Perkūnas claims Vytautas¶

What the chronicles say [Historical record]¶

Nothing in the record: a private event of the night of 15 August 1382 in the Krėva cell, with no witnesses beyond the jailer. The record gives only that Vytautas, on learning of his father’s death, lived through the next weeks in the same castle until the escape in autumn.

Perkūnas claims Vytautas


Type	event
Years	1382
Status	The saga’s invention
Book	I · The Wolf’s Exile
Chapters	10
Note	Lightning strikes Krėva tower; Perkūnas marks Vytautas as his tool of vengeance.

Where: Krėva (on the map)

What really happened [The saga’s invention]¶

In the morning Vytautas sees the body in the yard on a cart under a fur. Perkūnas touches him: “the first true touch of Perkūnas”. It is a claim, not a gift: Perkūnas, keeper of oaths and justice, marks the warrior whose oaths he will hold to account. The saga’s reason is that Vytautas is the Amber Queen’s vessel’s son, and the god’s old feud with Jūratė is unfinished. Vytautas shaves and strips his insignia, with a dulled knife kept by a miracle. Ona arrives. The claim will tighten when he breaks his oaths (the second defection, the Vorskla), relent when he keeps one (Grunwald), and fall silent at his death.

Consequences¶

Caused by the death of Kęstutis.

Dramatisation¶

Book I ch. 10 “Šaltas Rytas” (Vytautas; the morning of 15 August 1382).

Relations

Caused by: Kęstutis strangled at Krėva

Location: Krėva

Connections¶

graph LR
  ev_kestutis_death["Kęstutis strangled at Krėva"]
  ev_perkunas_mark["Perkūnas claims Vytautas"]
  kreva["Krėva"]
  ev_perkunas_mark -->|Location| kreva
  ev_kestutis_death -->|Causes| ev_perkunas_mark
  style ev_perkunas_mark stroke-width:3px