the essential
Durandal, the legendary sword of Roland, has just been stolen from Rocamadour. Yet planted in the rock, several meters high, the thieves will have succeeded in extracting the sword. A tragedy for the city as the tourist season begins.
But who could have stolen Durandal, the legendary sword of the knight Roland, planted in the rock of Rocamadour? The question has been on everyone’s lips since Monday, June 22, when Father Millet, director of the sanctuary, noticed its disappearance.
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“He noticed that she was no longer there that morning. The sanctuary is closed to the public from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., but we do not know precisely on what date she disappeared. As soon as we informed me, I immediately filed a complaint with the gendarmerie who went to the site to make observations and statements”, testifies Dominique Lenfant, mayor of the emblematic village of Lot. For his part, the curator of antiques and objects of art of the Lot, Guillaume Bernard, alerted the Ministry of Culture.
No, the sword is not being restored, it was stolen!
While some people thought until now that Roland’s sword had been deliberately removed for maintenance and restoration purposes, this is not the case. Once the news was known, the entire town has been in turmoil ever since. “Durandal is part of the historical and heritage collection of Rocamadour. Everyone knows the story or legend of Durandal and Excalibur, but only Durandal’s sword is materialized,” emphasizes the elected official of the town.
It is so precious for the city that when the Cluny Museum wanted to exhibit it in 2011, a municipal councilor and a security agent accompanied its return trip between the Lot and Paris.
Also read: “Rocamadour. Roland’s sword in Paris”
“Rocamadour feels stripped of a part of itself”
“It is even insured for a value of €100,000,” insists Dominique Lenfant for whom it is not so much its value or its estimate that matters but the historical symbol that it represents. “We will miss Durandal. It has been part of Rocamadour, for centuries, there is not a guide who does not show it during his visit. Rocamadour feels stripped of a part of itself, even if it’s a legend, the destinies of our village and this sword are linked.”
When history and legends come together: Durandal becomes a fabulous sword
Legend has it that an angel gave this sword to Charlemagne who passed it on to Roland. The myth of Durandal also tells that seeing himself die at the Battle of Roncesvalles, he wanted to break his sword on a rock. Unable to do so, he would have opened Roland’s Breach in the stone, before throwing Durandal towards the sky… And it would have traveled several hundred kilometers to embed itself in the rock of Rocamadour.
Historically, it was not in this rock above the chapel of the Black Madonna that we could see the sword of Roland, but at the level of the Lock Chest near the Saint-Michel chapel. At that time, it was said that young women who touched its knob would find a husband within a year… Or that by touching the lock of the chest, they would see their infertility disappear and a child be born…
To avoid Durandal being constantly touched, and for other religious reasons it seems, it was moved to a much less accessible location near the chapel of the Black Virgin.
“Moved, it had been installed in this new location very close to the chapel of the Black Virgin, in the sanctuary of Rocamadour, where it is not easily accessible. Moreover, it was 10 meters from the ground and at least 1 meter from the roof of the chapel, sheltered under the rock,” recalls the mayor of Rocamadour.
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A copy of Durandal will replace it in the rock
So everyone in the city is wondering? How could someone have climbed so high to unhook it from its attachment and chain… And for what reasons? “Durandal is a public property that belongs to the State. This sword was embedded in the rock face at a shallow depth. It measures 80 cm, so it is a small medieval sword that was forged to stun people or horses, not to kill them”, believes Dominique Lenfant.
Since it cannot be found again, a copy of Durandal will be placed in the rock, as the mayor explains: “When it was taken down, the Ministry of Culture took the opportunity to make an identical reproduction, which was offered and kept in Rocamadour,” the elected official announced.
A compensation far from consoling the Amadourians, some of whom warn that another legend has been born… “Durandal you will sting, in prison, you will go”.
