Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Smok Wawelski
Smok Wawelski, also known as The Dragon of Wawel Hill or simply The Wawel Dragon, is a famous dragon in Polish folklore. He laired in a cave under Wawel Hill on the banks of the Vistula river, although some legends place him in the Wawel mountains. Wawel Hill is in Kraków, Poland, which was the capital at the time. In some stories the dragon lived before the founding of the city, when the area was inhabited by farmers.
The Wawel Cathedral and Kraków's castle still stand on Wawel Hill. The cathedral features a statue of Smok Wawelski and a plaque commemorating his defeat by Krakus , a Polish prince who, according to the plaque, founded the city and his palace over the slain dragon's lair. The dragon's cave under the castle is now a popular tourist stop.
A popular version of Smok Wawelski's tale takes place in Kraków during the reign of King Krak , the city's legendary founder. Each day the evil dragon would beat a path of destruction across the countryside, killing the civilians, pillaging their homes and devouring their livestock. In many versions of this story, the dragon especially enjoyed eating young girls, and could only be appeased if the townfolk would leave a young girl in front of its cave once a month. The King certainly wanted to put a stop to the dragon, but his bravest knights fell to its fiery breathe. In the versions involving the sacrifice of young girls, every girl in the city was eventually sacrificed except one, the King's daughter Wanda. In desperation, the King promised his beautiful daughter's hand in marriage to anybody who could defeat the dragon. Great warriors from near and far fought for the prize and failed. One day, a poor cobbler's apprentice named Szewczyk Dratewka accepted the challenge. He stuffed a lamb with sulphur and set it outside the dragon's cave. The dragon ate it and soon became incredibly thirsty. No amount of drinking could quell his stomachache, and after swelling up from drinking half of the Vistula river, he exploded. Dratewka married the King's daughter as promised and they lived happily ever after.
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