Élucidation et glose d'un passage énigmatique du Voir Dit de Guillaume de Machaut

Abstract

Verses 2038–2043 of Guillaume de Machaut’s Voir Dit (in P. Imbs’ edition) complete the portrait of Toute Belle with a disconcerting “object” : an herminette (small ermine), to which is attached a little chain and a magnificent ring. This article aims to show that this is not the fur of a small dead ermine, but a small ermine that is very much alive, on a leash (the little chain) and with a collar (the ring), Toute Belle’s pet animal. This is her double. Machaut makes this clear by establishing a physical proximity between the two (the lady holds the small ermine), which he reinforces with onomastic proximity : Toute Belle is an anagram of ou Bellette (“or Weasel”). The zoological characteristics of weasels and stoats (who change their “dress” in winter), the myths that went around about them, linked to the lady’s own characteristics and the grievances done to her, clarify her love affair with the Poet and encourage us to look on her less severely and more courteously.