Difference between revisions of "Duncan the Tall"

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(The Hedge Knight)
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Dunk claimed to the Tourney organizers that Arlan knighted him before his death. The truth of this claim has not been revealed, though Dunk sometimes feels guilt for an unexplained reason. No one remembered Arlan, and Dunk eventually sought out [[Baelor Breakspear]], who had tilted against Arlan on one notable occasion. Baelor allowed Dunk to enter the Tourney. That evening, [[Aerion Targaryen]] attacked the puppeteer and Dunk rushed to her aide. After breaking several of Aerion's teeth, Dunk was attacked by Aerion's guards, but Egg, revealing his identity as Aegon Targaryen, protected him.  
 
Dunk claimed to the Tourney organizers that Arlan knighted him before his death. The truth of this claim has not been revealed, though Dunk sometimes feels guilt for an unexplained reason. No one remembered Arlan, and Dunk eventually sought out [[Baelor Breakspear]], who had tilted against Arlan on one notable occasion. Baelor allowed Dunk to enter the Tourney. That evening, [[Aerion Targaryen]] attacked the puppeteer and Dunk rushed to her aide. After breaking several of Aerion's teeth, Dunk was attacked by Aerion's guards, but Egg, revealing his identity as Aegon Targaryen, protected him.  
  
Aerion demanded a trial of seven, a kind of trial by combat involving seven combatants on each side. Egg helped Dunk find allies, which ultimately included Baelor himself. Dunk learned that the people were with him for being a knight who remembered his vows to protect the helpless. During the combat, Dunk faced off against Aerion, and his inexperience with lance and sword nearly get him killed. Using his superior strength and wrestling skills learned in Flea Bottom, Dunk bested Aerion and forced him to yield. After the trial, Baelor died of his wounds, and Dunk felt guilty for causing the death of the Prince. Now the heir, Egg's father Maekar asked Dunk to continue to squire Egg and serve as a positive influence on him. Dunk agreed, but refused to serve House Targaryen, preferring to remain a hedge knight and teach Egg the humility that Aerion never learned.
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Aerion demanded a trial of seven, a kind of trial by combat involving seven combatants on each side. Egg helped Dunk find allies, which ultimately included Baelor himself. Dunk learned that the people were with him for being a knight who remembered his vows to protect the helpless. During the combat, Dunk faced off against Aerion, and his inexperience with lance and sword nearly got him killed. Using his superior strength and the wrestling skills he learned in Flea Bottom, Dunk bested Aerion and forced him to yield. After the trial, Baelor died of his wounds, and Dunk felt guilty for causing the death of the Prince. Now the heir, Egg's father Maekar asked Dunk to continue to squire Egg and serve as a positive influence on him. Dunk agreed, but refused to serve House Targaryen, preferring to remain a hedge knight and teach Egg the humility that Aerion never learned.
  
 
===The Sworn Sword===
 
===The Sworn Sword===

Revision as of 02:04, 14 December 2007

Dunk is a large man who grew up as the squire of a hedge knight, became the companion of Aegon V, and later served as his Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under the name Ser Duncan the Tall. Nearly seven feet tall, Dunk has a humble personality and thinks of himself as thick-headed. His early exploits are chronicled in the "Dunk and Egg" stories of The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword.

History

Early life

Dunk's earliest memories were of living as a street urchin in the Flea Bottom slums of King's Landing. Ser Arlan of Pennytree took Dunk as a squire and raised him from a youth. Arlan's humble optimism made a positive impression on Dunk, though his gentle chidings of "Dunk the Lunk" damaged his self-confidence.

The Hedge Knight

When Dunk was around the age of 16, Arlan died suddenly on the way to Ashford. Dunk buried Arlan and decided to compete in the Ashford Tourney himself. On the way, he met a bald-headed boy named Egg, who begged to become his squire. Dunk eventually agreed. They camped just outside of Ashford under an elm tree and watched a shooting star fall from the evening sky. To Dunk, the moment symbolized the humble pleasures of the hedge knight lifestyle. In the morning, Dunk sold Arlan's equipment and purchased armor to his size. Needing a coat of arms, Dunk commisioned an attractive Dornish puppeteer to paint a shooting star above an elm tree over a sunset field on his shield.

Dunk claimed to the Tourney organizers that Arlan knighted him before his death. The truth of this claim has not been revealed, though Dunk sometimes feels guilt for an unexplained reason. No one remembered Arlan, and Dunk eventually sought out Baelor Breakspear, who had tilted against Arlan on one notable occasion. Baelor allowed Dunk to enter the Tourney. That evening, Aerion Targaryen attacked the puppeteer and Dunk rushed to her aide. After breaking several of Aerion's teeth, Dunk was attacked by Aerion's guards, but Egg, revealing his identity as Aegon Targaryen, protected him.

Aerion demanded a trial of seven, a kind of trial by combat involving seven combatants on each side. Egg helped Dunk find allies, which ultimately included Baelor himself. Dunk learned that the people were with him for being a knight who remembered his vows to protect the helpless. During the combat, Dunk faced off against Aerion, and his inexperience with lance and sword nearly got him killed. Using his superior strength and the wrestling skills he learned in Flea Bottom, Dunk bested Aerion and forced him to yield. After the trial, Baelor died of his wounds, and Dunk felt guilty for causing the death of the Prince. Now the heir, Egg's father Maekar asked Dunk to continue to squire Egg and serve as a positive influence on him. Dunk agreed, but refused to serve House Targaryen, preferring to remain a hedge knight and teach Egg the humility that Aerion never learned.

The Sworn Sword

After spedning time in Dorne looking for the puppeteer, Dunk and Egg went to the Reach and entered the service of Ser Eustace Osgrey, a poor and broken landed knight. Dunk and Eustace's other knight Ser Bennis the Brown discover that peasants of Lady Rohanne Webber of Coldmoat have dammed the local stream. Bennis provoked Rohanne by cutting one of her peasants, and Dunk eventually went to Coldmoat to try to reason with her. Though sexual tension charged their meeting, Rohanne refused Dunk and told him about Eustace's support of Daemon Blackfyre during the Blackfyre Rebellion.

Shocked by the revelation, Dunk attempted to leave Eustace's service, but a fire in the nearby woods caused Dunk to suspect that Rohanne had already started her campaign against Eustace. After Bennis fled and only the feeble peasant levies remaining, Dunk knew that war was a lost cause. He disbanded Eustace's levies, but promised to face Rohanne with him. Meeting with Rohanne's forces, Dunk offered to settle the matter with a trial by combat. Rohanne agreed, and sent her overbearing steward Ser Lucas Longinch to fight Dunk in the stream. Again, Dunk's wrestling ability compensated for his lack of swordsmanship. He killed Lucas, but received major wounds and almost drowned in the stream.

After recooperating, Dunk discovered that Eustace and Rohanne had settled their differences and decided to marry. Feeling rejected, Dunk took one last kiss from Rohanne and somewhat vindictively cut off a length of her signature braid as a keepsake. Afterwards, Dunk and Egg took their leave.

Later

After Egg took the Iron Throne as King Aegon V, he made Dunk his Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Aegon named his first son and heir Duncan, who was called Duncan the Small in contrast to his namesake. Dunk eventually perished along with Aegon and Duncan in the Tragedy of Summerhall.

For unknown reasons, a shield with Duncan's arms came to reside in the armory of Lord Selwyn of Tarth. His daughter Brienne wore a copied version of the arms while traveling the Riverlands incognito.