The greatest of the Spanish mediaeval songs of deeds and one of the classic works in European literature bears the name of its hero, “el Mio Cid” (My Cid). It was composed at the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century, and had been completed by 1207, when a certain Per Abbat (or Pedro Abad) copied it in the form of a manuscript of which it, in turn, is theonly remaining copy left today.
“El Cantar de mio Cid” -also known in English as The Song of My Cid or The Poem of the Cid- as we have already mentioned, is a free version of the final part of the life of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, from the time of his first exile in 1081 to his death in 1099.
Although the biographic background is quite clear, the literary adaptation of the events is quite frequent and considerable, in order to give a coherent vision of the life of the main character, acting, from the start, in a way that only the historic Battler would act from 1087 and particularly, the second exile in 1088.
As for the potential sources of information about the hero, the author of “El Cantar” most certainly based his story on oral tradition and it also seems likely that he knew the “Historia Roderici” quoted earlier. There is no proof of the existence of previous songs of deed about El Cid that could have inspired the poet, but it appears clear that his literary models (not historical) were other epic poems from Castile and other countries.
One essential feature is its use of heterometric verses, divided up into two halves, each one of which has between four and eleven syllables. The verses are joined in passages or stanzas that share the same assonant rhyme and are usually about the same theme.
The first song tells of the adventures of the hero in exile in the region of la Alcarria and the Jalón and Jiloca valleys, where he obtains his booty and taxes from the Muslim population.
The second song focuses on the conquest of Valencia and the reconciliation between El Cid and King Alfonso, and ends with the wedding of his daughters to two noblemen from the royal court, the dauphins of Carrión.
The third song tells how the cowardice of the dauphins leads to them being scorned by El Cid’s men, and their departure from Valencia with their wives, whom they mistreat and abandon in the oak forest of Corpes. EL Cid brings a complaint before King Alfonso, who summons the court in Toledo, where the Battler challenges the dauphins.
Another of the characteristic aspects of songs of deeds is their formula-based style, i.e., the use of clichés or set phrases, for instance, in the description of the battles or when referring to a character. Other stylistic resources used by minstrels were considerable alternation and variety in the tenses of the verbs; the use of synonym pairs, such as «pequeñas son y de días chicas», and also inclusive pairs, such as «moros y cristianos» (i.e., everyone).
Consequently, “El Cantar” can be characterised as a «poem of honour». This honour, be it public or private, has two dimensions: firstly, it is related to the good reputation of a person, with the opinion that that person's equals have of him in the social scale, and secondly the lifestyle of a person, insofar as his material possessions are indicative of the position he has in society.
In both cases, the recovery of El Cid’s honour is achieved by methods that are practically unknown in epic poetry, which makes “El Cantar” not only one of the finest examples of this type of poem but also the most original. Indeed, the hero of Vivar, who is exiled due to the slanderous acts of his enemies in court, never considers adopting any of the extreme measures available in the epic repertoire (rebelling against the king and his advisers) but prefers to obey the royal order and leave Al-andalus to earn his keep with booty won from his enemy, an option that was always considered legitimate at that time.
A discreet hero
The great epic heroes of the Middle Ages were expected to perform impossible deeds and maintain radical attitudes, often above and beyond what was commonly accepted. El Cid does not decide on this bloody course of action, but uses the regulated legal procedure for repairing offences between noblemen: the challenge. After informing King Alfonso of the outrage, the court of the kingdom meets and the Battler challenges the dauphins before it. The king accepts the challenge and three of El Cid’s men fight the dauphins and their elder brother. The victory of El Cid’s men leads to the offence being repaired with no deaths and no bloodshed, in accordance with more advanced legal customs of those times. Centuries before lawsuits became fashionable, the venerable “Cantar de mio Cid” warned of the dramatic options of legal proceedings and subjected them to wisdom and measure of its hero.
Sources used by the poet
As regards the historical data about the hero in possession of the poet, one century after the death of El Cid, it is difficult to determine exactly which sources he used to obtain the information used. Critics have basically pointed in the following directions: one or several pre-existing epic poems about El Cid that would have been written during the time of the hero, based on a direct observation of his deeds; historical documents related to him (such as those that exist today in Burgos Cathedral and the Diocesan Museum of Salamanca, one of which contains the signature of Rodrigo) and the “Historia Roderici”, a Latin biography that is quite complete, written in about 1185.
The first of these possibilities is not likely, due to the lack of this type of testimony in songs of deed, and the lack of these points to "El Cantar de mio Cid” itself being created through the evolution of an original poem written on closer observation of the facts, but as already seen, the conserved text does not support that option.
The second option poses a similar problem, since the diplomas and in general, the mediaeval documents conserved do not contain the type of information necessary to elaborate the plot of an epic poem. However, the inclusion of certain figures living at the same time as El Cid among the characters but who had nothing to do with him, leads to the suspicion that the poet used historical documents, at least as a secondary source. The third alternative is much more plausible and in fact, there are many coincidences between “Historia Roderici” and “El Cantar de mio Cid”, especially in the part related to the conquest of Valencia.
Sources:
http://en.caminodelcid.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantar_de_Mio_Cid