The Hedge Knight — Dunk I

On a hillside by the roseroad, Dunk digs a grave for Ser Arlan of Pennytree, the old hedge knight he has served since he was a boy of Flea Bottom — and decides to take the old man's arms, his horses, and his trade.

The chapter retold

The tale of the greatest knight the Kingsguard ever took begins with a shovel. Dunk buries Ser Arlan of Pennytree on a hillside by the roseroad and, standing over the fresh earth, makes the decision everything else grows from — that the old man's knighthood is worth more aboveground than under it. He takes the sword, the shield, the two poor horses and a boyhood's worth of half-remembered lessons, and points them all at Ashford Meadow, where a tourney means a hedge knight might win enough to eat through the winter. Martin opens the whole saga on the least heroic image available: a poor, illiterate boy deciding, entirely on his own authority, that he is a knight — and meaning to prove it honestly from that day forward.

This movement: The Road to Ashford

• Ser Arlan of Pennytree dies of a chill by the roseroad, and his towering squire buries him — then takes his sword, his shield, and his calling.
• At a wayside inn Dunk acquires an ale, a plan, and a bald stableboy named Egg who will not be left behind.
• Ashford Meadow spreads before them: pavilions, puppeteers, merchants — and a tourney with the fair maid of Ashford as its queen of love and beauty.
• Everything Dunk owns buys armor from Steely Pate; Tanselle's brush gives his shield its arms: elm and shooting star.

The fallen — spoilers

• Ser Arlan of Pennytree — A chill on a wet road, and a quiet end — after a lifetime of other men's battles.