The Ballad of Sir Dinadan

Gerald Morris

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008 - Juvenile Fiction - 256 pages

Young Dinadan has no wish to joust or quest or save damsels in distress or do any of the knightly things expected of him. He'd rather be a minstrel, playing his rebec and writing ballads. But he was born to be a knight, and knights, of course, have adventures.

So after his father forces his knighthood upon him, he wanders toward King Arthur's court, in the company of a misguided young Welsh lad named Culloch. There Dinadan meets Sir Kai and Sir Bedivere, and the three find themselves accompanying Culloch on the worst sort of quest. Along the way, Dinadan writes his own ballads, singing of honor, bravery, loyalty, and courtly love--and becomes a player in the pathetic love story of Tristram and Iseult. He meets the Moorish knight Palomides, the clever but often exasperating Lady Brangienne, and an elvin musician named Sylvanus, along with an unusual collection of recreant knights and dimwitted defenders of chivalry. He learns that while minstrels sing of spectacular heroic deeds, honor is often found in simpler, quieter ways.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - themulhern - LibraryThing

Good work by Gerald Morris. The satirical takes on two legends about lovers, both Tristram and Isolde and Culloch and Olwen are fun. This fits in nicely with Dinadan's own avoidance of romance in any form.

THE BALLAD OF SIR DINADAN

User Review  - Kirkus

Fans of The Squire's Tale (1998) and its sequels will welcome this new installment in the humorous take on the King Arthur legends. With main characters varying from book to book, this one introduces ...

Contents

• Section 1: 1
• Section 2: 24
• Section 3: 41
• Section 4: 65
• Section 5: 85
• Section 6: 109
• Section 7: 134
• Section 8: 147
• Section 9: 163
• Section 10: 178
• Section 11: 198
• Section 12: 210
• Section 13: 229
• Section 14: 241
• Section 15: 243
• Section 16: 247
• Section 17: 249

About the author

When Gerald Morris was in fifth grade he loved Greek and Norse mythology and before long was retelling the stories to his younger sister and then to neighborhood kids. He began carrying a notebook in which he kept some of the details related to the different stories. The joy he found in retelling those myths continued when he discovered other stories.

According to Gerald Morris, “I never lost my love of retelling the old stories. When I found Arthurian literature, years later, I knew at once that I wanted to retell those grand tales. So I pulled out my notebook . . . I retell the tales, peopling them with characters that I at least find easier to recognize, and let the magic of the Arthurian tradition go where it will.”

Gerald Morris lives in Wausau, Wisconsin, with his wife and their three children. In addition to writing he serves as a minister in a church.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Ballad of Sir Dinadan; Volume 5 of Squire's Tales, Gerald Morris
• Author: Gerald Morris
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008
• ISBN: 0547014732, 9780547014739
• Length: 256 pages
• Subjects: Juvenile Fiction / Historical / Medieval; Juvenile Fiction / Legends, Myths, Fables / Arthurian; Juvenile Fiction / Social Themes / Values & Virtues