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fonner explanation, but notes also the latter one. The founding of the town is preceded by the extermination of the dragon.

B. Kurbis (1976, p. 165) differentiated three motives in Master Vincent*s story: the most important didactic motive of the State, the motive of the struggle for power łeading to fratricide, and the motive of killing the dragon by ruse. The dragon is a pretext to show Gracchus’s care for his subjects and to reflect on the duties of a good ruler, whose figurę is contrasted with the figurę of the son overwhelmed with the desire to rułe. In the tale dominated by rhetoric, the motive of the fight with the dragon is rather weakly ex-posed. The moralistic and didactic character of the story prevailed over the mythical value.

It seems, however, that another motive is central here, as the legend of Krak is a myth about the origin of the Cracow State. Krak is allegedly the first ruler and legislator of the Vistulanian State. The beginnings of the royal rule and the law are in a way connected with the foundation of the town “on the Whole-eater’s rock.” Kronika polsko-śląska (MPH, voi. 3,1961, p. 608) follows exactly the scenario provided by Master Vincent, but the author tried to explain why Krak had not fought with the Dragon himself, saying that he had been very old. The chronicie of polish princes {Kronika książąt polskich, ch. 3, MPH, vol. 3, 1961, p. 431) makes Krak the author of the idea of stuffing animal skins with saltpetre. In nonę of the texts mentioned so far did the name of Wawel appear. It is first found in The chronicie of Great Poland {Kronika Wielkopolska, I, 1, MPHsn, vol. 8, 1970, p. 8), which claims that Krak was the founder of Cracow, but does not include the motive of the dragon in the story. According to this chronicie, the Lechitians, who initially did not know the institution of the ruler and chose from themselves “twelve wiser and richer [men], who adjudicated their conflicts and govemed the country (...), afraid of an attack from the Galls, unanimously elected a very venturesome man called Krak, whose seat was then near the Vistula, their Starost or leader of the army (...), as in Polish translation the leader of the army is called wojewoda; (...) the mentioned Krak, who is called corvus in Latin, as the victor, was elected king by the Lechitians. He built a stronghold, which was named Kraków after him, and earlier had been called Wąwel. Wąwel is the name of a certain swell that people living in the mountains usually have because of drinking water; therefore the mountain where the stronghold of Kraków is now situated was called Wąwel (...). People say that this [Krak] had two sons and one daughter; one of them, called Krak the Younger, deceitfully and secretly killed the elder brother to succeed after his father, but he died childless, so only the sister survived, who was called Wanda, which in Latin means hamus or fishing-rod [węda].” Krak’s advancement from the rank of the army leader in the primitively democratic community of the Lechitians to the institutionalized, hereditary royal rule, is described here in accordance with Master Vincent’s record. Only the motives of the dragon and migrations to Panonia disappeared, and the whole myth was firmly set at the Yistula.

The name of Wawel is also mentioned in the text of the same legend by Jan Długosz. In accordance with Kronika książąt polskich, he makes Krak the author of the saltpetre ruse, but he separates the motives of frat-ricide and the killing of the dragon. According to Długosz (Annales, I, vol. 1, 1964, p. 125-127), Krak himself erects a castle on Wawel and locates his throne there, and founds the town of Cracow at the foot of the hill. Unfortunately, “in a cave under the Wawel hill, where Krak erected the castle, an enormous monster lived. He looked as a dragon or Whole-eater (Holophagus), and to satisfy his greed he snatched cattle and swine that were thrown to him, and even attacked people. When tortured by prolonged hunger he could not find an accidental or offered victim, he rushed out of his hiding with terrifying roars at daylight and swooped on the most robust cattle, horses or oxen drawing carts or ploughs, he murdered and killed them, and harassing also the people if they did not hide in secure [place], he filled his stornach with their massacred bodies. His greed threatened the inhabitants of Cracow to such an extent that because of such a dangerous destroyer they were morę inclined to leaving the town than to dwelling there any further. By the order of prince Krak, who grieved for the outflow of inhabitants which hampered the development of the town that he had founded, every day three animal carcasses were given to the monster, whose satiety secured not only the people themselves, but also other creatures. But finally it became morę troublesome for the prince than for the inhabitants, and he was afraid that the town would be totally de-serted after his death, so he ordered to stuff the carcasses prepared for the dragon with sulphur, rot, wax, resin and tar, set on fire, and throw them to the beast, which, having devoured them with usual greed, immedi-ately fell and died of the heat of flames consuming his inside.”

Another issue stressed in this version is the motive of Krak-legislator. He provides the Poles with their laws, and after his death his grateful subjects erect a high sand grave in the memory of the founder of the town (Długosz, Annales, I, vol. 1, 1964, p. 126-127; cf. Jan Dąbrówka, ed. M. Zwiercan, 1969, p. 126). The existence of Krak’s mound is a significant piece of evi-dence for Cracow being the most important political centre in Little Poland in tribal times (H. Łowmiański, 1963-1985, vol. 4, p. 456-457). Already in the times of Długosz (the 15thc.) the famous “Krak’s mound” was referred to by this name. The so-called mounds of Krak and Wanda, existing until the present moment, are dated to the 8th c. (Jamka, 1965, p. 183-233; SSS, vol. 2, p. 513; Kotlarczyk, 1979, p. 52-62). As late as in the 15thc. Krak’s mound was the scene of relict pagan rituals incorporated into the folk culture, called Stado (Potkański, 1924, p. 3-42). Długosz {Annales, I, vol. 1, 1964, p. 127-132), who knew Bohemian chronicles, identified Krak with Krok, so he mentioned Lubuśa as his daughter ruling over Bohemia to-gether with Premysl. Krak’s elder son, called Lech by Długosz, when struggling for the throne, murders his brother, Krak the Younger. Then he

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