DURANDAL, THE SHARPEST SWORD EVER EXISTED
When we think of the legendary weapons linked to chivalrous
culture and medieval fantasy genre, the first name that comes to mind is
Durandal, a sword known in the French literature for being "the sharpest
sword ever existed". It has a prominent role in the epic "La Chanson
de Roland", The Song of Roland, one of the oldest and most popular works of
the so-called Carolingian cycle written between the 11th and 12th centuries.
According
to mythology, Durandal was forged by Weland the blacksmith, an exceptional
Nordic gunsmith famous for his wickedness but also for the ability to infuse
magic into his creations. According to several epic medieval and fantasy
stories, he also forged Excalibur, the magical sword of King Arthur. It is said
that Durandal contains various Christian relics: a tooth of Saint Peter, the
blood of Saint Basil, the hair of Saint Dionysius and a fragment of a robe of
the virgin Mary. According to some stories, Durandal was handed over to
Charlemagne by an angel, while others state that it once belonged to Hector, the Trojan hero.
According
to The song of Roland, the paladin faced Durandal with an army of 100,000
Saracens in order to allow Charlemagne and his troops to retreat to France. At one point, Orlando even tried to destroy
Durandal in order not to let it fall into enemy hands: trying to break it on
a rock, however, did nothing but open a 100-meter high crevasse in the
Pyrenees, a rift known today as " Roland's breach". According to
another story, perhaps the most interesting, he instead launched Durandal to
get rid of it, but the sword magically set in the rocks of the city of
Rocamadour, in France. In that place there is still a sword embedded in the
rock, and many believe that it is the mythical Durandal launched by Roland many centuries ago.
Sources:
Blazeski, Goran. “Some of the Most Legendary Swords of All
Time.” The Vintage News, 3 Mar. 2018,
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/03/03/legendary-swords-2/.
Dhwty. “Durandal - The Legendary Sword of Roland.” Ancient
Origins, Ancient Origins, 6 Apr. 2015, https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/durandal-legendary-sword-roland-002869.
Harrison, R. The Song of Roland. Signet
classic.
This is such an interesting topic as it really relates to our in class reading of "The Song of Roland." It makes sense that Roland would have wielded this sword in the poem because he was the most legendary Frankish knight to live. I'm not surprised that Durandal would have been home to several Christian relics given its status as a sword, I wonder which of these relics really were within it?
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard that there was an actual physical relic from the Medieval Ages that was suspected of being the Durandal of legend. I just assumed that it was one of those mythical swords lost to the ages. It's amazing to see what could be the great, chivalrous Roland's sword in an actual photo and know its out there.
ReplyDeleteWell done Francesco! this is an excellent blog post. I really like how you have related this artifact to our paper The Song of Roland. I would be interested in learning more about the forger and how he forged magic into weapons. This was a pleasure to read and was really informative.
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