El Cantar de Mio Cid: The Epic of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar

Introduction to El Cantar de Mio Cid

El Cantar de Mio Cid is an anonymous epic poem that recounts the heroic deeds inspired by the knight Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar. It is the first extensive narrative work of Spanish literature written in a Romance language.

Structure and Metrics of the Poem

The poem features dominant lines of 14-16 syllables in meter. The verses are divided into two separated hemistiches by a caesura. The length of each hemistich ranges from 4 to 13 syllables and is considered the minimum unit of the prosody of the Song. There is no division into stanzas; instead, verses are grouped into tiradas (runs), i.e., series of verses with the same assonant rhyme.

Historical Context and Manuscript

It is written in medieval Castilian and was composed around the year 1200. While the original title is unknown, El Cantar de Mio Cid is the only almost complete work of its kind preserved in Spanish literature, reaching great literary value through the mastery of its style. It is only preserved in a copy made in the fourteenth century (as is clear from the letter of the manuscript) from another dating back to 1207.

The Narrative Arc: Recovery of Honor

El Cantar de Mio Cid focuses on the complex process of the recovery of lost honor by the hero, whose restoration results in a status of even greater honor. The poem is divided into three songs:

• 1. The Song of Banishment: The poem begins with the banishment of the Cid, the first ground of disgrace, after he is accused of theft. This disgrace includes being deprived of his lands in Vivar and the custody of his family.
• 2. The Song of the Wedding: After the conquest of Valencia, achieved through his own arm, his cunning, and prudent management, he earns royal forgiveness. This grants him a new estate in Valencia, which joins his old site and is fully restored.
• 3. The Affront of Corpes: To ratify his new status as a lord of vassals, he arranges weddings with the most prestigious bloodlines, the heirs of Carrión.

Paradoxically, this leads to a new fall in the Cid's honor due to the outrage committed by the Infantes against the Cid's daughters, who are whipped, badly hurt, and abandoned in the oak grove of Corpes. According to medieval law, this constitutes a de facto rejection by the house of Carrión. Consequently, the Cid decides to invoke the invalidity of these marriages in a trial presided over by the King. During this trial, the heirs of Carrión and their relatives are publicly defamed and stripped of previously wielded privileges as members of the royal entourage. Conversely, the Cid's daughters eventually arrange marriages with the kings of Spain, reaching the maximum possible social promotion.