George R. R. Martin Shares the Inspiration Behind His Dunk and Egg ‘Hedge Knight’ Stories
The great George R. R. Martin met with James Hibberd of The Hollywood Reporter at Milk of the Poppy, Martin’s medieval apothecary bar in Santa Fe, New Mexico. where he shared how he was inspired to create the characters of Dunk and Egg for his Hedge Knight stories, which are being brought to life in the HBO series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
I had the idea that I wanted to write a prequel, so I would set it before “Game of Thrones” started. And I wanted to write it about a tournament. … I’ll set this entire one around a tournament. One thing or another, Dunk and Egg came from somewhere. I had to figure out who starred in this. … I mean, this story and the characters Dunk and Egg really came alive on me.
Martin also talked about his age and early inspirations, including Stan Lee. He also talked about his desire to write more and finish Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth novel in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, though he told Hibberd he is reluctant to do so.
I think I’ll stay home. I have to write more Dunk and Egg. There’s supposed to be another Fire and Blood book, too. I do think if I can just get some of these other things off my back, I could finish The Winds of Winter pretty soon. It’s been made clear to me that Winds is the priority, but … I don’t know. Sometimes I’m not in the mood for that.
