What A Hedge Knight Actually Is in Game of Thrones & How They’re Different

Game of Thrones‘ new spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, introduces Westeros’ latest hero: Ser Duncan the Tall, aka Dunk. However, despite the title in front of his name, he’s a far cry from the knights we saw in Game of Thrones – the Ser Jaime Lannisters and Ser Loras Tyrells, who came from noble lineage and served in the Kingsguard. Instead, Dunk is a far more humble hedge knight, but what exactly does that mean?

In the Game of Thrones franchise, knights are made by other knights (or, sometimes, kings), and they swear sacred oaths in the name of the Seven Gods, typically in service to a specific house and lord. But not every knight rides under a banner or sleeps safely within castle walls. Some exist on the fringes of Westerosi society, wandering from holdfast to holdfast with little more than a sword, a horse, and a battered sense of honor. These are hedge knights, and they’re very different from the knight-in-shining-armor, stuff-of-legend ideals that the Stark children love to hear stories and songs of.

Hedge Knights In Westeros Explained

A hedge knight is what the name implies: a knight with no lord or lands, with the term coming from the idea that they might literally sleep under hedges, or similar, when work runs dry. In medieval literature and legends, these would be called knight-errants, wandering the land to prove their chivalry and skill. While many hedge knights are legitimately knighted, some do simply claim the title, banking on the fact that few people are going to challenge an armed man in armor about his credentials, especially with little chance of proving it, and they’re typically not the most trusted.

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Unlike household knights or landed knights, hedge knights aren’t sworn to a single lord. A household knight lives under a noble’s roof, fights in their wars, and enjoys food, protection, and status in return. A landed knight goes a step further, holding a small plot of land and collecting taxes from peasants, sometimes with even greater wealth than a lord. Hedge knights have none of that security. They survive by selling their sword, entering tourneys, escorting caravans, or taking short-term service wherever coin is offered.

The Importance Of Dunk Being A Hedge Knight

Although Dunk is a hedge knight, he represents the romantic ideal of what a knight could be. Sure, he’s earnest almost to a fault, and constantly out of his depth in a society that judges worth by birth and name rather than actions, but he’s honorable and good. In the trailer for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, we hear him bellow to the more noble folks gathered at the Tourney of Ashford: “Are there no true knights among you?” This is taken directly from George R.R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight book, and is in a sense the point of Dunk: to show what a true knight is.

He strips knighthood down to its very essence. Without castles, armies, or powerful families to lean on, Dunk shows the importance of acting with honor and decency, and of upholding the vows that all knights take, but many clearly forget:

“In the name of the Warrior I charge you to be brave. In the name of the Father I charge you to be just. In the name of the Mother I charge you to defend the young and innocent. In the name of the Maid I charge you to protect all women.”

Dunk ticks off all of those and more, even if he is looked down upon because of his status as a hedge knight. He shows that while Westeros may not always reward those things, it’s important to stay true to yourself. He may not have status, but he’s very clearly a truer knight than most.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms debuts on HBO and HBO Max at 10pm ET on January 18th.