Epske narodne pjesme

The anthology Epic Folk Songs (Epske narodne pjesme), compiled by the prominent Croatian folklorist, literary historian, and academician Tvrtko Čubelić—published in 1965 as a continuation of his series of systematic editions of oral literature (following Lyrical Folk Songs)—stands as one of the most significant and comprehensive editions of oral epic poetry. Through this collection, Čubelić provided readers, students, and researchers with a carefully curated cross-section of traditional heroic songs—songs that were sung for centuries to the accompaniment of the gusle and passed down from generation to generation, preserving the collective historical memory and the ethical ideals of the people. The songs in the volume are systematically organized into thematic-historical cycles, encompassing the oldest non-historical songs, the pre-Kosovo and Kosovo cycles, songs about Prince Marko (Kraljević Marko), and particularly rich cycles concerning hajduks and uskoks (heroes from Senj and the Kotari region, such as Ivo Senjanin and Stojan Janković) and the struggles against Ottoman rule. A unique value of this 1965 edition lies in Čubelić’s extensive introductory study on the poetics, origins, and performance of oral epic poetry, as well as his analysis of its distinctive stylistic features—such as the epic decasyllabic verse, fixed epithets, repetition, and formulaic expression—complemented by an exhaustive glossary of lesser-known terms and historical concepts.