Coverpage Introduction Vuk Brankovich Milosh Obilich Prince Lazar The Kosovo Maiden (You continue to walk with the young maiden. She pauses every so often in response to the groans and pleas of the dying, providing what little aid she can.) "You see the damage that the battle has done to my people, stranger? We may never recover from such a devastating conflict." (She carefully picks her way through the bodies of the Serbian forces, leading you down a gentle slope to the bank of a softly flowing stream. You can imagine how beautiful the area must have been only twenty-four hours ago. Suddenly, your guide lets out a startled gasp. As you quickly look for the source of her fear, you see the body of a man, butchered nearly beyond recognition. In a circle around him are piled the broken weapons and bodies of a dozen Turkish soldiers.) "Oh, no! So the rumors are true! Brave Milosh Obilich has been slain." (She pulls her cloak more tightly around herself, even though there is no chill in the warm summer breeze.) "Here lies our greatest hero, stranger. Milosh Obilich - he who tried to warn Prince Lazar of Brankovich's treachery! - he who rallied the Serbs in our darkest hour - he who tried to decapitate the Turkish army in a single act of bravery."
"When Great Milosh and Ivan Kosanchich spied the Turkish army on the eve of the battle, they saw an army vastly superior in numbers to our own. But Milosh knew the Turks were not as brave or battle hardened as our own army, so he convinced Ivan to speak to the commanders of the Turkish army as being comprised of feeble old men and young boys who had never seen the sight of blood. For he knew that if they reported the vastness of the army, all hope would be lost, and we would be defeated before the first clash of steel." (She softly mutters a prayer over the body, and removes her cloak. After staring at the cloak, lost deep in thought, she delicately places it over the fallen warrior, and gently kisses his forehead.) "Even when all was lost, Milosh tried to save us all. You see, Milosh kept at least part of the promise he made to Lazar. During the battle, gallant Milosh fought his way to the very center of the Turkish army, to the tent where the Sultan commanded his forces. Milosh and his men, without any regard for their own lives, charged the Sultan, and Milosh thrust his sword into the wicked man, spilling his guts onto his own feet!" "But, alas, his actions were brave, but ineffective. The Turks are so used to deceit that the Sultan's brother had prepared himself to replace the Sultan, and the Turks fought on. When Milosh was last seen, he was here by the river Sitnitsa, slaughtering the Turks who sought to avenge their Sultan. Sadly, Milosh was only a man, and could not keep up the fight forever. (She gazes off into the distance, tears welling in her eyes. She starts as something captures her attention.) "I wonder what that could be? There, shining in the water?" (She runs downstream, her sorrow momentarily forgotten. You seemingly have no choice but to follow.) Weblink: Wikipedia Commons Author's Note: As before, this tale is drawn from a number of poems: Supper in Krushevats, Captain Milosh and Ivan Kosanchich, Tsar Lazar and Tsaritsa Militsa, and Tsaritsa Militsa and Vladeta the Voyvoda [general]. Few historical details of the battle survive today, but one of the few known facts is that Milosh Obilish did, in fact, ride into the center of the army, and kill the Sultan right in the middle of his camp. One of the great things about the cycle of epic poems that came out of the battle is that they are great stories. It is easy to overlook the fact that they are based upon real historical events. Even though the Serbian Epic poems are rooted in historical fact, they do make great folk tales. These "folk tales" are known to most Serbians and, as a result, heroes like Milosh Obilich are celebrated, even today. Milosh Obilish provides the second of the three necessary components to any good folk tale: a hero. Vuk Brankovich has already played the role of villain. The third element of a good folk tale will be seen in the next story: a miracle. Bibliography: John Matthias and Vladeta Vuckovic (1987), The Battle of Kosovo: Serbian Epic Poems. |
