Geležinio Vilko kaukolė¶
Description¶
A skull too large to be a man’s or any wolf’s, grey as old iron, with deep empty orbits, but light enough to lift with two fingers (Book V ch. 28). In Book VI ch. 18 it is cracked, with a round hole through one eye socket. It rests on a flat stone or pine stump on a bog-island in the Dykra.
Geležinio Vilko kaukolė
Geležinio Vilko kaukolė · artifact¶
Tipas |
artefaktas |
Metai |
sukurta 1323 m. |
Pastaba |
Geležinio Vilko kaukolė: relic of the iron-jawed beast seen in Gediminas’s founding dream. |
Power¶
The brotherhood’s oath-stone. A wolf who lays both hands on it swears the nine laws of the Pack’s Word, and every sworn wolf from the Neman to the Narew hears a lie spoken there (Power systems §5; Book VI ch. 5). Its keeper is the Wolf-Father, later once the Wolf-Mother.
Rule & cost¶
Rules sworn on it, such as „no Gediminid blood“ (Book III ch. 15), bind even the guilty. The keeper is chosen by the Root-Mother in the bog (Book IV ch. 6). A wolf is laid to the bog, never burned, and the skull goes down last.
Origin¶
[The saga’s invention] Found by Lizdeika where the dream-wolf stood after Gediminas’s dream on the Šventaragis hunt, 1323, hard and grey as iron (The Iron Wolves §3.2). He carried it into the Dykra and the packs swore on it.
Arc across the books¶
Vilkatai, 1323-1450. Graph holder; Lizdeika’s hundred.
Kuolas, 1345. The Wolf-Father presides at Šešiapirštis’s oath over it (Book VI ch. 5).
Pušis, 1405-1415. It lies on a stump while Žiežirba swears (Book III ch. 9, Dec 1405) and while Pilkoji is chosen and takes it up (Book IV ch. 6, 1415-16).
Pilkoji, 1415-1449. She keeps it in the oldest bog.
2 Nov 1449. On Vėlinės she carries it to the deepest water and lies down with it on her chest. The bog closes over her (Book V ch. 28). With it goes the last office of the brotherhood.
Ryšiai
Anchors: Geležinis Vilkas (the Iron Wolf omen) — The one physical relic of Gediminas’s dream.
Created by: Gediminas
Held by: Vilkatai (Iron Wolves) (1323–1450)
Bearing A wolf lays both hands on it and swears the nine laws of the Pack's Word. Its keeper, the Wolf-Father, is chosen by the Root-Mother in the bog
Holders Lizdeika 1323 → the vilkatai 1323 to 1450: Wolf-Father Kuolas (1345), Šešiapirštis (to 1392), Pušis (1405-15), Pilkoji, the Vilkų Motina (1415 to 2 Nov 1449)
Power The brotherhood's oath-stone. A lie spoken over it is heard by every sworn wolf from the Neman to the Narew
Rule & cost Rules sworn on it, such as no Gediminid blood, bind even the guilty. A wolf is laid in the bog, never burned, and the skull goes down last
Appearance. A skull too large to be a man's or any wolf's, grey as old iron, light enough to lift with two fingers. In Book VI ch. 18 it is cracked, with a round hole through one eye socket. It rests on a flat stone or pine stump on a bog-island in the Dykra.
Origin. Found by Lizdeika where the dream-wolf stood after Gediminas's dream, hard and grey as iron. He carried it into the Dykra, and the packs swore on it.
The listening wolves. Every wolf in the Dykra hears a lie spoken there.
The relic. It anchors the Iron Wolf, the omen of the Gediminid house.
Into the bog. On Vėlinės, 2 Nov 1449, Pilkoji carries it to the deepest water and lies down with it on her chest. The bog closes over her. With it goes the last office of the brotherhood (Book V ch. 28).
Sąsajos¶
graph LR
gediminas["Gediminas"]
gelezinis_vilkas["Geležinis Vilkas (the Iron Wolf omen)"]
iron_wolves["Vilkatai (Iron Wolves)"]
wolf_skull["Geležinio Vilko kaukolė"]
wolf_skull -->|Created by| gediminas
wolf_skull -->|Anchors| gelezinis_vilkas
iron_wolves -->|Holds| wolf_skull
style wolf_skull stroke-width:3px