Wawel's Dragon, Polish Legend

Krakow, one of the most beautiful cities in Poland, once was the favorite city of the kings, who made it the capital of the country. Krakow became the city for their coronations and burials. Those ceremonies happened at Wawel, a fortified complex located on a hill by a river. It consists of many buildings including the Royal Castle and the Cathedral. Today, outside the fortifications by the Vistula River stands a metal dragon, which holds a legend.

Ages ago, a horrible dragon lived in a cave under the walls of Wawel.  He ate the animals of the local farmers depleting them of their sources. The eaten sheep could no longer give the farmer the wool he needed for his cloths or the eaten cow could no longer give the farmer the milk he needed for his nourishment. Many farmers lamented, but none of them would dare to kill the dragon as he would spit the fire at anybody, who approached him.

The king was not happy with the dragon eating his farmers’ animals. So he wanted the dragon to be killed. However, this was not an easy task and in order to encourage the knights to fight with the dragon, he announced, “Whoever kills the dragon can marry my daughter and rule the kingdom after my death.”

The king had only one daughter and loved her dearly. She was a kind person, with her golden hair almost looking like an angel. Always caring for those in need and always cheering up a crying child.

He wanted to make sure that she was happy. Therefore, before he made the official announcement he had consulted with his daughter. “Dear child, are you sure you will be happy with marrying any knight?” The daughter pondered for a moment and without any hesitation answered, “If the knight is clever enough to kill the dragon, I will have no doubt that he will be clever enough to lead the country wisely, which will make me very happy.”

Many knights tried to kill the dragon, but all failed. Years went by; the country was getting poorer and poorer as farmers were losing more animals and there was less to get by. The king and the princess were losing their hope.

All this was happening under a watchful eye of a poor cobbler named Krak. He was not from a noble family and it was unheard of for a commoner to marry a princess. So he waited for his turn. As there were no more knights coming to fight the dragon, Krak asked for the audience with the king.

The king hesitated at first, but after a further thought agreed to see the Krak. “I’m not a knight, but I know how to get rid of the dragon for good.” The king looked carefully at the Krak and said, “You don’t have armor or a sword and I assume you don’t have a horse neither. I don’t see how you could kill the dragon.” Krak quickly answered, “I don’t need any of those. I am a shoemaker and I know how to use my skills to kill the dragon. I just need your permission.” “Come back tomorrow and I will give you my answer,” the king said.

As soon as Krak left, the king asked to call for his daughter. He squeezed his daughter’s hands, looked into her eyes with fatherly love and asked her tenderly, “Is this what you wish for?” The daughter assured the king, “If Krak is smart enough to kill the dragon, then he will be smart enough to lead the country.”

The following day, Krak received his permission to kill the dragon. He stopped at butcher’s store and asked for a dead sheep. “I just sold the last one a few days ago,” continued butcher, “As dragon eats every sheep he encounters, the meat is scarce with every day.” Krak had no choice, but to wait. He made an arrangement with the butcher to sell him the next available sheep.

Meanwhile, Krak went to his neighbor miner and asked for some sulphur. The miner scratched his head, why anybody would need sulphur? “Are you making some matches yourself?” The miner guessed, as sulphur was used to make the endings of matches to ignite the fire. “No, I need it for something else.” The miner didn’t proceed with further questions, as it seemed that Krak didn’t want to reveal any more details. He went to his storage and grabbed a very tiny sack. “That’s all I have at the moment.” “That will do,” Krak carefully took the sack and carried it home as if he was carrying eggs.  

Weeks passed, and Krak’s patience was rewarded. As soon as butcher received new meat for sale, the sheep was delivered to the cobbler.

Now, Krak cut the sheep, making a small opening in the belly, just enough to stuff it with sulphur. The sulphur would make the dragon feel burning inside and thirsty for water. And it was stuffed inside a sheep, this way the dragon wouldn’t suspect anything.  

When the night had fallen on the town and everybody was sleeping including the dragon, the cobbler quietly laid the stuffed sheep by the cave. At the sunrise, the hungry dragon found the sheep easily and ate it eagerly. It wasn’t long until the dragon came roaring with fire and ran to the river, drinking so much water that at the end he exploded like a balloon into hundred pieces.

The townspeople were happy to get rid of the dragon. Shortly, a big festivity followed, celebrating the union of the princess and Krak. As promised, after the death of the king, the throne was passed to Krak. When Krak became the king, he built the city on top of the hill, above the dragon’s cave, celebrating the victory over the dragon. The newly built city was named after the hero, Krakow.