Monumenta Estoniae Antiquae

The Monumenta Estoniae Antiquae is an academic publication series of Estonian folklore, including folksongs in trochaic verse form (regilaul), legends, proverbs, riddles and folk tales.

[2] Soon after Dr. Jakob Hurt assumed the presidency of the Estonian Literati Society in 1872, a project was initiated for the systematic collection of folklore across Estonia.

Hurt was about to complete a third volume, the songs of the Viljandi Parish in central Estonia, but difficulties of publishing and the continual inflow of new material intervened.

Between 1904 and 1907, under the auspices of the Finnish Literature Society, Hurt published a three volume series of songs (Setukeste laulud) from the Setumaa district in southern Estonia.

During the 1930s, the Estonian Folklore Archives revived Hurt's original project and published volumes III and IV of Vana Kannel in 1938 and 1941 respectively.