General Vuča () or General Vuka is a popular legendary hero of

Serbian epic poetry Serbian epic poetry () is a form of epic poetry created by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The main cycles were composed by unknown Serb authors between the 14th and 19th centu ...

who is depicted as an enemy of Kraljević Marko.

Song

Vuča first appeared in the poem ''Marko Kraljević and General Vuča'', which was sung by

Tešan Podrugović Tešan Podrugović () ( Kazanci, Gacko, Herzegovina, Ottoman Empire 1775 — Sremski Karlovci, Austrian Empire 1815) was a Serbian merchant, hayduk, storyteller and gusle player () who participated in the First Serbian Uprising and Second Serbi ...

Sremski Karlovci Sremski Karlovci ( sr-Cyrl, Сремски Карловци, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka Districtautonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Danube, from Novi Sad. According to the 202 ...

and recorded by

Vuk Karadžić Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 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 moder ...

who published it in 1845 within second volume of the 'Songs of Serbian people' () collection. This song is one of the songs Podrugović learned in

Srem Syrmia ( Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is ...

. Vuča and his son Velimir are the most mysterious epic heroes who were enemies of Marko Kraljević. They are foreigners like other main enemies of Marko Kraljević and, as it is strongly hinted in some particular epic narratives, probably

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

. Like other enemies of Marko (i.e. Musa Kesedžija or

Djemo the Mountaineer Djemo the Mountaineer ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Ђемо Брђанин, Đemo Brđanin) is a popular legendary hero of Serbian epic poetry who is depicted as enemy of Prince Marko, Kraljević Marko and brother of Musa Kesedžija. His figure might be based on ...

) Vuča is also of exceptional strength. At the beginning of the song Vuča captures three heroes (

Miloš od Pocerja Miloš, Milos, Miłosz or spelling variations thereof is a mainly male Slavic given name and a surname. It may refer to: Given name Sportsmen * Miłosz Bernatajtys, Polish rower * Miloš Bogunović, Serbian footballer * Miloš Budaković, ...

Milan Toplica Toplica Milan ( sr-Cyrl, Топлица Милан) or Milan Toplica ( sr-Cyrl, link=no, Милан Топлица), also known as Milan from Toplica (), was a legendary Serbian knight who was allied to Prince Lazar and died during the historical ...

and Kosančić Ivan) who are friends of Kraljević Marko and puts them in the dungeon of

Petrovaradin Petrovaradin ( sr-Cyrl, Петроварадин, ) is a historic town in the Serbian province of Vojvodina, now a part of the city of Novi Sad. As of 2011, the urban area has 14,810 inhabitants. Lying on the right bank of the Danube, across the m ...

(Varadin in song). Marko Kraljević first defeats General Vuča's son and his three hundred horsemen and then General Vuča himself together with his thousand horsemen. Vuča's wife releases the three heroes from the dungeon against Marko's request, which is an example of "jailor's daughter" type of help. Besides the three heroes Marko also releases the father of Milan Toplica who was also captured by General Vuča. There is another song which presents information about capture of Toplica's father and how three heroes who attacked Petrovaradin in attempt to release him were also captured by General Vuča.

Historical background

There are different opinions what historical person Vuča is based upon. According to

Andra Gavrilović Andra Gavrilović (; 11 July 1864, in Svilajnac, Principality of Serbia – 24 February 1929, in Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia) was a Serbian historian, historian of literature, writer and diplomat. While Gavrilović started as a poet, he is ...

the figure of General Vuča is based on Tanush Dukagjin, a member of Dukagjini noble family from Albania. There was an opinion that Vuča was based on

Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty durin ...

while some other theories say that he is based on the

Petar Doci Petar (, sr-Cyrl, Петар) is a South Slavic masculine given name, their variant of the Biblical name Petros cognate to Peter. Derivative forms include Pero, Pejo, Pera, Perica, Petrica, Periša. Feminine equivalent is Petra. People monon ...

also referred to as Auci in

Erlangen Manuscript Erlangen Manuscript () is a Serbian Cyrillic manuscript dated between 1716 and 1733 that contains one of the earliest written collections (217 songs) of epic poetry written in the Serbian language. The unnamed author wrote the manuscript for the Aus ...

. Since Eugene of Savoy did not have a son according to some interpretations Velimir, who was referred in the song as Vuča's son, was probably some of Eugene's subordinated officers.

Citations

External links

Text of the poem "Marko Kraljević and General Vuča" published in 'The Ballads of Marko Kraljevic', Cambridge University Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vuca, General Characters in Serbian epic poetry Fictional Serbian people