The Legendary Sword Stuck in a Cliff for 1300 Years Disappears... France in Turmoil

Local Police Focus on Theft Possibility in Investigation
Residents Deeply Shocked as Regional Symbol Stolen

The sword "Durandal," which had been embedded in a cliff for over 1,300 years and was called the "French Excalibur," has mysteriously disappeared, prompting a local police investigation. On the 2nd (local time), the British daily The Telegraph reported that a rusty sword, which had been stuck 10 meters high in a cliff in the town of Rocamadour in the Lot department of the Occitanie region in southwestern France, recently vanished. Local police are focusing their investigation on the possibility that the sword, known as Durandal, was stolen by someone.

Durandal, the French version of Excalibur, said to have been embedded in a cliff for 1300 years.
[Photo by X (formerly Twitter)]

Durandal is the name of the sacred sword wielded by Roland, the chief of the Twelve Peers, who appears in the medieval European epic literature masterpiece, the Charlemagne legend. According to legend, this sword was given to Roland by Charlemagne, the legendary king of the Frankish kingdom, who received it from an angel. It is described as an unbreakable weapon powerful enough to cut through a massive rock in a single strike.

In Rocamadour, a famous Catholic pilgrimage site in France, there is a legend that Durandal was once kept in a local church, and that Roland threw the sword at the moment of his death, embedding it in the cliff that splits the area. However, since the setting of the epic "The Song of Roland" is the Roncesvalles Pass in Spain, there has been controversy over the authenticity of this sword. Local tourism authorities have maintained that the sword embedded in the cliff is merely a replica, not the real Durandal.

Dominique Renfant, mayor of Rocamadour, said that the incident has deeply shocked the residents, who feel as if a part of their town has been stolen. He stated, "Even if it is just a legend, the fate of the town and Durandal are intertwined," adding, "We will miss this sword that has existed as part of Rocamadour for centuries." Meanwhile, The Telegraph reported that local police are making efforts to determine how Durandal, embedded 10 meters high in the rock and difficult for people to access, disappeared.