The sword of Doolin of Mayence (A hero of a French romance of chivalry, and the father of Ogier the Dane). It was so sharp that when placed edge downwards it would cut through a slab of wood without the use of force The etymology of Merveillleuse is the noun use of the feminine form of the french word "merveilleux," meaning ‘marvellous’ (in French languague, nouns possess gramatical gender, and the word for sword, épée, is feminine). It also describes a fashionable young Frenchwoman of the late 18th-century, characterized by extravagant dress sense and anti-revolutionary ideas.