The songs of deed They are the literary expressions of great importance, typical of the epic genre. In them the ardent efforts of a hero are exalted to overcome the tests that life and destiny put before him. The virtues of this figure, of this idol, give vigor to the image of his people, exalting his name..
Epics made during the Middle Ages are also considered chants of deed. All these literary manifestations were disseminated orally and in writing among the different populations of the Middle Ages, the oral form being the most predominant, a product of the illiteracy existing at the time..
Therefore, the minstrels were mostly responsible for spreading them. These troubadours were walking from town to town, standing in the squares and shouting the exploits of the different personalities they had read or heard about, or those they had seen themselves..
It is important to limit the memory qualities of these minstrels, who had to repeat between two thousand and twenty thousand verses before the public that observed them. The verses learned, after arduous study, were commonly accompanied by lute harmonies, which somewhat facilitated learning and dissemination.
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The first dates of the songs of deed are between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In France, Spain, Germany and Italy the exploits of the great warriors of each people were spread through the streets. Asia was not far behind, in Russia it was also customary.
No human population escaped from this idealization behavior of a character to create roots towards a land, a belief or a doctrine. The amount of verses that these compositions had -suggested in advance- merited the use of various mnemonic resources for their memorization..
The songs were organized in variable stanzas in terms of the number of verses, which were related to each other by means of rhyme..
Normally the rhyme was assonance, although in certain cases consonance was presented. This nexus, a product of rhymes, gave great strength to the discourse and facilitated its understanding..
Just as the story arises through writing, the fidelity of the origin of the chants of deed is certain due to the dates placed in the manuscripts made by the copyists..
Usually those who transcribed were not the minstrels, but experienced scribes who stationed themselves around the troubadours during the narration. Among the most renowned copyists and compilers in Spain is Per Abbat, who is awarded the compilation and transcription of the verses of the Sing of mine Cid.
As presented by the various poetic manifestations developed by man, the chanting of deed has peculiarities that make it unique. Some of these singularities will be shown below:
This is one of the particularities that most allowed its spread and that made it form, even today, part of the cultural heritage of many peoples. The linguistic simplicity of their message allowed them to penetrate deeply into the population, who in turn, in addition to learning from them, disseminated and enriched them.
This is a pedagogical and andragogical aspect of great value, necessary to enhance. The minstrels were the teachers of the Middle Ages. These characters followed the good customs of the Athenian schools, practically taking the theater to the street to educate in a popular and picturesque way.
Due to its oral nature, it is very common to find lyrical variants on the same song, product of the changes that each minstrel added, adjusted, of course, to the experiences and learning of each individual.
This, rather than tending to confuse or generate dualities regarding a theme or a historical line about a particular hero, enriches him.
Having several visions about the same story allows us to see aspects that could have gone unnoticed by other deed singers; and, therefore, the perspectives of the listener and the transcriber are broadened.
The deed songs, despite being touched by the exaggerations typical of popular imagery, are taken as historical references when the work of one of the characters idealized by them is studied..
His study is very enriching for historians, and it is not a recent practice. In fact, the data that Homer included in his two great epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are very reliable.
Such was the blind poet's accuracy in recounting the stories of the Ilium war and Odysseus' travels that they served as a map and guide for Heinrich Schlieman to discover the ruins of Troy..
Not only have these stories served this Prussian millionaire, there are countless undocumented cases of researchers who, based on epic poems, found enormous treasures, both architectural and monetary..
In view of the magnitude of these compositions, whose minimum measure was usually two thousand verses, it was seldom the time that they were recited in a single day. The total average of these compositions was 4,000 verses, but there were some that reached 20,000 verses.
It was customary for minstrels to come to the busiest areas of the town and begin their declamation, accompanied by their lute or a cappella. Depending on the interest of the people present, the show was spreading.
When the night was late, and the first diners began to leave, the minstrel would prepare to make closing verses and invite the continuation of the story the next day.
Depending on the performance of the singer, it was the bulk of the people who accompanied him in each delivery. The most interesting thing about this type of daily presentations was that the minstrels prepared a kind of stanza of between 60 and 90 verses where they made a recount of what was spoken the day before..
This great resource allowed to refresh the memory of the attendees and to update all those who were just arriving. Apart from the above explained, the minstrel demonstrated with this a stupendous ability in the metric and poetic handling.
If there is something that characterizes these poetic compositions, it is the fact that a specific author is not known, with certain exceptions in the recent epic..
In fact, among the oldest songs, it is considered that there is not a single deed song composed by a single individual, but that we find hybrids product of the creativity of several poets.
It was up to the minstrels to take the stanzas and verses that best suited their tastes and abilities and thus put together the story to be told. From time to time the minstrel himself added details to the pieces to enrich them, either poetically or thematically..
This poetic manifestation was typical, practically, of all cultures around the Mediterranean and far from it. Man has always had the need to tell the things he sees, and if he spreads them with incredible aspects, the better, he manages to reach the public more.
Now, according to the area where they were developed, their cultural particularities, and the experiences of each minstrel, it was the meter, the stanza extension and the type of rhyme of each deed song..
Yes, there is, inevitably, an affectation of the environment in the composition of the deed songs. They cannot be separated or disassociated.
We can appreciate from octosyllabic songs to Alexandrian songs, with stanzas of various extensions and rhymes adjusted to the customs of each region or the type of musical form with which they were accompanied..
Of all the epic manifestations that will be mentioned today, the Spanish is the most alive and the most resistant to the onslaught of development and modernity..
Even today, despite the past years, there are deed songs that are still recited throughout the Spanish and Latin American territories. These have been inherited from parents to children, from generation to generation, both orally and in writing, predominantly oral, of course..
Obviously in this cognitive identity transfer, musicality has played a crucial role. Those in charge of bequeathing the feats have used the typical musical forms of the region to enrich the poetic piece and facilitate its learning for new generations..
In Spain, these persistent poetic manifestations are called "old ballads." Its themes continue to have medieval motifs, and in their appearance they were very useful for the elaboration of theater pieces from the so-called Spanish Golden Age..
There are old romances that have been lost in time because they have not been transcribed. At present, large-scale Spanish works persist, among them the Song of the Youth by Rodrigo, the Song of Mine Cid and some fragments of the Song of Roncesvalles.
France enjoyed an immense production of chants of deed, the vast majority produced by literate monks.
The streets of its citadels were overflowing with minstrels on every corner narrating the deeds of the noble knights, or of some hardened paladins who had to save their peoples with heroic actions..
Of these romanceros a large number of works are preserved, among which the magnanimous work stands out. Chanson de Roland, which in spanish means Song of Roldán. His name, as is common in this type of composition, is due to his hero.
The theme of the history of Roldán focuses on the defeat suffered by Charlemagne's army when it was attacked from the rear by the king of Zaragoza. The composition perfectly narrates everything that happened in the vicinity of the Roncesvalles valley. In this song the hero dies.
Besides of Song of Roldán, other works such as The coronation of Louis, the Charoi of Nimes Y the Song of the Aliscanos.
The twelfth century is considered the peak of this type of composition in French lands. The French chants of deeds were written, at first, in decasyllables and in their later times they began to be elaborated in Alexandrian verses.
The type of rhyme presented by these songs is mostly assonance. The length of the compositions is between one thousand and twenty thousand verses. Although the anonymous character of the songs is spoken of, there are certain exceptions in the late period where the hand of the author is appreciated, normally belonging to learned classes.
In French plays the actions of the heroes, their exploits, were still the main course. The description of the development of the battles, and each of their stages, was meticulous, certainly works of art. It is worth limiting the use of dialogues within the narrative, which made it more attractive and representative.
Less than a hundred of the French epic songs remain. They were grouped in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries into three major periods by the troubadours and minstrels of the time:
Also called by historians the "King's Cycle" or "Pepin's Cycle". In this group of songs they talk about the exploits carried out by Charlemagne and his army.
In this period, the exploits of Guillermo de Orange stand out, a warrior who was part of the siege that was made to Barcelona in conjunction with Ludovico Pío..
Where the different feats carried out by the so-called "rebel Barons" are shown. The stories that occurred during the crusades are also attached..
As in the Spanish and French songs, the enhancement for the self, for the deeds of the heroes and the greatness of the nation and its warriors, persists.
The Germans keep the language simple, the narratives are subject to historical facts and possess, of course, the typical magical and mystical enhancements on the part of their creators..
Among German romances, The Song of the Nibelungs it is the most emblematic and representative. It is a Germanic epic poem written in the Middle Ages. It is at the literary and creative height of the Song of Roldán and from Sing of mine Cid.
The Song of the Nibelungs It tells of Siegfried's exploits and all the brave road he must travel to earn the right to marry Princess Krimilda. He also tells how his weak point is exposed, leaving him vulnerable to his enemy, Hengen..
The narrative is divided into 39 songs in total. This chant of deed is totally anonymous. It includes real historical events that are seasoned with the mysticism of beasts such as the dragon and the magical powers that their blood can possess to dress the hero Sigfredo with invulnerability..
The songs of deed are, without a doubt, one of the most important medieval historical references of the towns where they arose..
In addition to its referential narrative potential, its pedagogical and andragogical properties are added in favor of the enhancement of the nationalist sentiment of the peoples to which its stories belong..
Certainly this poetic manifestation represents an invaluable heritage for humanity.
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