El Cantar del Mio Cid is the oldest preserved Spanish cantar de gesta. Formerly, it was transmitted only orally, but in 1142 it was written down by a certain Per Abbat. This copy is held as part of a 14th century codex in the Biblioteca Nacional de España (National Library) in Madrid. However, it is incomplete. The first page and two others in the middle are missing. It is written in medieval Spanish, the ancestor of modern Spanish. Its current title is a modern invention by Ramón Menéndez Pidal; its original title is unknown. 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 Hamilton and Janet Perry.

Based on a true story, it tells of a Spanish hero El Cid or El Campeador, whose true name was Rodrigo (or Ruy) Díaz de Vivar, during......

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Title: El Mio Cid
Approximate Word Count: 627
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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