Durandal


 * Blazing Sword redirects here, you may be looking for Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade.

"Increases strength by 5 pts."

- In-game description, The Blazing Blade

Durandal (デュランダル, Dyurandaru), the Blazing Blade (烈火の剣, Rekka no Ken lit. Sword of Raging Fire), is the legendary weapon wielded by the Champion Roland during the Scouring. As with the other legendary weapons, Durandal is effective in slaying Dragons and their distant cousins, Wyverns.

The Scouring
Durandal's origins are mysterious, but what is known is that the sword was wielded by Roland, one of the Eight Heroes who partook in the purging of the dragons during The Scouring. Although used to defend humanity against the dragons, it was theorised that Durandal and the other legendary weapons, as a result of the immensity of the power that they possessed, was responsible for distorting the balance of the elements present within the atmosphere, a calamity that eventually led to the occurrence of what is hailed as The Ending Winter. The war eventually ended when the Demon Dragon Idunn was sealed away by Hartmut. In a similar light to the Binding Blade, Durandal was also sealed away, albeit in a cave north of Ostia, alongside ephemeral fragments of the souls of Georg and a few selected soldiers, that whom served the principal purpose of standing guard over the blade.

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
The seal was eventually disturbed by Eliwood and his companions, seeking the legendary blade in order to vanquish the Dark Druid Nergal. Georg and the guardians engage Eliwood's group to judge their worth. Upon being defeated by Eliwood and a few of his trusted allies, Georg realized that Eliwood and his compatriots Lyn and Hector were descendants of the Roland, and that Eliwood were nearly as one. The Durandal was then bequeathed to Eliwood by Roland's spirit. Upon exiting the cave, Eliwood unwittingly triggered its dragon-slaying powers when Ninian appeared in her true ice dragon form. After she breathed her last, a bereaved Eliwood could not bring himself to wield the weapon when Nergal's morphs infiltrated Castle Ostia, out of fear of the blade's ability to seemingly attack on its own. After resolving to avenge Ninian, he later used the blade in battle against Nergal, his resurrected morphs of their deadliest foes, and the Fire Dragon Nergal summoned in his final, vengeful moments. After the Dragon is defeated, the blade was returned to its original resting location and resealed, albeit without its guardians to monitor it.

Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
After rescuing Hector's daughter, Lilina, from a traitorous Ostian general, Roy and the Lycian Army quickly hastened to the tomb of Roland, where, after defeating a group of bandits that had settled within the cave, unearthed the Blazing Sword once more, this time for the fight against the Manaketes Bern had summoned to fight in its army. The sword, when gathered together alongside its other divine brethren, linked with the hallowed energies contained within the cores of the weapons to create a ray of light - One that unsealed the fabled Dragon Temple, where Idunn, Brunya, and Jahn resided prepared to exterminate humanity, returning Elibe to the Dragons.

The blade's fate after Idunn's defeat is unknown, although it is likely that it was resealed once again.

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
*Preference = Eliwood

Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade

 * Event
 * Ch. 8x - The sword will be passed into the hands of Roy's army at the end of the chapter.
 * }

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

 * Inventory
 * Athos
 * }

Trivia

 * Durandal is featured in front of Armads on the title screen of The Blazing Blade.
 * When equipped by Eliwood, Durandal causes him to assume a fighting style completely different from what he is normally accustomed to, due to its large size. When in battle the song Blessing of the Eight Generals will play, in emphasis of the blade's power, legacy, and role in ending Nergal's madness.
 * In the beta version of The Blazing Blade, the sprite designed for Durandal is much shorter in length and more slender width. In addition to this, the sword is not bound to Eliwood, as Lyn is also able to wield it, complete with a unique attack animation that shows its heavyweight nature. In the final game, while Lyn is unable to wield Durandal, Hector mentions to Oswin after Cog of Destiny that the sword they plan to obtain is to be used by either Eliwood or Lyn.
 * It is also to be noted that if Eliwood wields the Durandal blade in his unpromoted form, no special animation will play when he fights.
 * Durandal appears to be a claymore.
 * In Fire Emblem Heroes, Durandal has the Death Blow 2 skill built into it, likely alluding to the +5 Strength that Durandal comes with in-game

Etymology
According to the myths of the French medieval period, Durandal (or Durindana) is the name of the iconic sword that is brandished by the French Paladin Roland, mightiest of the Twelve Peers of Charlemagne. According to "La Chanson de Roland" (The Song of Roland), the most famous French medieval poem, the sword was once the property of Hector of Troy, and contains within its hilt several sacred Christian relics: The tooth of Saint Peter, the blood of Saint Basil, a lock of hair of Saint Denis (patron saint of France), and a shard of the raiment of the Virgin Mary.

At the end of "La Chanson de Roland," Roland attempts to destroy Durandal as he lays dying in Roncesvalles Pass to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Basque pagans. The attempt proved futile as the act of smashing the sword against the canyon wall instead yielded a gargantuan crack - renowned as "La Breche de Roland" (Roland's Breach) - within the Pyrenees mountain range between France and Spain.