As in many other instances of Romantic cultural nation-building in Eastern Europe, some 19th- and 20th-century Albanian cultural activists set out to pen literary national-epic poems. However, unlike other Balkan literary traditions (particularly the neighbouring Serbian and Croatian ones), Albanians could not fall back on any pre-existing literary epic written in Albanian, and its creation must therefore count as a fresh cultural productivity within the framework of the Rilindja, the Albanian national movement.

A first attempt in this direction was the epic Odisse (1874), composed by Girolamo (Jeronim) De Rada (1814–1903), a representative of the Arbëresh (i.e. Italo-Albanian) population in the Kingdom of Naples, and initiator of the cultural Rilindja. The poem recounts the deeds of the 15th-century Albanian warrior Odisse who, like his namesake Odysseus, sets out on a long journey after the definitive Turkish conquest of Albania following the death of Skanderbeg (the 15th-century Albanian prince who had victoriously staved off the invading Ottoman forces). Odisse ends up in Italy, where together with other Albanian refugees he becomes one of the forefathers of the Arbëresh. The Odisse, however, has never been fully recognized as an Albanian national epos, as De Rada composed the poem in Italian, and because of its poor literary value.

Like many other Romantic national movements, the Albanian one produced a forgery passed off as genuine oral tradition. In this case, the hoax is the Kënka e sprasme e Balës (“The last song of Bala”) by the Arbëresh writer Gabriello (Gavril) Dara Jr (1826–1885). This epic is the story of another 15th-century Albanian warrior, the title character Bala, who just like De Rada’s Odisse has made his way to Italy after the defeat of the Albanian forces in the Balkans. As an old man, he recalls the feats performed by him and his comrades while fighting alongside Skanderbeg. The Kënka was believed to be authentic well into the second half of the 20th century, and held in high esteem as the beginning of the Arbëresh literature.

In the Balkans, an Albanian national epic was first composed by Naim Frashëri (1846–1900). After an initial indifference to  politics, Naim embraced a more marked Albanian nationalist stance later in life – no doubt also in response to the persecution suffered by his brother Abdyl (1839–1892) at the hands of the Ottoman authorities.

Naim, who like his brothers was a member of the Bektashi Sufi order (and hence, as a Shi’ite Muslim, at odds with the Sultan’s Sunni Islam), merged religious inspiration and nationalism in his Istori e Skënderbeut (“History of Skanderbeg”) and Qerbelaja (“The Battle of Karbala”), both published in 1898. The Istori recounts the life and deeds of Skanderbeg; with this poem, Naim intended to fashion Skanderbeg as a suitable hero for the Albanian Muslim community, and he did so by almost completely omitting any reference to Islam or Christianity, depicting Skanderbeg instead as a patriot who fought for his homeland. Conversely, the Qerbelaja is a quintessential epos of Bektashi (and therefore Shia) inspiration, in that it deals with the fateful Battle of Karbala (680 AD), the founding moment of Shia Islam, where Imam Husayn and his followers were defeated by the Sunni forces. What makes this poem a national epic is the fact that, towards the end of the narrative, Naim connects the strong anti-Sunni narrative to the situation of 19th-century Shi’ite Albanians, still oppressed by the sultans (who ex officio were the secular heads and protectors of Sunni Islam), much as their predecessors had persecuted the martyred Imam Husayn. Both the Istori and the Qerbelaja are national epics tailored for a Muslim, and specifically Bektashi, audience, in that the Istori de-Christianizes Slanderbeg and the Qerbelaja gives an Albanian significance to the Shi’ite experience. Not surprisingly, this latter poem, in contrast to most of Naim’s productions, failed to enthuse the country’s Christian readership.

The peak of Albanian national epic poetry is Lahuta e Malcis (“The mountain lute”, 1937) by Gjergj Fishta (1871–1940). Fishta was an important exemplar of the Rilindja, both in its political and cultural dimension, and he lived long enough to play a significant role in interwar Albania. The Lahuta is the ultimate poetical re-telling of the historical experience of the Rilindja, encompassing the years between the Congress of Berlin (1878) and the Congress of London (1913), which saw Albania’s claim to independence internationally recognized. Fishta celebrated the Albanian nation as an ethnic community bound in shared devotion to the fatherland, beyond religious differences. The publication of the Lahuta represents the high point and end point of the production of Albanian national epic.