Verbal Economy and Structural Ecology in the Poema de mio Cid

VERBAL ECONOMY AND STRUCTURAL ECOLOGY IN THE POEMA DE MIO CID David Hook University ofBristol There are some curious silences in the Poema de mio Cid. Horses are 'buenos' (w. 498; 602; 730; 749; 788; 1508; 1548; 1781; 1988; 2418) or 'gruessos & corredores' (w. 1336; 1968; 2010), but we are never told what colour they are; one of the most common traditional descriptors of a horse, and one frequently used in French and other epics, is conspicuous by its absence in this poem.1 Similarly, we are given no detail of any character's physical appearance except for die length of the Cid's beard, die 'ojos velidos' of the women (v. 1612), the description ofthe daughters as 'tan blancas commo el sol' (v. 2333),the fact that Ansur González looks flushed after lunching well rather than wisely (v. 3375), and the probably defamatory rather than accurately descriptive hint diat Garci Ordonez's facial hair may grow rather slowly (v. 3290).3 This is a marked contrast to the abundant, and often verbally rich (even when formulaic) descriptions encountered 1 Compare Raoul de Cambrai vv. 2603; 2982; 2986; 368 1 -3683; 7333-7334; The Book of DedeKorhut, 44; N'an'Sagasfrom? the Caucasus. 19-20; 135.(Scholars using the latter fascinating volume should first read the Preface before quoting the texts.) On horses in the PMC see Gwara 1 983. References to and quotations from the text ofthe PMC follow Smith 1 972. " But compare, curiously, PMC v. 3074 ("de suso las lorigas tan blancas commo el sol"), which should give us pause before we heap excessive praise upon the poet's use ofthis cliche of medieval beauty — the women are, it could be argued, as striking as chainmail. For examples in French epic: La Prise d'Orange, w. 666-667 ('EIe est plus blanche que la noif qui resplent / Et plus vermeille que la rose flerant) or the somewhat less formulaic Raoul de Cambrai, w. 5384-5388; 5517-5518 ('veés mon cors con est amanevis, / mámele dure, blanc le col, elei le vis'). Equally cliched, however, is Nibelungenlied, 43. 3 Despite his epithet 'El crespo de Grañón' (v. 3112). the Count's beard is unlikely to have taken more than three years to grow again; the Cid is surely merely pretending to see a shorter tuft in order to evoke for the assembly the previous humiliation ofhis adversary. La corónica 33.2 (Spring, 2005): 97-109 98David HookLa corónica 33.2, 2005 in Homeric and odier epic traditions, such as die stories diat make up The Book ofDede Korkut. We have, moreover, a siege widiout any siege engines; again a contrast with die French epic, where mention of diem may occur not only in references to sieges (Chanson de Roland v. 237) but also in imagery ofvarious kinds.4 This might be explained in some instances by die lighdy-armed nature ofdie Cid's force (e.g., at Castejón and Alcocer); but even at Valencia diey are striking by their absence, although the historical Cid certainly did use them, for there is a reference to them in die Historia Roderici at Murviedro,5 so diat if die poet was indeed aware of diis text, as seems likely, bodi an historical source and existing French epic offered rhetorical models which were here eschewed. Nor, if (as seems sensible) we ignore die placename Spinaz de Can (v. 393), do we have any reference to dogs outside the context of a term of abuse, 'canes traidores' (v. 3263); in odier epic traditions diey play numerous roles, from being part ofa wealdl-topos to being die centre of major episodes.6 There are no doctors, even though there is an important healing process.7 As Dunn pointed out, diere is little detail of the Moslem fleet; in contrast to cases in French epic where the arrival of an enemy armada may be seen as an opportunity to deploy at least two, and sometimes three, binary units to describe its consument vessels, in the PMCjust two nouns are used (vv. 1627-1629).8 We never see the stars, with the exception of a 4 Consider the comparison...