Oddany rycerz Zifar jako wierny Hiob. Zestawienie Libro del caballero Zifar (Księgi rycerza Zifara) z Księgą Hioba
The Devoted Knight Zifar and the Faithful Job: Juxtaposition of Libro del caballero Zifar (The Book of the Knight Zifar) with the Book of Job

Summary/Abstract: During the time of the first crusades, when knighthood was being established, a knight seemed to be a model of a successful man who achieved the desired wealth and fame through his military service. In reality, however, the hard and dangerous yet poorly paid fight for foreign rulers often meant that they lived in poverty, making tchem similar to Job, who asked: ‘His days like a hired‑hand’s day?’ (Job 7:1). Perhaps it was precisely to revive the idealised image of the knight and encourage young people to take up the sword and lance to help establish God’s justice in the world why the first romance novel was written, entitled Libro del caballero Zifar (The Book of the Knight Zifar). The protagonist, the model knight Zifar from India, is very successful on the battlefield, but suffers from a curse that kills one of his horses every ten days. Since the Spanish word for knight (caballero) is based on the word for horse (caballo), the death of his steed can be interpreted as the cyclical loss of his very knighthood. However, Zifar humbly endures the misfortune that befalls him, for ‘what was to be lost was lost, for God reclaimed it for himself, for it was his property’. The patient and humble knight is guided by Job’s maxim: ‘YHWH has given, and YHWH has taken. May the name of YHWH be blessed’ (Job 1:21). This justifies a comparison of these two characters, leading to the conclusion that the first chivalric novel in Castilian carries a similar sapiential message as the biblical text.

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