Paris. An ancient sword said to be unbreakable and the sharpest in the world has disappeared from a French town where it had been buried in a rock for over 1,300 years. The Durandal sword is popularly known as the French Excalibur, which means it was pulled out of stone by King Arthur, the ‘true king’ of Britain, reports the Telegraph. According to legend, an angel gave the sword to the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne in the eighth century.
Although it is not known what caused the mysterious disappearance of this weapon, locals believe that it was stolen by a thief, who probably pulled it out from the rock wall, which is about 100 feet above the ground. An 11th-century poem talks about the ‘magical abilities’ of this sword. It is the oldest surviving book of French literature. The only surviving copy of ‘The Song of Roland’ is now kept in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
The sword and the legend surrounding it were one of the city’s main attractions. If the stories of the city are to be believed, the indestructible sword could cut through stone with a single blow. Legend says that King Charlemagne gifted the magic sword to his best soldier, Roland, a noble knight. Before dying in battle, Roland attempted to destroy the sword so that his enemies could not use it, but he was unable to break it. In frustration he threw the sword into the air and it traveled hundreds of kilometers and landed on a cliff in the French town of Rocamadour.
The sudden disappearance of the sword has upset the locals, who believe that their destiny is linked to the legendary weapon. The town’s mayor Dominique Lenfant told a news agency, ‘We are going to miss Durandal. It has been a part of Rocamadour for centuries, and there is no guide who will not point you to it when he sees it.’ An investigation has now been launched to find this old sword, but the police are surprised as to how a person could climb 100 feet up the rock and take out the sword.
Tags: France News, Looting and robbery
FIRST PUBLISHED : July 5, 2024, 07:53 IST