Story about Gediminas castle

Gedimino sapnas angliškai

THE LEGEND OF THE FOUNDING OF VILNIUS

This legend relates to Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania whose monument stands in Cathedral Square.

Grand Duke, Gediminas, was on a hunting trip in the forests of Šventaragis valley around the mouth of the River Vilnia. When night fell, the party, feeling tired after a long and successful hunt, decided to set up camp and spend the night there. While he was asleep, Gediminas had an unusual dream in which he saw an iron wolf at the top of the mountain where he had killed an European bison that day. The iron wolf was standing on the top of a hill with its head raised proudly towards the moon, howling as loud as a hundred wolves.

Awakened by the rays of the rising sun, the Duke remembered his strange dream and consulted the pagan priest Lizdeika about it. The latter interpreted the dream as follows: ‘Let that happen to the Ruler and the Lithuanian State what was fated to happen!’ He told the Duke that the dream was a direction to found a city among these hills. The howling of the wolf, explained the priest, represented the fame of the future city: that city will be the capital of Lithuanian lands, and its reputation would spread far and wide, as far as the howling of the mysterious wolf…’

So the Grand Duke of Lithuania, obeying the will of gods, immediately started to build the future capital, and took it the name – Vilnius – from the stream of the rapid Vilnia.

One day Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas went for a hunt ten miles away from his then capital Trakai.

Hunting was successful – the Duke came upon a huge beast, taurus, and killed it.

As it was too late to go back to Trakai, Grand Duke Gediminas stopped at Šventaragis valley and took a night’s sleep there. Then, during his sleep, he had a dream that on the mountain a large iron wolf was standing and it was howling so loud as if it were hundreds of wolves howling inside him.

Gediminas woke up from his sleep and said to his priest Lizdeika: „I have dreamt a strange dream“ and described everything that had happened in his dream. Lizdeika was the chief pagan priest. He said: „Grand Duke, iron wolf means that the great capital will be located here and a howling of the wolf means that the sound of this capital will be heard all over the world“.

Next day, Grand Duke Gediminas, immediately sent people and founded one castle in Šventaragis valley another – on a high mountain nearby. And for those castles he gave a name of Vilnius.

Gedimino sapnas lietuviškai

            LEGENDA APIE MIESTO ĮKŪRIMĄ

Legenda apie miesto įkūrimą labai populiari ir žinoma kiekvienam lietuviui. Vilniaus įkūrimas siejamas su Didžiuoju Lietuvos kunigaikščiu Gediminu, kurio paminklas stovi Katedros aikštėje.

Senų senovėje Lietuvos didysis kunigaikštis Gediminas medžiojo Šventaragio slėnio giriose. Pavargęs po ilgos sėkmingos medžioklės Didysis kunigaikštis ten pat ir apsistojo nakvoti. Vos spėjo valdovas sumerkti akis, aplankė jį nepaprastas sapnas. Sapnavo Gediminas, kad kalno viršūnėje, kur jis buvo tądien taurą nukovęs, stovi didžiulis geležinis vilkas ir, pakėlęs išdidžią galvą į mėnulį, staugia taip, tarsi šimtas vilkų staugtų. Pažadintas tekančios saulės spindulių, prisiminė Kunigaikštis keistąjį sapną ir paprašė pagonių žynio  Lizdeikos atskleisti jo paslaptį.

O šis sapną paaiškino taip: „Kas valdovui ir Lietuvos valstybei dievų lemta, tegu ir įvyksta! Geležinis vilkas simbolizuoja neįveikiamą pilį ir miestą, kurį valdovas šioje vietoje įkursiąs. Tas miestas būsiąs lietuvių žemių sostinė, o vilko staugimas ženklina to miesto šlovę – ji pasieksianti visus pasaulio kraštus…“ Tad Lietuvos valdovas Gediminas, nusilenkdamas dievų valiai, tuojau pradėjo statyti būsimąją sostinę, o jos vardą – Vilnius – paėmė iš Vilnios upės.