Polish legends: About Krak, the Wawel Dragon and the Princess Wanda

The article comes in English and Polish

About Krak, the Wawel Dragon and the Princess Wanda 

Once upon a time, in an old city of Cracov, Krak, the ruler of the city, thought how to kill a terrible dragon. That dragon was terrorizing villages, even though he was full.

After 7 months of thinking, Krak invented a method. He told Skuba to kill an ox and a sheep, then stuff them with sulphur, pitch and incandescent red coals. Next, Skuba planted the stuffed animals at dragon’s cave. The hungry dragon ate them and then he

screamed in anger. The toxic materials were burning him from the inside. He rushed to the Vistula river to drink some water to put out the fire inside his stomach. He drank, drank, and drank so much that he burst out. That was the end of the dragon’s terror.

In the nearby town, Krak, was getting old. He knew he would die really soon, but he didn’t care at all about the future of his kingdom and his own children. He had 2 sons: Krak and Lech, and a daughter,  Wanda. Then, one day, the king Krak died...

Villagers were in mourning in memory of their beloved king. Krak’s sons divided the country into two to rule each one in his half. However, Lech was scared of the elder brother. One day, Krak suggested hunting for bears and deer in the deep forests. Lech agreed. Wanda stopped them and said that she had had a bloody dream the night before. She didn’t want them to go without any servants.

Krak jeered at her saying that he wasn’t afraid of anything. And so they set on a journey.

They drove into the forest. Then, the younger brother, Lech, stopped and said: “Now, brother,

you will die. I will rule the whole country.” After these words, he threw a hammer at Krak’s head.

Krak started bleeding and fell down on the ground dead. But a problem arose: What to do with the

brother’s body? So the bad brother slayed the corpse into small pieces and buried them under the ground.

Lech was coming back to the village, crying and screaming to everyone who stopped in amazement at his sight: “Oh no! An evil creature killed my brother in the forest! You see the blood on me because I was trying to defend him.”

Now Lech ruled the whole country. However, in the same ground where Krak’s body was buried, light lilies grew and began blooming. And when they bloomed they began telling a horrible story to the winds: “Here lies Krak, killed by his own brother...”

One night some people were going through the same forest where Krak was killed. They heard the weird sounds. And then, they saw Krak’s body. They took it to the castle. The villagers were shocked and at the same time afraid that now the brother-killer will be banned from the country.

Now, there was only Wanda left, their younger sister. People wanted her to become a queen.

-Do I have to be your queen? Me, who swore to God Almighty that I wouldn’t get married?– Wanda said.

“Wanda, Wanda, Wanda! You are our sea, you are our soil, you are our air, our queen” – people sang and yelled – “Krak’s daughter to the queen!” 

After some time, one German heard about the virgin who was the queen. His name was Rytgar.

One day he ordered his army to follow him in the direction of the border. When he finally arrived at

the Krak’s kingdom he shouted:

- “I want to be your husband, Wanda” – he said – “or we will destroy your country.”

- “I swore to God Almighty that I would not get married. Do you want a war? Let it be then, war!” – Wanda answered.

The war began and Wanda, with a sword in her hand rode her horse in the front of her army.

“Watch out, German!”- she screamed. Rytgar looked at his army but there was no army! It ran away from his strict ruler. Angry Rytgar grabbed his sword and killed himself. The queen came back to her village and she called her people.

- “It’s time for me. I’ll give my life to God’s grace instead of giving it to the one wants power.”

Having said so she threw herself into the Vistula river and died.

„Legenda o Kraku, smoku wawelskim i królewnie Wandzie”

Legenda ta głosi, że Kraków pochodzi od imienia pierwszego króla i założyciela grodu 

– Kraka, którego imię z kolei też ma coś wspólnego z krukami.

Krak był bardzo dobrym i rozsądnym władcą, a jego poddanym dostatnio się żyło. Król się ożenił i miał dwie córki. Jedna miała na imię Wanda oraz nie chciała wyjść za Niemca, więc skoczyła do Wisły. Legenda o Smoku ze Smoczej Jamy opowiada teraz o drugiej.

Od pewnego już czasu poddanym Kraka zaczęło się gorzej powodzić, gdyż z pastwisk znikało coraz więcej baranów. Co gorsza, wkrótce też zaczęły znikać także i dziewczęta. 

Jak się okazało do Jamy pod zamkiem króla teraz wprowadził się Smok.

Król nie wiedział co począć, a zaś poddani zaczęli być coraz bardziej niecierpliwi. Zagrozili, iż jeśli Krak nie przepędzi Smoka, odbiorą mu władzę. W końcu  potem królewna zareagowała. Powiedziała ojcu, że powinien rozgłosić wiadomość, że odda jej rękę temu,

kto zgładzi bestię.

Wkrótce też do zamku przybyło wielu rycerzy, lecz gdy tylko zobaczyli zionącego ogniem Smoka, uciekali. Tylko Szewczyk Dratewka nie uląkł się bestii. Powiedział też coś do ucha królewnie, a ta zdobyła królewską baranicę. W tym czasie Dratewka wtem zorganizował miarkę siarki. Następnie zszył baranicę na kształt barana i wypełnił ją siarką. Podrzucił także „ofiarę” Smokowi, a gdy ten ją pożarł, z jego pyska buchnęły płomienie. Smok pił wodę już z Wisły przez siedem lat, lecz pragnienie nie mijało. W końcu w ósmym roku stracił zmysły po czym pękł.

Szewczyk Dratewka poślubił wtem królewnę, a potem został królem, jednak pod swoim tronem ciągle miał swój warsztat szewski oraz wszystkim poddanym szył buty.

Excerpts from 'Ethno treasure hunt – Book of traditions”, published by Instituto comprensivo di Santa Teresa di Riva (Me), Italy, coordinated by Rosa Crupi, Linda Cigala, Domenica Crupi, Antonina Morabito, Graphic designer Arch. Tania Consalvo, with the collaboration of Georgi Ivanov, Bulgaria, Domenica Crupi, Italy, Rima Stongvillene, Lithuania, Joanna Wilczynska, Poland, Daniela Buda, Romania, Ozgur Boyaci, Turkey, 2011.