Tizona (also Tizón) is one of the famous swords which is carried by the hero of the Reconquista, El Cid, according to the Cantar de mio Cid.
A sword identified as Tizona was given by Ferdinand II of Aragon to Pedro de Peralta, count of Santisteban de Lerín in c. 1470. This sword was long kept in Marcilla Castle, later in the Army Museum in Madrid and since 2007 in the Museo de Burgos.
Etymology[]
The name used in the Cantar de mio Cid is Tizón. The form Tizona has been in use since the late medieval period (14th century). The blade inscription on the Marcilla sword, presumably of the 13th or 14th century, has the form TIZONA.
Literary tradition[]
According to the Cantar de mio Cid, El Cid won the sword from its previous owner, King Yucef in Valencia. Afterwards, it was given by El Cid to his sons-in-law, the Infantes de Carrión but eventually returned into the possession of El Cid.
In the poem, Tizona's power depends on the wielder, and it frightens unworthy opponents. When the infantes of Carrión had Tizona, they underestimated the power of the sword, due to their cowardice, but when Pero Vermúdez was going to fight Ferrán González and unsheathed Tizona (a gift from El Cid), Ferrán González yelled and surrendered, cowering in terror at the sight of Tizona (verses 3642-3645):
Él dexó la lança, e mano al espada metió; |
He [Pero Vermúdez] let go the lance and took the sword in hand; |
According to legend, after his death in 1099, the body of El Cid was seated in full armor and in the monastery church of San Pedro de Cardeña, and there with the sword Tizona struck down a Jew who plucked the dead hero's beard. The monks revived the stunned Jew, who let himself be baptized and under the name Diego Gil became the servant of El Cid's squire Gil Diaz.[1]
Modern description[]
A veiled female ghost who carries the rapier appears in the video game Blasphemous, which is inspired by Catholicism and Spanish folklore, is named after the sword.