Cantar de Mio Cid

El Cantar de Mio Cid is the oldest conserved Spanish cantar de gesta. Formerly, it was transmited only orally, but in 1207 it was written down by Per Abad. This copy is held as part of a 14th century codex in the Biblioteca Nacional (National Library) in Madrid. However, it is incomplete. The first page and two others in the middle are missing. It is written in mediaeval Castilian, the ancestor of modern Spanish.

Related Topics:
Cantar de gesta - Madrid - Spanish

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Its current title is a modern invention; we do not know exactly what the original poet called it. Some call it El Poema del Cid on the grounds that it is not a cantar but a poem made up of three cantares. The title has been translated into English as The Lay of the Cid and The Song of the Cid. Some English translations include the verse translation of W.S. Merwin and prose translation of Rita Perry and Janet Hamilton.

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