Cantar de Mio Cid

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Cantar de mio Cid

Poem of the Cid

Also known as Poema de mio Cid (Poem of mio Cid)

Author(s) Unknown

Language Old Spanish

Date Composed sometime between 1140 and

1207

Manuscript(s) Unique manuscript. National Library of

Spain, Ms. Sig. v.717.

Genre Cantar de gesta

 Verse form Anisosyllabic with assonant rhyme

Length 3730 verses

El Cantar de mio Cid, literally "The Song of my Cid" (or El Poema de mio Cid), also known in
English as The Poem of the Cid, is the oldest preserved Castilian epic poem (epopeya).
[1]
Based on a true story, it tells of the Castilian hero El Cid, and takes place during
the Reconquista, or reconquest of Spain from the Moors.
The Spanish medievalist Ramn Menndez Pidal included the Cantar de Mio Cid in the
popular tradition he termed the mester de juglara. Mester de juglara refers to the medieval
tradition according to which popular poems were passed down from generation to generation,
being changed in the process. These poems were meant to be performed in public by minstrels
(or juglares), who each performed the traditional composition differently according to the
performance contextsometimes adding their own twists to the epic poems they told, or
abbreviating it according to the situation.
On the other hand, some critics (known as individualists) believe El Cantar de Mio Cid was
composed by one Per Abbad (in English, Abbot Peter[2]) who signed the only existing
manuscript copy, and as such is an example of the learned poetry that was cultivated in the
monasteries and other centers of erudition. Per Abbad puts the date 1207 after his name, but
the existing copy forms part of a 14th-century codex in the Biblioteca Nacional de
Espaa (National Library) in Madrid, Spain. It is, however, incomplete, missing the first page
and two others in the middle, and is written in Old Spanish.
Its current title is a 19th-century proposal by Ramn Menndez Pidal; its original title is
unknown. Some call it El Poema del Cid on the grounds that it is not a cantar but a poem made
up of three cantares. The title has been translated into English as The Lay of the Cid and The
Song of the Cid. Mio Cid is literally "My Cid", a term of endearment used by the narrator and by
characters in the work.[2] The word Cid originates from Arabic sidi or sayyid (), an honorific
title similar to English Sir (in the medieval, courtly sense).

Contents
[hide]

1The story

o 1.1Cantar del Destierro (verses 11086)

o 1.2Cantar de las bodas de las hijas del Cid (verses 10872277)

o 1.3Cantar de la Afrenta de Corpes (verses 22783730)

2Authorship and composition date

3Extract

4Sample text

5Translations into English

 6See also

7Notes

8References

9External links

The story[edit]
El Cid married the cousin of King Alfonso VI, Doa Ximena, but for certain reasons (according
to the story, he made the king swear by Santa Gadea that he had not ordered
the fratricide of his own brother), he fell into the disfavor of the king and had to leave his home
country of Castile.

The Cid's daughters after being beaten and tied up, work by Ignacio Pinazo (1879).

The story begins with the exile of El Cid, whose enemies had unjustly accused him of stealing
money from the king, Alfonso VI of Castile and Len, leading to his exile. To regain his honor,
he participated in the battles against the Moorish armies and conquered Valencia. By these
heroic acts he regained the confidence of the king and his honor was restored. The king
personally marries El Cid's daughters to the infantes (princes) of Carrin. However, when the
princes are humiliated by El Cid's men for their cowardice, the infantes swear revenge. They
beat their new wives and leave them for dead. When El Cid learns of this he pleads to the king
for justice. The infantes are forced to return El Cid's dowry and are defeated in a duel, stripping
them of all honor. El Cid's two daughters then remarry to the infantes of Navarre and Aragon.
Through the marriages of his daughters, El Cid began the unification of Spain.
Unlike other European medieval epics, the tone is realist.[3] There is no magic, even the
apparition of archangel Gabriel (verses 404410) happens in a dream. However, it also
departs from historic truth: for example, there is no mention of his son, his daughters were not
named Elvira and Sol and they did not become queens.
It consists of more than 3,700 verses of usually 14 through 16 syllables, each with
a caesura between the hemistiches. The rhyme is assonant.
Since 1913, and following the work of Ramn Menndez Pidal, the entire work is
conventionally divided into three parts:
Cantar del Destierro (verses 11086)[edit]
El Cid is exiled from Castile by King Alfonso VI and fights against the Moors to regain his
honor.
Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, who is called Mo Cid (meaning My Lord) by the Moors. His current task
is to collect the tributes from the Moorish territory owed to his king, Alfonso VI of Leon. Cid's
enemy accuses him of taking some of these tributes and the king exiles him from Leon and
Castilla. Before he leaves, he places his wife, Doa Ximena, and his two daughters, Doa
Elvira and Doa Sol, in the Monastery of Cardea. The canto then gives accounts of raids in
the Moorish territory in which Cid and his men get rich off of the spoils.
Cantar de las bodas de las hijas del Cid (verses 10872277)[edit]
El Cid defends the city of Valencia, defeating King Yusuf ibn Tashfin of the Almoravids. El Cid
restores his honor and grants his daughters permission to marry the infantes of Carrin.
It begins with Cid's capture of the city of Valencia. He brings his family to live with him. It is
discovered that the Infantes (princes) de Carrin, the nephews to the king, are the enemies
who caused Cid's exile. They plot to marry his daughters to take some of his wealth. The king
acts on behalf of his nephews and pardons Cid and allows the marriages. Cid suspects that
something bad will happen from the marriages but he allows it anyway.
Cantar de la Afrenta de Corpes (verses 22783730)[edit]
The infantes of Carrin were put on shame after being scared of a lion roaming in the court
and running away from a campaign to fight against the Moors. So, in revenge, they decide to
abuse and abandon their wives at the roadside in Corpes, tied to trees. Once more, El Cid has
to gain his honor back, so he asks the court of Toledo for justice. The infantes are defeated in a
duel by El Cid's men, and his daughters remarry to the infantes of Navarre and Aragon.
The Cantar shows that the Infantes are cowards in battles with the Moors. They are made fun
of and decide to get revenge by attacking their wives. They set out for Carrin with their wives
and an escort, Felix Muoz, the cousin of the daughters. Once on the journey, they send the
escort ahead of them, steal their wives' great dowries (including two beautiful swords) and beat
them and leave them for dead. Muoz suspects trouble and returns to his cousins and takes
them to receive help. Cid seeks to right the wrongs done to his daughters, and a trial is held. A
duel is held between some of Cid's men and the Infantes in which the Infantes lose. In the
middle of the trial, a message is sent from the kings of Navarra and Aragon, proposing to marry
their sons to Cid's daughters. These marriages take place after the defeat of the Infantes and
near the end of the story.

Authorship and composition date[edit]

The linguistic analysis allows the reconstruction of a 12th-century previous text, which Ramn
Menndez Pidal dated circa 1140. Date and authorship are still open to debate. [4]Certain
aspects of the conserved text belong to a well-informed author, with precise knowledge of the
law in effect by the end of the 12th century and beginning of the 13th, who knew the area
bordering with Burgos.

Extract[edit]
These are the first two known stanzas.[5] The format has been somewhat regularized (e.g.,
"mio" for "myo", "rr" for "R", "" for "nn", "llorando" for "lorando", "v" for "u", adding modern
punctuation and capitalization):
De los sos oios tan fuertemientre llorando,
Tornava la cabea e estavalos catando;
Vio puertas abiertas e uos sin caados,
alcandaras vazias, sin pielles e sin mantos,
e sin falcones e sin adtores mudados.
Sospiro Mio Cid, ca mucho avie grandes cuidados.
Fablo mio Cid bien e tan mesurado:
grado a ti, Seor Padre, que estas en alto!
Esto me an buelto mios enemigos malos.
Alli pienssan de aguiiar, alli sueltan las rriendas;
ala exida de Bivar ovieron la corneia diestra
e entrando a Burgos ovieronla siniestra.
Meio Mio Cid los ombros e engrameo la tiesta:
Albricia, Albar Faez, ca echados somos de tierra!
[Mas a grand ondra tornaremos a Castiella.]
(The
last
vers
e
is n
ot in
the
origi
nal
tran
scri
pt
by
Per
Abb
at,
but
it
was
inse
rted
by
Men
nd
ez
Pida
l
bec
aus
e it
app
ears
in
later
chro
nicle
s,
e.g.,
"Vei
nte
Rey
es
de
Cas
tilla
(13
44)".
[6]
)

Sa
m
ple
tex
t[e
dit]
The
follo
wing
is a
sam
ple
from
Can
tar
de
Mio
Cid
(line
s
330

365)
,
with
abbr
evia
tion
s re
solv
ed,
pun
ctua
tion
(the
origi
nal
has
non
e),
and
som
e
mod
erni
zed
lette
rs.
[note

1]
Be
low,
the
origi
nal
Old
Spa
nish
text
in
the
first
colu
mn
is
pres
ente
d,
alon
g
with
the
sam
e
sam
ple
in
mod
ern
Spa
nish
in
the
sec
ond
colu
mn
and

Ya sennor glorioso, padre que
en ielo estas,
Fezist ielo e tierra, el terero el
mar,
Fezist estrelas e luna, e el sol pora
escalentar,
Prisist encarnaion en Sancta Maria
Madre,
En Belleem apareist, commo fue tu
veluntad,
Pastores te glorificaron, ovieronte a
laudare,
Tres Reyes de Arabia te vinieron
adorar,
Melchior e Gaspar e
Baltasar, oro e tus e mirra
Te offreieron, commo fue tu
veluntad.
Saluest a Jonas quando cayo en la
mar,
Saluest a Daniel con los leones en la
mala carel,
Saluest dentro en Roma al
sennor San Sabastin,
Saluest a Sancta Susanna del falso
criminal,
Por tierra andidiste XXXII annos,
sennor spirital,
Mostrando los miraclos, por n
auemos que fablar,
Del agua fezist vino e dela piedra
pan,
Resuitest a Lazaro, ca fue tu
voluntad,
Alos judios te dexeste prender, do
dizen Monte Caluarie
Pusieronte en cruz, por nombre
en Golgota,
Dos ladrones contigo, estos de
sennas partes,
El vno es en parayso, ca el otro non
entro ala,
Estando en la cruz vertud fezist muy
grant,
Longinos era iego, que nuquas vio
alguandre,
an
Engl
ish
tran
slati
on
in
the
third
colu
mn.
O Seor glorioso, Padre O glorious Lord, Father
que ests en el cielo, who art in Heaven,
Hiciste el cielo y la Thou madest Heaven and
tierra, al tercer da el Earth, and on the third day
mar, the sea,
Hiciste las estrellas y la Thou madest the stars and
luna, y el sol para the Moon, and the Sun for
calentar, warmth,
Te encarnaste en Santa Thou incarnated Thyself of
Mara madre, the Blessed Mother Mary,
En Beln apareciste, In Bethlehem Thou
como fue tu voluntad, appeared, for it was Thy
Pastores te glorificaron, will,
te tuvieron que loar, Shepherds glorified Thee,
Tres reyes de Arabia te they gave Thee praise,
vinieron a adorar, Three kings of Arabia came
Melchor, Gaspar y to worship Thee,
Baltasar; oro, incienso y Melchior, Caspar, and
mirra Balthazar; offered Thee
Te ofrecieron, como fue Gold, frankincense, and
tu voluntad. myrrh, for it was Thy will.
Salvaste a Jons cuando Thou saved Jonah when he
cay en el mar, fell into the sea,
Salvaste a Daniel con Thou saved Daniel from the
los leones en la mala lions in the terrible jail,
crcel, Thou saved Saint Sebastian
Salvaste dentro de Roma from within Rome,
al seor San Sebastin, Thou saved Saint Susan
Salvaste a Santa Susana from the false charge,
del falso criminal, On Earth Thou walked
Por tierra anduviste thirty-two years, Spiritual
treinta y dos aos, Seor Lord,
espiritual, Performing miracles, thus
Mostrando los milagros, we have of which to speak,
por ende tenemos qu Of the water Thou madest
hablar, wine and of the stone
Del agua hiciste vino y bread,
de la piedra pan, Thou revived Lazarus,
Resucitaste a Lzaro, because it was Thy will,
porque fue tu voluntad, Thou left Thyself to be
Por los judos te dejaste arrested by the Jews, where
prender, donde llaman they call Mount Calvary,
Monte Calvario They placed Thee on the
Te pusieron en la cruz, Cross, in the place called
en un lugar llamado Golgotha,
Golgot, Two thieves with Thee,
Dos ladrones contigo,

Diot con la lana enel costado, dont
yxio la sangre,
Corrio la sangre por el astil ayuso,
las manos se ouo de vntar,
Alolas arriba, legolas a la faz,
Abrio sos oios, cato atodas partes,
En ti crouo al ora, por end es saluo
de mal.
En el monumento Resuitest e fust
alos ynfiernos,
Commo fue tu veluntad,
Quebranteste las puertas e saqueste
los padres sanctos.
Tueres Rey delos Reyes e de todel
mundo padre,
Ati adoro e creo de toda voluntad,
E Ruego a San Peydro que me aiude
a Rogar
Por mio id el campeador, que Dios
le curie de mal,
Quando oy nos partimos, en vida nos
faz iuntar.
estos de sendas partes,
Uno est en el paraso,
porque el otro no entr
all, these of split paths,
Estando en la cruz One is in Paradise, but the
hiciste una virtud muy other did not enter there,
grande, Being on the Cross Thou
Longinos era ciego que didst a very great virtue,
jams se vio, Longinus was blind ever he
Te dio con la lanza en el saw Thee,
costado, de donde sali He gave Thee a blow with
la sangre, the lance in the broadside,
Corri la sangre por el where he left the blood,
astil abajo, las manos se Running down the arm, the
tuvo que untar, hands Thou hadst spread,
Alzndolas arriba, Raised it up, as it led to
llevndolas a la cara, Thy face,
Abri sus ojos, mir a Opened their eyes, saw all
todas partes, parts,
En ti crey entonces, por And believed in Thee then,
ende se salv del mal. thus saved them from evil.
En el monumento Thou revived in the tomb
resucitaste y fuiste a los and went to Hell,
infiernos, For it was Thy will,
Como fue tu voluntad, Thou hast broken the doors
Quebrantaste las and brought out the holy
puertas y sacaste a los fathers.
padres santos. Thou art King of Kings and
T eres Rey de los reyes of all the world Father,
y de todo el mundo I worship Thee and I
padre, believe in all Thy will,
A ti te adoro y creo de And I pray to Saint Peter to
toda voluntad, help with my prayer,
Y ruego a San Pedro que For my Cid the Champion,
me ayude a rogar that God nurse from evil,
Por mi Cid el When we part today, that
Campeador, que Dios le we are joined in this life or
cuide del mal, the next.
Cuando hoy partamos,
que en vida nos haga
juntar.
Tr
an
sla
tio
ns
int
o
En
gli
sh[
edit
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