Joyeuse

portrait of Charlemagne with Joyeuse In medieval legend, Joyeuse ( ; ; meaning 'joyous, joyful') was the sword wielded by Charlemagne as his personal weapon. In medieval legend, there are several versions regarding its make and origin. There is the topos that it was crafted by Galant (Wayland Smith) as mentioned in the chanson de geste of Fierabras. The hilt of Joyeuse contained a fragment of the Holy Lance that cured Longinus of blindness, and that relic accounted for its "joyous" name, as well as the French war cry Monjoie according to Chanson de Roland. The relic was among the gifts from the Emperor of Constantinople according to the Old Norse sagas. It is possible that young Charlemagne (pseudonym Mainet) while living in Spain had obtained the sword from King Galafre of Toledo, but the French did not survive complete, but the German version states the sword he got was called Galosovele, while the Spanish version does indeed state that Galfre's daughter Galiana (Galienne, Charlemagne's first wife according to the Mainet tradition ) gave Maynet the sword Joyosa. A sword purported to be Joyeuse was used in French royal coronation ceremonies since the 13th century, and is now kept at the Louvre.

portrait of Charlemagne with Joyeuse In medieval legend, Joyeuse ( ; ; meaning 'joyous, joyful') was the sword wielded by Charlemagne as his personal weapon. In medieval legend, there are several versions regarding its make and origin. There is the topos that it was crafted by Galant (Wayland Smith) as mentioned in the chanson de geste of Fierabras. The hilt of Joyeuse contained a fragment of the Holy Lance that cured Longinus of blindness, and that relic accounted for its "joyous" name, as well as the French war cry Monjoie according to Chanson de Roland. The relic was among the gifts from the Emperor of Constantinople according to the Old Norse sagas. It is possible that young Charlemagne (pseudonym Mainet) while living in Spain had obtained the sword from King Galafre of Toledo, but the French did not survive complete, but the German version states the sword he got was called Galosovele, while the Spanish version does indeed state that Galfre's daughter Galiana (Galienne, Charlemagne's first wife according to the Mainet tradition ) gave Maynet the sword Joyosa. A sword purported to be Joyeuse was used in French royal coronation ceremonies since the 13th century, and is now kept at the Louvre. ==Legend== While there is no mention of the sword be given to Charlemagne in the chanson de geste of Prince Charles's youthful exploits in the fragmentary , but in its Rhenish German adaptation Part I, he receives a sword named from Gallafers (=Galafre) in the advent of fighting Bremunt/Bremant as Gallafers's champion Unfortunately, this is not considered to be the same as Joyeuse by commentators. Thus, when the sword (Joyeuse) occurs later in Karlmeinet Part III, where he is battling against the invasion of Agolant, it is another, different piece of weapon. It is noted that the name-form Gaudeosa probably derives from its Latin source, Pseudo-Turpin. Contrarily, in the Spanish adaptation of Mainet embedded in the Primera Crónica General, is equipped with none other than (Joyeuse), given him by his beloved , daughter of , as he faces the challenge of fighting . Ironically this Joyosa had been a gift to her from her suitor Bramant to Galiana. ==Modern retellings== Thomas Bulfinch's Legends of Charlemagne (1864) [1863] includes a retelling of the story of Ogier the Dane, where Ogier's sword Curtana was made of the same steel and temper as Joyeuse and Roland's Durendal. Bulfinch neglected to mention Galan (Wayland Smith) as the maker of these three swords as according to Count Tressan's extracts (1782), which otherwise agrees well with Bulfinch. The above revelation came from the inscriptions (in gold ) written on the steel of Ogier's sword, which the king read when he unsheathed Ogier's sword Curtana, which Morgan le Fay given to Ogier by swapping some sword that the king owned and girt onto Ogier (but not identified as Joyeuse). Note that in the unembellished original chansons de geste Chevalerie Ogier, the king did deign to knight Ogier with a sword he possessed. While Bulfinch's retelling describes Charlemagne using Joyeuse to behead the Saracen commander Corsuble, this is more or less as according to Adenet le Roi's version (where Charles delivers a cerebral cut, not decapitation), as explained above. Regarding the relics in the hilt, a children's book from the early 20th century tells that "One priceless thing Charlemagne ever carried in his belt and that was Joyeuse, the Sword Jewellous, which contained in a hilt of gold and gems the head of the lance that pierced our Saviour's side. And thereto he wore a pilgrim's pouch — 'against my faring to Jerusalem, or, if that may not be, to remind me that our life is but a pilgrim's way, and our joy but a pilgrim's rest, and our hope a palm". ==Coronation sword of the French kings== . , 1701) A sword identified with Charlemagne's Joyeuse was carried in front of the Coronation processions for French kings, for the first time in 1270 (Philip III), and for the last time in 1825 (at the Coronation of Charles X). The sword was kept in the Treasury of Saint-Denis since at least 1505, before it was moved to the Louvre in 1793. This Joyeuse as preserved today is a composite of various parts added over the centuries of use as coronation sword. But at the core, it consists of a medieval blade of Oakeshott type XII, mostly dated from about the 10th century. Martin Conway argued the blade might date from the early 9th century, suggesting that it was indeed the sword of Charlemagne, while Guy Laking dated it to the early 13th century. Joyeuse was used as a prop during the coronation of Napoleon at Notre-Dame de Paris in 1804. The count de Ségur charged with staging the ceremony scripted for the inclusion of Joyeuse in some way. However, in the actual event, it was decided it would be inapt for Napoleon himself to wear the sword both for political and costumery reasons, and it would merely be a part of the procession. The overall height is with the blade portion making up of that. It is wide at the base, and thick. Its total weight is . The Louvre's official website dates the pommel from the 10th to 11th centuries, the crossguard to the 12th and the scabbard to the 13th century. ==Gallery== ==Explanatory notes== ==References== ==Bibliography== ===Primary sources=== (Chanson de Roland) (alt url) (R.) (Ogier) Tome 1, Tome 2. (Mainet) (google) (Saga) ====Retellings==== ===Secondary sources=== ([https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=PGSwSiQCrvMC snippet)

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