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La Tizona de El
Cid, Campeador de Castilla
Tizona
is the
sword carried by
El Cid which was used to
fight the
Moors in
Spain. It is now one of
Spain's most cherished
relics and can be found at
the
Museo del Ejército (Army
Museum) in
Madrid.
One of El Cid's swords (another
is named
Colada), Tizona was taken in
battle from a Moorish chief
named
Malik Bucar. The sword was
given to his daughter's husband
as marriage gift, but some time
later, due to his daughter's
poor treatment at the hands of
her husband, Tizona was taken
back and given to his nephew
Pedro Bermudez. The sword is
103 cm long and weighs 1.1 kg.
Tizona was supposedly forged in
Cordoba, though considerable
amounts of
Damascus steel can be found
in its blade.
There are two inscriptions on
the sword:
YO SOY LA TIZONA FUE ECHA EN LA
ERA DE MILLE QUARENTA
In medieval Castilian (Spanish):
"I am "La Tizona", made in the
year
1040", but in Spanish
medieval sources, "era" implies
Hispanic Era, by which
the History of Spain starts in
38 BC, so the date of the sword
has to be
1002.
AVE MARIA ~ GRATIA PLENA ~
DOMINUS TECUM
In
Latin: "Hail Mary, full of
grace. The Lord is with you"
(from the Catholic prayer
Ave Maria, "Hail Mary")
On the sword the "U" characters
appear similar to the modern
"X."
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