Swords
Swords play an integral part in the narrative and in the process take on great symbolic significance. The gift of the swords is symbolic of kinship while the decision to return the swords reverses the meaning so that they now become symbols of a relationship that has been ruptured.
Tugging at Beards
This seemingly mundane act is invested with profound symbolic meaning in the story. The Cid’s tugging on Count Ordéñez’s beard is revealed as enormously satisfying because the Count’s whiskers have failed to grow ever since. This lack of growth is a symbolic the Count’s loss of honor.
The Lion
Lions have traditionally been a symbol of courage and bravery and so when the Infantes behave cowardly in the face of the danger the lion presents, this is a symbol of their inherent lack of courage. More importantly, the Cid’s reaction to the lion invests with not just literal but figurative bravery.
Dawn
The rising of the sun becomes one of the central symbols indicative of the Cid’s greatness. The Cid arrives at dawn and his victory occurs in coincidence with sunrise. On a more metaphorical level, the Cid is associated with the symbolic bringing of the light to Spanish as a kind of proto-democratic hero.
Grass Biter
One of the oddest scenes in the poem has the Cid leaping off his horse, getting on his hands and knees, biting at the grass and weeping in the presence of Lord Alfonso. The ritual is a demonstration of loyalty through a symbolic enacting of subjugation and submissive toward a ruler.
