Oj, svijetla majska zoro

"Oj, svijetla majska zoro" (Montenegrin Cyrillic: „Ој, свијетла мајска зоро”, lit. "Oh, bright dawn of May") is the national anthem of Montenegro adopted in 2004. Before its adoption, it was a popular folk song with many variations of its text. The oldest one is dated to the 2nd half of the 19th century, known as "Oh, Bright Dawn of Heroism, oh!", a popular Montenegrin folk song.

Oj, svijetla majska zoro

English: Oh, Bright Dawn of May
Ој, свијетла мајска зоро
National anthem of  Montenegro
Lyrics	Unknown (edited by Sekula Drljević), 19th century
Music	Unknown (arranged by Žarko Mirković), 19th century
Adopted	2004 (official)
Audio sample
"Oj, svijetla majska zoro" (instrumental) file help

Lyrics

Although those are the official lyrics, a lot of verses are repeated in order to follow the rhythmic composition. To sing it properly, one must follow the text like this:

Cyrillic script	Latin script	English translation
𝄆 Ој свијетла мајска зоро. 𝄇 𝄆 Мајко наша Црна Горо. 𝄇 𝄆 Синови смо твог стијења 𝄇 𝄆 И чувари твог поштења 𝄇 Волимо вас, брда тврда И стравичне ваше кланце Који никад не познаше Срамотнога ропства ланце, 𝄆 Мајко наша Црна Горо! 𝄇	𝄆 Oj svijetla majska zoro. 𝄇 𝄆 Majko naša Crna Goro. 𝄇 𝄆 Sinovi smo tvog stijenja 𝄇 𝄆 I čuvari tvog poštenja 𝄇 Volimo vas, brda tvrda I stravične vaše klance Koji nikad ne poznaše Sramotnoga ropstva lance. 𝄆 Majko naša Crna Goro! 𝄇	𝄆 Oh, bright dawn of May. 𝄇 𝄆 Our mother Montenegro. 𝄇 𝄆 We are sons of your rocks 𝄇 𝄆 And keepers of your honesty 𝄇 We love you, the rocky hills And your awesome gorges That never came to know The chains of shameful slavery. 𝄆 Our mother Montenegro! 𝄇
𝄆 Ој свијетла мајска зоро. 𝄇 𝄆 Мајко наша Црна Горо. 𝄇 Док ловћенској нашој мисли Наша слога даје крила, Биће горда, биће славна Домовина наша мила. Ријека ће наших вала Ускачући у два мора Глас носити океану, Да је вјечна Црна Гора. Глас носити океану, 𝄆 Да је вјечна Црна Гора! 𝄇	𝄆 Oj svijetla majska zoro. 𝄇 𝄆 Majko naša Crna Goro. 𝄇 Dok lovćenskoj našoj misli Naša sloga daje krila, Biće gorda, biće slavna Domovina naša mila. Rijeka će naših vala Uskačući u dva mora Glas nositi okeanu, Da je vječna Crna Gora. Glas nositi okeanu, 𝄆 Da je vječna Crna Gora! 𝄇	𝄆 Oh, bright dawn of May. 𝄇 𝄆 Our mother Montenegro. 𝄇 While our unity gives wings to our Lovćen cause, Proud shall be, celebrated will be Our dear homeland. A river of our waves, Jumping into two seas, Will bear voice to the ocean, May eternal be our Montenegro! Will bear voice to the ocean, 𝄆 May eternal be our Montenegro! 𝄇

History

Original version

The following is the oldest known version of the anthem, known as: "Oh, Bright Dawn of Heroism, oh!" ("Oj, Junaštva Svjetla Zoro, oj!"). It was played in public for the first time in 1863 in the national theater in Belgrade. It was a component song of the "Battle of Grahovo or blood feud in Montenegro" (Бој на Грахову или крвна освета у Црној Гори) heroic play in three parts.[1] The play and the Montenegrin folk song was also played/sung in the National Theater again in 1870 and 1876.[2] Its first record in Montenegro itself dates to 1887, when it was included into the regular school program of Montenegrin national songs for pupils in the 3rd grade.[3] It was reconfirmed in the teacher's plan for Montenegrin schools of 1888, which speculates that it must have been an established folk song for decades by then.

Serbian language (Cyrillic)	Serbian language (Latin)	English
Ој, јунаштва свјетла зоро, Мајко наша Црна Горо! На твојим се врлетима, Разби сила душманима. Једина си за слободу, Ти остала српском роду. Дат ће Бог и свјета мати Да се једном све поврати!	Oj, junaštva svjetla zoro, Majko naša Crna Goro! Na tvojim se vrletima, Razbi sila dušmanima. Jedina si za slobodu, Ti ostala srpskom rodu. Dat će Bog i svjeta mati Da se jednom sve povrati!	O, bright dawn of heroism, Our mother Montenegro! On your mountains, Broke the force of the enemy. Only you are still there, For Serbian people to regain its freedom God and Holy Mother's willing Everything will be restored again!

World War II

Sekule Drljević, party strongman of a minor political party which was active in the Yugoslavian Kingdom in Montenegro known as the Montenegrin Federalist Party, rewrote the text and published it in 1937 in the book of Savić Marković "Štedimlija" (a Croatian writer of Montenegrin origin) known as Crvena Hrvatska (Red Croatia), which confounded the thesis not of a Serb ethnic origin of the Montenegrins, which was the dominant one back then, but rather from the Croats. Its name was Eternal Ours... (Vječna naša). When Nikola Hercigonja wrote Oh, Bright Dawn of May shortly after World War II ended after 1945, he erroneously concluded that Drljević was the original wholesale author of this song, which led to its decline in popularity as a Montenegrin folk song for decades.

Serbian (Latin)

English

Vječna naša Crna Goro, Tvoj Lovćen je car Jadrana, Ka seljaka tvojih djela, Kad su čija opjevana? Volimo vas, brda tvrda, I stravične vaše klance Koji nikad ne poznaše Sramotnoga ropstva lance. Lovćen nam je oltar sveti, Vazda smo mu vjerni bili, U njega smo vjerovali I njime se ponosili. Otkada je Badnje veče Našu vjeru očistilo, Među nama, seljacima, Nevjernika nije bilo. Dok lovćenskoj našoj misli Naša sloga daje krila, Bit će gorda, bit će slavna Domovina naša mila. Slobode će čuvar biti Naša brda, naše gore, Dokle zemlju sunce grije I dokle se ljudi bore. Rijeka će naših vala, Uskačući u dva mora, Glas nositi oceanu, Da je vječna Crna Gora.

Eternal Our Montenegro, Your Lovćen is the Emperor of the Adriatic, Like the peasants of your rocks, When were they sang?' We love you, the rocky hills, And your horrifying gorges That never came to know The shameful slavery chains. Lovćen is our holy Oltar, Forever were we to him faithful, In it we have believed And with it we were proud. Ever since Christmas Eve. Our faith cleansed, Among us peasants, No infidel there was. As long as our Lovćen's thought Our concord gives strength, It shall be proud, it shall be famous Our dear homeland. Freedom's keeper shall be Our hills, our highlands, As long as the earth receives warmth from the sun And as long as men are fighting. Rivers of our waves shall, Jumping into two seas Bring the voice to the ocean Eternal be our Montenegro.

Popular song

The song survived until today under various names as a popular Montenegrin folk song under the name "Oh, Bright Dawn of May" (Oj svijetla majska zoro). This version of the song has been one of the several versions proposed in 1993 during the first discussion on the official state anthem, however, on which there was no consensus because of the disputed melodic value.[4]

Montenegrin (Cyrillic)	Montenegrin (Latin)	English
Ој свијетла мајска зоро, Мајко наша Црна Горо, Синови смо твог стијења И чувари твог поштења. Ловћен нам је олтар свети, У њега смо сви заклети. На Ловћену Његош спава Најмудрија српска глава. Дурмиторе је л' ти жао Што се Ловћен опјевао? -Не, нека га, нек' се пјева Заслуга је Његошева.	Oj svijetla majska zoro, Majko naša Crna Goro, Sinovi smo tvog stijena I čuvari tvog poštenja Lovćen nam je oltar sveti, U njega smo svi zakleti. Na Lovćenu Njegoš spava Najmudrija srpska glava. Durmitore je l' ti žao Što se Lovćen opjevao? -Ne, neka ga, nek' se pjeva Zasluga je Njegoševa.	Oh bright dawn of May, Mother ours Montenegro, Sons we are of your rocks And keepers of your honesty Lovćen is our holy altar, In him we're all sworn. On Lovćen, Njegoš sleeps The wisest Serb head. Durmitor are you sorry That Lovćen became famous? -No, let it be, let it sing Thankful for that is Njegoš.

References

1. Repertoire of the National Theatre in Belgrade 1868-1965, Sava V. Cvetkovic, Belgrade, 1966
2. Istorija srpskog pozorišta od srednjeg veka do modernog doba, Borivoje Stojković, 1979.
3. "Zadovoljni zbog neusvajanja himne :: Dnevni list Pobjeda". web.archive.org. 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
4. "Prve crnogorske elektronske novine". PCNEN. Retrieved 29 January 2017.

External links

• A midi version of the anthem exists at the official websites of
  • the President of Montenegro
  • the Government of Montenegro
• Himnuszok - A vocal version of the Anthem, featured in "Himnuszok" website.
• Oj, svijetla majska zoro - Audio of the Montenegro national anthem, with information and lyrics, from NationalAnthems.me
• The Songs section of the Italian language website "NewMontenegro.eu" features two alternative versions of the anthem.
• nationalanthems.info - The sheet music and lyrics are featured in the "nationalanthems.info" site.