Meaning of Cantar de Mio Cid

What is Cantar de Mio Cid:

The Song of Mio Cid I know based on the exploits of the Spanish knight Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1043-1099), also known as "el Campeador".

The author of the work Song of Mio Cid It is anonymous and was written around 1200. It is considered one of the first great medieval literary works. It is written in the Romance language and is composed of three songs.

Also know as Mio Cid's poem, he stands out for his characteristic verses of the medieval period revolving on two themes: weddings of the daughters of the Cid campeador and the warrior epic that Cid goes through so that his nobility.

Summary and analysis of Song of Mio Cid

First sing

The adventures of Rodrigo Díaz, Ruy or Mio Cid begin when he is exiled by King Alfonso VI of Castile.

Rodrigo Díaz had the mission of going to collect from García Ordóñez the tributes that he owed to the king. García Ordóñez humiliates the Cid and the two face off in what would become known as the Labra Combat.

Despite the fact that El Cid wins the battle, García retaliates by instructing the mestureros (the slanderers) to tell the king that Ruy Díaz had kept part of the tribute. The king believes the rumors and banishes Rodrigo Díaz.

Thus begins Ruy's journey accompanied by 300 knights, among whom was his nephew Minaya Álvar Fáñez. He leaves the city of Vivar and passes through Cárdena to say goodbye to his wife Jimena and her two daughters, Doña Sol and Doña Elvira.

On the last night, before entering the land of the Moors, Ruy dreams of the archangel Saint Gabriel with the message that his life would be happy thereafter and that he would be filled with honors and victories.

Rodrigo Díaz crosses the river Duero and seizes the castle of Castejón in Alcarria and the castle of Alcocer in the kingdom of Aragon. With the booty he sends his nephew with 30 horses as a gift to the king and other presents for his wife and daughters. The Cid's loyalty to the king is emphasized.

El Cid has his first campaign where he seizes Zaragoza and Teruel, which were tributaries of Count Ramón Berenguer II of Barcelona, ​​whom he also defeats and captures in Tévar. But, after three days, Cid releases him, earning the respect of the count, who takes him as his protector. This type of common gestures in the Cid is what would win the sympathy of the Moors.

Second song: The wedding song

El Cid sets out to conquer Valencia, which was one of the lands coveted by the king. After three years, he seizes Valencia and again sends his nephew to give the message to the king, accompanied by another hundred horses.

The king forgives the Cid and allows the reunion with his daughters and his wife in Valencia. Furthermore, he suggests the marriage of his daughters to the infants of Carrión. Although the Cid disagrees, the wife and her daughters do not present any refusal, so the wedding is celebrated, which will last fifteen days.

The song ends with the humiliation of the infants of Carrión by all those present when they flee when they see a domestic lion appear.

Third song: The song of the affront of corpes

The Carrión infants decide to go to Carrión with the Cid's daughters after the wedding. El Cid gives them two swords and three thousand marks as a farewell.

As they left Valencia, the infants tied up Dona Sol and Dona Elvira and began to whip them in revenge for the humiliation they suffered because of the lion.

The daughters flee and return to Valencia to tell their father what happened. El Cid demands justice before the Court and asks that the two swords and the three thousand marks be returned to him. Given the refusal of the infants, it is resolved that they face a duel with the Cid's men.

The infants of Carrión are defeated in the duel, so the daughters marry the infants of Aragon and Navarre.

Main characters of the poem by Mio Cid

• Rodrigo Díaz: Ruy or Cid.
• García Ordóñez: who causes the exile of the Cid.
• Minaya Álvar Fáñez: nephew of Mio Cid.
• King Alfonso VI of Castile: King of Castile.
• Doña Sol: daughter of the Cid, whose real name is Cristina.
• Doña Elvira: second daughter of the Cid, real name María.
• Doña Jimena: wife of the Cid
• Count Ramón Berenguer: the first Moor to take the Cid as his protector.
• Infantes de Carrión: with whom the daughters marry for the first time.
• Infants of Aragon and Navarre: with whom the daughters marry for the second time.