It has been mentioned above (p. 310) that for the story of the Iliad a fairly close parallel is to be found in those Servian poems which deal with the battle of Kossovo[474]. This parallelism has long been noticed, but unfortunately it has given rise to an unnecessary controversy. Servian writers, inspired by patriotic zeal, have sought to make an 'Iliad' by stringing their national poems together, while scholars of other nations have denied that the Servians possess anything which deserves to be called epic poetry. We need not concern ourselves here with a discussion about terms. It is clear enough that Servian heroic poetry bears little resemblance to the Homeric poems as we have them. But we may strongly suspect that at an earlier stage in the history of Homeric poetry the resemblance would be much closer, although the art of heroic poetry in Greece had doubtless been elaborated for centuries to a far higher degree than was ever attained by Servian poets.

It is to the treatment of the story however, and not to the qualities of the poetry, that I wish to call attention. Beowulf, Finn, Waldhere and the Hildebrandslied all deal with fighting of various kinds, but we do not know how early Teutonic poetry treated a story of actual war. The Servian poems resemble the Iliad chiefly in the comparatively large number of prominent characters which they introduce and in the fact that they deal with a series of more or less distinct episodes, in which various heroes from time to time play the leading part. Lazar's council or court furnishes an interesting parallel to that of Agamemnon—the more instructive because we can here check the evidence of the poems by historical records, some of which are practically contemporary, while many date from within a century of the battle.

King Lazar himself and his opponent, Sultan Murad I, are of course well-known historical persons. There is no doubt also with regard to Vuk Brankovic, the chief of Lazar's followers or allies. In the poems he is represented as the husband of Mara (Maria), the king's daughter; but in this case there may be some confusion. According to Ducas (p. 17[475]) Lazar had a daughter of this name who was married to Bajazet, the son and successor of Murad, after the conclusion of the war. Vuk Brankovic was however a son-in-law of Lazar according to Laonicos Chalcocondylas (p. 53). Again, Jug Bogdan, represented in the poems as Lazar's father-in-law[476], is believed to be identical with a certain prince named ?p??da??? (???da???), who, according to Laonicos (p. 28), was granted by DuŠan the territories between Pherrai and the Axios (Vardar), and who about 1372 submitted to Murad together with the other Servian princes in this region. To these we may add the vojvoda Vladeta; for there can be little doubt that this person is to be identified with that Vlathico Vlagenichio who, according to the anonymous translation of Ducas' history (p. 352), was sent by his uncle Iuathco (Tvrtko), king of Bosnia, to support Lazar with 20,000 men.

On the other hand some doubt has been expressed with regard to MiloŠ Obilic (or Kobilovic) the chief Servian hero of the story. He is not mentioned apparently by any strictly contemporary authority. Yet the traditional account of Murad's death is known to the two Greek historians Ducas and Laonicos, both of whom are believed to have written within about three quarters of a century after the battle. The latter (p. 54) states that according to the Greek version of the story a Servian nobleman named ?????? rode fully armed into the Turkish camp, representing himself to be a deserter. Murad gave orders that he was to be allowed to come near and say what he wished. But when he reached the door of the Sultan's tent he threw his spear and slew Murad, meeting with his own death immediately afterwards. Laonicos however also says that the Turks gave quite a different account of the affair—namely that as Murad was pursuing the enemy a Servian (??d?a ???a????), who was on foot, turned and transfixed him with a javelin. Ducas' version of the story (p. 15) resembles that given by the poems in the fact that the assassin uses a dagger. His name is not given, but he is said to have been a young and distinguished Servian and to have asked to see Murad as a deserter with important information.

Closer affinity with the poems is shown by the anonymous translation of Ducas' history (p. 352 ff.), which contains much additional matter. Indeed it is scarcely possible to doubt that the additions are partly derived from poems, though these may not have been exactly identical with any which are now extant. When MiloŠ ('Milos Cobilichio, capetanio de Lazaro') reaches the Sultan's tent we are told, as in the poems[477], that he is bidden to kiss Murad's foot 'according to the usage of his kingdom[478].' Far more striking however is the account of the banquet on the preceding day, which in places appears to be little more than a free translation of a fragmentary poem published in Karadic's collection[479]: "El zorno precedente a quello che seguÌ la iniqua et infelice bataglia, Lazaro convocati tutti i signori et principali del suo imperio[480], comandÒ che se aparechiasse una sdraviza secondo la usanza dela sua corte; in laquale, come gratioso et benigno signore, a tutti porse la sdraviza con sua mano. Quando la volta toccÒ a Milos, se fÈ dar una grande taza d'oro piena de pretioso vino[481]; la qual porzendoli disse a Milos: 'Excellentissimo cavalier, prendi questa sdraviza, che con la taza te dono ... sdravize per amor mio. Ma molto mi doglio che ho inteso una mala novella, che al tuo dispoto sei facto ribello'[482]. Al qual Milos, reverentemente presa la taza con chiara faza, disse: 'Signor dispoto, molto te ringratio della sdraviza et taza d'oro che m' ai donata. Ma molto mi doglio dela mia dubitata fede[483]. Doman de matina, se dio darÀ effecto al' alto pensier mio, se cognoscerÀ se io son fidele o ribello dela tua Signoria."

This translation is believed to be of Dalmatian origin[484] and, according to Prof. Bury[485], itself dates from the fifteenth century. We are bound to conclude therefore that MiloŠ' exploit was treated in poems—from which some of the extant pieces are ultimately descended—within a century of the battle. The earliest direct reference to poems dealing with Khobilouitz (i.e. MiloŠ Kobilovic) goes back to the first half of the sixteenth century, at which time they are said to have been numerous[486]. It may be however that the accounts given by Ducas himself and by Laonicos are also derived ultimately from poems[487]. But if so the poetic treatment of the subject must have begun within living memory of the battle; for it is clear from the evidence of these authors that by the middle of the fifteenth century the story had come to the Greeks in more than one form and that it had even attained great celebrity among them[488].

The Kossovo poems certainly give us some evidence for the phenomenon which we have above (p. 307) called 'transference.' In one poem (Karadic, II 46, v. 59 ff.) we find it stated that King VukaŠin entered into the battle and met with his death. In reality he was killed at (or shortly after) the battle of the Marica in 1371. The same poem also, immediately afterwards (v. 71 ff.), introduces Erceg Stepan, who lived nearly a century later. But this poem[489] is of a very peculiar type—distinctly non-heroic—and it is not legitimate to draw conclusions from it as to the poems in general. It would be of far more importance for our purpose if we knew that Jug Bogdan was attracted into the story. He must certainly have been an old man in 1389, since he had his territories granted to him by DuŠan, who died in 1356. But he is regularly described as 'the old' (stari) in the poems. The fact also that he had been a vassal of Murad from 1372 onwards is hardly conclusive; for it is clear that a great effort was made in 1389 to unite the various Servian princes. On the whole the evidence, so far as it is known to me, does not seem to indicate that attraction or transference has played an important part in the story.

For the invention of characters there is, so far as I know, no absolutely decisive evidence. But probably few would be inclined to regard such a person as Vaistina, the servant or squire (sluga) of Music Stefan[490] (Karadic, II 47), otherwise than as a product of fiction; and the same remark applies to the squire Milutin who brings the news of Lazar's death to the queen (ib. 45. 146 ff.). It is a more difficult matter to form an opinion as to whether any of the more important characters are fictitious. Several of them appear to be unknown from contemporary historical works. Among these we may mention Music Stefan himself and more especially Banovic Strahinja, the hero of the longest poem in the cycle (ib. 44). So far as I know, the earliest reference to the latter is in the Chronicle of TronoŠa, which mentions incidentally the destruction of his palace[491]. Again, according to the poems MiloŠ was accompanied on his errand to Murad by two of his friends, Milan Toplica and Ivan Kosancic. Both these persons are mentioned in the same connection by the Chronicle of TronoŠa, which adds that at the banquet on the preceding night they, as well as MiloŠ, had been charged with disloyalty by the king. This chronicle is believed to be derived from a MS. of the sixteenth century; but there is practically no doubt that it has drawn largely from poetic sources. Our earliest authorities, Laonicos and Ducas, together with the translation of the latter, seem to imply distinctly that MiloŠ carried out his exploit alone. That however does not prove that the characters themselves are fictitious. On the whole, considering the limited amount of information which early records furnish, it would probably be wise to hesitate before adopting the view that any of the more important characters are invented—at all events those which can be traced back to within two centuries of the battle.

There seems to be no evidence for the introduction of what can properly be called mythical beings in poems of the Kossovo cycle[492]. But sometimes we certainly find supernatural incidents. In Karadic, II 45. 119 ff. two crows from the field of Kossovo bring to the queen the first news of the battle and of Lazar's death. A more extravagant case occurs in the opening verses of (ibid.) II 46—a poem to which we have already referred. Lazar is here made to receive a letter dropped by a swallow (which is carried by a falcon) offering him the choice between the heavenly and earthly kingdoms. In another (Croatian) poem (Karadic, II 48[493]) the mother of the Jugovici prays that she may receive the eyes of a falcon and the wings of a swan. Her prayer is answered, and she flies to the field of Kossovo and sees the dead bodies of her sons and husband. This poem is largely taken up with the marvellous throughout and has little in common with heroic poetry.

But it is from the point of view of their presentation of the story that the Kossovo poems chiefly merit our attention. This presentation contains many features which may be included under the head of fiction. Yet in certain cases it is a question whether we have not rather what may be called a growth of myth. By this I mean the introduction and development of motives which, though incorrect historically, can hardly be regarded, at least in their entirety, as conscious inventions of an individual. They would seem rather to have originated in rumour and popular misconceptions. As examples we may take what are perhaps the two most salient features in the story—the exploit of MiloŠ and his confederates and the treachery of Vuk Brankovic.

We have already dealt with the first of these incidents. The poems make MiloŠ and his companions perform prodigies of valour before they are overcome. But our earliest authorities state that MiloŠ was killed almost immediately; and they imply that he was alone. Indeed we know that the Turks gave quite a different account of Murad's death. It is not at all clear that between the two the Servian account possesses the greater probability. But it may very well have been believed among the Servians from the very beginning, whether its origin is to be traced to genuine information derived from the Turkish camp or merely to idle rumour.

Again, the treachery of Vuk Brankovic is proclaimed again and again in the poems. But there is no evidence earlier than the sixteenth century to substantiate the charge[494]. The first reference to treachery in Lazar's army occurs in the translation of Ducas' history (p. 354); but here the traitor is called 'Dragossavo Probiscio, capitaneo del campo del dispoto.' It has been suggested that Vuk's unenviable celebrity in the poems is due to the unpopularity of his son, George Brankovic, who ruled over Servia from 1427 to 1457[495].

The above brief sketch will probably be sufficient to show that these poems are capable of throwing a good deal of light upon the origin and development of a heroic story. The period is one for which, comparatively speaking, a fair amount of information is available; and quite possibly more might be obtained by a careful investigation of the documents of that age. It is to be remembered of course that after the middle of the fifteenth century nothing like court poetry can have existed in Servia. We should expect then that from this time onwards the poems would become more and more permeated by those characteristics which we have assigned to Stage III of our scheme. As a matter of fact some of the poems show these characteristics only to a comparatively slight degree. This is especially the case with the poem on the banquet (Karadic, II 50 iii); but part of this poem, as we have seen, can be traced back to the fifteenth century. On the other hand the characteristics of Stage III are very strongly marked in Karadic II 46 and 48. I should expect that these poems are late compositions.

So far as I have been able to deal with the subject the result of the discussion has been that there is little or no definite evidence for the invention of characters. That is a result which can scarcely be regarded as surprising, in view of the history of Servian poetry. On the other hand the conditions were such as we should expect to be exceptionally favourable to the development of transference or attraction. Yet there is but little satisfactory evidence in this direction. I am inclined therefore to think that the force of this principle has been considerably overestimated by recent writers. What the Kossovo poems do seem to suggest is—not that the characters of the Iliad were invented or attracted from other quarters, but that their exploits and their relations with one another may in reality have been very different from what we find depicted in the poem.