The Wawel Dragon

by Jacob Bross

The Wawel Dragon is a mythical creature that was born in Krakow, Poland. The fire-breathing dragon wreaked havoc on the town day and night. 2 The mythical dragon, also known as "The Dragon of Wawel Hill," was perched above the Vistula River and at the foot of Wawel Hill. He had a perfect view of the town and knew exactly when the right time to feed was. The King of the land was tired of the dragon destroying the crops and all other sources of food. So, the King had enough and told the town that the first one to kill the dragon could have his daughter in marriage. Immediately the townsmen and knights tracked down the dragon and tried to take its life. The dragon’s scales were so thick that the weapons of all the townsmen and the weapons of the knights could not pierce his skin and kill the beast. The town thought it was going to be like this forever, a dragon destroying everything the people created.

Nobody thought there was a way they could kill the dragon, all the knights from not only the King's kingdom tried to kill the dragon but also knights from other kingdoms wanted to try and kill the unkillable beast and take the hand of the daughter as a reward. More and more knights went to kill the dragon, but as they left, they never returned. The longer the year went on, the less amount of people tried to kill the dragon. As the town and the kingdom was scared for their lives and nobody attempted to kill the dragon anymore, a shoemaker came to the king one day and asked if he could have a shot at killing the mythical being. The king thought he would die because the shoemaker knocked on the gates with no weapons, no armor and no reputation. Out of curiosity the king granted him his request and the shoemaker requested a few ingredients. The shoemaker was a wise, young man who needed lambskin, Sulphur, and mustard seed. He set out for the dragon the next morning.

That night the shoemaker mixed the ingredients and created a powerful substance not even the dragon could overcome. The next morning the shoemaker set out to the foot of Wawel Hill and placed his dead lamb with Sulphur and mustard seed down, waiting in nearby bushes for the dragon to awake.
When the dragon awoke, he immediately stepped out of his lair hungry and angry. He spotted the dead lamb and went over to it immediately. As soon as it was digested the dragon felt weird and did not move. His stomach was roaring and he had a major stomach ache, he headed towards the Vistula River, trying to get the burning sensation out of his stomach, he drank the river, he kept drinking and drinking until the river dried up. When he sat up and tried to breathe fire, he couldn't. Immediately the dragon exploded. All of the people that could see the dragon erupted in excitement and ran towards the shoemaker. The shoemaker knew he was taken for granted and he showed everyone that he was smarter than most knights and he gets to take the king’s daughter as his wife. Nobody ever saw the shoemaker again.

This image is a statue of the Wawel Dragon that the people of Krakow made to represent the death of the beast that laid waste to their village.

 The Wawel Dragon was depicted as a giant beast who lived at the bottom of the hill next to the Vistula River as shown above.

Sources:
HTTPS://Facebook.com/polishhousewife. 2 “Smok Wawelski, the Wawel Dragon.” Polish Housewife, 20 Apr. 2018, polishhousewife.com/smok-wawelski-the-wawel-dragon/.

“Wawel Dragon.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Oct. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wawel_Dragon.

“Myths and Legends.” The Legend of the Wawel Dragon (A Polish Traditional Legend), myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/userstory6306-the-legend-of-the-wawel-dragon-a-polish-traditional-legend.html.

The Dragon of Wawel Hill

Author: Kenya Humphrey

Krakow Dragon, from Wikimedia Commons

The legend of the Wawel Dragon, also known as Smok Wawelski, is the most well-known folklore in Poland. Many centuries ago, the dragon lived in a cave at the foot of Wawel Hill and terrorized the village by eating its sheep and taking its female inhabitants as sacrifices. When only the king’s daughter was left, he sent many knights to go fight the dragon, offering his daughter as a reward. When many knights took the challenge, but never returned, a young shoemaker’s apprentice took up on the king’s offer. Though he was teased and doubted by the rest of the village, the young apprentice roasted some sheep and filled them with spices and sulfur then left them for the dragon as bait. As expected, the dragon ate the sheep. The spices and the sulfur made the dragon’s stomach burn so much that he drank the village’s river to calm it. But instead, he drank so much he exploded. The village was finally at peace and the young apprentice, Krak, married the king’s daughter.

                The old folklore is known throughout Poland and Wawel Castle and the dragon’s den have been made very popular tourist attractions.  According to an online tourist site, the dragon’s den on Wawel Hill is “surely among great curiosities of Wawel” (Debicka). As a result of the folklore’s popularity, the home of the dragon brought Krakow many curious visitors. The dragon’s den, located in Krakow, is divided into three chambers for tourists to visit. The first chamber, also known as the “A chamber” is basically just the entry to the cave. The “B chamber” is the middle and largest portion of the cave that contains a storage room, a banquet room, and a tavern that date back to the 17^th and the 18^th centuries. The “C chamber” is the last part of the cave that holds the main room of the tavern. Though the den has been around for centuries, “after 1918, when Poland regained its independence, the Dragon’s Lair was prepared for visitors by prof. Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz” (Debicka).

                The Wawel Castle has also become an important tourist attraction because of the legend of the Wawel Dragon.  According to an article in History Today, the Wawel Castle “brings together a number of exhibitions tracing Wawel's history” (Monte). Though the castle serves as a setting for the legend, but it also serves as background for a lot of facts of the city of Krakow. Not only is it a very renowned tourist attraction, but Krakow is also “an important educational center since the Middle Ages” (Monte). The city of Krakow may be a setting for one of the most notorious stories in the country of Poland, but it is also a setting for historical discovery and educational teachings.

                The legend of the Wawel Dragon has laid out a pathway for curiosity and investigation for the city of Krakow and its visitors. Though the dragon once terrorized the city, it is now a mascot for the city and is the reason for discoveries tourists from all around.

Works Cited and Links for Further Research:

Dębicka, Maria. “Dragon’s Den.” Zamek Królewski Na Wawelu. NP. Nd. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. 

This article gives an overview of the dragon’s den.

Monte, Richard. “Krakow 2000”. History Today. Aug. 2009. Academic OneFile. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. 

This article gives a very good background of the Wawel Dragon and its history.

"The Dragon of Wawel Hill”.Wayback Machine.  NP. 10 April 2010. Web. 9 October 2013. 

This article gives a very detailed story of the Wawel Dragon.