roland's sword
Preserved but no longer current.
Durindana, or Durandal, which was fabled to have o-nce belonged to Hector, and which — like the horn — Roland won from the giant Jutmundus. It had in its hilt a thread from the Virgin Mary's cloak, a tooth of St. Peter, one of St. Denis's hairs, and a drop of St. Basil's blood.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “roland's sword” mean?
Durindana, or Durandal, which was fabled to have o-nce belonged to Hector, and which — like the horn — Roland won from the giant Jutmundus. It had in its hilt a thread from the Virgin Mary's cloak, a tooth of St. Peter, one of St. Denis's hairs, and a drop of St. Basil's blood.
Is “roland's sword” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.