馬洛里的《崔斯坦》書長久以來並未受到評者重視，而在整部《亞瑟王之死》中其地位也備受爭議；而丁拿單因為只在《崔斯坦》書中正式出現，且一般認為充其量也不過是配角，更可謂是冷門中的冷門。然而，近年來《崔斯坦》書漸受評者正視，甚至有成為核心文本的潛力，丁拿單此一角色也值得重新審視。丁拿單與書中諸多主要角色間（如崔斯坦、馬克王、藍斯洛、帕洛米德、伊索德）皆有重要而關鍵的互動，是引導情節發展與鋪陳人物關係不可或缺的中介角色。除了此一穿針引線的功能外，丁拿單也藉由其弄臣╱詩人般的角色進出、往返於圓桌武士與騎士世界之間，時而局內時而局外，一方面在戲謔談笑間暴露其盲點與愚昧，另一方面也在出入圓桌中心與邊緣間返照騎士世界的根本矛盾。此一進出往返的穿梭編織出複雜的文本性，其變換轉折的軌跡也開啟文本後設的思辯空間，引領讀者思索圓桌武士間隱含的張力衝突以及騎士精神理想與現實的出入。簡言之，傳統上位居邊緣文本邊緣的丁拿單，反而是真正直搗圓桌核心的靈魂人物。

The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones in Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur had, until recently, been long neglected. The character Dinadan, who makes his formal appearance in the book as a mere foil to the major characters, is therefore thought to have only marginal status in a marginal text of Malory’s Arthurian monument. In fact, Dinadan is an indispensable mediator whose interactions with the major characters weave in and out the configurations of the chivalric world. Dinadan’s detached role of a poet-like jester opens up a critical space in which the reader is led to reflect on the inherent tension and conflict among the Round Table knights as well as the deadly rupture of theory and practice that lies at the core of the knightly enterprise. Consequently, the peripheral Dinadan turns out to be a central figure whose engagement and detachment reveal the core problematics of the Round Table world.