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Almace [charlemagne] [weapon:sword]

[SWORD]
Almace [F., OF];
 
Almice (Roland R 2089) *1, var. Almace, Dalmuçe, Aigredure; — Autemise (Renaut de Montauban RM p. 306); — Hautemise (Gaufrei Ga p. 154);
 
Almice (< dat. Almicem) [MHG]; Almacia [ON]
[meaning: I conjecture that it is cognate with alms, whose Greek root means "mercy"*2; Galmés de Fuentes contends Arabic etymology. I've relegated the etymology sidebar to the end.]

[HORSE]
"horse which he took from Grossaille" (Ch. Roland); " black horse of king of Kordurs" (Kms I)

[OWNER]
Arcevesque Turpin (de Reins) [OF]; archevêque Turpin [mod.F.] biscoph Turpin (Rolandslied), bischof Turpîne (KdG) [MHG]; Turpin [ON]; Túrpín erkibiskup [Icel.].

The sword borne by Archbishop Turpin of Reims and wielded by him at the battle of Roncevalles.
By the time the name of the sword is first uttered, (CLVI:2089) Turpin has already been run through with four spears and is moribund, but he still faces an enemy of overwhelming number and performs the miraculous feat of delivering a blow one thousand times over.
It was wrought of "⇒brown steel" (acer brun) which is conventionally explained to mean "burnished steel".
Almace is mentioned by name in the Song of Roland and only two other extant chansons de gestes [?]*2. It is not hard to imagine that later generations wished to avoid a depiction of a priest breaking his vows against the taking of lives. It seems that if a cleric had to take up arms by necessity, he was supposed to use the mace, a blunt instrument, so as not to "shed blood".


*1 The bracketed ([]) section is taken entirely from Langlois. See the Langlois' abbreviation list of works.

*2 "alms" (OE aelmysse ON almusa OFris ielmisse OS alamósna OHG alamuosan MHG almuosen) from common OTeut *alemosna or *alemosina a. Vulg. Lat. *alimosina , LL ĕlĕēmŏsyna "alms", Gk ἐλεημοσύνη "compassionateness, mercy")

Archbishop Turpin attacks. (detail)
— Priest Konrad's Rolandslied,
ms. P, Heidelberg
(Cod. Pal. germ. fol. 74v)

§ At the Battle of Ronceveaux

We read of Bishop Turpin's sword Almace in the following manner:
Il trait Almace, s'espee de acer brun,
En la grant presse mil colps i fiert e plus, 		He's drawn Almace, whose steel was brown and rough,
Through the great press a thousand blows he's struck:
(The Song of Roland, CLV, Montcrief tr.)
By the time the name of the sword is first uttered in the Song of Roland (hereinafter Ch.R) , Turpin, one of just three survivors (Roland and Gaulthier being the others), has already been run through with four spears (.iiii. espiez ) and is moribund, but facing an overwhelming host of enemies, he still performs the miraculous feat of delivering a blow one thousand times over.

Leading up to this point only his great spear (grant espiet, XCV, l. 1248) has been mentioned as the bishop's weapon; however I am inclined to think*1 that Archbishop already uses the sword when facing Abisme (Abîme [F.], Abisme [OF], Abysse (RL, l.5506) Âbis (KdG) [MHG]) in combat, shattering*2 the Saracen's devil-sent enchanted shield (l'escut amiracle [AF]).

Li arcevesque brochet par tant grant vasselage:
Ne laisserat qu'Abisme nen asaillet;
Vait le ferir en l'escut amiracle:
1500
Pierres i ad, ametistes e topazes,
Esterminals e carbuncles ki ardent;
En Val Metas li dunat uns diables,
Si li tramist li amiralz Galafes.
Turpins i fiert, ki nient ne l'esparignet,
1505
Enpres sun colp ne quid que un dener vaillet,
Le cors li trenchet tres l'un costet qu'a l'altre,
Que mort l'abat en une voide place.
(— laisse CXIV, ll.1497-1508)
That Archbishop spurs on by vassalage,
He will not pause ere Abisme he assail;
1660
So strikes that shield, is wonderfully arrayed,
Whereon are stones, amethyst and topaze,
Esterminals and carbuncles that blaze;
A devil's gift it was, in Val Metase,
Who handed it to the admiral Galafes;
1665
So Turpin strikes, spares him not anyway;
After that blow, he's worth no penny wage;
The carcass he's sliced, rib from rib away,
So flings him down dead in an empty place.
(— CXXVI, ll.1658-, Montcrief tr.)

The reasoning being that we see Turpin reduce Abisme to slices (trenches [mod.F. ]) — a seemingly impossible task unless he is wielding a sword?*3

Even before he had dispatched Abisme, Turpin had slain Siglorel the Enchanter, a man who by magic had once been given a tour of hell by Jupiter (ch. de Roland CVIII, ll. 1390-1).
In the Norse version, where Sikoras is killed by Turpin (Kms VIII,"Runzival", ch. 25), and the Enemy (*identified as Satan in ch. 24) carries him off to hell. In the German Rolandslied, Turpin's adversary is referred to as Sigelot whom the heathens worshipped as a god.
    Here too, Turpin may have used the sword.

*1 Corroborating evidence comes from the German version which has Turpin already wielding a sharp sword (scarphen swerten, Rolandslied ll.5419-) before his slaying of Sigelot (l.5591) and his encounter with Abysse (ll. 5490-).
In J.W. Thomas translation, Turpin draws his sword even earlier to shatter Cursabile's head, helm and all (ll.4371-) but the original text in German is evidently "spear" (spiez l. 4416).

*2 In the German version (Rolandslied ll.5490-), there is a role-reversal: it is Duke Abysse who thrusts his ashen spear (eschinen scaft) through the bishop's shield. The bishop counters by thrusting him through the hauberk (er stach in durch di halsperge) and flinging him over the horses' cruppers. The German text doesn't specifically say that Turpin uses a spear here, so J.W.Thomas' translation that Turpin "drove his spear" is probably an elaboration.
    Almace is mentioned by name later on, much as in the French version (Turpin der degen / inoch uf huber Almicem. . ., Rolandslied, ll.6641-2), but J.W. Thomas interprets this as a horse: "Turpin while struggling with death, again mounted Almicem and dashed into the fray. (p.81)"
*3 It should be mentioned that in the chanson of Aspremont, we read that "Hugh's lance [cuts through] sword-like [from front to back]", and thereafter the dead body is flung to the moorland.
[(Huë,) El cors li fait de sa lance un espois / Mort le trestorne delés bruieroi.](Laisse 170, l. 3176)
 

§ The Saga Accounts : Karlamagnús saga (c. 1250)

Probably the sole account of how Almace was obtained by the Frenchman occurs in a story that is only preserved in the Norse translation. Here, Almace (ON Almacia ) is one of three swords*1, *2 tempered by Galant (Galant smiður af Englandi [Icel.], * i.e., Weland the Smith). and obtained by King Karlamagnus as ransom.

This occurs in the first branch of the Karlamagnús saga, Ch. 43 "Malakin of Ivin Gives Swords to Karlamagnus,"

King Karlamagnus had now entered Viana*3 [* Vienne in southern France] and made peace with [* the rebellious] Duke Geirard [* Girart de Vienne]. And shortly afterward, [* a moneylender named] Malakin son of Ivin came and asked if King KarlamagnusKing Karlamagnús would release Abraham, his brother, who had been in prison for more than fourteen years: "and I have three swords which are the best possible. Galant the smith [* = Wayland the Smith], of England, made them, and he heated them in the forge for seven years; King FaberKing Faber gave them to me as a surety for seven hundred gold coins. The swords were good - and I ask you to release my brother."
:
— Kms I, ch. 43, tr. Hieatt

    King Karl asks the duke to hand over custody of the prisoner, and consequently obtains the 3 swords.
    The king now tries out the 3 (as yet unnamed) swords.

As soon as King Karlamagnus came home, he called NamlunNamlun to him and told him to bring the swords which Malakin of Ivin had given him. He drew the swords from their scabbards and looked at them, and they seemed to be good. After that he went to the steel mound before his hall, and struck the first of the swords into it a hand's breadth (* a hand or main [F.] is about 4 inches), so that there was a little notch in it. "Certainly that is a good sword," says the king, "and I shall call it ⇒KurtKurt." (* meaning "short"). Then he struck in the second a hand's breadth or more, and called that Almacia, and said it was good to strike heathens with. He then struck with the third, and rent more than half the length of a man's foot (* a ½ foot or ½ pied [F.] would be 6 inches); he said, "That sword shall be named ⇒Dyrumdali," and he kept that with him, for he loved it dearly.
— Kms I, ch. 44, tr. Hieatt

In a later chapter (Kms I, ch. 58 "Oddgeir and Teorfi Dubbed Knights") King Karlamagnus knights Oddgeir and girts him with the sword Kurt. Subsequently, Turpin asks the king to furnish him with a weapon. The king complies by cladding the bishop in armor, setting a helm on his head, and girting his sword Almacia onto the archbishop. A black horse is brought to him to ride, which belonged to the defeated king of Kordurs.


*1 Hieatt, Constance B., trans., Karlamagnús saga: The Saga of Charlemagne and his heroes (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 3 vol. 1975/1975/1980) vol. 1 ISBN-0-88844-262-9 (1975) - Kms I ~ III.
I originally found excerpts from Hieatt's translation of Kms I Ch. 43-44 is found on the page →Karl's Swords / old server transcribed by Vika Zafrin.
    For the purposes of this page, I have made changes, particularly in order to discuss the signficance of Girart (de Vienne).

*2 I have also transcribed the Norse text here: Kms I, ms. A, Ch. 40-41

*3 The factoid that the prisoner was originally in the custody of Geirard of Viana turns out to be significant, as well as the fact that Malakin was a Jew, indicated by his moneylender profession and his and his brother's biblical names.
    These give close resemblance to the circumstances in the chanson de geste Girart de Vienne where ⇒Halteclere was obtained to replace the broken sword used by Olivier in his duel with Roland. They fight awhile but are reconciled.
[* Parallels: sword is obtained from a Jew residing in Vienne; Girart de Vienne is Olivier's uncle and is involved in the procurement.]
    It occurs to me also that Ivin may have been a misreading of the French juif meaning "Jew".
    In the saga Oliver and Rollant agree to a duel but call it off (obviating the need for Oliver to procure any sword).
    In both the chanson and the saga, Roland is afterwards betrothed to Olivier's sister the belle Aude (=Adein [ON]) .

§ Turpin's horse

In the Chanson de Roland, we see him riding a horse conquered from King Grossaille:

Li arcevesque cumencet la bataille.
Siet el cheval qu'il tolit a Grossaille,
Ço ert uns reis qu'l ocist en Denemarche
 [That Archbishop begins the fight again,
Sitting the horse which he took from Grossaille
That was a king he had in Denmark slain; --]
( The Song of Roland, CXXVI, ll.1648-50 Montcrief tr.)

This is echoed by the branch of the saga that chronicles the battle of Runzival (Kms. VIII, ch. 30), Turpin rode out on a horse brought from Danmark (Danmörk).

But as we have seen, according to Kms I, the archbishop was given a black horse defeated king of Kordurs*1.

See also ⇒«Turpin's Crosse»

*1 Cordes [OF], Cordova. In Kms III, ch. 36, this king is provided with a name: Feridan

§ Etymology of "Almace": a sidebar

§ My conjecture that "Almace" means "alms/mercy" ?
Besides the phonetic similarity of "Almace" to "alms", I would like to make two observations by way of tangential evidence.
  1. There is an "alimosina" (alms) chapter Pseudo-Turpin (Ch. 7 "De Exemplo Elemosine Mortui,"), featuring an embezzler of alms*1 (a man who pocketed the money that his dying relative named Romaricus had willed to charity) and this sinner is carried away by demons/devils.
    This bears striking resemblance in the Song of Roland to what happens to an enemy killed (by Oliver): "The Adversaries of God his soul bare thence" (l. 1510) (L'anme de lui en portent aversers l. 1553). Siglorel (who is slain by Turpin) also gets carried off to hell by the Enemy, albeit in the Norse version(see below).
  2. The tradition of the ⇒«English coronation swords» (originally three swords) includes a sword called Curtana (like Ogier's sword) and it is nicknamed "Sword of Mercy". If this tradition derived from the Charlemagne story of three swords (that survives in Kms I, ch. 43-44, see below), then the coronation sword referred to as "Sword of Spiritual Justice" might have had the name of Turpin's sword, whose meaning was "sword of mercy". This may have been imperfectly transmitted, and the memory of "sword of mercy" may have gotten falsely attached to Curtana. (wildly speculating).

§ Galmés de Fuentes' Arabic etymology theory for Almace (and Durendal)
Fuentes'*2 presents the case that the name Almace derived from Arab sources. Although a sword-name that sounds appreciably close to "Almace" is not forthcoming, a sword-name of a similar construction, not all too surprisingly, can be named: ⇒al-Samsama (al-Ṣamṣāma) .

The next step is, assuming it is arabic, trying to guess what the sword-name means.
Reference is made to previous investigators, Henry & Renée Kahanae, who suggested "Al-musa" (al-Mūsā), the Arab form of "Moses" as possible etymology.
But the paper notes that the Arab word almas has the meaning "diamond", which is a plausible enough name to apply to a sword.

*1 A version of Pseudo-Turpin is incorporated into Grandes Chroniques de France, Bk 4, tr. Robert Levine. The corresponding text reads "There a knight named Romaric became ill.. told one of his cousins to sell his horse and distribute the money among the poor. . his cousin sold the horse . . [the sinful man saw terrible visions] .. and the devils suddenly seized the man," etc.

*2 Galmés de Fuentes, Álvaro (1924-2003) "Les nums d'Almace et cels de Durendal.. (Chanson de Roland, v. 2143) : probable origen árabe del nombre de las dos famosas espadas" (Madrid : Cátedra-Seminario Menéndez Pidal : Gredos, 1972);
Studia hispanica in honorem R. Lapesa. pp 229-241

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