By Wawel Royal Castle
Michał Kuziak, Magdalena Młodawska
Holophagus (2015) by Grzegorz WojtasikWawel Royal Castle
Mediaeval artists, starting with the ancient images of dragons, proposed their new fanciful forms. The only universal guideline for the creator was the snake form that mediaeval dragons used to take.
The form of a snake was especially eagerly given to dragons in Slavic territories, which is recalled by the names of the places of ‘castles – places of the Viper’, such as Żmigród.
Dragon’s Head Ornament
A fragment of a comb (?), with a relief on both sides, in the shape of a dragon’s head on a long, bent neck. The artefact was excavated during archaeological works in Łekno (a commune of Wągrowiec, Wielkopolska voivodeship) in 1999.
Dragon’s Head Ornament (collection of Faculty of History, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań)Wawel Royal Castle
Stylistically, it refers to the representations of dragons, among others, on runic stones, bronze axes and Viking ornaments. It was probably a part of the trade with Scandinavian countries in the Łekno stronghold.
Dragon Head Figurine (collection of The Andrzej Kaube Regional Museum in Wolin)Wawel Royal Castle
Dragon Head Figurine
The figurine shows the head of a dragon in the form of a wolf’s open mouth. Decorative motifs of a mythical creature: almond-shaped eyes, small ears, teeth in an open mouth; the collar area enriched with a braid motif. Considered to be part of a knife handle or spoon handle.
Small Plaque with the Image of a DragonWawel Royal Castle
Small Plaque with the Image of a Dragon
The plague was attached to the fabric or leather with rivets. The artefact was excavated during archaeological works carried out in 1960 at the Wawel. The plate is considered to be a fitting from a gothic knight’s belt.
Dragon Appliqué
The collection of mediaeval dragons turns out to be rich and varied. Painted on the margins of manuscripts, carved in sacred and secular spaces, they amaze with their hybridity and the combinations of various animals from which they are composed.
Reconstruction of a Romanesque Lintel by Dominik SynowiecWawel Royal Castle
Romanesque Lintel
The original (preserved fragment), carved in sandstone, re-built over the entrance to the stairs in the vestibule of the crypt of St. Leonard; comes from the Romanesque cathedral (consecrated in 1142).
A rectangular plate (right part) depicting a dragon in the Lindwurm type, facing left, with an open mouth, two legs, wings and a twisted tail ending with a three-leaf rosette.
On the left, a clear fragment of the mouth of a second, similar creature, originally in an antithetical arrangement.
You can look at them thinking about the potential of the imagination of mediaeval artists. Undoubtedly, they served as an emblem of evil or a protected space from evil as magical amulets. Dragons with their mighty force, combining several elements, were displayed on coats of arms, warrior equipment, ornaments and inside castles.
Tile
The artefact comes from archaeological research conducted on the Wawel Hill in 1975. A plate tile, with a partially preserved collar, with a flat face without a rim, contains the representation of a dragon.
Tile with a DragonWawel Royal Castle
The image of the dragon was part of the ideological programme of the entire tiled stove in the representative chambers of the royal residence.
It can be assumed that on the adjacent tiles in the wall of the furnace he was accompanied by courageous knights, heroes, and other fantastical monsters, creating an appropriate narrative discourse.
Tapestry Dragon Fighting a Panther (1550-1560) by Tons II Jan (active 1551-1565) or Tons Guillaume (active 2nd half of 16th Century)Wawel Royal Castle
"Panther Fighting with a Dragon"
Among the tapestries ordered by King Sigismund Augustus and made in Brussels in around 1550-1560, animalistic motifs are present in several series, both in biblical fabrics, as well as in verdures and grotesques.
The main role and place is taken by the dragon in one of the most recognisable verdures from the royal collection. The large fabric, almost square in size, depicts the struggle of two powerful animals – a huge dragon and an agile panther with spotted hair.
The dragon-panther fight is interpreted as a conflict of good and evil, an image of the eternal dualism in nature and in the sphere of the spirit. In the Latin tradition, the dragon has always been an unambiguous ‘icon’ of evil.
The panther, in zoological terms belonging to predators, here turns out to be unexpectedly the embodiment of positive features, and even a symbol of Christ.
Tapestry Dragon Fighting a Panther (1550-1560) by Tons II Jan (active 1551-1565) or Tons Guillaume (active 2nd half of 16th Century)Wawel Royal Castle
It owes it to early Christian accounts, contained in collections of legends and pseudo-scientific texts on nature, called Physiologists.
They state that young panthers are born dead and come to life only after three days, which for mediaeval exegetes was a parallel to the resurrection of Christ.
On the other hand, the malevolent and destructive identity of the dragon is softened by the theme of parental care for the young contained in this scene. A dangerous individual appears here as a protector of his offspring.
This ambivalence may be a testimony to the typically Renaissance discursive thinking about both the laws of nature and moral laws.
Wawel Dragon, Cosmographie Universalis by Sebastian Münster (1488-1552), Wikimedia Commons, domena publicznaWawel Royal Castle
"Cosmographie Universalis"
Defeating the dragon not only manifested the victor’s royal origin or heroic qualities - it was also associated with the taking of his power by the triumphant.
The story of the Wawel dragon contributed to the international fame of Krakow.
A humanist from Germany, Sebastian Münster, included it in the description of the world entitled Cosmography, published in 1550 in Basel, probably following the example of Maciej Miechowita, a Polish chronicler.
The story of the Wawel dragon contributed to the international fame of Krakow.
Wawel Dragon, Cosmographie Universalis by Sebastian Münster (1488-1552), Wikimedia Commons, domena publicznaWawel Royal Castle
Chroniclers writing after Kadłubek introduce changes to his story about the Wawel dragon; some even doubt its existence. Attention is drawn in particular to a problem with the protagonist.
The question, however, was not so much whether it was Gracchus himself or his sons, but rather the emergence of a folk hero – Skuba the shoemaker (over time Skub) – from the darkness of history.
It is Joachim Bielski in 1597, in a revised chronicle of his father, Marcin, who writes about the shoemaker as the originator of the trick that allowed him to defeat the dragon.
New Athens, Illustration „It is Difficult to Defeat the Dragon, but We Have to Try” by Benedykt ChmielowskiWawel Royal Castle
"New Athens"
Benedykt Chmielowski, the author of the famous New Athens, the first Polish universal encyclopedia published in 1745-1746, also paid attention to the Wawel Dragon. Dragons reappear many times in this work, and the related iconography is also made available.
The story of the Wawel dragon is told by the author four times: when listing various dragons belonging to the serpent type, when the figure of Krakus appears, and in the Krakow and Wawel entries.
New Athens, Illustration „It is Difficult to Defeat the Dragon, but We Have to Try” by Benedykt ChmielowskiWawel Royal Castle
Chmielowski mentions the figure of Skuba and dates the killing of the dragon to the year 770. He also adds that the Dragon’s Den became a place where beer and wine were consumed, cooled thanks to the rocks.
In the nineteenth century, stories circulate among the people about the shoemaker Skuba, who defeated the dragon. Their popularity is evidenced by the verse ‘funny novel’ Skub, a wise shoemaker, or the Krakow dragon, published in 1849. Its author was Julian Prejs, writing under the pseudonym Sjerp-Polaczek. The shoemaker turns out to be, unlike the gentlemen, extremely rational. He suggests to Prince Krakus a way to defeat the dragon and fights him together with the ruler.
Krakus - The Prince of Poland
The subject of Krakow’s legendary origins was raised many times in the 19th century, sometimes trying to make them historic. Prince Stanisław Jabłonowski in 1871 commissioned a plaque in honour of the Prince of Poland Krakus, the founder of the city, slayer of the wild dragon.
Plaque Commemorating Krakus (collection of Jagiellonian Library of the Jagiellonian University) (1871-1872) by Wojnarowski Jan Kanty (1815-1876)Wawel Royal Castle
Later, already in the interwar period, archaeological research of one of the two monumental Krakow mounds – Krakus – did not lead to the discovery of his grave.
However, they proved the existence of a vast, pre-Christian necropolis, suggesting that there was a significant centre of tribal power in these areas.
Tamed (collection of National Museum in Warsaw) (ca. 1910) by Marian WawrzenieckiWawel Royal Castle
The Slavic dragon
The Wawel Dragon also became a pretext for reflecting on the Slavic origins of Polish lands. In the interpretation of Marian Wawrzeniecki, fascinated by the symbolic painting of Arnold Böcklin, the Slavic dragon-vipers not only do not arouse fear, but also turn out to be a protective force.
With a mesmerizing look, it is decoratively intertwined with the arch of the bridge, covered with fantastic images of perhaps Slavic gods (?).
He completely surrenders to the woman who meets him, he is subdued. As it was written then, it is a fairy tale in which we no longer believe, but we still admire it.
The mythical story about the beginnings of Krakow and the Polish state was also transformed into a narrative about the future. An example is Krakus of the romantic poet Cyprian Norwid, published in 1863, who in the legend of the Wawel dragon found the mythical fatality of Polish history – the evil that was constantly reborn in it. The poet, however, treated them as a challenge, an appeal for heroism. In Norwid’s drama, the dragon is defeated by the mind and art as that which embodies animality, materiality, the earthly element, and the dark forces of nature.
The Legend of Wawel (1946) by Chomicz Witold (1910-1984)Wawel Royal Castle
By the quiet hero – Krakus, throwing a harp into the dragon’s pit. In this way, the poet changes the story of Kadłubek, in which cunning and deception were of paramount importance.
As we read in Krakus, the dragon has its satanic origin, but also arises in the eyes of those who view it as an illusion. Everyone can therefore participate in the spread of evil, which is reborn at the time of Krakus’s death at the hands of his brother Rakuz.
Fascinated by that what is non-existent, Jorge Louis Borges, quoted here at the beginning, writes about dragons in The Book of Imaginary Beings, paying attention to their cultural and geographical diversity. Chinese and eastern dragons turn out to be the embodiment of power and magic. Western dragons embody sinfulness, evil, and are marked with the biblical mark of Satan’s images, as well as with what is pagan. They turn out to be scary or funny.
Dragon (1918) by Warsztaty Krakowskie [Manufacturer] Stryjeńska Zofia (design) The Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
They appear in the coats of arms of European knights or in the coats of arms of cities, but in order to recall their heroic origin, attested to by defeating the dragon, and thus emphasise the power they possess.
The West clearly needs to separate evil from good, or perhaps it would be better to say – it is needed at its beginnings. From Borges’s deliberations it is to be remembered that dragons are the most unhappy of animals, especially dragons of the Western world.
Text and concept of the exhibition: Michał Kuziak, Magdalena Młodawska
Editorial office: Paulina Semianchuk, Piotr Rabiej
Exhibition catalog notes were used: ("Two faces of the Dragon", Wawel Royal Castle, 2015): Agnieszka Janczyk, Beata Kwiatkowska-Kopka; editorial office: Maria Podlodowska-Reklewska; translation: Sabina Potaczek-Jasionowicz
Photographs: Wawel Royal Castle and lending institutions
We would like to thank the institutions that contributed to the creation of the exhibition:
Bronisław Chromy Fundation
Faculty of History, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
The Andrzej Kaube Regional Museum in Wolin
The Jagiellonian Library of the Jagiellonian University
National Museum in Warsaw
The Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
Special thanks to:
Jana Graczyński – for the photos from the Great Dragon Parade, 2022
Animated Film Studio in Bielsko-Biała – for sharing the episode "Smok Expedition"
Allegro – for a film frame ‘Polish Legends. DRAGON film. Allegro’
