Murgleys
Murgleys, or Murgleis (possibly "Death brand"[1]) is the sword of Ganelon, a traitorous French (Frankish) count and nemesis to the titular hero of the epic La chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland).[1]
According to the French version, its "gold pommel"[2] held some kind of a "holy relic".[3] In the Middle High German adaptation (Konrad der Pfaffe's Rolandslied) the sword is called Mulagir, touted to be the "best seax (type of sword) in all of France", described as having a carbuncle shining on its pommel, and forged by a smith named Madelger in Regensburg.[4]
Etymology
Dorothy L. Sayers, a translator of The Song of Roland suggests the sword means "Death brand"[1] (See #Similarly named swords below). Belgian scholar Rita Lejeune gave the meaning "Moorish sword,"[5] but Arabist James A. Bellamy proposed the Arabic etymology māriq ʾalyas meaning "valiant piercer".[6]
Similarly named swords
At least three swords bearing the similar name Murglaie occur in other chansons de geste.[7]
- Murglaie - sword of Elias, the Swan Knight of the Crusades cycle,
- Murglaie - sword of Cornumarant, the Saracen king of Jerusalem, taken by Baudouin de Syrie (the historical Baldwin I of Jerusalem)
- Murglaie - sword of Boeve de Haumtone; better known as Morglay of Bevis of Hampton.
Note that "Morglay" has been given the etymology morte "death" + "glaive"[8] coinciding with the conjectural meaning of "Death brand" for Ganelon's sword, proposed by Sayers.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Song of Roland, v. 466
- ↑ Song of Roland, v. 607
- ↑ Rolandslied vv. 1585–8; Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found., cited (and given in English) by Bellamy 1987, p. 274, note 34
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Bailey, Nathan (1731), An Universal Etymological English Dictionary
|
Notable swords
|
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real |
|
 |
||||||
| Mythical or legendary |
|
|||||||
|
Note: some of the existing swords are named after earlier legendary ones.
|
||||||||
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
 |
This article related to weaponry is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
 |
This article relating to a European myth or legend is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
