Chościsko () is a legendary figure in
Polish prehistory, father of
Piast the Wheelwright
Piast the Wheelwright ( 740/741? – 861 AD; Latin: ''Past Ckosisconis'', ''Pazt filius Chosisconisu''; Polish: ''Piast Chościskowic'', ''Piast Kołodziej'' , ''Piast Oracz'' or ''Piast'') was a semi-legendary figure in medieval Poland (9th cen ...
, the founder of the
Piast dynasty. His name occurs in the first
Polish chronicle, ''Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum'' by
Gallus Anonymus
''Gallus Anonymus'' ( Polonized variant: ''Gall '') is the name traditionally given to the anonymous author of ''Gesta principum Polonorum'' (Deeds of the Princes of the Poles), composed in Latin between 1112 and 1118.
''Gallus'' is generally rega ...
, where the author refers three times to Piast as ''the son of Chościsko''.
Chościsko's name is probably derived from a simplified pronunciation of the word ''Hastingsko'' derived from the term
Hasding (meaning long-haired
[ Wolfram Herwig,
The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples,
trans.Thomas Dunlap, Berkeley/Los Angeles/London, University of California
Press,p.19]) which was difficult to pronounce in
Old Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with standardizing the language and using it in translating the Bible and other ...
. The other analysis suggests that Chościsko's name is probably derived from ''chost'' or ''chwost'' meaning ''tail'' in old Slavic.
See also
*
Poland in the Early Middle Ages
The most important phenomenon that took place within the lands of Poland in the Early Middle Ages, as well as other parts of Central Europe was the arrival and permanent settlement of the West Slavic or Lechitic peoples. The Slavic migrations ...
References
Legendary Polish monarchs
Piast dynasty
8th-century monarchs in Europe
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