The Poetics of Speech in the Medieval Spanish Epic explores the composition of manuscript texts in thirteenth-century Spain. Of the vernacular epic poems originating with the minstrels of this era, only three full-length works remain: Cantar de Mio Cid, Poema de Fernan Gonzalez, and Mocedades de Rodrigo, all preserved and recorded by members of the clergy. By analyzing expressive traits found in these three poems, Matthew Bailey links them to the cognitive processes that take place in the minds of speakers as narration unfolds.

In Latin and other...