The sword of the paladin Turpin
Almace is the sword carried by Turpin, Archbishop of Rheims and one of the twelve paladins of Charlemagne. Turpin wields Almace during the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 as described in La Chanson de Roland, an 11th century epic poem.
In the poem Turpin, despite being struck with four spear-thrusts, is able to rain down one thousand blows on his enemies before he expires from his wounds.
He’s drawn Almace, whose steel was brown and rough,/Through the great press a thousand blows he’s struck:
In the process he slays the enchanter Siglorel and shatters the devil-created shield Abisme.
That Archbishop spurs on by vassalage,/He will not pause ere Abisme he assail; 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;/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.
The sword Almace is one of three reportedly created by the smith Weyland of England for King Charlemagne, the other swords including Cortana, wielded by Ogier de Danemarche, and Durendal, the sword of Charlemagne himself.
Almace disappeared after the battle, possibly taken by the Saracens.