Cantar de gesta

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A cantar de gesta is the Spanish version of the Old French medieval chanson de geste or "songs of heroic deeds".

The most important cantares de gesta of Castile were:

The Cantar de Mío Cid, where the triumph of the true nobility, founded on the effort, the merit and the optimism is narrated, as opposed to the blood nobility that the Infants of Carrión represent;
The Cantar de los Siete Infantes de Lara, where a right revenge long delayed is narrated; and
The Cantar de Bernardo del Carpio, that narrates the tragic history of a bastard of noble origin because of releasing his father, Count of Saldaña, jailed for having generated him from a real princess; in his efforts to rehabilitate the family honor, he is unfairly treated by his king Alfonso the Chaste.

Smaller importance had the Mainete, the Cantar del Cerco de Zamora and others. However, only the Cantar de Mio Cid, the Cantar de Rodrigo and a few verses of the Cantar de Roncesvalles have been preserved in written form. The philologues have reconstructed other passages of the lost Castilian epic from poorly prosificated fragments in chronicles, where they served as sources of information.

The characteristics of the Spanish cantares de gesta are:

Irregular verses, mainly between 14 and 16 syllables, divided in two hemistiches and with asonant rhyme, as opposed to regular verses and consonant rhyme of French cantares de gesta.
Predominance of the realism and the historicity as opposed to the more legendary and less historical character of French cantares de gesta.
Use of expressions that demand the attention of the public.
Very abundant verbs, because the action predominates.
Suppression of formulas that introduce the direct dialogue with the purpose of making the narration more agile, perhaps because some passages of Spanish cantares de gesta were semi-represented (thereof also its greater realism).
Use of brief descriptions, full of plasticity.
Use of epic names to characterize the personages and to give time to the memory of the reciter.
Use of the paragogic e.