The Poem of the Cid

One of the greatest works of Spanish literature, this eight-hundred-year-old saga narrates the legendary exploits of the soldier-adventurer Ruy Díaz of Bivar, known as El Cid—“the Lord”—and his part in the long struggle between Christianity and Islam. The poem recounts the adventures of a broad cast of characters: the Cid; his peerless steed, Babieca, and his two famous swords, Colada and Tizón; his wife, Doña Ximena, and his two daughters, Doña Elvira and Doña Sol, who found sanctuary with...