In a baffling turn of events, the famed Durandal sword, which had been wedged in a rock in the southern French village of Rocamadour for the past 1,300 years, has mysteriously vanished. The sword, often likened to the legendary Excalibur, was a treasured tourist attraction, securely chained and embedded 32 feet (9.75 meters) off the ground in a cliff wall next to the village's sanctuary. Its disappearance has left the local community devastated and authorities puzzled, reports The Independent. A Legendary Sword with a Storied Past Durandal, believed to have magical properties, was wielded by Roland, a legendary knight and nephew of Emperor Charlemagne. The sword's mythical powers were immortalized in the 11th-century epic poem The Song of Roland. According to legend, Durandal was gifted to Charlemagne by an angel and was later entrusted to Roland. The poem describes the sword's extraordinary sharpness and unbreakable nature, claiming it could slice through boulders effortlessly. It is also said to contain a tooth of St. Peter, the blood of St. Basil, and a hair of St. Denis. Read moreSection: ArtifactsAncient TechnologyNewsHistory & ArchaeologyRead Later