Re: Krak and his dragon

>
> --- In cybalist@..., tgpedersen@... wrote:
>
> > But this guy
> >
> > http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&selm=cea20-
> > ya02408000R2501990120540001%40nntp-serv.cam.ac.uk
> >
> > maintains that Hrólfr Kraki was actually a Herulian named Rodulf,
> > that he appears in many guises in many sources, and that he lived
> in
> > southeastern Europe. Geographically we're getting closer now. Is

it

> > possible after all to mesh in the Polish story into this web of
> > stories?
> >
> > Torsten

--- In cybalist@..., "Piotr Gasiorowski" <gpiotr@...> wrote:
> He doesn't actually say so. He only speaks about the story of
Rodulf
> the Herulian having been absorbed into the Danish tradition and
> applied to Hrólfr Kraki of Denmark. Kraki may mean 'thin pole', but
> not 'thin Pole'. Nevertheless, it's interesting to note that such a
> nickname (*krako:(n) is attested in Germanic. Maybe our legendary
> Krak was a Vandalic leader (his daughter's name was Wanda).
>
> Piotr
>
The alternative explanation is that there was only one person and
that his by-name was actually Kraki, which was only preserved in the
Danish (and Polish?) tradition. Saxo's explanation of the name sounds
like one of those after-rationalisations most chroniclers come up
with when faced with an unfamiliar name (Oidipus = "stung-foot").
But if he founded Krakow, he must have been a South Pole? (Please
ignore this sentence).

Torsten