitious about the manner in which he rises in the morning and

as to what he sees first; for instance, if he sees a monk, he is sure

to have an unfortunate day; when he builds a house, a ‘lucky spot’

must be found for its foundation. At night he is superstitious about

the way he lies down; he listens to hear if the cocks crow in time,

and if the dogs bark much, and how they are barking. He pays great

attention to the moment when thunder is first heard, what kind of

rain falls, how the stars shine–whether or not they shine at all,

and looks anxiously to see if the moon has a halo, and if the sun

shines through a cloud. All these things are portents and omens to

his superstitious mind, and they play a considerable part in all his

actions. When he intends to join a hunting expedition, for example,

he decides from them whether there will be game or not; he believes

that he is sure to shoot something if his wife, or sister (or any

other good-natured person) jumps over his gun before he calls up his

dogs. Especially there are numberless superstitions connected with

husbandry, for some of which fairly plausible explanations could be

given;  for others, however, explanations are hopelessly unavailing,

and the reasons for their origin are totally forgotten. Nevertheless,

all superstitions are zealously observed because, the people say,

“it is well to do so,” or “our ancestors always did so and were happy,

why should we not do the same?”

The planting of fruit-trees and the growing of fruit must be aided by

charms, and numerous feasts are organized to secure a fruitful year,

or to prevent floods, hail, drought, frost, and other disasters. But

undoubtedly the greatest number of superstitions exist regarding the

daily customs, most of which refer to birth, marriage and death. Charms

are used to discover a future bridegroom or bride; to make a young man

fall in love with a maid or vice versa; also, if it seems desirable,

to make them hate each other. Sorcery is resorted to to ensure the

fulfilment of the bride’s wishes with regard to children; their

number and sex are decided upon, their health is ensured in advance,

favourable conditions are arranged for their appearance. Death can

come, it is believed, only when the Archangel Michael removes a soul

from its body, and that can only happen on the appointed day.