Mythic images inspiring militant Serbian nationalism. The theme of defeat at the hands of the Turks in Kosovo stands at the very heart of Serbian heroic poetry, and the mythical character of the mother of the Jugovic brothers represents the tragic motif of sacrifice for the lost freedom of the national state.
The mother is in fact the motherland of the nine brothers, who, in turn, are allegorical figures of martyred King Lazar’s knights. They serenely led their 12,000 soldiers despite the prospect of their own imminent death on the Field of the Blackbirds in Kosovo in 1389.
Two black ravens, representing death and misfortune, bring the mother the torn hand of her youngest son, Damjan, still bearing his wedding ring, a symbol of new life and hope. The allegorical character of the mourning motherland, crushed by the loss of her sons, then fell down and disintegrated. She had sent her sons to death for their country and its freedom, all that was precious. Once these were lost on the Kosovo Plain, nothing remained to be valued and loved. Thus she dematerialized.
The other image of the motherland is the Kosovo Girl. She is the perpetual fiancee of the fallen hero, whose never-to-be-healed wounds she dresses in vain. Even when she seeks comfort under a green fir tree, it withers. The Kosovo Girl is the archetype of the unfortunate destiny of the Serbian Christian motherland during its armed confrontation with the aggressive Islam of the Middle Ages.
