Cantar de Mio Cid

The Manuscript

• Don Rodrigo (Ruy) Díaz de Vivar died in 1099• Cantar was written down onto parchment in 1207• There are some pages missing! – 1st folio ( 1st two pages)• The original is known to have been copied at least once• Around 1110 Latin Historia Roderici was written for the purpose making

sure the tales of Don Rodrigo lived on• Cantar is (only) oldest existing preserved Spanish epic• Ramón Menéndez Pidal mentions Cantar to be mester de juglaria wherein

stories are passed down orally from generation to generation, and in the process, change.

• However, some critics believe El Cantar de Mio Cid was composed by a Per Abbad who signed only existing manuscript copy.

The date of the manuscripts creation is believed to be 1207. This is supported by the last few lines which seem to have been added after the manuscript had been written. These lines say:

«Quien escrivio este libro del Dios parayso, amen Per Abbat le escrivio en el mes de mayo En era de mill e CCXLV años.»

• Last few lines are in different hand to original manuscript writing• To what extent can the supposed non-fiction mentioned in the poem be classed as

unbiased and accurate? We shall never know? It was a story to entertain after all.

Selection of Rhetorical Devices used in the Cantar

A rhetorical device is used as a means to reinforce any auxiliary meanings, ideas or feelings that the author wants to convey.

A. THE AUTHOR’S CHOICE OF DISCOURSE

- There are two linguistic registers that are used:

When the minstrel addresses the audience ---------- simplified languageWhen the characters converse with one another ----- complex languageExamples:Addressing the audience - ‘My Cid sighed, for he was greatly troubled. By Cid spoke with dignity and such wisdom…’ (Lines 6 and 7)Characters conversing – ‘Count Don García rose to his feet: “I beg a favour, O King, the noblest in all Spain! My Cid has grown too accustomed to such solemn courts. He has allowed his beard to grow, and wears it long. Some are afraid of him, others he fills with terror.”’ (Lines 3270-3274)

B. THE CID AS A RHETORICAL DEVICE

• - When he speaks it works two-fold:

1. To influence the actions or opinions of the other characters2. To reach out to the audience

• -This is to help the author to convey his ideas with added subtlety.

Example:

‘My Cid stopped before them, holding the reins of his horse: “I offer my humble respect, ladies! I have won you great renown; for, while you held Valencia, I was victorious in battle. This was the will of God, with all his saints, that on your arrival he has offered you such gains.”’ (Lines 1748-1751)

C. THE USE OF RECAPITULATION, TIME, SPACE AND NUMBERS

• Throughout Cantar, there are several references to what has already happened as well as frequent mention of time, numbers and places.

• Examples:• ‘Here begins again the story of My Cid of Vivar. His men are so

rich that they can no longer tell their wealth. My Cid has occupied the pass of Olocau…’ (Lines 1085-1087)

• ‘The wedding celebration lasted a full fifteen days, and towards the end of the fifteen days the noblemen began to leave.’ (2251-2252)

D. THE USE OF HUMOUR

Example:• ‘Fernando González saw nowhere to flee, no open chamber or

tower, and he hid under the couch, so great was his terror. Diego González ran out through the door, crying: “Never again shall I see Carrión!”’ (Lines 2286-2289)

Rhyme and verse in the Poema de Mio Cid

• Form typical for French epic• Makes recitation/singing easier• French model: regular metre (10 syllables with strong caesura

into two hemistiches)• In PMC: considerable variation of syllables in each verse and

each hemistiche

62% of verses are of 14-16 syllables, divided as:

assonance not totally regular but neither very varied: 11 types

most frequent

example

-ó burgeses e burgesas por las finiestras son,plorando de los ojos, tanto avién el dolor,de las sus bocas todos dizían una razón,-¡Dios, qué buen vassallo, si oviesse buen señor!

3

-á Spidiós' el caboso de cuer e de veluntad.Sueltan las riendas e piensan de aguijar,dixo Martín Antolínez, -Veré a la mugier a todo mio solaz,castigarlos he cómmo abrán a far.Si el rey me lo quisiere tomar, a mí non m'incal,antes seré convusco que el sol quiera rayar.-

13

- á-o De los sos ojos tan fuertemientre llorandotornava la cabeça e estávalos catando,vio puertas abiertas e uços sin cañados,alcándaras vazías, sin pielles e sin mantos

1

- á-a Conbidarle ien de grado, mas ninguno non osava,el rey don Alfonso tanto avié la grand saña,antes de la noche, en Burgos d'él entró su cartacon grand recabdo e fuertemientre sellada,que a mio Çid Ruy Díaz que nadi nol' diessen posada

4

Menéndez Pidal’s thesis:

• Often in assonances in –ó and –á a paragogic -e is added

• i.e. “besar” rhymes with “sale”• => double assonances only => regulation of the rhyme• ! in Per Abbat’s manuscript only 2 examples of

paragogic –e written (“laudare” v.335 and “Trinidade” v.2370; two Latinisms)

• • verses → laisse of varying length (3-190) but with unity

of assonance and idea

Orality vs. Literacy

1. la escuela tradicionalista de Menéndez Pidal que no habla de composición-creación oral, sino de tradición (difusión-transmisión) oral de los cantares de gesta,

2. y la "oralista" de Parry-Lord : la segunda insiste en la composición-creación oral durante la recitación juglaresca.

1 Menéndez Pidal :

"la tradicionalidad que se deposita en los manuscritos ofrece caracteres idénticos a la puramente oral" (Poesía juglaresca y orígenes p.369)

• Según Menéndez Pidal los largos poemas narrativos como el Mio Cid se transmitían, en general, por medio de la tradición oral

"Existía otra poesía juglaresca tradicional, productora de relatos 6picos algo extensos, que no solo se transmitían oralmente, sino a veces ayudándose de la escritura.".

Proceso de difusión-propagación:

"la difusión del cantar de gesta o poema extenso es mixta: esencialmente ha de ser oral, cantada, pero se sirve también mucho de la escritura."

La Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona: "La memoria del juglar que dicta la copia del Mio Cid a fines del siglo XII era de las que abundaban entonces, una memoria vasta y firme, algo así como una escritura analfabatica de deseada fijeza. La poesía oral que nos trasmite es una épica que vive de modo muy distinto al en que vive la moderna épica yugoeslava, improvisadora y refundidora de totalidad”. (1965)

2Escuela oralistaMilman Parry, A. B. Lord:

• el canto oral no depende de un texto escrito para aprender de memoria el poema que luego recitara a un auditorio vivo

• La doctrina lordiana rechaza, por tanto, la teoría de la tradición escrita y oral tal como la defendió Menéndez Pidal antes de 1965

• Para reafirmar la oralidad del Cantar de Mio Cid destacan el uso de elementos técnicos y estilísticos propios de la composición oral: formulas y expresiones formulisticas, epítetos épicos caracterizadores, temas y motivos tradicionales

ORAL TRADITION IN THE POEMA DE MIO CID

1. FORMULAIC ELEMENTS

“The auditory memory of the oral poet largely relies on powerful mnemonic aids; verbal formulas, stylistic patterns, formulas of narrative mode, clichés of common speech. Therefore formulaic style is

inseparable from epic” (De Chasca)

• No way to assume what original poem was like because “by its very nature oral transmission does not permit identical reproduction of a particular song. Whether it be recreated by the same singer or by different singers” (De Chasca).

2. METRIC IRREGULARITY • Indeed, it has been said that “Since Albert B. Lord invoked the metrical irregularity

of the Cantar de mio Cid as possible evidence that the poem was an orally composed song either " recited for the records " or " taken down by a scribe who does not seek to obtain good rhythmic lines ", several Hispanists have taken up his line of reasoning” (Duggan).

• “A. D. Deyermond, exploring the implications of such a view, found corroboration for oral composition in the fact that the Cid version incorporated into the Primera Cronica General accords with Per Abbat's text in the early part of the tale, but deviates progressively as the end approaches, a phenomenon which Lord found in various versions of orally composed Yugoslavian epics and which he explained by observing that the end of a song is sung less frequently than the beginning—and is thus less stable within the tradition—since the singer's performance is often interrupted” (Duggan)

• Indeed, it “is generally assumed that oral composition and writing were mutually exclusive endeavours, representative of two distinct worlds, the un-lettered and the learned. This assumption has lead scholars to conclude that the oral essence of extant epic texts was altered during their transition to parchment” (Bailey).

• Bailey also argues that “We can better grasp the concept of oral composition and its relation to the Spanish epic by approaching the poems’ composition from the perspective of their cultural environment. It is clear enough from a reading of the Cid that knights were the power brokers of society. They lived in an essentially oral world; even those who were considered experts on legal matters, los sabidores, in the Cid, practiced their craft orally”.

THEMATIC REPETITION Key parallels of expression:

• 766 las carbonclas del yelmo echógelas aparte• 2422 las carbonclas del yelmo tullidas ge las ha• 767 cortól‘ el yelmo que llegó a la carne • 2423 cortól‘ el yelmo e librado todo lo ál

Similar examples can also be found in the final Cantar, when the Cid’s vassals defend his honour against the Infantes de Carrión

• 3625 firénse en los escudos sin todo pavour• 3673 firénse en los escudos unos tan grandes colpes• 3630 un colpe reçibiera, mas otro frió• 3678 Este colpe fecho otro dia Muño Gustioz

4. USE OF FORESHADOWING “One way the poet insures our continuing interest in what will happen to his characters is by the repeated use of foreshadowing – a device perhaps more essential to a poet whose story is told to a group of listeners than to a novelist, who writes for a solitary, and hence presumably attentive, reader” (Hart)

Examples:

Laisse’s 51, 108 and 110 together deal with the same events, by direct speech between different characters, 121, 143(recalling the infants cowardice in battle), 144 (recalling the events with the Lion).

5. NAMED KNIGHTS/LISTS• This does not serve in any way to develop the narrative,

although it does tie in to the themes of monetary and military accumulation, it can be seen as one of the mnemonic devices which De Chasca places emphasis upon.

• Laisse 37 consists solely of a list of the Cid’s men with brief defining factors

Alberto Montaner:Afirma que los rasgos que se atribuyen a la oralidad del poema “se deben a una extrapolación básicamente infundada de lo que se ha observado en el caso yugoslavo, lo cual no se puede adjudicarse sin más en las obras

medievales” (93)

• Other scholars like Deyermond, Colin Smith and Margaret Chaplin maintain that:

"The poem was composed in writing, but was intended for oral diffusion by juglares to a popular audience."

• Chasca, partidario de la escuela oral, afirmaba: “El estilo formulario es

inseparable de la épica. El estilo formulario es un estilo oral”

Chaplin: “Detecto un 47% de formulas, y según esta cifra, el cantar depende del estilo de la tradición oral. Lo que se desprende de la poesía yugoslava es que un texto que contiene de un 50% a un 60% de formulismos, con una proporción del 10% al 25% de formulas estrictas, indica composición literaria.”

La teoría de influencia monástica: Jules Cornu y Rudolf Beer

• P.M. Russel – Cid fue escrito por un clerical:

“Este autor letrado acataba la autoridad de la palabra escriba, hurgaba los archivos para dar con el nombre olvidado de un asesor jurista del Cid, y se familiarizo con estipulaciones que no pudieron ser corrientemente conocidas” también dice que “el CMC, tal y como se nos ha conservado, posiblemente acusa mas indicios de la influencia de Cardeña de lo que permiten las teorías actuales”

• El poeta utiliza vocabulario y fraseología religiosa (ejemplos Colin Smith)

• Plegaria de Jimena• Ej. Glorificar v.335, criminal v.342, laudare

v.355• Definición de la hora del día y de la noche

a la mañana, quando los gallos cantaran v.316• Episodios de la Biblia ( del León Cantar III)

Colin Smith:“el énfasis de nuesro poema es tal que no vacilo en sotener que nuestro autor era un profesional del derecho jurista o notario-abogado, o al menos una persona que había estudiado las leyes y había tenido que ver con el funcionamiento técnico de ellas en un alto nivel” (14)

¿Dónde encuentra los elementos jurídicos? “En primer lugar, el poeta ve un aspecto jurídico en numerosos actos humanos: la vida está condicionada por la ira o la gracia del rey, y el poeta alcanza la cumbre de su arte al crear la escena de la corte[..] En segundo lugar, muestra su deseo de que veamos la habilidad jurídica del Cid y su retórica forense como otra faceta del carácter épico del héroe [..] En tercer lugar el poeta nos propone lo que es casi un programa de reforma jurídica, una gran modernización, de acuerdo con los principios del “nuevo” derecho romano ..” (44-45)

• Utiliza elementos legales, que los hace entrar en sus argumentos. Ej. Apreciadura v.3240, manifestarse 3224, natura 3275

• Uso de frases binarias, o binomios. Sobre todo de tipo “inclusivo”, típicas del lenguaje jurídico latino y español. Sirve entre otras cosas, para deshacer la abstracción. Ej. Mugieres e varones / burgueses e burguesas 16b.-17

Bibliography• Bailey, M – Oral Composition in the Medieval Spanish Epic (PMLA, 2003, 118 (2), pg 254-269.• De Chasca, E – The Poem of the Cid (G.K Hall &Co, 1976)• Duggan, J – Formulaic diction in the Cantar de Mio Cid and the old French Epic (Forum for

Modern Language Studies, 1974, X(3), pg 260-269).• Hart, T.R – Studies on the Cantar de Mio Cid (Papers of the Medieval Hispanic Research

Seminar, Queen• Riaño Rodríguez, Timoteo El Cantar de Mío Cid. 2 : fecha y autor del Cantar de Mío Cid,

Alicante : Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, 2006• Montgomery, T. (1925). Medieval Spanish Epic: Mythic Roots and Ritual Language.

Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University.• Bailey, M. (1993). The Poema del Cid and the Poema de Fernán González: The Transformation

of an Epic Tradition. Madison: The Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, Ltd.• Lacarra, María Eugenia, Poema de mío Cid. Estudio preliminar, edición y notas, Madrid :

Taurus, 1983• Cantar de Mio Cid. edicion, prologo y notas de Alberto Montaner ; estudio . - Barcelona• Poema de Mio Cid. Edicion de Colin Smith. Catedra. • ‘Problemas en torno a la composición del poema del Cid.’ Edmund de Chasca; en

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