La “géographie épique” du ‘Cantar de mio Cid’

It is well known that one of the main concerns of medieval Spanish epic poems is topology: the Cantar de Mio Cid is marked by a great regard for geographical detail as observed in its characters’ journeys, its careful annotation of even the simpler toponyms or of the harder ones to localise. The representation of place, however, does not avoid the unique ‘perspective’ that imbues epic discourse from the standpoint of form, content and ideology, since the ‘plausibility’ of settings, landscapes and movements does undistinguishably coincide with their symbolical and metaphorical value.