Serbian folklore is the folk traditions among ethnic Serbs. The earliest examples of Serbian folklore are seen in the pre-Christian Slavic customs transformed into Christianity.
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👉 Serbian folklore in the context of Kosovo Myth
The Kosovo Myth (Serbian: Косовски мит / Kosovski mit), also known as the Kosovo Cult (Косовски култ / Kosovski kult) and the Kosovo Legend (Косовска легенда / Kosovska legenda), is a Serbian national myth based on legends about events related to the Battle of Kosovo (1389). It is rooted in Prince Lazar's apocryphal choice during the battle at the Kosovo Polje, where he is said to have rejected an earthly victory over the Ottoman Sultan Murad I and chose to die as a Christian martyr in favor of a "heavenly kingdom". This choice, as the narrative suggests, was intended to position Serbs as a chosen people and secure a spiritual covenant with God and a place in the Kingdom of Heaven.
It has been a major subject in Serbian folklore and literary tradition and has been cultivated through oral epic poetry and guslar poems. The final form of the legend was not created immediately after the battle but evolved from different originators into various versions. In its modern form it emerged in 19th-century Serbia and served as an important constitutive element of the national identity of modern Serbia and its politics.
In this Dossier
Serbian folklore in the context of Vuk Karadžić
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić (Serbian Cyrillic: Вук Стефановић Караџић, pronounced [ʋûːk stefǎːnoʋitɕ kâradʒitɕ]; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS) – 7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the modern Serbian language. Vuk Karadžić was a versatile scholar and the founder of several Serbian academic disciplines, with a significant contribution to historiography. For his collection and preservation of Serbian folktales, Encyclopædia Britannica labelled Karadžić "the father of Serbian folk-literature scholarship." He was also the author of the first Serbian dictionary in the new reformed language. In addition, he translated the New Testament into the reformed form of the Serbian spelling and language.
He was well known abroad and familiar to Jacob Grimm, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and historian Leopold von Ranke. Karadžić was the primary source for Ranke's Die serbische Revolution ("The Serbian Revolution"), written in 1829.
Serbian folklore in the context of Miloš Obilić
Miloš Obilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милош Обилић, pronounced [mîloʃ ôbilit͡ɕ]) is a legendary Serbian knight and saint in the Serbian Orthodox Church traditionally said to have served Prince Lazar during the Ottoman invasion of Serbia in the late 14th century. Although absent from contemporary records, he features prominently in later accounts of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo as the assassin of Sultan Murad I. The assassin remains unnamed in historical sources until the late 15th century, but the widespread circulation of the story in Florentine, Serbian, Ottoman, and Greek sources suggests that versions of it were known across the Balkans within decades of the battle.
His original name is believed to have been Miloš Kobilić, though multiple variations exist in historical sources, and his actual existence remains uncertain. The Lazar dynasty, consolidating its power, gave birth to the Kosovo Myth, which incorporated the legend of Obilić. Jelka Ređep notes that Obilić's legend significantly evolved through oral tradition, reflecting Serbian cultural ideals of heroism, loyalty and sacrifice. Over time, he became a central figure in Serbian epic poetry, where he was elevated to the status of a national hero embodying medieval Serbian folklore. Alongside Prince Lazar’s martyrdom and the alleged treachery of Vuk Branković, Miloš's deed became integral to Serbian narratives surrounding the Battle of Kosovo. By the 19th century, he was also venerated as a saint in the Serbian Orthodox Church.