The Nibelungenlied and the Cantar de Mio Cid : A comparative study of structural patterns

The present study embodies a comparison of the Germanic Nibelungenlied and the Spanish Cantar de Mio Cid, which reveals a certain literary kinship between the two epic traditions, beyond their early historical period. Both epics share an intricate structure which supports a narrative rich in comparisons and contrasts and conducts the listener-reader along the path of the protagonists\u27 triumphs and downfalls. I have analyzed and compared the presentation of the protagonists--Kriemhild and Hagen in the Nibelungenlied and Rodrigo de Vivar in the Cantar de Mio Cid--through an in-depth examination of names and epithets used to designate the main characters and all speech by, to, and about these principal characters. This examination has revealed striking similarities. Both the Nibelungenlied and the Cantar de Mio Cid have been said to consist of two separate parts, originally attributed to different authors, joined by a later, unknown poet who created the redactions we have today. The present study confirms that the poets in both traditions were eminently successful in joining the two portions of each narrative in such a way as to make the second part a complementary, heightened, stronger reflection of the first part. This was done by creating homogeneous central characters who serve to hold the new bipartite works together by means of their logical development and coherence. Such coherence is evidenced in a series of contrasts and comparisons in the two major divisions of each poem, as well as the denominations applied to the main characters. Individual narrative components support and elucidate the larger patterns present in the complete narratives of both epics. The study includes six extensive appendices devoted to the investigation of the different narrative perspectives