The Hedge Knight Novella Summary

The Hedge Knight

• The first novella in the series, The Hedge Knight, details Dunk's journey as an itinerant "hedge knight" and how the young Aegon/Egg becomes his squire.
• Dunk is a squire to Ser Arlan of Pennytree, a hedge knight who follows a chivalric code of conduct.
• Ser Arlan dies of illness, and Dunk takes his armor, weapons, and equipment, heading to Ashford to make a name for himself as a hedge knight.
• Dunk adopts the name "Ser Duncan the Tall" and commissions a beautiful puppeteer named Tanselle to paint him a different coat of arms.
• Egg, a mysterious, feisty, bald boy, pushes to serve as Dunk's squire, and they participate in the competition at Ashford after being guaranteed by Prince Baelor Targaryen.
• Dunk strikes Prince Aerion in defense of Tanselle and nearly is executed, but Egg intervenes, revealing himself to be Prince Aegon Targaryen, the younger brother of Aerion and heir to the Iron Throne.

The Sworn Sword

• The second novella, The Sworn Sword, starts with Dunk and Egg arriving at The Reach, having sworn allegiance to Ser Eustace Osgrey of Standfast.
• Ser Eustace narrates events from the Blackfyre Rebellion, a civil war within House Targaryen, which reached its bloody zenith at the Battle of the Redgrass Field.
• Ser Eustace takes Dunk and Aegon as his sworn sword to help resolve a territorial dispute between himself and Lady Rohanne Webber of Coldmoat, known as "The Red Widow."
• The harvests in Standfast lands have been poor due to defective irrigation sources originating from Coldmoat territory.
• Dunk and Ser Bennis, another sworn sword, investigate and trace the source to a dam built by Lady Rohanne's vassals.
• Ser Bennis wounds one of the peasants, leading to fears of reprisals from Lady Rohanne, and Ser Eustace commands Dunk and Bennis to train conscripts from the villages under his rule.
• Dunk is sent on a peace mission to Coldmoat, where he discovers Lady Rohanne is in a precarious situation herself.