Giraut was born to a lower-class family in the Limousin, probably in Bourney, near Excideuil in modern-day France. Guiraut might have accompanied Richard I of England and Aimar V of Limoges on the Third Crusade and stayed a while with the "good prince of Antioch", Bohemond III. He certainly made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but perhaps before the Crusade.

About ninety of Giraut's poems and four of his melodies survive; these were held in high esteem in the 13th century: Petrarch called him "master of the troubadours", while Dante, who preferred Arnaut Daniel, mentions that many considered him superior. Notable pieces include:

• S'anc jorn aqui joi e solaz, a planh about the death of Raimbaut d'Aurenga.
• Ara·m platz, Giraut de Borneill, a tenso with Raimbaut d'Aurenga discussing trobar clus versus trobar leu.
• Be me plairia, senh'en reis, a tenso with king Alfons II of Aragon Giraut contributes to the poetical debate as to whether a lady is dishonoured by taking a lover who is richer than herself. This debate was begun by Guilhem de Saint-Leidier, taken up by Azalais de Porcairagues and Raimbaut d'Aurenga, and continued in a partimen between Dalfi d'Alvernha and Perdigon.
• Reis glorios (glorious king), a well-known alba.

• Sharman, Ruth V. (1989). The Cansos and Sirventes of the Troubadour Giraut de Borneil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-25635-6.

• Guiraut de Bornelh, (with trans. James H. Donalson), Songs, vol. 1 and Songs, vol. 2
• Complete works, including all extant melodies at trobar.org