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The Epic of The Cid: with Related Texts
The Epic of the Cid records the deeds of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, the Cid of history and legend. A powerful warrior in the Christian reconquest of medieval Spain, a formidable strategist, and a charismatic leader, the Cid deeply impressed his contemporaries, both Christian and Muslim. Already, in his lifetime, songs, stories, and chronicles were devoted to his exploits. In offering both a highly readable, colloquial prose translation of El Cantar de Mio Cid and selections from a wide variety of those contemporary accounts, this volume brings the historical figure back to life for modern readers. Harney's substantial Introduction and annotation provide the historical, military, and literary background necessary for an informed reading of the texts; also included are maps, a compendium of proper names, a bibliography, and an index.
- GenresPoetrySpanish Literature
256 pages, Paperback
Published March 15, 2011
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About the author
Michael Harney
4 booksMichael Harney is a Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Texas. He is also associated with the Medieval and Comparative Literature programs.
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 7, 2019
Some context from Wikipedia:
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian nobleman and military leader in medieval Spain. The Moors called him El Cid (Spanish pronunciation: [el̟ˈθið]), which meant the Lord (probably from the original Arabic al-sayyid, السَّيِّد), and the Christians, El Campeador, which stood for "Outstanding Warrior" or "The one who stands out in the battlefield". He was born in Vivar, a town near the city of Burgos. After his death, he became Castile's celebrated national hero and the protagonist of the most significant medieval Spanish epic poem, El Cantar de Mio Cid.
A quote from the introduction to the Epic of the Cid:
This repetitive tendency is especially apparent in the work’s use of epithets, a trait with which readers of Homer will be familiar. The Epic of the Cid is fond of formulaic repetitions. Thus, Homer’s “rosy-fingered dawn,” “grey-eyed Athena,” and “wily Odysseus” are matched by the Cidian poet’s “Campeador” and “man born in a lucky hour.
Examples of what's can be described as a surfeit of epithets.
For you, Cid Don Rodrigo, you who girt on sword in a lucky hour, I have sung this morning’s mass.
Thank you, Campeador, you who girt on sword in a lucky hour! You have saved me from many shameful indignities.
My Cid, he who girt on sword in a lucky hour, wanted to know how fast the horse was.
Wasting no time, the man born in a lucky hour put on his tunic, his beard flowing superbly.
Wasting no time, he who was born in a lucky hour ravaged the lands of Alcañiz, pillaging the country all around.
And on and on it goes. I cannot now locate it but I was sure there was the mother of all epithets: My Cid Compeador, Rodrigo Diaz, man of Vivar, he who girt on sword in a lucky hour . . . Although something about the beard would have also been a good addition.
If one has seen the 1961 movie of El Cid starring Charlton Heston as the man born in a lucky hour the presentation of Rodrigo in the poem is similar but in that special Hollywood way, different. It is also a stupendous example of the Hollywood epic clocking in at a magisterial three hours and four minutes but with an intermission to allow the audience to regroup.
Medieval works often began with the moral of the work. Unfortunately the first pages of this poem are lost; however, I nominate a substitute, this quote from My Cid:
"Smite them, my knights, all of you, unflinching! With God’s help, the booty is ours."
This brief sentence has three essential references: first, to smiting, specifically unflinching smiting; second, a cry for God's help; and third, the most important of all, the booty. There are references all through the poem to booty to be gained, to describing the tremendous amount of booty gained after the smiting was done, and often, how the booty was divided up. Accompanied, of course, by cries for more smiting and more prayer.
Now if your historical memory is a bit vague on medieval Spain. There are three important things to keep in mind: Goths, Moors, and Christopher Columbus. The Christian inhabitants of twelfth century Spain were descendants of the Goths. Moors were descendants of North African Arabs who conquered their way into Spain in 711 and established what came to be called Al-Andalus. Finally, Columbus is important because as the Christian Spaniards were completing the final destruction of Al-Andalus in the late 1400s, you know around 1492, the Spanish crown funded Columbus's voyage to find Cathay. That, of course, is another story.
The point is that El Cid is not just smiting Moors in the poem, he is, as often as not, smiting Christian folk. When he does this smiting he again, as often as not, has Moorish folk in his company, even when this particular smiting is against Moors. So, a religious crusade this isn't, at least not in the sense that it became in the 1400s when first the Moors were expelled, then later the Jews, and then because by now it was a religious crusade financed by, you guessed it, more loot. The culmination of the unification of Spain was the Inquisition by which time the jolly inter faith smiting of The Cid's time was a distant memory.
I was tempted to end on a Monty Python reference to, you know, that which is never expected but there are some noteworthy aspects to this tale. First, the fact that the poem survived at all seems a miracle. There is only one original copy and it is missing a big chunk at the beginning and in the middle. The introduction relates some fascinating facts about both composition and textual survival. Second, despite the profusion of epithets, which have a comical effect on first reading, once a reader settles into the rhythm the poem relates a stirring story. The poem is not epic in length but rather in tone. It compactly hits the high points of the life of The Cid, An appendix presents selection from other writings about The Cid which add context to the poem. I recommend the poem to all whom it might interest and I also recommend the movie for if the Hollywood ending is fiction, still I would like to believe it true, summing up the life of My Cid Compeador, the man born in a lucky hour, his beard flowing superbly.
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian nobleman and military leader in medieval Spain. The Moors called him El Cid (Spanish pronunciation: [el̟ˈθið]), which meant the Lord (probably from the original Arabic al-sayyid, السَّيِّد), and the Christians, El Campeador, which stood for "Outstanding Warrior" or "The one who stands out in the battlefield". He was born in Vivar, a town near the city of Burgos. After his death, he became Castile's celebrated national hero and the protagonist of the most significant medieval Spanish epic poem, El Cantar de Mio Cid.
A quote from the introduction to the Epic of the Cid:
This repetitive tendency is especially apparent in the work’s use of epithets, a trait with which readers of Homer will be familiar. The Epic of the Cid is fond of formulaic repetitions. Thus, Homer’s “rosy-fingered dawn,” “grey-eyed Athena,” and “wily Odysseus” are matched by the Cidian poet’s “Campeador” and “man born in a lucky hour.
Examples of what's can be described as a surfeit of epithets.
For you, Cid Don Rodrigo, you who girt on sword in a lucky hour, I have sung this morning’s mass.
Thank you, Campeador, you who girt on sword in a lucky hour! You have saved me from many shameful indignities.
My Cid, he who girt on sword in a lucky hour, wanted to know how fast the horse was.
Wasting no time, the man born in a lucky hour put on his tunic, his beard flowing superbly.
Wasting no time, he who was born in a lucky hour ravaged the lands of Alcañiz, pillaging the country all around.
And on and on it goes. I cannot now locate it but I was sure there was the mother of all epithets: My Cid Compeador, Rodrigo Diaz, man of Vivar, he who girt on sword in a lucky hour . . . Although something about the beard would have also been a good addition.
If one has seen the 1961 movie of El Cid starring Charlton Heston as the man born in a lucky hour the presentation of Rodrigo in the poem is similar but in that special Hollywood way, different. It is also a stupendous example of the Hollywood epic clocking in at a magisterial three hours and four minutes but with an intermission to allow the audience to regroup.
Medieval works often began with the moral of the work. Unfortunately the first pages of this poem are lost; however, I nominate a substitute, this quote from My Cid:
"Smite them, my knights, all of you, unflinching! With God’s help, the booty is ours."
This brief sentence has three essential references: first, to smiting, specifically unflinching smiting; second, a cry for God's help; and third, the most important of all, the booty. There are references all through the poem to booty to be gained, to describing the tremendous amount of booty gained after the smiting was done, and often, how the booty was divided up. Accompanied, of course, by cries for more smiting and more prayer.
Now if your historical memory is a bit vague on medieval Spain. There are three important things to keep in mind: Goths, Moors, and Christopher Columbus. The Christian inhabitants of twelfth century Spain were descendants of the Goths. Moors were descendants of North African Arabs who conquered their way into Spain in 711 and established what came to be called Al-Andalus. Finally, Columbus is important because as the Christian Spaniards were completing the final destruction of Al-Andalus in the late 1400s, you know around 1492, the Spanish crown funded Columbus's voyage to find Cathay. That, of course, is another story.
The point is that El Cid is not just smiting Moors in the poem, he is, as often as not, smiting Christian folk. When he does this smiting he again, as often as not, has Moorish folk in his company, even when this particular smiting is against Moors. So, a religious crusade this isn't, at least not in the sense that it became in the 1400s when first the Moors were expelled, then later the Jews, and then because by now it was a religious crusade financed by, you guessed it, more loot. The culmination of the unification of Spain was the Inquisition by which time the jolly inter faith smiting of The Cid's time was a distant memory.
I was tempted to end on a Monty Python reference to, you know, that which is never expected but there are some noteworthy aspects to this tale. First, the fact that the poem survived at all seems a miracle. There is only one original copy and it is missing a big chunk at the beginning and in the middle. The introduction relates some fascinating facts about both composition and textual survival. Second, despite the profusion of epithets, which have a comical effect on first reading, once a reader settles into the rhythm the poem relates a stirring story. The poem is not epic in length but rather in tone. It compactly hits the high points of the life of The Cid, An appendix presents selection from other writings about The Cid which add context to the poem. I recommend the poem to all whom it might interest and I also recommend the movie for if the Hollywood ending is fiction, still I would like to believe it true, summing up the life of My Cid Compeador, the man born in a lucky hour, his beard flowing superbly.
May 1, 2025
The prose translation is written using modern colloquialisms that sound awkward coming from the mouths of early medieval nobles. Anyway, translator's intent was to make it readable for a modern audience (probably with a barely high-school reading level). Any poetic aspects are completely missing. Where the book achieves some value is the nice listing and description of all main characters and important historical points, so you can keep your Pedros separate. Also included are samples of other versions of the Cid tale, including one by a not-very-impressed Muslim (although he did acknowledge Cid's military skills).
The narrative itself is not very perceptive about human behavior and includes a brutal rape of two wives by their humiliated husbands, which isn't historically accurate and wouldn't be done by any man in his right senses because his life would be forfeit immediately, but the two idiotic Infantes seem to think they'll get away with this humiliation of Cid. This can only be an episode that the poet thought would go over well with a naive, unintellectual audience who just wanted some brutality other than the ceaseless warfare. Also, the narrative implies that Cid's marauding after he's exiled is done to win the favor of Alfonso, when in fact the Cid signed up to fight for the Muslim ruler of Saragossa, so was fighting for the Muslims. That wouldn't play well in a work touting the superiority of this champion of the Christians (sic), so it's never mentioned. As said, not historically accurate, not sophisticated in analysis of human behavior and without the poetry little to recommend it to the reader as repetition of stock phrases soon puts one to sleep (I fell asleep more often trying to read this poem than with any other book I've ever read!). Pick another version where poetry is attempted and good sources materials are included.
The narrative itself is not very perceptive about human behavior and includes a brutal rape of two wives by their humiliated husbands, which isn't historically accurate and wouldn't be done by any man in his right senses because his life would be forfeit immediately, but the two idiotic Infantes seem to think they'll get away with this humiliation of Cid. This can only be an episode that the poet thought would go over well with a naive, unintellectual audience who just wanted some brutality other than the ceaseless warfare. Also, the narrative implies that Cid's marauding after he's exiled is done to win the favor of Alfonso, when in fact the Cid signed up to fight for the Muslim ruler of Saragossa, so was fighting for the Muslims. That wouldn't play well in a work touting the superiority of this champion of the Christians (sic), so it's never mentioned. As said, not historically accurate, not sophisticated in analysis of human behavior and without the poetry little to recommend it to the reader as repetition of stock phrases soon puts one to sleep (I fell asleep more often trying to read this poem than with any other book I've ever read!). Pick another version where poetry is attempted and good sources materials are included.
October 10, 2023
wow. another riveting and deeply confusing crusades read. i want roland back
August 28, 2011
Excellent handbook. Resources and other materials are superb. A definite consult.
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February 13, 2018I'm honestly kind of surprised my conservative literatue teacher didn't write me off for the blatant rant on sexism that I turned in with my essay for this.
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