The+Ballad+of+Sir+Dinadan

Andrew K. 4/14/09 7W SS = The Ballad of Sir Dinadan summary = //The Ballad of Sir Dinadan// shows the story of a young minstrel that wants to prove to his father that he is a knight and not some scared soft person. When the book starts, Dinadan is in a controversy with his father. His father thinks he is a stupid little minstrel and doesn’t think he has any toughness in him and can’t be a knight. Dinadan wants to prove to his father that he is wrong, so he goes on a journey by himself but along the way meets new friends to become a knight and become a swordsman. This was no easy task for him but he conquered it in a way that suited his personality. Dinadan did not seem like knight because when he rode a horse with both legs on one side of the horse and played a rebec which was an instrument played in those times. As the book goes on he conquers missions and foes for King Arthur and the round table. All of his missions are different and require different actions. One of his missions was to go to a merchant and find out what happened to his son of his third wife. His wife told him he ran off into the woods. In the end they found him and everybody was happy. By reading this book, I got the opportunity to learn more about minstrels and their role in medieval society. Minstrels were people who played instruments and music for kings and other wealthy people. Their songs told stories about historical events and foreign places. After reading this book, I became interested in learning about how people became knights and the obstacles they had to conquer in their journeys. Who had the privilege or ability to become a knight? Did people have to be wealthy or could anybody from any social class become a knight? What did training involve? Did the kings select people to become knights, or did people just volunteer? I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in knights and medieval times. The book reveals a lot about knights and their role in medieval society. I would not recommend this book to a person who is not interested in warfare or knights. Overall, this book has an interesting main character who evolves into a knight by the end.

The Ballad of Sir Dinadan, Morris, Gerald, Houghton Mifflin Company 2003