Durendal, also spelled Durandal, is the sword of Roland, a legendary paladin and partially historical officer of Charlemagne in French epic literature. The sword is famous for its hardness and sharpness. Sources including La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland) state that it first belonged to the young Charlemagne.
According to one legend, at the end of the Battle of Roncevaux Roland hurled the sword from him to prevent its being seized by the Saracens, and it came to rest in Rocamadour. A replica sword that was embedded in a rock face there was reported stolen in June 2024.
The name Durendal arguably begins with the Frenchdur- stem, meaning "hard", though "enduring" may be the intended meaning.[1]Rita Lejeune argues that the name may break down into durant + dail,[2], which may be rendered in English as "strong scythe"[3] or explained in more detail to mean "a scimitar or scythe that holds up, resists, endures".[4]Gerhard Rohlfs suggests dur + end'art, "strong flame" or "[a flame] burns strongly from it".[3][5]
The Pseudo-Turpin explains that the name "'Durendal' is interpreted to mean [that] it gives a hard strike" (Durenda interpretatur durum ictum cum eadans). It has been argued that the Pseudo-Turpin offering a gloss of the meaning constitutes evidence that it was a name that was not readily understood in French.[a][6]
One non-French etymology is Edwin B. Place's attempt to construe it in Bretonasdiren dall, meaning "blade [that] dulls cutting edge" or "blade [that] blinds".[6] Another is James A. Bellamy's Arabic etymology, explaining a possible origin of the sword's name in ḏū l-jandal (ذو الجندل), meaning "master of stone".[7][3][b]
According to legend as recounted in the poem, at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass Roland took the rearguard to hold off Saracen troops long enough for Charlemagne's army to retreat into France.[11] He slew a vast number of enemies: wielding Durendal, he sliced the right arm of the Saracen king Marsile, decapitated the king's son Jursaleu or Jurfaleu and put the one-hundred-thousand-strong army to flight.[12][13] His mission accomplished, Roland then attempted to destroy Durendal by hitting it against blocks of marble, to prevent it from being captured by the Saracens, but the sword proved to be indestructible.[9] Finally, mortally wounded, he hid it beneath his body as he lay dying along with the oliphant, the horn he had used to alert Charlemagne.[14][15]
According to La Chanson de Roland, an angel brought Durendal to Charlemagne in the vale of Moriane, and Charlemagne then gave it to Roland.[17][c]
According to the 12th-century fragmentary chanson de geste known as Mainet (referring to the pseudonym that Charlemagne adopted in his youth), Durendal was once captured, but not kept, by the young Charlemagne when he fled to Spain.[19] Young Charles (Mainés in the text) slays Braimant, obtaining his sword (Durendaus).[20][21] This tale is better preserved in some non-chanson de geste texts,[22] and in adaptations such as the Franco-Italian Karleto.[23] According to the Low-German version Karl Mainet, the place of combat was near the vale of Moriane (Vael Moriale), near Toledo.[24]
According to another 12th-century chanson de geste, the Song of Aspremont, the owner of Durendal just before Roland obtained it was a Saracen named Aumon, son of king Agolant,[d]. Young Roland mounted Naimes's horse Morel without permission,[25] and armed only with a rod, defeated Aumon, taking as spoils both the sword and the horse Veillantif.[26]
These materials were combined in the Italian prose AspramontebyAndrea da Barberino in the late 14th to early 15th century. That work stated that after young Carlo (Charlemagne) came into possession of Durindarda (Durendal) by killing Bramante in Spain, Galafro gave it to Galiziella,[e][27] who then gave it to Almonte the son of Agolante (i.e., French: Aumon).[f][28][29] Galiziella is glossed as the bastard daughter of Agolante,[30] making her Almonte's half-sister. Durindana is eventually won by Orlandino (young Orlando).[31]
Andrea da Barberino was a major source for later Italian writers. Boiardo's Orlando innamorato traces the sword's origin to HectorofTroy; it belonged for a while to the Amazonian queen Pantasilea, and was passed down to Almonte before Orlando gained possession of it.[32]Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso follows Boiardo, saying it once belonged to Hector of Troy, but that it was given to Roland by Malagigi (Maugris).
Tradition has it that Roland's Breach in the Pyrenees was created when Roland, attempting to break Durendal, instead cut a huge gash in the mountainside with one blow.[34][35]
InRocamadour, in the Lotdepartment, a local legend holds that instead of dying with Durendal hidden under his body, Roland called on the Archangel Michael for assistance and was able to throw the sword several hundred kilometres across the border into France, where it came to rest in Rocamadour.[35] There it was deposited in the chapel of Mary, but was stolen by Henry the Young King in 1183.[33] Successive replicas have been stolen; most recently a sword fashioned from sheet metal was embedded in a cleft in a cliff wall, secured with a chain.[36] That sword was reported stolen in June 2024.[35][37][38]
^Unlike "Halteclere" or "Joyeuse", which are easily comprehensible as French words.
^Encouraged by the fact that there are many Arabic sword names with this prefix, e.g. Ḏū l-Faqār.
^The scene of the angel giving the sword to Karl (Charlemagne) is depicted in a manuscript of Der Stricker's Karl der Große.[18]
^This is actually alluded to in Mainet also: "Quant il occist Yaumont fil le roi Agoulant".[21]
^Come lo re Galafro.. donò Durindarda a Galiziella "; "..e fu poi di Mainetto, cioè di Carlo; e con spada uccise Carlo lo re Bramante, e chiamavasi Durindarda.. Per questa spada Galiziella col cuore feminile ebbe piatà del re Galafro..", Boni (1951), pp. 12–13, Mattaini (1957), p. 422.
^"Come Galiziella donò Durindarda a Almonte", Boni (1951), p. 13.
^
Dana, Charles E. (1907). "Swords and Swordsmanship". Proceedings of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia. 23. Philadelphia: Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia: 65.
^Keller, Hans-Erich (1995). "King Cycle". In Kibler, William W.; Zinn, Grover A.; Earp, Lawrence (eds.). Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. New York / London: Garland. pp. 964–65. ISBN9780824044442.
^ abde Veyrières, Louis (1892). "L'épée de Roland à Roc-Amadour". Bulletin de la Société scientifique, historique et archéologique de la Corrèze. 14: 139–43. (in French).
da Barberino, Andrea (1951), Boni, Marco (ed.), Aspramonte, romanzo cavalleresco inedito: Ed. critica con glossario, Bologna: Antiquaria Palmaverde (in Italian)
Bellamy, James A. (1987), "Arabic names in the Chanson de Roland: Saracen Gods, Frankish swords, Roland horse, and the Olifant", Journal of the American Oriental Society, 107 (2): 267–277, doi:10.2307/602835, JSTOR602835
Lejeune, Rita (1950), "Les noms d'épées dans la Chanson de Roland", Mélanges de linguistique et de littérature Romances, offerts à Mario Roques, Paris, pp. 149–66
