Spanish old romance: the narrative function of an oral story

The article analyzes the characteristics of the narrative structure of an oral story in the so-called “old” Spanish romances of the epic cycle. The Old Spanish romance of the 14th - 16th centuries is a lyric and epic genre of folklore origins. Regarding the motive structure of romances allows us to demonstrate both the principle of the plot construction in the texts and methods of working with the folklore material. The plots of the romances are based on one conflict unwinding in a particular episode. These conflicts represent the unchanging complex of motifs. Today, the most important problem is the interrelationships between the oral and the written in the romances. A special narrative technique, variability of plots, the formulaic style of romances allows us to speak about the oral genesis of texts. However, there are also romances that have been refolklorized and became oral from written. The article explores one of the most famous epic romance about the betrayal of Velido Dolfos, the murderer of King Sancho of Castile, which exists both in a short romance version and in prose versions in Latin and Castilian Chronicles, and in the “History of Spain” by Alfonso X the Wise. Based on the example of this plot, the article analyzes, firstly, the principle of the plot structure of the Spanish “old” romance, and, secondly, shows that it was the short narrative form of romances that allowed them to enter into prose chronicles retellings.