I have chosen in this essay to accept Matilda Bruckner's open invitation to enter the “hall of mirrors” that reflect the various images of the trobairitz and to “follow the intricacies and echoes of its play.” Specifically, I shall look at the “precious” (in the best sense of that term) verses left to us by Na Lombarda, which, with their thematization of the mirror, lend themselves even better than the works of other trobairitz to scrutiny and ultimately to speculation.

I am of course not the first to examine the two coblas that constitute the small but rich poetic legacy of Na Lombarda. Indeed, during the brief span from 1989 to 1991, four important studies appeared, all written by women, each of whom views the verses of this trobairitz through a slightly different lens.

Sarah Kay focuses on how Lombarda uses derived rhyme to underscore, at a linguistic level, the reversal of gender roles that is at issue in this lively poetic debate.