Wawel Dragon
Literary history
Literary history
----------------

The oldest known telling of the story comes from the 13th\-century work attributed to Bishop of Kraków and historian of Poland, [Wincenty Kadłubek](/wiki/Wincenty_Kad%C5%82ubek "Wincenty Kadłubek").Wincenty Kadłubek, "Kronika Polska", Ossolineum, Wrocław, 2008, 

### Polish Chronicle (13th c.)

According to Wincenty Kadłubek's *[Polish Chronicle](/wiki/Chronica_seu_originale_regum_et_principum_Poloniae "Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae")*, a dragon appeared during the reign of [King Krak](/wiki/King_Krak "King Krak") (, ** ).

St. Wincenty's original Latin text actually refers to the dragon as ***holophagus*** ([Polish](/wiki/Polish_language "Polish language") gloss: ;Bielski, August ed., , annotated index, p. 451\. "one who swallows whole"), which was a [neologism](/wiki/Neologism "Neologism") he had coined. In Polish translation of the work, the monster is rendered as the "greedily swallowing dragon" ().

It was a "terrible and cruel beast" dwelling "in the depths \[windings/curves] of a certain rock (**)": : "terrible and cruel beast" dwelling "in the depths of a certain rock" or emended to "a certain cave ()" *Chronica principum Poloniae*, p. 430, n. 5: "W. Chr. Pol.*:* Erat enim in cuiusdam spelunce.." according to Wincenty.

The dragon required weekly cattle, or else humans would have been devoured instead. In the hope of killing the dragon, Krak called upon his two sons. They could not, however, defeat the creature by hand, so they came up with a trick. They fed him a [cattle skin](/wiki/Cowhide "Cowhide") stuffed with smoldering sulfur, causing his fiery death. After the success, the younger prince (referred to as the "junior Gracchus";  var. ,, note. i.e. [Krak II](/wiki/Krakus_II "Krakus II"); ) kills his elder brother blaming the dragon for the death. But his crime was soon revealed, and he got expelled from the country. Afterwards [Princess Wanda](/wiki/Princess_Wanda "Princess Wanda") had to accede the kingship., Józefczyk tr., pp. 42–43 

### Derivative chronicles

Among later chronicles derived from Wincenty Kadłubek's work, *[Chronicle of Greater Poland](/wiki/Wielkopolska_Chronicle "Wielkopolska Chronicle")* (\<1296\) fails to make mention of the dragon at all, while the  (or *Mierzwa Chronicle*; *Kronika Dzierzwy*/*Kronika Mierzwy*, 14th century) followed closely after Wincenty. Both these chronicles maintain that Krak, Jr. is the younger prince, and keep the elder brother nameless.

[Jan Długosz](/wiki/Jan_D%C5%82ugosz "Jan Długosz")'s 15th\-century chronicle, however, swapped the roles of the princes, claiming that the younger son named [Lech](/wiki/Lech_II "Lech II") was the killer, while the elder son named Krak, Jr. became the victim. The idea for the scheme to slay the dragon (*olophagus*) is credited to King Krak himself, not his sons, because the king fears a mass exodus from the city may take place, and he orders to have the carcass stuffed with flammable substances, namely sulfur, [tinder](/wiki/Tinder "Tinder") (; ), wax, pitch, and tar and set them on fire. The dragon ate the burning meal and died breathing fire just before death. Długosz also adds the detail that the dragon lived in a cave of Mount Wawel upon which King Krak had built his castle. In any case, the fratricide is banished, so their sister [Princess Wanda](/wiki/Princess_Wanda "Princess Wanda") must accede to the throne.


Why did Krak call upon his two sons to kill the dragon?