Wincenty Kadłubek included in his Chronicle a narrative about the origins of the realm. Individual elements of the process of Poland’s formation occupy a significant portion of the first book of his work, where the so-called “legendary history” serves to present a story about the first rulers. Historians had varied opinions on this, but have so far overlooked that both the components and the overarching structure of the realm’s formation in Kadłubek’s account draw on older traditions present throughout Europe. The structure begins with the fall of the first Lechitic Empire and the creation of the proper realm by Krak, followed by Wanda and the successive Lesteks. This sequence of rulers, their deeds and qualities conveys, in Kadłubek’s narrative, what each successive ruler must do for the realm to emerge. The paper aims to demonstrate the origins of this narrative structure and what the beginnings of the realm meant for Kadłubek, employing a comparative approach as a research method.