open gates of the city, which they had not dared
to cross for fear of an ambuscade, and penetrated into the court of the
palace. Here they found a notice, left by the order of the Cid, announcing
his death and the complete evacuation of the city by the Christian army.
The Cid's sword Tizona became an heirloom in the family of the Marquis of
Falies, and is said to bear the following inscriptions, one on either side
of the blade: "I am Tizona, made in era 1040," and "Hail Maria, full of
grace."

CHAPTER XVIII.

GENERAL SURVEY OF ROMANCE LITERATURE.

[Sidenote: Cycles of romance.] In the preceding chapters we have given an
outline of the principal epics which formed the staple of romance
literature in the middle ages. As has been seen, this style of composition
was used to extol the merits and describe the great deeds of certain famous
heroes, and by being gradually extended it was made to include the prowess
of the friends and contemporaries of these more or less fabulous
personages. All these writings, clustering thus about some great character,
eventually formed the so-called "cycles of romance."

There were current in those days not only classical romances, but stories
of love, adventure, and chivalry, all bearing a marked resemblance to one
another, and prevailing in all the European states during the four
centuries when knighthood flourished everywhere. Some of these tales, such
as those of the Holy Grail, were intended, besides, to glorify the most
celebrated orders of knighthood,--the Templars and Knights of St. John.

Other styles of imaginative writing were known at the same time also, yet
the main feature of the literature of the age is first the metrical, and
later the prose, romance, the direct outcome of the great national epics.

We have outlined very briefly, as a work of this character requires, the
principal features of the Arthurian, Carolingian, and Teutonic cycles. We
have also touched somewhat upon the Anglo-Danish and Scandinavian
contributions to our literature.

Of the extensive Spanish cycle we have given only a short sketch of the
romance, or rather the chronicle, of the Cid, leaving out entirely the vast
and deservedly popular cycles of Amadis of Gaul and of the Palmerins. This
omission has been intentional, however, because these romances have left
but few traces in our literature. As they are seldom even alluded to, they
are not of so great importance to the English student o