The Building of Skadar

The Building of Skadar or The Walling of the Skadar or The Founding of Skadar (Serbian: Зидање Скадра) is a poem of the pre-Kosovo cycle of Serbian epic poetry. It is based on the motif of human sacrifice.

The events described in the poem allegedly occurred at the beginning of the 14th century.Jovan Tomić concluded that this song was created in the region near Skadar (now Shkodër), such as upper Albania, Montenegro, or the southwest part of Herzegovina where the tradition of the Mrnjavčević family was strong. His conclusion was later supported by other scholars. The army led by King Vukašin Mrnjavčević and his son Prince Marko came under Skadar in June 1371, but when they were informed about a large Ottoman army advancing from the east they headed east to prepare for the Battle of Maritsa.

The same motif is described in poetry composed in some other languages. The version in Serbian is considered as the major South-Slavic version. It is the only version which exists in the form of an epic poem, while versions in Hungarian, Romanian and Bulgarian are ballads. The version of the song in the Serbian language recorded by Vuk Karadžić is the oldest collected version of the legend, and the first one which earned literary fame.

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