The Epic of the Cid by Michael Harney (trans.)

Author:Michael Harney (trans.)
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Published: 2012-12-29T16:00:00+00:00

The End

1. Proper nouns and references to historical figures are identified and explained in the Compendium of Proper Names.

2. The first page of the only extant manuscript is missing, leaving a gap of about fifty lines. Other works of the time, none of whose versions of the Cid’s story exactly correspond to that of the epic’s, indicate that the Cid has been accused by his enemies of stealing tribute money meant for Alfonso, and that the king has banished him as a consequence of these accusations. See Related Texts E, The Chronicle of Twenty Kings.

3. Throughout the poem, the Cid is referred to by the narrator, and addressed by other characters, as “My Cid.” The epithet is fixed and formulaic, like an official title. Even when spoken of in the third person, by a group speaking in the first person plural, the title is used. An example is the scene in which town criers announce the hero’s departure: “the criers spread the word: how My Cid Campeador was heading into exile.”

4. Alert to all kinds of signs and omens, the people of the Cid’s world, including the hero himself, are superstitious. The crow and its movements are particularly meaningful. The right-hand side is traditionally seen as favorable and propitious. The left-hand side is the opposite: dire, adverse, unfavorable, sinister (from the Latin sinister, meaning “left,” “left-hand”).

5. Feudalism, in its interpersonal aspect, is a pact and a relationship between two men: a lord and a vassal. The term vassalage refers to the mutual obligations and expectations entailed by the two roles. The relationship is symbiotic. A lord is nothing without vassals; a vassal is incomplete unless he serves a lord. In its economic and military aspect, feudalism is the conditional granting of a landed estate, the fief (medieval Latin feudum), by a superior lord to a subordinate vassal. Use of the fief was granted on condition of the vassal’s continued homage and service to the lord, who retained ownership. Inheritance of the fief by a vassal’s heirs was subject to the same feudal obligations.

6. In the system of parias (tribute payments), Muslim taifa kingdoms were obliged to render tribute to Christian kings. Some historians have characterized this practice as a protection racket that involved extortion and intimidation. At the same time, the Christian rulers who were payees under the system guaranteed the protection of their clients from attack by both Muslims and Christians.

7. Throughout the poem, the singer tends to lapse into present tense in the midst of recounting past events. More precisely, he goes back and forth between past and present tense. This is part of his oral epic narrative style. In general, I translate accordingly.

8. The name “Santiago” is the traditional Spanish name for Saint James the Apostle, the patron saint of Christian Spain. In this form, it is the traditional Christian battle cry in wars against the Muslims. Elsewhere in the poem, the saint himself is referred to as Saint James the Apostle.

9. The passage refers to an incident not previously mentioned in the narrative.

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