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In medieval literature there is a long tradition of feminin transvestism, from hagiography to chivalric romances. In all of them, the change of identity motif lends itself to various ambiguities and paradoxes which are the main features in Le Roman de Silence not only in syntax but also in it's main themes. The other protagonist of the text, Merlin, a hybrid character himself, who recalls the trickster --a trait shared with Silence--, is a key figure acting as a catalyst for the plot. As such, his mere apparition in the romance alerts the reader to the paradoxes and the ambiguities at the core of a work whose trickster-like characteristics are examined as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]