The Poem of the Cid (The Song of the Cid)

 “O, mighty Cid, born at a lucky hour! Stay here tonight, and we’ll leave in the morning— / Because, for sure, I’ll be accused of doing what I’ve done, / And King Alfonso’s anger will hunt me down. / If I run off with you, and stay in one piece, / Sooner or later the king will want to be friendly— / And if not, whatever I leave is dust on the ground.”

This quote is spoken by Martín Antolínez, the first follower of the Cid to be named. He gives up everything in his life to follow the Cid, because at this point in the narrative the King would punish anyone who helps a man exiled from court. Martín Antolínez speaks to that sacrifice here, but it is framed in a way that shows his enthusiasm and true support for the Cid, who he knows will be accepted back at court eventually.

“I call to your grace, O Cid, you who were born for grandeur! / You’ve been driven out of Castile by malicious informers.”

The Cid’s wife, Doña Jimena, speaks these words to him, giving the reader some insight into the cause of the exile, which is otherwise obscured by the loss of the first pages of The Cid. She mentions “malicious informers” have driven him from court, foreshadowing the vindictive scheming and cruelty of the Carrión nobles that come later in the text. This moment further solidifies the Cid’s innocence and the unfair exile that has been forced upon him when his king believes the gossip of those at court.

“Go on, Cid, go on, you wonderful Warrior! / No man has ever come riding out at such a perfect moment: / For as long as you live, whatever you start will always end well.”

In this passage these words are spoken by the angel Gabriel to the Cid in a dream. The moment comes when the Cid needs encouragement as he heads into exile in unknown lands. The Cid is encouraged by the words, just as the reader sees that the hero’s cause is just and right, supported by an angel of God.

“Here you are, Alvar Fánez, you daring knight! / Bringing back the kind of victory I always expect from you. / What we already have, together with what you bring, / Minaya, is one-fifth yours, if you want it.” 

After their first victories raiding local cities, the Cid generously offers Minaya a fifth of the wealth gained in their attacks. This sets a precedent for his generosity. The Cid wants to recognize loyalty in his men and reward them for their bravery.

“I swear to God, to him who lives on high, / That until I prove myself—on this good horse of mine, / Fighting Moors on fields of battle, / Using my lance and this sword, here in my hand, / And blood comes dripping down my elbow, / In the very presence of Ruy Díaz, greatest of Warriors— / Until then, I will not take a penny from you.”

Minaya’s response to the Cid’s generous offer in the previous quote models the correct response from a knight to his lord in this exchange. While Minaya might merit a fifth of the winnings, it is not considered honorable to accept payment until he accomplishes something truly challenging—not a simple raid but a victory on the battlefield against a common enemy. Thus, Minaya dutifully plays his part in refusing the Cid’s gift.

“Many of the Moors are dead, not many are still alive. / But how could we sell these captives, men or women? / Let them come back, because we’ll be in charge: / We’ll live in their houses, and be their lords.”

The Cid shows both mercy and pragmatism here. He allows the inhabitants of Alcocer return to their homes after conquering the city, rather than slaughtering them all. Thus, he demonstrates that his campaign is not driven by ideological differences but the need to acquire, so he is happy to rule over the inhabitants of the city as opposed to needlessly killing them.

“A man who’s been exiled and disgraced / Cannot be pardoned three weeks later. / Still, the gift was won from the Moors, so I’ll take it. / I am pleased that my Cid has done / So well. You stand here pardoned, / Minaya: your lands and honors are yours again.

King Alfonso is pleased at the Cid’s victory but cannot undermine his own orders and pardon the warrior too soon. However, in this passage he begins to move towards that pardon, granting Minaya a pardon for joining the Cid and later allowing men to join the Cid’s cause. The negotiation between exiled and king has begun.

“Hear me: I won’t give back a wooden nickel, / Because I need it for these men of mine, / Who have, like me, no other way to find it. / We stay alive by taking from others, as we have with you. / And this will be our life for as long as God desires, / Living as men must, when their king has thrown them into exile.”

In this passage the Cid explains to Count Ramón his primary motivation and his need for the wealth he is rapidly acquiring, softening the blow of his defeat. The Cid speaks plainly of his need to survive his exile; having been exiled from court with his lands taken from him, the Cid has no choice but to raid his way across Spain. And in the context of his own survival, he is looking out for his men, making sure they receive their due as well.

“The city hoped for relief; he gave them a limit on waiting, / Then gave them the full nine months, believe me, perched at its gates. / When the tenth month came, they had no choice but surrender. / Valencia was shaken with their rejoicing / When my Cid and his men entered the city.”

In this passage, the Cid and his men besiege Valencia, patiently waiting for the city to surrender. When the city finally gives in, everyone rejoices that the siege is over, celebrating at the arrival of the Cid. In this moment, the Cid is at a significant turning point: He finally acquires a city worth becoming his fiefdom, and in turn he has accomplished enough to allow his wife and daughters to join him.

“Valencia’s bishop was to be this Don Jerónimo, / Would could live there like a king. / Lord, what happiness for all of Christendom, / Knowing Valencia would finally have a bishop!”

The arrival of a bishop in Valencia symbolizes the official shift from Muslim city to Christian city, as the Cid reestablishes the bishopric. The bishop himself would have had significant authority over the laypeople, ranking just under a cardinal. In the eyes of Christian sovereigns, his arrival would have signaled a legitimacy for Valencia, which until then had been in Muslim possession for centuries.

“My Cid, the Warrior, is certainly standing very high: / Marriage with his daughters would do us very well— / If we could risk saying such a thing, / Since we are nobles of Carrión, and my Cid is just someone from Vivar.” 

Here the Carrión family begins plotting a way to take advantage of the Cid’s growing popularity at court, despite being open enemies. Rather than confront their enemy directly, they find a more dubious way to undermine his success by seeking to marry his daughters, who they clearly think are below their station coming from Vivar. This moment sets into motion the marriages and resulting conflict that arises from their dishonest alliance of families.

“Ha, my honored wife, don’t let it worry you! / These are great and wonderful riches they’ve come to bring us! / Look, you’ve just arrived, and they’ve already sent you presents! This is your daughters’ dowry, it will pay for their weddings!”

In this passage, the Moroccan army has just arrived to try to take back Valencia from the Cid. Instead of fearing the attack, the Cid playfully jokes with his wife, assuring her that the riches they bring with them will soon be theirs. This passage is an example of how the tone of The Cid is often light and optimistic, with the hero thanking God for the challenges he faces. Each one gives him a chance to prove himself as a hero and acquire greater wealth.

“‘We come to ask our lord and sovereign king / For his help! We would like To marry the Warrior’s daughters. / Their honor, and ours, can grow as one.’ /

The king did not speak at once; they could see him thinking.

‘I sent this fine Warrior off into exile. / I did not help him, but he has helped me. / How can I say what he will decide?’”

The Carrión nobles begin to manipulate the king in this passage, who recognizes the error of his ways in exiling the Cid. That said, he also cannot see a reason not to let Diego and Fernando marry the Cid’s daughters. He sends a message encouraging the unions, which unfortunately the Cid feels he cannot refuse, having been recently reconciled with the court.

“‘I must ask you, my noble lord, / To show me your favor, exactly as I am now, / So everyone here will know it from your words!’

The king declared: ‘With all my heart and soul, / I grant it! You are forgiven, I give you my love, / And—from this day—the complete freedom of Castile.’”

In this passage the king and the Cid finally meet face to face in reconciliation. It is the moment of his pardon and welcome back into the kingdom of Castile. A major turning point, it is also a culmination of the plot over the first two Cantos of the text.

“The Carrións come from a noble family, / Fine for my daughters, fine for better-born girls. / I gave them life, and you have fed and schooled them: / This father, these daughters, live at your command, / So I put these girls in your grace’s hands.”

The Cid, when faced with a marriage union for his daughters that he would not choose, instead defers to his king, whose generosity has supported them. Newly pardoned, the Cid shows that he trusts the king’s judgment and his ability to deal with problems, should the marriages fail. Later on, this deferral will play a major role when the Cid frames the Carrións’ crimes as affronts against the king, who sanctioned their marriages.

“My Cid’s men belted their cloaks, / And made a circle around their sleeping lord. / Fernando, my Cid’s son-in-law, could see no place to hide / And, shaking with fear, went crawling under the couch; / His brother, Diego, ran straight for the door, / Screaming, ‘I’ll never see my home again!’ / Trembling, he squeezed himself behind a beam in the wine press, His cloak and shirt grimy with sweat.”

In this passage the Carrión brothers are revealed to be cowards who run screaming and shaking from an escaped lion. Recounted with some humor, the narrator depicts them crawling under couches and squeezing into dirty wine presses to escape the lion, rather than protecting their father-in-law. This moment tarnishes their reputation forever and sets off their desire to avenge themselves by insulting and beating the Cid’s daughters.

“The lion was so afraid, at the sight of him, / That he stopped and bent his head, / And my Cid, Don Ruy Díaz, took hold of his mane / And walked him back to his cage.”

In contrast to the Carrión brothers’ cowardice, the Cid, completely unarmed and probably half asleep, simply grabs the lion by his mane and walks him back to his cage. The moment shows how effortlessly brave the Cid is and how in control he is of his own possessions. Likewise, it shows that even nature—here the lion—recognizes his inherent authority and bows to his will.

“But my Cid’s soldiers were smiling, / For they’d been right there, in battle and final chase, / Not seeing Diego or Fernando in any of those places. / They joked about this, and laughed, again and again, / Rubbing it in, over and over, all night, every day; / They made wicked fun of both Carrións.”

While the Carrións claim to have fought courageously in battle, which the goodhearted Cid believes, the soldiers know better. As with the encounter with the lion, the brothers hid from the fight. The Cid’s men mock the brothers relentlessly, which ultimately drives the Carrións to start thinking about taking their new wealth back home, leaving the Cid’s world behind after profiting from it.

“Word of what had happened reached Valencia, / And when my Cid, the Warrior, was told, / He spent a long, long time thinking it over; / He raised his hand and tugged at his beard:

‘I’m thankful to Christ, Lord of this world, / For the honor I’ve had from the Carrión heirs! / By this beard, which no one has ever pulled, / These Carrións won’t be exulting for long, Because I let them marry my daughters!’”

Despite the deep insult and horrifying attack on his daughters, “the Warrior” pauses to reflect for “a long, long time” before acting. This is one of his best qualities—he considers before reacting, and in this case he devises a solid strategy to seek justice for this insult before the court. While the easiest solution for the Cid would be to exact vengeance through violence, he instead chooses the path of the king’s justice.

“‘Come sit with me, Warrior,’ said the King, / On this bench of mine, a gift from you. / No matter who thinks different, you’re better than us all!’

He who had conquered Valencia answered, most politely:

‘Stay where you are, seated as king and my lord; / I’ll sit over there, with my men.’

The king took deep pleasure in this reply.”

In this passage, among others, the king continues to test the Cid’s loyalty, offering him multiple opportunities to “claim” his own authority, which the Cid regularly refuses. To the king’s pleasure and relief, the Cid, who is the better man, still honors his place on the social hierarchy, never challenging the king’s authority over him. He earns his place in the nobility by expressing the qualities contemporary readers associate with this social class.

“Deserting my daughters brings no dishonor to me, / Because it was you who gave them away, my king; you will do as you please. / But when you Carrións took my daughters away— / And I acted with love, from my heart and my soul— / I gave you two swords, Colada and Tizón, / Precious swords that I won / In battle, hoping they’d win more honor with you. / By abandoning my daughters, in the Corpes forest, / You broke all connection with me, and my love was lost: / Give back my swords, since you’re no longer my sons-in-law!”

Here the Cid argues two things. First, he cannot seek revenge since it was king the Carrión heirs insulted, and not him. Second, the swords should be returned to him since they are no longer his sons-in-law. This argument makes the Carrión nobles think he is going easy on them, so they readily agree, not realizing he has follow-up complaints before the court.

“The Carrións paid and paid Warrior Cid, born at a lucky hour, / Borrowing from whoever would lend, for they had to. / The court, please understand, had squeezed them dry as a bone.” 

When the Cid requests that the Carrión family return the dowry he gave them at the marriage, they protest because the sum is so large, and they have spent most of it. However, by the time the court is through with them, finding ways to make them pay it in kind, they are essentially financially ruined. The Cid has successfully drained them dry before his final “attack” at court.

“Just as they finished this long discussion, / Two messenger knights suddenly entered the court. / One was Ojarra, from the Prince of Navarre, / The other Inigo Jiménez, from the Prince of Aragon. / They kissed King Alfonso’s hands, / Then turned to Warrior Cid and asked for his daughters / As queens of Aragon and Navarre, / Each one wed to a prince, in full ceremony and honor.” 

Immediately following the arguments between the Cid’s men and the Carrión heirs—during which the latter argue that the Cid’s daughters were never worthy of them and they should be married to queens—the two messengers arrive. While the brothers are boasting about their superiority, actual princes are already seeking a union with the Cid’s newly-single daughters. Ironically, this elevates the girls to the stature the Carrións believe is reserved for them.