Cântec batrânesc is a traditional form of ballad which originates from Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. It is similar to an epic poem and it is one of the most typical genres of Romanian literature.

Origin

The name comes from the Latin word ballare, meaning "dancing". Both terms were entailed by the Romanian poet Vasile Alecsandri

Vasile Alecsandri

Vasile Alecsandri was a Romanian poet, playwright, politician, and diplomat. He collected Romanian folk songs and was one of the principal animators of the 19th century movement for Romanian cultural identity and union of Moldavia and Wallachia....

. However, the usual term for this form of ballad is still epic song.

Themes

• love
• the good and the bad
• the hankering, the longing
• the immolation for the creation
• the connection between humans and the nature
• the revolt, the riots
• the irreversibility of time

Myths in epic songs

• the immolation for the creation
• the erotic myth (the myth illustrates how girls at puberty long for the unknown feeling of love, which comes unexpectedly and makes them feel something very deep and spontaneous)
• the formation of the Romanian collectivity
• the transhumance myth (human attitude towards death)