A Flamberge (also Floberge, Froberge, and other variations) is a medieval sword. Swung by a number of heroes of chansons de geste and romances, the name became a generic name for a large sword.
In earlier texts, the name is usually given as "floberge" or "froberge" (Italian: Fusberta or Frusberta), but the name developed under the influence of the word "flamber". Swords by that name are wielded by Renaud de Montauban (and his cousin Maugris) in The Four Sons of Aymon (12th century); Antenor in the Roman de Troie (12th century); Begon, the brother of the eponymous hero of Garin le Loherain (12th century); and the hero of Galien le Restoré (15th century).
In early 20th century works, swords of the name were wielded by Dom Manuel of James Branch Cabell's Biography of the Life of Manuel and by Prince Valiant.
Flamberge ("flaming"), from the French "flamber", is a term with many connotations, including swords without the flamed-blade. The term is a frequent name or alias for swords in medieval chansons de geste and romances, where it often just means a large sword. Egerton Castle used the term to refer to swords that were a transition from the rapier to the smallsword. These swords did not necessarily have an undulated blade. Castle makes note of this being the case of certain Swiss rapiers, but flamberge quickly became a disdainful term in France to refer to flamboyant swords.This comes from the French expression "Mettre flamberge au vent", meaning "To put in the wind". Here, it is suggested that the wielder of the sword likened it to the mythical sword Durendal, which alternatively was called flamberge.
References
- ^ Counson, Albert (1907). "Noms épiques entrés dans le vocabulaire commun". Romanische Forschungen. 23 (1): 401–413. JSTOR 27935661.
- Blish, James (1971–1972). "The Long Night of a Virginia Author". Journal of Modern Literature. 2 (3): 393–405. JSTOR 30053192.
- Kane, Brian M. (2009). The Definitive Prince Valiant Companion. Fantagraphics Books. p. 68. ISBN 9781606993057.
- Bishop, Chris (2016). Medievalist Comics and the American Century. UP of Mississippi. p. 42. ISBN 9781496808530.
.png){kind=small} | This article relating to swords is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |