Skirgaila

Summary

Skirgaila (c. 1354-11 Jan 1397), Duke of Trakai from 1382 (until 1392), Jogaila’s governor (regent) of Lithuania from 13 Mar 1386, took Polotsk in April 1387, held Kyiv from 1395; died in Kyiv, circumstances unclear.

Skirgaila

Skirgaila

Skirgaila · character

Tipas

veikėjas

Metai

c. 1354–1397

Status

Istoriniai duomenys

Pastaba

Duke of Trakai and Kyiv, regent of Lithuania; Jogaila’s fierce right hand and governor in Vilnius.

Appearance & tells

A strong, martial man who is seen in armour even off the field, with a cold, calculating face, „the look of a man who knows where the bodies are buried, because he put them there“, and a prominent scar across his knuckles. At five he is a small, thin, dark-haired boy staring distrustfully at Vytautas and talking about armour (Book VI ch. 26); at twenty-eight he is the family’s „iron hand“, loyal, brutal and never thanked. In Book II he is red-faced and wet with drink, hands that do not know where to put themselves, drunk on Trakai and on being the regent; he feasts in Kęstutis’s hall with Kęstutis’s rusting sword on the wall (Book II ch. 1).

His tells are the oath and the cup: the safe-conduct he swears on Perkūnas in Book I and breaks, and the alternating bouts of drinking, explosive violence and deep depression. Once Henė holds his stone he juggles it, or is juggled, in dreams (Book III ch. 27).

Want · Need · Lie · Truth

Want (external)

Security and recognition: to make Jogaila’s throne absolute and be seen as more than ‚the hands‘; Trakai is the prize he finally gets.

Need (internal)

To be valued without having to earn it with another man’s crimes, and to act for himself rather than as someone’s instrument.

Lie they believe

The survival of the dynasty justifies any crime, and a loyal servant will be rewarded for it.

Truth they learn (or refuse)

He is a tool the Shadow-Seller will use and discard: the price of his bargain is to be used up, and Henė collects it in Kyiv in January 1397.

Arc by book

  • Book VI (prequel). A five-year-old at Kęstutis’s fire in 1359, boasting about armour (ch. 26); Algirdas’s son and Jogaila’s elder brother, brought up in the Orthodox, Ruthenian court of Uliana of Tver.

  • Book I (1382-1387), the hands. He gives the safe-conduct oath on Perkūnas under which Kęstutis and Vytautas ride to Jogaila’s camp near Trakai (ch. 5-6) and breaks it by seizing them on 3 Aug 1382; his men massacre the loyal guard in the tents (ch. 7) and he is believed to have ordered the strangling (ch. 8-9). He releases Ona to track Vytautas, hunts him through the Dykra (ch. 12-15), and at the 1384 settlement keeps Trakai (ch. 28-28b), „the villain wins the land“. In the Krėva cell in 1387 he meets Henė with three stones, one wobbling (ch. 30).

  • Book II (1387-1397), Henė’s puppet. Regent and Duke of Trakai, drunk and jealous in Kęstutis’s hall (ch. 1); he holds Vilnius against Vytautas and the Order in 1390 (ch. 7), loses Trakai and the regency at Ostrów in August 1392 (ch. 10), is compensated with Kyiv (ch. 13) and dies there on 11 Jan 1397 (ch. 16). Henė drops the first stone (three become two).

  • Book III-IV (afterlife). His Kyiv court hides Kęstutis’s sword among twelve identical chests (Book III ch. 2); his shade stands in Jogaila’s guilty dream and speaks with Henė’s voice (Book III ch. 27); the Krėva secret is finally said aloud in Henė’s voice through „Skirgaila’s mouth“ in Book IV ch. 26.

  • Book V: a memory in the Krėva guilt (ch. 12, 15, 19).

Power & magic

Tier 0; his power is bought. At Krėva in 1387 he bargains with the Shadow-Seller, and the price is „to be used and discarded“; one of Henė’s three blackened stones is his (Power systems §5). The cost shows in his drinking and his moods, and when the bargain is collected in Kyiv (11 Jan 1397) Henė’s hand count falls from three stones to two. His broken safe-conduct oath (sworn on Perkūnas, August 1382) draws the god’s enmity to his line (Power systems §2.6). The poisoning rumour around his death is mundane herb-lore if true (§2.4); the saga never says who did it.

Record vs saga

  • [Historical record]: Duke of Trakai 1382-92 (VLE); governor from 13 Mar 1386 (Frost 2015; VLE gives 1387); Polotsk Mar/Apr 1387; lost to Vytautas at Ostrów (1392); died 11 Jan 1397, ill after a hunt, „some sources“ poison; no chronicle names a monk.

  • [The saga’s invention]: The safe-conduct oath on Perkūnas, the book of names, Henė’s stone, the monk Pachomijus (Book II).

Tarimas

skir-GAI-la · IPA /skʲɪrˈɡɐɪɫɐ/ · English sound-alike „skihr-GUY-lah“. Stress on the second syllable (the diphthong ai as in „guy“). Orthodox name Ivan; baptised Catholic Kazimierz in 1386.

Appearances

  • Book I: ch. 1-10, 12, 13, 15-19, 21, 28, 28b, 30.

  • Book II: ch. 1, 5-7, 9-13, 15-17, 20, 29 and the afterword.

  • Book III: ch. 2, 5, 8, 24, 27.

  • Book IV: ch. 21, 24, 26, 29.

  • Book V: ch. 6, 12, 15, 19, 24 (memory and Henė’s reckoning).

  • Book VI: ch. 15, 26, 29.

In Book I he holds Trakai from 1382 (the record), not from the 1384 settlement; the date for „regent“ in Book II is 1387 per VLE, 13 Mar 1386 per Frost 2015.

Ryšiai

Antagonist of: I · The Wolf’s Exile — mortal, wins_land · II · The Golden Shadow — mortal, defeated

Bargained with: Šešėlių Pardavėjas / Henė (1382–1397)

Child of: Algirdas · Uliana of Tver (Julijona Tverietė), Algirdas’s second wife

Enemy: Kęstutis (1381–1382) · Vytautas (1382–1392)

Holds: Auksinė grandinė (the strangling chain) (1383–1397) · Šerno kalavijas (Kęstutis’s sword) (1382–1397) — Taken 1382; kept in his Kyiv chests.

Member of: Algirdaičiai (Algirdas’s line)

Practises: Sandėris (bargain) (1382–…) — tier 0

Rules: Trakai (1384–1392)

Sibling: Jogaila

Took part in: Kęstutis & Vytautas lured to Jogaila’s camp near Trakai and arrested · Siege of Vilnius (11 Sep - 7 Oct); Crooked Castle falls 16 Sep · Skirgaila dies in Kyiv · Trakai granted to Skirgaila (1382-92)

Chronologija

Year

Event

Book

1382-07

Trakai granted to Skirgaila (1382-92)

I · Vilko Tremtis

1382-08-03

Kęstutis & Vytautas lured to Jogaila’s camp near Trakai and arrested

I · Vilko Tremtis

1390-09-11

Siege of Vilnius (11 Sep - 7 Oct); Crooked Castle falls 16 Sep

II · Auksinis Šešėlis

1397

Skirgaila dies in Kyiv

II · Auksinis Šešėlis

Sąsajos

graph LR
  algirdaiciai["Algirdaičiai (Algirdas's line)"]
  algirdas["Algirdas"]
  bargain["Sandėris (bargain)"]
  book1["I · The Wolf's Exile"]
  book2["II · The Golden Shadow"]
  ev_arrest["Kęstutis & Vytautas lured to Jogaila's camp near Trakai and arrested"]
  ev_skirgaila_dies["Skirgaila dies in Kyiv"]
  ev_trakai_to_skirgaila["Trakai granted to Skirgaila (1382-92)"]
  ev_vilnius_siege_1390["Siege of Vilnius (11 Sep - 7 Oct); Crooked Castle falls 16 Sep"]
  golden_chain["Auksinė grandinė (the strangling chain)"]
  jogaila["Jogaila"]
  kestutis["Kęstutis"]
  kestutis_sword["Šerno kalavijas (Kęstutis's sword)"]
  shadow_seller["Šešėlių Pardavėjas / Henė"]
  skirgaila["Skirgaila"]
  trakai["Trakai"]
  uliana_tver["Uliana of Tver (Julijona Tverietė), Algirdas's second wife"]
  vytautas["Vytautas"]
  skirgaila -->|Member of| algirdaiciai
  skirgaila -->|Rules| trakai
  skirgaila -->|Enemy| kestutis
  skirgaila -->|Practises| bargain
  skirgaila -->|Holds| kestutis_sword
  skirgaila -->|Holds| golden_chain
  skirgaila -->|Took part in| ev_arrest
  skirgaila -->|Took part in| ev_vilnius_siege_1390
  skirgaila -->|Took part in| ev_skirgaila_dies
  skirgaila -->|Antagonist of| book1
  skirgaila -->|Antagonist of| book2
  skirgaila -->|Took part in| ev_trakai_to_skirgaila
  algirdas -->|Parent of| skirgaila
  jogaila -->|Sibling| skirgaila
  vytautas -->|Enemy| skirgaila
  shadow_seller -->|Bargained with| skirgaila
  uliana_tver -->|Parent of| skirgaila
  style skirgaila stroke-width:3px