Guillem Rainol d’At, “Quant aug chantar lo gal sus en l’erbos” (BdT 231.4)

Despite appearing in several editions and interpretations, this piece continues to pose problems. To what poetic genre does it belong? Should it be regarded as ‘fictive’ in some sense? How coherent is it, and to what should be attributed any incoherence? Are the interlocutors married or not? How many ‘dramatis personae’ are involved and who are they? It is argued here that any apparent incoherence derives from the manuscript transmission and the difficulties posed by the unusual vocabulary and popularising register, the narrative situation is simpler than has been previously thought, and wordplay or semantic ambivalence works primarily as humour rather than jongleuresque display. The piece would appear to be designed for performance as a comic sketch, imaginable in dramatised form with appropriate costumes, props and gestures, with the troubadour possibly coming on stage in his own persona as a ‘knight’, being interrupted by a ‘woman’ whose part could have been sung and acted by another man, a woman, or even the troubadour himself. The text may be aptly described as a 'fabliau' in dialogue form.