ABSTRACT
In the course of the field work which eventually led to the publication of my Popular Narrative Ballads of Modern Egypt 1 , I made it a practice to ask as few leading questions as possible in order to let my informants reveal their own priorities. What emerged was that among the ballad-mongers who did not specialize in the epic cycle of the Hilālīs, by far the most popular themes were accounts of “honour crimes” in which fierce retribution is visited upon women who offend against the strict (if unequal) code of conduct still prevalent among the masses. Closely allied were other feats of bravery and violence, mainly motivated by revenge. Following at some distance were ballads of a religious character, either embroidering a Qurʾanic story or recounting the deeds of a holy man.
