Grand Duke Gediminas: The Founding of Medieval Lithuania's capital Vilnius (Kadaise Lietuvoje)
A short animated film about the mythology of pagan
Lithuania and the founding of
Medieval Lithuanian capital
Vilnius. According to the legend: "
Gediminas, the
Grand Duke of Lithuania killed a proud and powerful aurochs while hunting and afterwards dreamed a howling iron wolf. The pagan priest Lizdeika prophesied: "A capital will arise here, power and beauty of which will be legendary throughout the world.
It's glory will be as mighty as the howl of the iron wolf
..."
03:16
Traditional polyphonic war melody / Karinės sutartinės melodija: "Išjoja Joja, Sodauto"
05:05 Traditional polyphonic chant about the oak tree / Sutartinė "Ąžuolėlis ta ta ta"
14:14 Traditional polyphonic hill chant / Sutartinė "Kalnutali"
17:01
Southern Lithuanian War
Folk song / Karinė dzūkų liaudies daina, pilni žodžiai:
Oi ant kalno ant aukštojo - Oh, on the hill, on the tall one
Stovi balta karūnėlė - A white crown is standing
Po tai baltai karūnėlei -
Underneath that white crown
Guli pilkas akmenėlis - A gray stone is lying
Ant to pilko akmenėlio - On that gray stone
Sėdzi tėvas mocinėlė -
Father & dear mother are sitting
Sėdėdami gailiai verkia - They're crying sorrowfully whilst sitting
Są sūnelį karan rengia - They're seeing off their son to the war
- Oi, sūneli, oi raiteli, - Oh, dear son, you knight
Oi kuo tu tį pasiklosi? - What will you lie on?
Oi kuo tu tį pasiklosi, - What will you lie on,
Oi kuo tu tį užsiklosi? - What will you cover yourself with?
- Šaltu rasu pasiklosiu - I will lie on the cold dew
O miglalį užsiklosiu - And the fog will cover me
- Oi, sūneli, oi raiteli, - Oh, dear son, you knight
Tu nujoki
Vilniaus miestan - Go to
Vilnius city
Ir nuspirkie tris triūbelas: - By yourself three horns
Pirmų triūbų užtriūbysi - When you'll blow the first horn
Tėvų motkų pravirkdzysi, - You'll make your father & mother cry
Antrų triūbų užtriubysi - When you'll blow the second horn
Visų svietų pabudzysi, - You will wake the whole world up
Tracių triūbų užtriūbysi - When you'll blow the third horn
Vilniaus miestų sujudzysi - You will stir up Vilnius city
Lithuania's pagan ruler
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 auroch (
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, Gediminas 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 priest explained that the howling of the wolf 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.
Script - Zenonas Šteinys, Juozas Pocius
Art director - Albinas Šimanauskas
Setting - Valdas Gilius,
Diana Faraponienė
Camera - Alfonsas Triškus
Music -
Algirdas Martinaitis
Assistant director - Šarūnas Jakštas
Sound - Juozas Tuita
Advisor - Ramūnas Bogdanas
Animation - V. Jurgelevičius, H. Vaigauskas, R. Bujutė, R. Šumskytė, Z. Tarakevičius, A. Bukinas, D. Kulikovas, V. Bobrovskis
Drawings - R. Anskaitienė, R. Bujutė, S. Jakaitė, V. Jurelevičius, R. Kareivienė, J. Leikaitė, A. Matukienė, A. Mačiulytė, A. Mackonytė, A. Marcinkevičiūtė, A. Medžikauskaitė, S. Peseckaitė, V. Stakėnienė, R. Šumskytė
Cutting - O. Diržytė
Editor - R. Pauraitė
Production manager - L. Stukienė
LITHUANIAN ANIMATED FILM
STUDIO 1990