Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-10-17
How the Steel Of Toledo p.o.-
nous, /,

One of the most curious &c
Spanish legends is one which i; tne Old
posed to account for the extraor I'd sup
superiority of Toledan steel oysn . y
the whole world. When tho mat Of
Roland fell wounded unto dealt paladia
CORY battlefield of RoncesyanH On the
nous sword, Durandal, becs MS ia
prize of a saracen soldier in the the
of the caliph OF Burgos. Nevar. service
so great as when it became ao" was loy
known among the Moors that 1tihuaeesalllH
doubtable foe, Roland, had dena,re
from this material world forever 'ftea
that his no less renowned Dnr,,s aq
had fallen into their hands, and "l0a1
would never again be able to worl' 'lGY
terrible havoc among the ranks it 'aa
been wont to do. The caliph e,ro Jag
ders that a magnificent case shfonIIa o.
prepared in which he intended ~ NV %
post the sword and expose # :, 4s
subjects. who all knew of it, onlv ny
we'll. by fame; for had not man. M .0p
father, son, husband. brother or nnss
been sent off abruptly to another w auy,e
there to be welcomed by the celas,;at,
houris, by the long swing and ho s,a
crash of that enchanted blade, wiald,55
by the mighty arm of a dangerous ~
envy, who had escaped ~scatheless fr W.
the fury and revenge of his bitter f eoas
All the greater holiday was the da wy, ,:
be looked upon on which they We're .. y
to be ocularly satisfied that the drssa
full weapon had truly become tbs;
own. Therefore q day and an hon,
was appointed on which the swo,i
should be formally put into its case f.,
public inspection. The a S wbFS
had been SO carefully prepared w.,
gorgeous with gold embellishments and
many rare and precious stones, mostly sls
presented by the caliph himself. On ii,
appointed day he came in greatstate fl
receive the sword; taking it up with
both his hands, he was about to p},e.
it in its case, when, with Il loud cry
s~tupefaction. he stepped hurriedly bseS
Everybody was then able to notice that
Durandal had escaped from his band
and was rapidly disappearing in fl,
ground, working it's way down
though it were a screw. 1t is not 81
easy task to portray the confusion tls
reigncd among the turbulent crowd
enough to say, The rushing to and fu
was highly bewildering, and the impp
cations loud and fearful. The swarbl
warriors cursed and tore their beard:
for Durandal could not be stopped \
re zovcred. 1t had escaped them, and
disappeared from their sight forever
FOR many a long year the sword re-
NAMED underground, working its wa
all over the country, over mountains
down dales, and under the plains, caus
ing strange upheavals and deep era
on it's path, and keeping the poor ped
pie in a continual state of superstition
terror. At length Durandal either 90
tired or found q resting-place that suit
ed it, and so gave up its erratic move
ments, to lie quietly concealed in a bel
of a mountain spring of singular
bright and pure water, whose water
flowing between. grassy banks AM
over q shingly bed, passed the prou
city of Toledo. From that hour til
spring acquired a marvellous virtu]
which bestowed Immortality on the fa
Spanish town; for, owing to this watd
being used, the steel of Toledo was
the best, and the o were e
abled to defy the rest of Chrispendd
it not Damascus itself. - ColbanA
L3ttcd Service Magazine.