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| genre        = [[w:Fantasy|Fantasy]]
 
| genre        = [[w:Fantasy|Fantasy]]
 
| publisher    = Dabel Brothers Productions
 
| publisher    = Dabel Brothers Productions
| release_date = 2003 (novella in [[w:Legends II (book)|Legends II anthology]] <br> 2 July 2008 (the graphic novel)
+
| release_date = 2003 (novella in [[w:Legends II (book)|Legends II anthology]])<br> 2 July 2008 (the graphic novel)
 
| media_type  = Original novella in ''Legends II'' anthology; released as standalone graphic novel; prose novella republished in ''Legends II: Dragon, Sword, and King''  
 
| media_type  = Original novella in ''Legends II'' anthology; released as standalone graphic novel; prose novella republished in ''Legends II: Dragon, Sword, and King''  
 
| pages        = 152  
 
| pages        = 152  
| isbn        = ISBN 0785126503 (graphic novel)<br>ISBN-13 978-0007154364 (Legends II)<br>ISBN-13 978-0345475787 (Legends II: Dragon, Sword and King)
+
| isbn        = ISBN 978-0785126508 (graphic novel, 2008 edition, Hardcover)<br>ISBN 9780007154364 (Legends II)<br>ISBN 9780345475787 (Legends II: Dragon, Sword and King)<br>See the References and Notes section for alternate editions' ISBNs
| preceded_by  = [[The Hedge Knight]]
+
| preceded_by  = ''[[The Hedge Knight]]''
| followed_by  = [[The Mystery Knight]]  
+
| followed_by  = ''[[The Mystery Knight]]''
 
}}
 
}}
  
'''The Sworn Sword''' is the second in [[George R. R. Martin]], following the the story of [[Dunk]] & [[Aegon V|Egg]] a year and a half after the events of [[The Hedge Knight]]. It was first published in the ''Legends II'' anthology series, a collection of short stories by authors such as Tad Williams, Orson Scott Card, and Neil Gaiman.
+
'''''The Sworn Sword''''' is the second in [[George R. R. Martin]]'s ''Tales of Dunk & Egg'', following the story of the [[hedge knight]] [[Duncan the Tall]] and his squire [[Aegon V Targaryen|Egg]], a year and a half after the events of ''[[The Hedge Knight]]''. It was first published in the ''Legends II'' anthology series, a collection of short stories by authors such as [[:w:Tad Williams|Tad Williams]], [[:w:Orson Scott Card|Orson Scott Card]], and [[:w:Neil Gaiman|Neil Gaiman]].
  
A compilation of the four initial "Dunk and Egg" stories, including ''The Sworn Sword'', is expected to be published by Bantam.<ref>http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/FAQ/Entry/1974/ The Citadel FAQ, 2.1.9 - WILL THERE BE ANY MORE DUNK AND EGG STORIES?</ref>
+
The novella focuses on the difficult path of chivalry when taking part in petty feuds and casual injustices are part and parcel of what it means to be a sworn man in the [[feudalism|feudal]] [[Seven Kingdoms]].
  
As before this story focus almost exclusively on 'Dunk & Egg' and their progression through life. this time focusing on the difficult path of chivalry when taking part in petty feuds and casual injustices are part and parcel of what it means to be a sworn man in the [[feudalism|feudal]] Seven kingdoms.
+
==Editions==
 +
''The Sworn Sword'' was originally published in ''Legends II''.<ref>''Legends II'', ISBN 9780007154364 (Paperback, 2011 Edition); ISBN 9780007154357 (Paperback, 2004 Edition); ISBN 9780007305094 (Paperback, 2008 Edition); ISBN 9780345456441 (Hardcover, 2003 Edition); ISBN 9780007154340 (Hardcover, September 2003, Voyager, 400 pages)</ref> Later, it was also published in ''Legends II: Dragon, Sword and King''<ref>''Legends II: Dragon, Sword and King'', ISBN 9780345475787 (Paperback); ISBN 9781435291133 (Library Binding)</ref> and as a graphic novel.<ref>''The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword'', ISBN 9780785126515 (2009 TPB); ISBN 9780785126508 (2008 Hardcover)</ref> Some confusion exists because the anthology ''Legends'', where the previous Dunk and Egg novella was published, has on occasion been divided into two or three numbered volumes.
 +
 
 +
A compilation of the four initial "Dunk and Egg" stories, including ''The Sworn Sword'', was expected to be published by Bantam.<ref>http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/FAQ/Entry/1974/ The Citadel FAQ, 2.1.9 - ''Will There Be Any More Dung and Egg Stories?''</ref>  Ultimately, a collection of only the first three stories was released in 2015 in ''[[A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms]]''.<ref name=Ride>[[Not a Blog]]: [http://grrm.livejournal.com/406858.html  Dunk and Egg Ride Again (February 25, 2015)]</ref><ref name=Here>[[Not a Blog]]: [http://grrm.livejournal.com/447919.html Dunk & Egg are HERE (October 6, 2015)]</ref>
  
 
==Story==
 
==Story==
The story takes place in the aftermath of [[Blackfyre Rebellion]] and opens a year and a half after the events of "The Hedge Knight". we find the two in the midst of a terrible Summer drought in the [[Reach]] (which itself followed the [[The Great Spring Sickness|Great Spring Sickness]]). [[Dunk]] has sworn his sword to Ser [[Eustace Osgrey]] of [[Standfast]], an old, done knight who dwells on the dual-losses of his family and its ancient honors. Gnawing at the bones of faded glory, Ser Eustace draws Dunk and Egg into a potentially-fatal conflict with his neighbour Lady [[Rohanne Webber]].  
+
{{Main|The Sworn Sword-Summary}}
 +
 
 +
A year and a half after ''The Hedge Knight'', the [[Seven Kingdoms]] are suffering from a terrible summer drought, which in turn had followed the [[Great Spring Sickness]]. [[Dunk]] has sworn his sword to Ser [[Eustace Osgrey]] of [[Standfast]] in the [[Reach]]. Eustace is an old, done knight who dwells on the dual-losses of his family and its ancient honors.
 +
 
 +
Dunk and Egg return to Standfast from a short journey to [[Dosk]] for supplies. Upon their return, they discover that [[Chequy Water|a local stream]] has dried up while they were gone. Suspicious, and unheeding of the warning by fellow sworn sword Ser [[Bennis of the Brown Shield]], Dunk sends Egg ahead to Standfast and goes to investigate. Upstream Dunk and Bennis they discover that a dam has been built on the order of Lady [[Rohanne Webber]] of [[Coldmoat]]. When the workmen refuse to take down the dam, Ser Bennis cuts one of them with his longsword.
  
Dunk & Egg return to Standfast from a short journey to [[Dosk]] to get much needed supplies. They discover local stream has suddenly dried up while they was gone, Suspicious, and unheeding of Ser [[Bennis]]’s warning to leave it alone, they go to investigate. as they follow the riverbed upstream and discovers that workmen of Lady Rohanne have built a dam. When the workmen refuse to remove the dam Ser Bennis wounds one of them and drive them, which sets into motion the outbreak of a long-simmering feud.  
+
At Standfast, Dunk and Bennis find Ser Eustace cleaning the shield of Ser [[Wilbert Osgrey]], who lived in the time of King [[Gyles III Gardener]] and King [[Lancel IV Lannister]]. When Eustace is done telling the hedge knights the story of Ser Wilbert, they inform him about the dam. When Eustace hears how Bennis taught one of the workers a lesson, he is quick to realize that Lady Rohanne will not suffer such an insult. He orders Bennis and Dunk to gather men from his three villages and train them to fight. However, they only manage to find eight men. After a day of training Bennis tells Dunk that the peasants will not be able to stand against Rohanne's knights.
  
The hedge knights return to Standfast and tell Ser Osgrey what has happened. The old man realizes that Lady Rohanne will see the wounding of one of her men as a slight on her honor. He orders Ser Bennis and Dunk to gather men from his three villages and to start training them to fight.  
+
Discussing the situation with Egg, the young boy suggests "using his booth", in which he has hidden a ring with [[Maekar I Targaryen|his father's]] personal sigil on it. Dunk tells him that, although it is honorable for Egg to wish to safe the [[smallfolk]] serving Eustace, his identity has to remain a secret. That night, Dunk dreams about burying his horse [[Chestnut]] in [[Dorne]]. He digs the grave while Ser [[Arlan of Pennytree]], Prince [[Baelor Targaryen (son of Daeron II)|Baelor Targaryen]], and Baelor's eldest son [[Valarr Targaryen|Valarr]] comment. More and more people of Standfast appear, and eventually Egg is buried alive underneath the sands of the Dornish dessert.
Duncan hopes for another solution and is sent to [[Coldmoat]] to parley with Lady Rohanne and offer her bloodprice, an ancient form of [[w:weergeld|weergeld]].  
 
  
As they meet Lady Rohanne Duncan realizes that some thing are different then he was told. Lady Rohanne is an pretty young woman, to whom he is attracted, instead of an old widow. The river was not Ser Eustace's but was granted by the [[Daeron II|king]] to [[House Webber]] for it's services in the [[Blackfyre Rebellion]]. It was taken from [[House Osgrey]] in punishment for their support of [[Daemon Blackfyre]].  
+
The next morning, Eustace witnesses a training, which does not go well. Eustace compares Bennis and Dunk training the men to the time his sons trained their fathers before marching to war in the [[First Blackfyre Rebellion]]. Still mindfull of his dream from the previous night, Dunk asks Eustace if there truly is no other way, and the knight suggests a bloodprice, an ancient form of [[w:wergeld|wergeld]]. Eustace refuses to break a vow he had taken decades before, never to set foot on Coldmoat's grounds again, and so Dunk offers to go in Eustace's stead.
  
Dunk and Egg also learn that the lady has to remarry within a short time or loose her lands to a cousin as stated in her father's testament. Her father also tasked Ser [[Lucas Inchfield|Lucas 'Longinch']] to protect her against unworthy suitors. Ser Lucas has interpreted this to shield her against all suitors and tries to get her to marry him.
+
Dunk arrives at Coldmoat, where he realizes that the terrible stories he has been told about Rohanne are not completely true. Rohanne is an pretty young woman, to whom he is attracted, instead of an old widow. He is informed that the river does not belong to Ser Eustace, but had been granted by King [[Daeron II Targaryen]] to [[House Webber]] for its services in the [[Blackfyre Rebellion]]. It had been taken from [[House Osgrey]] in punishment for their support of [[Daemon I Blackfyre]].
 +
 
 +
Dunk and Egg also learn that the lady has to remarry within a short time or lose her lands to a cousin as stated in her father's testament. Her father also tasked Ser [[Lucas Inchfield|Lucas 'Longinch']] to protect her against unworthy suitors. Ser Lucas has interpreted this to shield her against all suitors and tries to get her to marry him.
  
 
The meeting does not end well. Lady Rohanne refuses to break up the dam or take the bloodprice. She demands that Ser Bennis will be turned over to her or else she will take him herself.  
 
The meeting does not end well. Lady Rohanne refuses to break up the dam or take the bloodprice. She demands that Ser Bennis will be turned over to her or else she will take him herself.  
Shocked and angered by all the revelations Ser Duncan wants to leave Osgrey's service. However as he realizes that the villagers will not stand a chance against Lady Rohanne's well armed soldiers he decides to stay.
+
Shocked and angered by all the revelations Ser Duncan wants to leave Osgrey's service. However, as he realizes that the villagers will not stand a chance against Lady Rohanne's well-armed soldiers, he decides to stay.
  
The next morning Ser Osgrey, Duncan and Egg ride to the river. The meet Lady Webber and her small army. Ser Duncan asks and is granted a private parley with Lady Webber. He shows her Egg's ring, proving Egg is a prince of the blood. He cuts his own cheeks to make up for the wounding of her man. Lady Rohanne is impressed but still demands an apology from Ser Eustace who refuses. The parties decide to settle the matter in a fight between their champions. Duncan fights Ser Lucas and is able to kill him but almost drowns in the process.  
+
The next morning Ser Osgrey, Duncan and Egg ride to the river where they meet Lady Webber and her small army. Ser Duncan asks and is granted a private parley with Lady Webber. He shows her Egg's ring, proving Egg is a prince of the blood. He cuts his own cheeks to make up for the wounding of her man. Lady Rohanne is impressed but still demands an apology from Ser Eustace, who refuses. The parties decide to settle the matter in a fight between their champions. Duncan fights Ser Lucas and is able to kill him but almost drowns in the process.  
  
 
When he wakes up Ser Eustace and Lady Rohanne have settled their differences and have married. Duncan is asked to remain at Standfast as their captain of the guard but refuses. Barely recovered he prepares to leave. Lady Rohanne meets him at the stables and offers her finest horse and her apologies. Dunk refuses both, but Rohanne demands that he take something of her. They kiss passionately and Duncan cuts her braid so that he will have something to remember her.
 
When he wakes up Ser Eustace and Lady Rohanne have settled their differences and have married. Duncan is asked to remain at Standfast as their captain of the guard but refuses. Barely recovered he prepares to leave. Lady Rohanne meets him at the stables and offers her finest horse and her apologies. Dunk refuses both, but Rohanne demands that he take something of her. They kiss passionately and Duncan cuts her braid so that he will have something to remember her.
 +
 +
==Editions==
 +
<gallery>
 +
File:Legends ii hardcover isbn 9780007154340.jpg|''The Sworn Sword'' was originally published in ''Legends II'', in Hardcover (2003) and Paperback (2004)
 +
File:Legends_ii_isbn_9780345456441.jpg|This is another hardcover edition of ''Legends II'', from Del Rey, December 2003, ISBN 978-0345456441.  Both editions contain the exact same eleven stories in all.  Authors include Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman, Terry Brooks and Elizabeth Haydon.  ''The Sworn Sword'' is found in pages 73 to 152 of this edition, after an introduction two pages long.
 +
File:Cover legends ii.jpg|Later editions of ''Legends II'', such as this one with ISBN 978-1435291133, split the eleven stories between two volumes with different names. ''The Sworn Sword'' is included in "Dragon, Sword and King"
 +
File:TheSwornSword.jpg|[[The Hedge Knight (comics)|''The Sworn Sword'' (Graphic Novel)]], ISBN 978-1477849293
 +
</gallery>
  
 
==References and Notes==
 
==References and Notes==
{{References}}
+
{{References|1|refs=}}
 +
*[http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/12702-asoiaf-bibliography-where-you-can-find-all-of-those-dunk-egg-stories/ Westeros forums: ''ASOIAF Bibliography: Where You Can Find All Of Those Dunk & Egg Stories'']
 +
*[http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/12/a-read-of-ice-and-fire-the-sworn-sword-part-1 A Read of Ice and Fire: The Sworn Sword, Part 1]. Analyses and summary of the chapter by Leigh Butler.
 +
*[http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/01/a-read-of-ice-and-fire-the-sworn-sword-part-2 A Read of Ice and Fire: The Sworn Sword, Part 2]. Analyses and summary of the chapter by Leigh Butler.
 +
*[http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/01/a-read-of-ice-and-fire-the-sworn-sword-part-3 A Read of Ice and Fire: The Sworn Sword, Part 3]. Analyses and summary of the chapter by Leigh Butler.
 +
{{GRRM works|state = uncollapsed}}
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{{ASOIAF|state=collapsed}}
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<!-- Categories -->
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[[Category:Books|Sworn Sword]]
  
{{GRRM works}}
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<!-- language interwikis -->
[[Category:Books|Sworn Sword]]
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[[es:La Espada Leal]]
[[fr:L'Épée Lige]][[ru:Присяжный Рыцарь]]
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[[fr:L'Épée Lige]]
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[[pt:O Cavaleiro dos Sete Reinos - A Espada Juramentada]]
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[[ru:Присяжный Рыцарь]]

Revision as of 17:00, 26 December 2018

The Sworn Sword
TheSwornSword.jpg
Graphic Novel
Author George R. R. Martin
Country United States
Language English
Series A Song of Ice and Fire
Genre(s) Fantasy
Publisher Dabel Brothers Productions
Released 2003 (novella in Legends II anthology)
2 July 2008 (the graphic novel)
Media Type Original novella in Legends II anthology; released as standalone graphic novel; prose novella republished in Legends II: Dragon, Sword, and King
Pages 152
ISBN ISBN 978-0785126508 (graphic novel, 2008 edition, Hardcover)
ISBN 9780007154364 (Legends II)
ISBN 9780345475787 (Legends II: Dragon, Sword and King)
See the References and Notes section for alternate editions' ISBNs
Preceded by The Hedge Knight
Followed by The Mystery Knight

The Sworn Sword is the second in George R. R. Martin's Tales of Dunk & Egg, following the story of the hedge knight Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg, a year and a half after the events of The Hedge Knight. It was first published in the Legends II anthology series, a collection of short stories by authors such as Tad Williams, Orson Scott Card, and Neil Gaiman.

The novella focuses on the difficult path of chivalry when taking part in petty feuds and casual injustices are part and parcel of what it means to be a sworn man in the feudal Seven Kingdoms.

Editions

The Sworn Sword was originally published in Legends II.[1] Later, it was also published in Legends II: Dragon, Sword and King[2] and as a graphic novel.[3] Some confusion exists because the anthology Legends, where the previous Dunk and Egg novella was published, has on occasion been divided into two or three numbered volumes.

A compilation of the four initial "Dunk and Egg" stories, including The Sworn Sword, was expected to be published by Bantam.[4] Ultimately, a collection of only the first three stories was released in 2015 in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.[5][6]

Story

A year and a half after The Hedge Knight, the Seven Kingdoms are suffering from a terrible summer drought, which in turn had followed the Great Spring Sickness. Dunk has sworn his sword to Ser Eustace Osgrey of Standfast in the Reach. Eustace is an old, done knight who dwells on the dual-losses of his family and its ancient honors.

Dunk and Egg return to Standfast from a short journey to Dosk for supplies. Upon their return, they discover that a local stream has dried up while they were gone. Suspicious, and unheeding of the warning by fellow sworn sword Ser Bennis of the Brown Shield, Dunk sends Egg ahead to Standfast and goes to investigate. Upstream Dunk and Bennis they discover that a dam has been built on the order of Lady Rohanne Webber of Coldmoat. When the workmen refuse to take down the dam, Ser Bennis cuts one of them with his longsword.

At Standfast, Dunk and Bennis find Ser Eustace cleaning the shield of Ser Wilbert Osgrey, who lived in the time of King Gyles III Gardener and King Lancel IV Lannister. When Eustace is done telling the hedge knights the story of Ser Wilbert, they inform him about the dam. When Eustace hears how Bennis taught one of the workers a lesson, he is quick to realize that Lady Rohanne will not suffer such an insult. He orders Bennis and Dunk to gather men from his three villages and train them to fight. However, they only manage to find eight men. After a day of training Bennis tells Dunk that the peasants will not be able to stand against Rohanne's knights.

Discussing the situation with Egg, the young boy suggests "using his booth", in which he has hidden a ring with his father's personal sigil on it. Dunk tells him that, although it is honorable for Egg to wish to safe the smallfolk serving Eustace, his identity has to remain a secret. That night, Dunk dreams about burying his horse Chestnut in Dorne. He digs the grave while Ser Arlan of Pennytree, Prince Baelor Targaryen, and Baelor's eldest son Valarr comment. More and more people of Standfast appear, and eventually Egg is buried alive underneath the sands of the Dornish dessert.

The next morning, Eustace witnesses a training, which does not go well. Eustace compares Bennis and Dunk training the men to the time his sons trained their fathers before marching to war in the First Blackfyre Rebellion. Still mindfull of his dream from the previous night, Dunk asks Eustace if there truly is no other way, and the knight suggests a bloodprice, an ancient form of wergeld. Eustace refuses to break a vow he had taken decades before, never to set foot on Coldmoat's grounds again, and so Dunk offers to go in Eustace's stead.

Dunk arrives at Coldmoat, where he realizes that the terrible stories he has been told about Rohanne are not completely true. Rohanne is an pretty young woman, to whom he is attracted, instead of an old widow. He is informed that the river does not belong to Ser Eustace, but had been granted by King Daeron II Targaryen to House Webber for its services in the Blackfyre Rebellion. It had been taken from House Osgrey in punishment for their support of Daemon I Blackfyre.

Dunk and Egg also learn that the lady has to remarry within a short time or lose her lands to a cousin as stated in her father's testament. Her father also tasked Ser Lucas 'Longinch' to protect her against unworthy suitors. Ser Lucas has interpreted this to shield her against all suitors and tries to get her to marry him.

The meeting does not end well. Lady Rohanne refuses to break up the dam or take the bloodprice. She demands that Ser Bennis will be turned over to her or else she will take him herself. Shocked and angered by all the revelations Ser Duncan wants to leave Osgrey's service. However, as he realizes that the villagers will not stand a chance against Lady Rohanne's well-armed soldiers, he decides to stay.

The next morning Ser Osgrey, Duncan and Egg ride to the river where they meet Lady Webber and her small army. Ser Duncan asks and is granted a private parley with Lady Webber. He shows her Egg's ring, proving Egg is a prince of the blood. He cuts his own cheeks to make up for the wounding of her man. Lady Rohanne is impressed but still demands an apology from Ser Eustace, who refuses. The parties decide to settle the matter in a fight between their champions. Duncan fights Ser Lucas and is able to kill him but almost drowns in the process.

When he wakes up Ser Eustace and Lady Rohanne have settled their differences and have married. Duncan is asked to remain at Standfast as their captain of the guard but refuses. Barely recovered he prepares to leave. Lady Rohanne meets him at the stables and offers her finest horse and her apologies. Dunk refuses both, but Rohanne demands that he take something of her. They kiss passionately and Duncan cuts her braid so that he will have something to remember her.

Editions

References and Notes

  1. Legends II, ISBN 9780007154364 (Paperback, 2011 Edition); ISBN 9780007154357 (Paperback, 2004 Edition); ISBN 9780007305094 (Paperback, 2008 Edition); ISBN 9780345456441 (Hardcover, 2003 Edition); ISBN 9780007154340 (Hardcover, September 2003, Voyager, 400 pages)
  2. Legends II: Dragon, Sword and King, ISBN 9780345475787 (Paperback); ISBN 9781435291133 (Library Binding)
  3. The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword, ISBN 9780785126515 (2009 TPB); ISBN 9780785126508 (2008 Hardcover)
  4. http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/FAQ/Entry/1974/ The Citadel FAQ, 2.1.9 - Will There Be Any More Dung and Egg Stories?
  5. Not a Blog: Dunk and Egg Ride Again (February 25, 2015)
  6. Not a Blog: Dunk & Egg are HERE (October 6, 2015)