Durendal
Durandal or Durendal (most likely from the French "durer", "to endure") is the sword of Charlemagne's paladin Roland in the literary series known as the Matter of France.
Sword
The origin of the sword received various accounts - the sword is given various provenances in the Matter of France. Several of the works of the Matter of France agree that the sword was forged by Wayland the Smith, who is commonly cited as a maker of romantic weapons.
According to the Song of Roland, the sword is brought by an angel to Charlemagne, who gives it to Roland. According to Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso it once belonged to Hector of Troy, and was given to Roland by Malagigi (Maugris).
In The Song of Roland, the sword is said to contain within its golden hilt one tooth of Saint Peter, blood of Saint Basil, hair of Saint Denis, and a piece of the raiment of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to be the sharpest sword in all existence. In the poem, Roland uses the sword to hold off a hundred-thousand-strong Muslim army long enough for Charlemagne's army to retreat into France.
Xenosaga
Xenosaga (ゼノサーガ Zenosāga) is a series of science fiction video games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Bandai Namco. Xenosaga's main story is in the form of a trilogy of PlayStation 2 video games. There have been three spin-off games and an anime adaptation. The Xenosaga series serves as a spiritual successor to the game Xenogears, which was released in 1998 for the PlayStation by Square. The creator of both Xenogears and Xenosaga is Tetsuya Takahashi, who left Square in 1998 along with Hirohide Sugiura. Using funds from Namco, they started MonolithSoft and the Xenosaga project.
The first game in the trilogy, Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht was released in February 2002 in Japan, and in February 2003 in North America. Xenosaga Freaks, a lighthearted game with a playable demo for Episode II, was released in April 2004 in Japan, but was not released elsewhere. Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse was released in June 2004 in Japan and February 2005 in North America. Xenosaga: The Animation, an anime based on Episode I, premiered on TV Asahi in Japan on January 5, 2005. Xenosaga Pied Piper, a three chapter-long cellphone-based game depicting the history of cyborg "Ziggurat 8" 100 years before the start of Episode I, was released in Japan in July 2004. Released on July 6, 2006, Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra is the final title in the Xenosaga series; six episodes were originally projected, but by the time Episode III was released, Namco had already established that it would be the last entry, effectively halving the series. A retelling of the first two episodes titled Xenosaga I & II was released on the Nintendo DS in March 2006 in Japan.
Durandal (disambiguation)
Durandal or Durendal most often refers to the legendary sword of the French hero Roland.
Durandal may also refer to:
Bernard, who created 'The order of the Temple', was said to enthusiastically praise the union of two swords:
The Durandal and The Joyeuse fit Bernards description. The Durandal was a religious symbol of the love and power God had for the Christians.
