According to one version of the legend, the duke or king called Kazimierz (Casimir),[3] sometimes also identified as duke Siemowit I of Masovia,[6] got lost in the forest, where Warsaw Old Town is currently located, while hunting. He came across a small adobe hut, inhabited by a woman who had recently given birth to twins. The woman hosted him very generously. He named her two children Wars and Sawa and gave the woman money to build a bigger house.[3] Later, other people moved near the house, forming a settlement, which was named after the twins, Warsawa, which later evolved to Warszawa, the name of the city of Warsaw in the Polish language.[2][3] According to a different version of the legend, Wars and Sawa were a married couple who lived in that house, and who hosted the duke.[4]
According to another version of the legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula river with whom a fisherman named Wars fell in love.[7]
In yet another version of the legend, Wars and Sawa were brothers, who were fishermen living near modern Warsaw Old Town.[4]
