The Ballad of Sir Dinadan

by Gerald Morris

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618190996
• ISBN13: 9780618190997
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 10 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 7

Customer Reviews

A little more serious than the rest

This story is still as hilarious as the other four, but over the years (as I've read it again...And again...And again) I realized that, at it's heart, there's a darker story. The antics of Tristram and Iseult are funny enough, but if you look closer, the heartbreak that they wreak is evident. In the scene after Iseult runs away with Tristram for the hundredth time, Dinadan sees King Mark sit on the steps and cry--and you feel so sorry for him, even though you know he's a jerk. The worst thing, though, is what they do to themselves and the people around them to keep this affair going (Iseult tries to kill her former lady-in-waiting because she knows about the love potion). However, the book's not depressing. On the contrary, it's fun, witty, and also makes you think along the way. Read it; especially if you liked the others.

Might be Morris' best yet

The Ballad of Sir Dinadan is side-splittingly funny. If you know anything about courtly love, the troubadours, or the Mabinogian, you will recognize why this book is so funny. Sir Dinadan is one of Morris' best characters yet, and true to Malory: smart, down-to-earth and impatient with fools.

We laughed, we cried, we fought over who got to read it first!

After reading one book by author Gerald Morris, we were addicted! Now my husband (43), my son (12), and myself (37) are fighting over every book in the Squire's Tales series that we can get our hands on! We bought this book because we heard it was "good literature." We had no idea HOW good until we read it. It is clever, witty, sarcastic, adventurous, and inspirational! My husband laughed so hard he cried! It is a very entertaining retelling of the King Arthur stories and Canterbury Tales, complete with knights, castles, princesses, magic, fairies, herbs with healing powers, and quests! The characters as sassy and full of spunk, and there is a new adventure around every corner. We recommended these books to our local library, some of the librarians read one of the books, and they ended up ordering a bunch of the books from The Squire's Tales series for the library. (This book is fifth in the in the series.) It is easy to recommend such a charming and entertaining book!

Review of The Ballad of Sir Dinadan

This is a funny, adventursome story about a knight of King Arthur. Sir Dinadan is a musician, who is not skilled in warfare, as a matter of fact, he hates it. After his father knights him, Sir Dinadan sets out on a series of adventures, many including his brother Tristram. Tristram being the famous lover of Isuelt from Arthurian tales. I loved this book, Sir Dinadan, his feisty lady friend, and the surprising ending. enjoy!

The Ballad of Sir "Dumbledin"

A heroic knight falls in love with the married queen, incurring the wrath of the king. Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot? No, it's a slightly different Arthurian tale, and one that mainly focuses on the musically-inclined Sir Dinadin, who never wanted to be a knight anyway.Dinadin has always wanted to be a minstrel (especially since his older brother Tristam is a valiant knight), but his father knights him in a drunken stupor and sends him off. After dispatching the knight of a treacherous damsel, Dinadin joins up with a rather dim Welsh knight, Culloch, and ends up at Arthur's court of Camelot. Then he goes off with Culloch, Kai and Bedivere to do knightly things -- including freeing a sharp-tongued lady-in-waiting called Brangienne and Culloch's attempts to win a rather unattractive princess.Along the way, Dinadin learns that Brangienne is fleeing Queen Iseult, because she knows that Iseult is in love with Tristam, who is wandering around, having taken a vow of silence and unwilling to shut up about it. He also won't shut up about Iseult, with the result that everybody except her husband knows about them. Dinadin teams up with the noble Moor Palomides (who wants to learn what knights are), as Brangienne's safety is jeopardized, and the not-so-secret affair between Tristam and Iseult comes to a dramatic peak.Morris takes a skip back in time for this book -- it takes place parallel to "The Squire, His Knight And His Lady" and "The Savage Damsel And the Dwarf," though the overlap is only about two paragraphs long. And he handles this story very well and very deftly -- Dinadin doesn't want to become a knight, and he doesn't really have conventional aptitude for it. He'd rather stay home and play his rebec. But his cleverness and ingenuity are what make him a good knight, above and beyond being able to whack things with a sword.Dinadin is as likable a hero as Morris has penned before, not your typical knight but a solid and admirable one instead. Palomides serves as a good foil, searching for the English ideal knight and finding it where he doesn't expect to; Brangienne is very like Eileen, very witty and smart. Iseult and Tristam are pretty pitiful, and I'm not just talking about the nauseatingly-named "Love Grotto." Tristam thinks he's nothing without a lady to serve, and Iseult is just... well, she's just a lisping ditz with a crazy husband. As with all his books, there is plenty of humor in this story, ranging from horribly-written ballads to a magical drinking horn to the worst wedding ceremony in history. (Not to mention Kai repeating the ballad line: "Jug jug witta poo poo") It gets a bit more serious near the end, but overall it's much more lighthearted than Morris's fourth Arthurian tale, "Parsifal's Page."Fans of Morris will definitely like "The Ballad of Sir Dinadin." (Or Sir Dumbledin... Dimbledum... Dinderlin... oh bugger it...) Giving a new twist on the tale of Iseult and Tristam, Morris lets the spotlight shine on the unlikely and capab