''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

is a

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the

Waverley novels The Waverley novels are a long series of novels by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832). For nearly a century, they were among the most popular and widely read novels in Europe. Because Scott did not publicly acknowledge authorship until 1827, the se ...

. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and in the more recent past. It became one of Scott's best-known and most influential novels. Set in

England in the Middle Ages England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the Middle Ages, medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early modern Britain, early modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the co ...

, with colourful descriptions of a

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

, outlaws, a

witch trial A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or Incantation, incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the ...

, and divisions between

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

and

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

, the novel was credited by many, including

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

and

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

, with inspiring increased interest in

chivalric romance As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of high medieval and early modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalri ...

and

medievalism Medievalism is a system of belief and practice inspired by the Middle Ages of Europe, or by devotion to elements of that period, which have been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and variou ...

. As

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest and after his conversion became a cardinal. He was an ...

put it, Scott "had first turned men's minds in the direction of the Middle Ages". It was also credited with influencing contemporary popular perceptions of historical figures such as

King Richard the Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...

, Prince John, and

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

Composition and sources

In June 1819, Walter Scott still suffered from the severe stomach pains that had forced him to dictate the last part of ''

The Bride of Lammermoor ''The Bride of Lammermoor'' is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1819, one of the Waverley novels. The novel is set in the Lammermuir Hills of south-east Scotland, shortly before the Act of Union of 1707 (in the first editio ...

'', and also most of ''

A Legend of the Wars of Montrose ''A Legend of Montrose'' is an historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, set in Scotland in the 1640s during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It forms, along with ''The Bride of Lammermoor'', the 3rd series of Scott's ''Tales of My Landlord''. The tw ...

'', which he finished at the end of May. By the beginning of July, at the latest, Scott had started dictating his new novel ''Ivanhoe'', again with John Ballantyne and William Laidlaw as

amanuenses An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In some aca ...

. For the second half of the manuscript, Scott was able to take up the pen, and completed ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' in early November 1819. For detailed information about the Middle Ages Scott drew on three works by the antiquarian Joseph Strutt: ''Horda Angel-cynnan or a Compleat View of the Manners, Customs, Arms, Habits etc. of the Inhabitants of England'' (1775–76), ''Dress and Habits of the People of England'' (1796–99), and ''Sports and Pastimes of the People of England'' (1801). Two historians gave him a solid grounding in the period: Robert Henry with ''The History of Great Britain'' (1771–93), and

Sharon Turner Sharon Turner (24 September 1768 – 13 February 1847) was an English historian. Life Turner was born in Pentonville, the eldest son of William and Ann Turner of Yorkshire, who had settled in London upon marrying. He left school at fifteen to ...

with ''The History of the Anglo-Saxons from the Earliest Period to the Norman Conquest'' (1799–1805). His clearest debt to an original medieval source involved the Templar Rule, reproduced in ''The Theatre of Honour and Knight-Hood'' (1623) translated from the French of André Favine. Scott was happy to introduce details from the later Middle Ages, and

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He ...

was particularly helpful, as (in a different way) was the fourteenth-century romance ''

Richard Coeur de Lion Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and ...

''. The figure of Locksley in the story and many elements of the tale are undoubtedly influenced by Scott's association with

Joseph Ritson Joseph Ritson (2 October 1752 – 23 September 1803) was an English Antiquarian, antiquary known for editing the first scholarly collection of Robin Hood ballads (1795). After a visit to France in 1791, he became a staunch supporter of the idea ...

, who had earlier compiled ''Robin Hood: a collection of all the ancient poems, songs and ballads now extant relative to that celebrated English outlaw (1795).''

Editions

''Ivanhoe'' was published by

Archibald Constable Archibald David Constable (24 February 1774 – 21 July 1827) was a Scottish publisher, bookseller and stationer. Life Constable was born at Carnbee, Fife, son of the land steward to the Earl of Kellie. In 1788 Archibald was apprenticed to ...

in Edinburgh. All first editions carry the date of 1820, but it was released on 20 December 1819 and issued in London on the 29th by Hurst, Robinson and Co.. As with all of the

before 1827, publication was anonymous. The print run was 10,000 copies, and the cost was £1 10''s'' (£1.50, equivalent in purchasing power to £149 in 2021). It is possible that Scott was involved in minor changes to the text during the early 1820s but his main revision was carried out in 1829 for the 'Magnum' edition where the novel appeared in Volumes 16 and 17 in September and October 1830. The standard modern edition, by Graham Tulloch, appeared as Volume 8 of the

Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels by Walter Scott appeared in thirty volumes between 1993 and 2012. Published by Edinburgh University Press, it was the first complete critical edition of the novels. History On 22 June 1983 Archie Turnbul ...

in 1998: this is based on the first edition with emendations principally from Scott's manuscript in the second half of the work; the new Magnum material is included in Volume 25b.

Plot summary

''Ivanhoe'', set in 1194, focuses on one of the remaining

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

noble families when the nobility in England was overwhelmingly

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

. It follows the Saxon protagonist, Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, who is out of favour with his father for Sir Wilfred's allegiance to the Norman king

Richard the Lionheart Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

. After the failure of the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

, many Crusaders were still returning to their homes in Europe. King Richard, who had been captured by Leopold of Austria on his return journey to England, was believed to still be in captivity.

Opening

Protagonist Wilfred of Ivanhoe is disinherited by his father Cedric of Rotherwood for supporting the Norman King Richard and for falling in love with the Lady Rowena, a ward of Cedric and descendant of the Saxon Kings of England. Cedric planned to have Rowena marry the powerful Lord Athelstane, a

pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term may often be used to either refer to a descendant of a deposed monarchy or a claim that is not legitimat ...

to the Crown of England by his descent from the last Saxon King,

Harold Godwinson Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon King of England. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the decisive battle of the Norman ...

. Ivanhoe accompanies King Richard on the

, where he is said to have played a notable role in the Siege of Acre. The book opens with a scene of Norman knights and

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

s seeking the hospitality of Cedric. They are guided there by a

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

, known at that time as a

palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and f ...

. That same night, Isaac of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, a Jewish moneylender, seeks refuge at Rotherwood on his way to the tournament at Ashby. Following the night's meal, the palmer observes one of the Normans, the

Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the most important military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded in 11 ...

Brian de Bois-Guilbert, issue orders to his

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

soldiers to capture Isaac. The palmer then assists in Isaac's escape from Rotherwood, with the additional aid of the

swineherd A swineherd is a person who raises and herds pigs as livestock. Swineherds in literature * In the New Testament are mentioned shepherd of pigs, mentioned in the Pig (Gadarene) the story shows Jesus exorcising a demon or demons from a man a ...

Gurth. Isaac of York offers to repay his debt to the palmer with a suit of armour and a

war horse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot design ...

to participate in the

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch (), also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was ...

Castle, on his inference that the palmer was secretly a knight. The palmer is taken by surprise, but accepts the offer.

The tournament

The tournament is presided over by Prince John. Also in attendance are Cedric, Athelstane, Lady Rowena, Isaac of York, his daughter Rebecca, Robin of Locksley and his men, Prince John's advisor Waldemar Fitzurse, and numerous Norman

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

s. On the first day of the tournament, in a bout of individual

joust Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game or hastilude between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The term is derived from Old French , ultim ...

ing, a mysterious knight, identifying himself only as "Desdichado" (described in the book as Spanish, taken by the Saxons to mean "Disinherited"), defeats Bois-Guilbert. The masked knight declines to reveal himself despite Prince John's request, but is nevertheless declared the champion of the day and is permitted to choose the Queen of the Tournament. He bestows this honour upon Lady Rowena. On the second day, at a

melee A melee ( or ) is a confused hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand fight among several people. The English term ''melee'' originated circa 1648 from the French word ' (), derived from the Old French ''mesler'', from which '':wikt:medley, medley'' and ...

, Desdichado is the leader of one party, opposed by his former adversaries. Desdichado's side is soon hard-pressed and he himself beset by multiple foes until rescued by a knight nicknamed ''Le Noir Faineant'' ('the Black Sluggard'), who thereafter departs in secret. When forced to unmask himself to receive his

coronet In British heraldry, a coronet is a type of crown that is a mark of rank of non-reigning members of the royal family and peers. In other languages, this distinction is not made, and usually the same word for ''crown'' is used irrespective of ra ...

(the sign of championship), Desdichado is identified as Wilfred of Ivanhoe, returned from the Crusades. This causes much consternation to Prince John and his court who now fear the imminent return of King Richard. Ivanhoe is severely wounded in the competition yet his father does not move quickly to tend to him. Instead, Rebecca, a skilled

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, tends to him while they are lodged near the tournament and then convinces her father to take Ivanhoe with them to their home in York when he is fit for that trip. The conclusion of the tournament includes feats of archery by Locksley, such as splitting a willow reed with his arrow. Prince John's dinner for the local Saxons ends in insults.

Capture and rescue

Leon Cogniet - Rebecca and Brian de Bois-Guilbert WLC WLC P279

In the forests between Ashby and York, Isaac, Rebecca and the wounded Ivanhoe are abandoned by their guards, who fear bandits and take all of Isaac's horses. Cedric, Athelstane and the Lady Rowena meet them and agree to travel together. The party is captured by de Bracy and his companions and taken to Torquilstone, the castle of Front-de-Bœuf. The swineherd Gurth and Wamba the jester manage to escape, and then encounter Locksley, who plans a rescue. The Black Knight, having taken refuge for the night in the hut of local friar, the Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst, volunteers his assistance on learning about the captives from Robin of Locksley. They then besiege the Castle of Torquilstone with Robin's own men, including the friar and assorted Saxon

yeomen Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century witnessed ...

. Inside Torquilstone, de Bracy expresses his love for the Lady Rowena but is refused. Brian de Bois-Guilbert tries to rape Rebecca and is thwarted. He then tries to seduce her and is rebuffed. Front-de-Bœuf tries to wring a hefty ransom from Isaac of York, but Isaac refuses to pay unless his daughter is freed. When the besiegers deliver a note to yield up the captives, their Norman captors demand a priest to administer the

Final Sacrament Viaticum is a term used – especially in the Catholic Church – for the Eucharist (also called Holy Communion), administered, with or without Anointing of the Sick (also called Extreme Unction), to a person who is dying; viaticum is thus a par ...

to Cedric; whereupon Cedric's

jester A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town ma ...

Wamba slips in disguised as a priest, and takes the place of Cedric, who escapes and brings important information to the besiegers on the strength of the garrison and its layout. On his way out, Cedric meets the Saxon crone Ulrica, who vows revenge on Front-de-Bœuf and advises Cedric to tell the besiegers. The besiegers storm the castle. The castle is set aflame during the assault by Ulrica, the daughter of the original lord of the castle, Lord Torquilstone, as revenge for her father's death. Front-de-Bœuf is killed in the fire while de Bracy surrenders to the Black Knight, who identifies himself as King Richard and releases de Bracy. Bois-Guilbert escapes with Rebecca while Isaac is captured by the Clerk of Copmanhurst. The Lady Rowena is saved by Cedric, while the still-wounded Ivanhoe is rescued from the burning castle by King Richard. In the fighting, Athelstane is wounded and presumed dead while attempting to rescue Rebecca, whom he mistakes for Rowena.

Rebecca's trial and Ivanhoe's reconciliation

Following the battle, Locksley plays host to King Richard. Word is conveyed by de Bracy to Prince John of the King's return and the fall of Torquilstone. In the meantime, Bois-Guilbert rushes with his captive to the nearest Templar Preceptory, where Lucas de Beaumanoir, the Grand Master of the Templars, takes umbrage at Bois-Guilbert's infatuation and subjects Rebecca to a trial for witchcraft. At Bois-Guilbert's secret request, she claims the right to

trial by combat Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...

; and Bois-Guilbert, who had hoped to fight as Rebecca's champion, is devastated when the Grand Master orders him to fight on behalf of the Templestowe. Rebecca then writes to her father to procure a champion for her. Cedric organizes Athelstane's funeral at Coningsburgh, in the midst of which the Black Knight arrives with Ivanhoe. Cedric, who had not been present at Locksley's carousal, is ill-disposed towards the knight upon learning his true identity, but Richard calms Cedric and reconciles him with his son. During this conversation, Athelstane emerges—not dead, but laid in his coffin alive by monks desirous of the funeral money. Over Cedric's renewed protests, Athelstane pledges his homage to the Norman King Richard and urges Cedric to allow Rowena to marry Ivanhoe, to which Cedric finally agrees. Soon after this reconciliation, Ivanhoe receives word from Isaac beseeching him to fight on Rebecca's behalf. Ivanhoe, riding day and night, arrives in time for the trial by combat; however, both horse and man are exhausted, with little chance of victory. Bois-Guilbert refuses to fight but Ivanhoe accuses him of breaking his word and the Templar reacts fiercely. His face becomes flushed and he is ready for combat. The two knights make one charge at each other with lances, Bois-Guilbert appearing to have the advantage. Ivanhoe and his horse go down, but Bois-Guilbert also falls though barely touched. Ivanhoe quickly gets up to finish the fight with his sword, but Bois-Guilbert does not rise and dies a victim of his own contending passions. Ivanhoe and Rowena marry and live a long and happy life together. Fearing further persecution, Rebecca and her father plan to quit England for

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

. Before leaving, Rebecca comes to Rowena shortly after the wedding to bid her a solemn farewell. Ivanhoe's military service ends with the death of King Richard five years later.

Characters

''(principal characters in bold)'' * Cedric the Saxon, of Rotherwood * Wilfred of Ivanhoe, Cedric's son * Rowena, Saxon princess, Cedric's ward * Athelstane, Saxon nobleman, Cedric's kinsman * Gurth, Cedric's swineherd * Wamba, Cedric's jester * Oswald, Cedric's cup-bearer * Elgitha, Rowena's waiting-woman * Albert Malvoisin, Preceptor of Templestowe * Philip Malvoisin, his brother, Cedric's neighbor * Hubert, Philip's forester * The Prior of Aymer, Abbot of Jorvaulx * Ambrose, a monk attending him * Brian de Bois-Guilbert, a

* Baldwin, his squire * Isaac of York, a Jewish money-lender * Rebecca, of York, Isaac's daughter, an accomplished physician and philanthropist * Nathan, a rabbi and physician *

King Richard King Richard normally refers to the three English monarchs. English monarchs *Richard I of England or Richard the Lionheart (1157–1199) *Richard II of England (1367–1400) *Richard III of England (1452–1485) Although no monarch has assumed th ...

('the Black Knight') * Prince John, Richard's brother * Alias Locksley,

, an outlaw * Reginald Front-de-Bœuf of Torquilstone, Norman holder of an ancient Saxon fortress. Cedric's neighbor * Maurice de Bracy, a Free Companion (mercenary) * Waldemar Fitzurse, Prince John's advisor—a fictional son of

Reginald FitzUrse Sir Reginald Fitzurse (1145–1173) was one of the four knights who murdered Thomas Becket in 1170. His name is derived from ''Fitz'', the Anglo-Norman French term meaning "son of" and ''urse'' meaning a bear, likely the ''nom de guerre'' of an an ...

, a murderer of Archbishop Becket. * Hugh de Grantmesnil * Ralph de Vipont, a Hospitaller *

Friar Tuck Friar Tuck is one of the Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood. History The figure of the jovial friar was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th to 17th centuries. He appears ...

, of Copmanhurst * Ulrica, of Torquilstone, alias Urfried * Lucas de Beaumanoir, grand-master of the Templars * Conrade Mountfitchet, his attendant knight * Higg, a peasant * Kirjath Jairam of Leicester, a rich Jew *

Alan-a-Dale Alan-a-Dale (first recorded as Allen a Dale; variously spelled ''Allen-a-Dale'', ''Allan-a-Dale'', ''Allin-a-Dale'', ''Allan A'Dayle'' etc.) is a figure in the Robin Hood legend. According to the stories, he was a wandering minstrel who became ...

, a minstrel

Chapter summary

Dedicatory Epistle: An imaginary letter to the Rev. Dr Dryasdust from Laurence Templeton who has found the materials for the following tale mostly in the Anglo-Norman Wardour Manuscript. He wishes to provide an English counterpart to the preceding Waverley novels, in spite of various difficulties arising from the chronologically remote setting made necessary by the earlier progress of civilisation south of the Border.

Volume One

Ch. 1: Historical sketch. Gurth the swineherd and Wamba the jester discuss life under Norman rule. Ch. 2: Wamba and Gurth wilfully misdirect a group of horsemen headed by Prior Aymer and Brian de Bois-Guilbert seeking shelter at Cedric's Rotherwood. Aymer and Bois-Guilbert discuss the beauty of Cedric's ward Rowena and are redirected, this time correctly, by a palmer vanhoe in disguise Ch. 3: Cedric anxiously awaits the return of Gurth and the pigs. Aymer and Bois-Guilbert arrive. Ch. 4: Bois-Guilbert admires Rowena as she enters for the evening feast. Ch. 5: During the feast: Isaac enters and is befriended by the palmer; Cedric laments the decay of the Saxon language; the palmer refutes Bois-Guilbert's assertion of Templar supremacy with an account of a tournament in Palestine, where Ivanhoe defeated him; the palmer and Rowena give a pledge for a return match; and Isaac is thunderstruck by Bois-Guilbert's denial of his assertion of poverty. Ch. 6: Next day the palmer tells Rowena that Ivanhoe will soon be home. He offers to protect Isaac from Bois-Guilbert, whom he has overheard giving instructions for his capture. On the road to Sheffield Isaac mentions a source of horse and armour of which he guesses the palmer has need. Ch. 7: As the audience for a tournament at

Ashby de la Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch (), also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was ...

assembles, Prince John amuses himself by making fun of Athelstane and Isaac. Ch. 8: After a series of Saxon defeats in the tournament the 'Disinherited Knight' vanhoetriumphs over Bois-Guilbert and the other Norman challengers. Ch. 9: The Disinherited Knight nominates Rowena as Queen of the Tournament. Ch. 10: The Disinherited Knight refuses to ransom Bois-Guilbert's armour, declaring that their business is not concluded. He instructs his attendant, Gurth in disguise, to convey money to Isaac to repay him for arranging the provision of his horse and armour. Gurth does so, but Rebecca secretly refunds the money. Ch. 11: Gurth is assailed by a band of outlaws, but they spare him on hearing his story and after he has defeated one of their number, a miller, at quarter-staves. Ch. 12: The Disinherited Knight's party triumph at the tournament, with the aid of a knight in black ichard in disguise he is revealed as Ivanhoe and faints as a result of the wounds he has incurred. Ch. 13: John encourages De Bracy to court Rowena and receives a warning from France that Richard has escaped. Locksley

obin Hood Obin may refer to: * Obin (designer) Obin, real name Josephine Komara, is a textile designer from Indonesia. She is sometimes called a "national treasure" due to her passion for and promotion of traditional Indonesian batik techniques. Her work ...

triumphs in an archery contest. Ch. 14: At the tournament banquet Cedric continues to disown his son (who has been associating with the Normans) but drinks to the health of Richard, rather than John, as the noblest of that race.

Volume Two

Ch. 1 (15): De Bracy (disguised as a forester) tells Fitzurse of his plan to capture Rowena and then 'rescue' her in his own person. Ch. 2 (16): The Black Knight is entertained by a hermit riar Tuckat Copmanhurst. Ch. 3 (17): The Black Knight and the hermit exchange songs. Ch. 4 (18): (Retrospect: Before going to the banquet Cedric learned that Ivanhoe had been removed by unknown carers; Gurth was recognised and captured by Cedric's cupbearer Oswald.) Cedric finds Athelstane unresponsive to his attempts to interest him in Rowena, who is herself only attracted by Ivanhoe. Ch. 5 (19): Rowena persuades Cedric to escort Isaac and Rebecca, who have been abandoned (along with a sick man vanhoein their care) by their hired protectors. Wamba helps Gurth to escape again. De Bracy mounts his attack, during which Wamba escapes. He meets up with Gurth and they encounter Locksley who, after investigation, advises against a counter-attack, the captives not being in immediate danger. Ch. 6 (20): Locksley sends two of his men to watch De Bracy. At Copmanhurst he meets the Black Knight who agrees to join in the rescue. Ch. 7 (21): De Bracy tells Bois-Guilbert he has decided to abandon his 'rescue' plan, mistrusting his companion though the Templar says it is Rebecca he is interested in. On arrival at Torquilstone castle Cedric laments its decline. Ch. 8 (22): Under threat of torture Isaac agrees to pay Front-de-Bœuf a thousand pounds, but only if Rebecca is released. Ch. 9 (23): De Bracy uses Ivanhoe's danger from Front-de-Bœuf to put pressure on Rowena, but he is moved by her resulting distress. The narrator refers the reader to historical instances of baronial oppression in medieval England. Ch. 10 (24): A hag Urfried lricawarns Rebecca of her forthcoming fate. Rebecca impresses Bois-Guilbert by her spirited resistance to his advances. Ch. 11 (25): Front-de-Bœuf rejects a written challenge from Gurth and Wamba. Wamba offers to spy out the castle posing as a confessor. Ch. 12 (26): Entering the castle, Wamba exchanges clothes with Cedric who encounters Rebecca and Urfried. Ch. 13 (27): Urfried recognises Cedric as a Saxon and, revealing herself as Ulrica, tells her story which involves Front-de-Bœuf murdering his father, who had killed her father and seven brothers when taking the castle, and had become her detested lover. She says she will give a signal when the time is ripe for storming the castle. Front-de-Bœuf sends the presumed friar with a message to summon reinforcements. Athelstane defies him, claiming that Rowena is his fiancée. The monk Ambrose arrives seeking help for Aymer who has been captured by Locksley's men. Ch. 14 (28): (Retrospective chapter detailing Rebecca's care for Ivanhoe from the tournament to the assault on Torquilstone.) Ch. 15 (29): Rebecca describes the assault on Torquilstone to the wounded Ivanhoe, disagreeing with his exalted view of chivalry. Ch. 16 (30): Front-de-Bœuf being mortally wounded, Bois-Guilbert and De Bracy discuss how best to repel the besiegers. Ulrica sets fire to the castle and exults over Front-de-Bœuf who perishes in the flames.

Volume Three

Ch. 1 (31): (The chapter opens with a retrospective account of the attackers' plans and the taking of the barbican.) The Black Knight defeats De Bracy, making himself known to him as Richard, and rescues Ivanhoe. Bois-Guilbert rescues Rebecca, striking down Athelstane who thinks she is Rowena. Ulrica perishes in the flames after singing a wild pagan hymn. Ch. 2 (32): Locksley supervises the orderly division of the spoil. Friar Tuck brings Isaac whom he has made captive, and engages in good-natured buffeting with the Black Knight. Ch. 3 (33): Locksley arranges ransom terms for Isaac and Aymer. Aymer agrees to write on Isaac's behalf to Bois-Guilbert, to urge Rebecca's release, in exchange for Isaac loaning him money to pay his ransom to the banditti. Ch. 4 (34): De Bracy informs John that Richard is in England. Together with Fitzurse he threatens to desert John, but the prince responds cunningly. Ch. 5 (35): At York, Isaac stays with a friend, Nathan, as he strives to rescue Rebecca from the Templestowe. At the priory the Grand-Master Beaumanoir tells Conrade Mountfitchet that he intends to take a hard line with Templar irregularities. Arriving, Isaac shows him a letter from Aymer to Bois-Guilbert referring to Rebecca, whom Beaumanoir determines must be a witch. Ch. 6 (36): Beaumanoir tells Preceptor Albert Malvoisin of his outrage at Rebecca's presence in the preceptory. Albert informs Bois-Guilbert of her trial for sorcery, and warns Bois-Guilbert not to defend her. Mountfichet says he will seek evidence against her, including bribing a few fake witnesses with fabricated stories. Ch. 7 (37): Rebecca is found guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to death. At Bois-Guilbert's secret prompting she demands that a champion defend her in trial by combat. Ch. 8 (38): Rebecca's demand is accepted, Bois-Guilbert being appointed champion for the prosecution. Bearing a message to her father, the peasant Higg meets him and Nathan on their way to the preceptory, and Isaac goes in search of Ivanhoe. Ch. 9 (39): Rebecca rejects Bois-Guilbert's offer to fail to appear for the combat in return for her love. Albert persuades him that it is in his interest to appear. Ch. 10 (40): The Black Knight leaves Ivanhoe to travel to Coningsburgh castle for Athelstane's funeral, and Ivanhoe follows him the next day. The Black Knight is rescued by Locksley from an attack carried out by Fitzurse on John's orders, and reveals his identity as Richard to his companions, prompting Locksley to identify himself as Robin Hood. Ch. 11 (41): Richard talks to Ivanhoe and dines with the outlaws before Robin arranges a false alarm to put an end to the delay. The party arrive at Coningsburgh. Ch. 12 (42): Richard procures Ivanhoe's pardon from his father. Athelstane appears, not dead, giving his allegiance to Richard and surrendering Rowena to Ivanhoe. Ivanhoe and Richard each receive a message and disappear from Coningsburgh. Ch. 13 (43): Rebecca is tied to the stake, and no champion appears. Bois-Guilbert, racked by guilt, begs her to run away with him. Rebecca refuses. Ivanhoe, exhausted from his ride and not fully recovered from his injury, appears as Rebecca's champion, and as they charge Bois-Guilbert dies the victim of his contending passions. Ch. 14 (44): Beaumanoir and his Templars leave Richard defiantly. Cedric agrees to the marriage of Ivanhoe and Rowena. Rebecca takes her leave of Rowena, leaving a message of her thanks to Ivanhoe for saving her, before her father and she quit England to make a new life under the tolerant King of Granada.

Style

Critics of the novel have treated it as a romance intended mainly to entertain boys. ''Ivanhoe'' maintains many of the elements of the Romance genre, including the quest, a chivalric setting, and the overthrowing of a corrupt social order to bring on a time of happiness. Other critics assert that the novel creates a realistic and vibrant story, idealising neither the past nor its main character.

Themes

Scott treats themes similar to those of some of his earlier novels, like '' Rob Roy'' and ''

The Heart of Midlothian ''The Heart of Mid-Lothian'' is the seventh of Sir Walter Scott's Waverley Novels. It was originally published in four volumes on 25 July 1818, under the title of ''Tales of My Landlord, 2nd series'', and the author was given as "Jedediah Clei ...

'', examining the conflict between heroic ideals and modern society. In the latter novels, industrial society becomes the centre of this conflict as the "backward" Scots and the "advanced" English have to arise from chaos to create unity. Similarly, the Normans in ''Ivanhoe'', who represent a more sophisticated culture, and the Saxons, who are poor, disenfranchised, and resentful of Norman rule, band together and begin to mould themselves into one people. The conflict between the Saxons and Normans focuses on the losses both groups must experience before they can be reconciled and thus forge a united England. The particular loss is in the extremes of their own cultural values, which must be disavowed in order for the society to function. For the Saxons, this value is the final admission of the hopelessness of the Saxon cause. The Normans must learn to overcome the materialism and violence in their own codes of

chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric language, is an informal and varying code of conduct that developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It is associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood, with knights being members of ...

. Ivanhoe and Richard represent the hope of reconciliation for a unified future. Ivanhoe, though of a more noble lineage than some of the other characters, represents a middling individual in the medieval class system who is not exceptionally outstanding in his abilities, as is expected of other quasi-historical fictional characters, such as the

Greek hero Hero cults were one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. In Homeric Greek, "hero" (, ) refers to the mortal offspring of a human and a god. By the historical period, the word came to mean specifically a ''dead'' man, vene ...

es. Critic

György Lukács György Lukács (born Bernát György Löwinger; ; ; 13 April 1885 – 4 June 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher, literary historian, literary critic, and Aesthetics, aesthetician. He was one of the founders of Western Marxism, an inter ...

points to middling main characters like Ivanhoe in Walter Scott's other novels as one of the primary reasons Scott's historical novels depart from previous historical works, and better explore social and cultural history.

Allusions to real history and geography

The location of the novel is centred upon southern

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, north-west

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

and northern

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

in England. Castles mentioned within the story include

Ashby de la Zouch Castle Ashby de la Zouch Castle is a ruined fortification in the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England. The castle was built by William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, William, Lord Hastings, a favourite of Edward IV of England, Edward IV, ...

(now a ruin in the care of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

), York (though the mention of

Clifford's Tower York Castle is a fortified complex in the city of York, England. It consists of a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings, which were built over the last nine centuries on the north-west side of the River Foss.Cooper, p. ...

, likewise an extant English Heritage property, is

anachronistic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common typ ...

, it not having been called that until later after various rebuilds) and 'Coningsburgh', which is based upon

Conisbrough Castle Conisbrough Castle is a medieval fortification in Conisbrough, South Yorkshire, England. The castle was initially built in the 11th century by William de Warenne, the Earl of Surrey, after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Hamelin Plan ...

, in the ancient town of

Conisbrough Conisbrough () is a town within the City of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is roughly midway between Doncaster and Rotherham, and is built alongside the River Don, South Yorkshire, River Don at . It has a ward population (Conisbrou ...

near

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

(the castle also being a popular English Heritage site). In the novel, Aymer is the Prior of Jorvaulx, a historical spelling of the great

Jervaulx Abbey Jervaulx Abbey in East Witton in North Yorkshire, north-west of the city of Ripon, was one of the great Cistercian abbeys of Yorkshire, England, dedicated to St Mary in 1156. It is a Grade I listed building. The place name ''Jervaulx'' is fir ...

. Reference is made within the story to

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

, where the climactic wedding takes place, and to the Bishop of Sheffield, although the

Diocese of Sheffield The Diocese of Sheffield is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. The Diocese of Sheffield was created under George V on 23 January 1914, by the division from the Diocese of York (along with that pa ...

did not exist at either the time of the novel or the time Scott wrote the novel and was not founded until 1914. Such references suggest that Robin Hood lived or travelled in the region. Conisbrough is so dedicated to the story of ''Ivanhoe'' that many of its streets, schools, and public buildings are named after characters from the book. Sir Walter Scott took the title of his novel, the name of its hero, from the Buckinghamshire village of

Ivinghoe Ivinghoe is a town and civil parish in east Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders with Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. It is northwest of London, north of Tring and south of Leighton Buzzard, close to the village of Pitstone. Et ...

. "The name of Ivanhoe," he says in his 1830 Introduction to the Magnum edition, "was suggested by an old rhyme. Ivanhoe is an alternate name for Ivinghoe first recorded in 1665. Older rural people in the Ivinghoe area most probably pronounced the name the same as Ivanhoe, according to Prof. Paul Kerswill of the University of York, a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). It is most probable Scott had direct knowledge of Ivinghoe and did some research before using it as the title for his novel, as he did for the other places mentioned in the novel. The presence of Sir Walter Scott was recorded in Berkhamsted that is just eight miles away from Ivinghoe. In the novel he speaks also of "the rich fief of Ivanhoe". The Manor of Ivanhoe is listed in the largest 20% of settlements recorded in

Domesday Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

Lasting influence on the Robin Hood legend

The modern conception of Robin Hood as a cheerful, decent, patriotic rebel owes much to ''Ivanhoe''. "Locksley" becomes Robin Hood's title in the Scott novel, and it has been used ever since to refer to the legendary

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

. Scott appears to have taken the name from an anonymous

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

—written in 1600—that employs "Locksley" as an epithet for Robin Hood. Owing to Scott's decision to make use of the manuscript, Robin Hood from Locksley has been transformed for all time into "Robin of Locksley", alias Robin Hood. (There is, incidentally, a village called Loxley in Yorkshire.) Scott makes the 12th-century's Saxon-Norman conflict a major theme in his novel. The original medieval stories about Robin Hood did not mention any conflict between Saxons and Normans; it was Scott who introduced this theme into the legend.Siobhan Brownlie, ''Memory and Myths of the Norman Conquest''. Woodbridge, Suffolk; Boydell & Brewer Ltd., 2013. (pp. 124-5) The characters in ''Ivanhoe'' refer to Prince John and King Richard I as "Normans"; contemporary medieval documents from this period do not refer to either of these two rulers as Normans. Recent re-tellings of the story retain Scott's emphasis on the Norman-Saxon conflict. Scott also shunned the late-16th-century depiction of Robin as a dispossessed nobleman (the Earl of Huntingdon). This, however, has not prevented Scott from making an important contribution to the noble-hero strand of the legend, too, because some subsequent motion picture treatments of Robin Hood's adventures give Robin traits that are characteristic of Ivanhoe as well. The most notable Robin Hood films are the lavish

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked Vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckler film, swashbu ...

1922 silent film, the 1938 triple Academy Award-winning '' Adventures of Robin Hood'' with

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian and American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Oliv ...

as Robin (which contemporary reviewer

Frank Nugent Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American screenwriter, journalist, and film reviewer. He wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director John Ford. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for ''The New York Times'' before lea ...

links specifically with ''Ivanhoe''), and the 1991 box-office success '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' with

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Costner, various accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Primeti ...

. There is also the

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

spoof '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights''. In most versions of Robin Hood, both Ivanhoe and Robin, for instance, are returning Crusaders. They have quarrelled with their respective fathers, they are proud to be Saxons, they display a highly evolved sense of justice, they support the rightful king even though he is of Norman-French ancestry, they are adept with weapons, and they each fall in love with a "fair maid" (Rowena and Marian, respectively). This particular time-frame was popularised by Scott. He borrowed it from the writings of the 16th-century chronicler

John Mair John Mair may refer to: *John Mair (philosopher) (1467–1550, also called John Major), Scottish philosopher and historian *John Mair (journalist), British journalist and academic *John Mair (architect) (1876–1959), New Zealand government archite ...

or a 17th-century

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

presumably to make the plot of his novel more gripping. Medieval balladeers had generally placed Robin about two centuries later in the reign of

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

, II or III. Robin's familiar feat of splitting his competitor's arrow in an archery contest appears for the first time in ''Ivanhoe''.

Historical accuracy

The general political events depicted in the novel are fairly accurate; the novel tells of the period just after King Richard's imprisonment in Austria following the Crusade and of his return to England after a ransom is paid. Yet the story is also heavily fictionalised. Scott himself acknowledged that he had taken liberties with history in his "Dedicatory Epistle" to ''Ivanhoe''. Modern readers are cautioned to understand that Scott's aim was to create a compelling novel set in a historical period, not to provide a book of history. There has been criticism of Scott's portrayal of the bitter extent of the "enmity of Saxon and Norman, represented as persisting in the days of Richard" as "unsupported by the evidence of contemporary records that forms the basis of the story." Historian E. A. Freeman criticised Scott's novel, stating its depiction of a Saxon–Norman conflict in late twelfth-century England was unhistorical. Freeman cited medieval writer

Walter Map Walter Map (; 1130 – 1209/1210) was a medieval writer. He wrote '' De nugis curialium'', which takes the form of a series of anecdotes of people and places, offering insights into the history of his time. Map was a courtier of King He ...

, who claimed that tension between the Saxons and Normans had declined by the reign of

Henry I Henry I or Henri I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry ...

.Edward Augustus Freeman, ''History of the Norman conquest of England: Volume Five, The effects of the Norman Conquest''. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1876. (pp. 825-6). Freeman also cited the late twelfth-century book ''

Dialogus de Scaccario The , or ''Dialogue concerning the Exchequer'', is a mediaeval treatise on the practice of the English Exchequer written in the late 12th century by Richard FitzNeal. The treatise, written in Latin, and known from four manuscripts from the 13th c ...

'' by

Richard FitzNeal Richard FitzNeal ( 1130 – 10 September 1198) was a churchman and bureaucrat in the service of Henry II of England. Life In 1158 or 1159 Nigel, Bishop of Ely, paid Henry II to appoint his natural son, Richard FitzNeal, as the king's tr ...

. This book claimed that the Saxons and Normans had so merged through intermarriage and

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...

that (outside the aristocracy) it was impossible to tell "one from the other." Finally, Freeman ended his critique of Scott by saying that by the end of the twelfth century, the descendants of both Saxons and Normans in England referred to themselves as "English", not "Saxon" or "Norman". However, Scott may have intended to suggest parallels between the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

, which takes place roughly 130 years before the setting of ''Ivanhoe'', and Scott's native Scotland, which had united with England in 1707 roughly the same length of time ago, and witnessed a resurgence in

Scottish nationalism Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and Scottish national identity, national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottis ...

evidenced by the emergence of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

, the famous poet who deliberately chose to work in Scots vernacular though he was an educated man and spoke modern English eloquently. Some experts suggest that Scott deliberately used ''Ivanhoe'' to illustrate his own combination of Scottish patriotism and unionism. The novel generated a new name in English—

Cedric Cedric () is a given name invented by Walter Scott in the 1819 novel ''Ivanhoe''. Etymology The invented name is based on ''Cerdic'', the name of a 6th-century Anglo-Saxon king (itself from Brittonic '' Coroticus''). Popularity The name was ...

. The original Saxon name had been ''

Cerdic Cerdic ( ; ) is described in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' as a leader of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, being the founder and first king of Wessex, reigning from around 519 to 534 AD. Subsequent kings of Wessex were each claimed by the ...

'' but Scott misspelled it—an example of metathesis. "It is not a name but a misspelling" said satirist

H. H. Munro Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and cu ...

. In England in 1194, it would have been anachronistic for Rebecca, a Jewish woman, to be charged with

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

. In medieval witch trials, it was usually the belief in witchcraft that was prosecuted as a heresy, a charge a non-Christian woman would not have been subject to. Death did not become the usual penalty until the 15th century and even then, the form of execution used for witches in England was hanging, not

burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combust ...

. The conductor of the trial, the Grand Master Of The Templars, is referred to as Lucas de Beaumanoir, whereas the historically real Master during that time was

Gilbert Horal Gilbert Horal or Erail (died December 1200) was the 12th Grand Masters of the Knights Templar, Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1193 to 1200. Personal details Gilbert Horal was born an Aragonese (from the Kingdom of Aragon in modern-da ...

. There are other various minor errors, e.g. the description of the tournament at Ashby owes more to the 14th century, most of the coins mentioned by Scott are exotic,

William Rufus William II (; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third son of William the Co ...

is said to have been John Lackland's grandfather, but he was actually his great-great-uncle, and Wamba (disguised as a monk) says "I am a poor brother of the Order of St Francis", but St. Francis of Assisi only began his preaching ten years after the death of Richard I. Also, in Chapter 43, Bois-Guilbert commences the fight being mounted on his horse named Zamor, which he claimed that he had won from the "Soldan of Trebizond". This is anachronistic, as the Comnenids founded the rump

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Empire of Trebizond The Empire of Trebizond or the Trapezuntine Empire was one of the three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire that existed during the 13th through to the 15th century. The empire consisted of the Pontus, or far northeastern corner of A ...

only in 1204, just by the end of the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

. Lastly, in the novel's ultimate chapter, Rebecca and her father move to Granada to spend the rest of their lives under Mohammed Boabdil. In fact, the real

Muhammad XII of Granada Abu Abdallah Muhammad XII (; –1533), known in Europe as Boabdil, was the 22nd and last Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada in Iberia. Sultan Muhammad XII was the son of Abu l-Hasan Ali, Sultan of the Emirate of Granada whom he succeeded ...

, popularly known to the Western world as Boabdil, was not even born before 1460, and the

Emirate of Granada The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Emirate, Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western ...

established before 1230. Despite this fancifulness, ''Ivanhoe'' does make some prescient historical points. The novel is occasionally critical of King Richard, "who seems to love adventure more than he loves the well-being of his subjects"—in contrast to the idealised, romantic view of Richard popular at the time, but rather echoes the way King Richard is often judged by historians today.

Reception

Most of the original reviewers gave ''Ivanhoe'' an enthusiastic or broadly favourable reception. As usual, Scott's descriptive powers and his ability to present the matters of the past were generally praised. More than one reviewer found the work notably poetic. Several of them found themselves transported imaginatively to the remote period of the novel, although some problems were recognised: the combining of features from the high and late Middle Ages; an awkwardly created language for the dialogue; and antiquarian overload. The author's excursion into England was generally judged a success, the forest outlaws and the creation of 'merry England' attracting particular praise. Rebecca was almost unanimously admired, especially in her farewell scene. The plot was either criticised for its weakness, or just regarded as of less importance than the scenes and characters. The scenes at Torquilstone were judged horrible by several critics, with special focus on Ulrica. Athelstane's resurrection found no favour, the kindest response being that of Francis Jeffrey in ''

The Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'', ...

'' who suggested (writing anonymously, like all the reviewers) that it was 'introduced out of the very wantonness of merriment'.

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. Landon's writings are emblematic of the transition from Romanticism to Victorian literature. Her first major b ...

, who was a devotee of Scott's, wrote a poetical illustration to a picture of by

Thomas Allom Thomas Allom (13 March 1804 – 21 October 1872) was an English architect, artist, and topographical view, topographical illustrator. He was a founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He designed many bui ...

in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1838. The

Eglinton Tournament of 1839 The Eglinton Tournament of 1839 was a reenactment of a medieval joust and revel held in North Ayrshire, Scotland between 28 and 30 August. It was funded and organized by Archibald, Earl of Eglinton, and took place at Eglinton Castle in Ayrshir ...

held by the 13th Earl of Eglinton at

Eglinton Castle Eglinton Castle was a large Gothic castellated mansion in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland. History The castle The ancient seat of the Earls of Eglinton, it is located just south of the town of Kilwinning. The original Eglinton Castle w ...

in Ayrshire was inspired by and modelled on ''Ivanhoe''. On 5 November 2019, ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'' included ''Ivanhoe'' on its list of the 100 most influential novels.

Sequels

* In 1850, novelist

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...

wrote a spoof sequel to Ivanhoe called ''Rebecca and Rowena''. *

Edward Eager Edward McMaken Eager (June 20, 1911 – October 23, 1964) was an American lyricist, dramatist, and writer of children's fiction. His children's novels were largely contemporary low fantasy, featuring the appearance of magic in the lives of ordinar ...

's book '' Knight's Castle'' (1956) magically transports four children into the story of Ivanhoe. *

Simon Hawke Simon Hawke (born September 30, 1951) is an American author of mainly science fiction and fantasy novels. He was born Nicholas Valentin Yermakov, but began writing as Simon Hawke in 1984 and later changed his legal name to Hawke. He has also writ ...

uses the story as the basis for ''The Ivanhoe Gambit'' (1984) the first novel in his time travel adventure series TimeWars. * Pierre Efratas wrote a sequel called ''Le Destin d'Ivanhoe'' (2003), published by Éditions Charles Corlet. *

Christopher Vogler Christopher Vogler (born 1949) is a Hollywood development executive, screenwriter, author and educator, best known for working with Disney and his screenwriting guide, '' The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers'', from 2007. Early lif ...

wrote a sequel called ''Ravenskull'' (2006), published by Seven Seas Publishing.

References in other literature

*''

Jack and Jill "Jack and Jill" (sometimes "Jack and Gill", particularly in earlier versions) is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the commonest tune and its variations as number 10266, although it has been set to severa ...

'' by

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...

(1880). When feeling sorry for her current lot in life, Merry looked at the copy of Ivanhoe and thought of Rebecca, ''"Sweeping, baking, and darning are not so bad as being plagued with lovers and carried off and burnt at the stake, so I won't envy poor Rebecca her jewels and curls and romantic times, but make the best of my own."'' *''

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter ''The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940) is the debut novel of American author Carson McCullers, who was 23 at the time of publication. It is a Southern Gothic novel about a deaf man named John Singer and the people he encounters in a 1930s m ...

'' by

Carson McCullers Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, ''The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits ...

(1940). Harry Minowitz, a Jewish adolescent, feels alientated when his high school class reads Ivanhoe, ''"...at Vocational when they read about the Jew in 'Ivanhoe' the other kids would look around at Harry and he would come home and cry."''

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Films

The novel has been the basis for several motion pictures: * ''Ivanhoe'', United States 1911, directed by J. Stuart Blackton * ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'', United States 1913, directed by

Herbert Brenon Herbert Brenon (born Alexander Herbert Reginald St. John Brenon; 13 January 1880 – 21 June 1958) was an Irish-born U.S. film director, actor and screenwriter during the era of Silent film, silent films through 1940. Brenon was among the e ...

; with

King Baggot William King Baggot (November 7, 1879 – July 11, 1948) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He was an internationally famous movie star of the silent film era. The first individually publicized leading man in America, Baggo ...

Leah Baird Leah Baird (born Ada Frankenstein; June 20, 1883 – October 3, 1971) was an American actress and screenwriter. Life Baird was born in Champaign County, Illinois. on June 20, 1883, the daughter of William Frankenstein and Bertha Schreiver Frank ...

, and Brenon. Filmed on location in England * ''Ivanhoe'', Wales 1913, directed by

Leedham Bantock Leedham Bantock (born Ernest Leedham Sutherland Bantock; 18 May 1870 – 16 October 1928) was a British singer, Edwardian musical comedy actor, early film director, dramatist and screenwriter. In 1912 he became the first actor to portray Sa ...

, filmed at

Chepstow Castle Chepstow Castle () at Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales, is the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain. Located above cliffs on the River Wye, construction began in 1067 under the instruction of the Normans, Norman Lord William ...

* '' Ye Olden Days'', United States 1933, directed by

Burt Gillett Burton F. Gillett (October 15, 1891 – December 28, 1971) was a Film director, director of animation, animated films. He is noted for his Silly Symphonies work for Walt Disney Pictures, Disney, particularly the 1932 short film ''Flowers and Tree ...

* ''

'', 1952, directed by

Richard Thorpe Richard Thorpe (born Rollo Smolt Thorpe; February 24, 1896 – May 1, 1991) was an American film director best known for his long career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His obituary called him "a capable and versatile director willing to take on any ass ...

, starring Robert Taylor,

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

Joan Fontaine Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was an English-American actress best known for her roles in Hollywood films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Fontaine appeared in ...

and

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous charac ...

; nominated for three

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

. * ''

The Revenge of Ivanhoe ''The Revenge of Ivanhoe'' () is a 1965 Italian adventure film directed by Tanio Boccia. Plot A disguised knight rescues a wounded prisoner held by Cedric of Hastings men. The knight and prisoner escape and during a thunderstorm hides the prison ...

'' (1965) starred

Rik Van Nutter Frederick Allen Nutter (May 1, 1929 – October 15, 2005), known professionally as Rik Van Nutter and occasionally as Clyde Rogers, was an American actor who mostly appeared in Italian-produced films. He is also remembered for playing Felix Leit ...

(an Italian '' peplum'') * ''

Ivanhoe, the Norman Swordsman ''Ivanhoe, the Norman Swordsman'' () is a 1971 Capa e spada film directed by Roberto Mauri. Plot After the death of King Henry I of England, Henry I in 12th-century England, the throne is taken by Stephen Cunningham who claims to possess the myth ...

'' (1971) aka ''La spada normanna'', directed by Roberto Mauri (an Italian ''peplum'') * ''

The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

'' (Баллада о доблестном рыцаре Айвенго), USSR 1983, directed by Sergey Tarasov, with songs of

Vladimir Vysotsky Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (25 January 193825 July 1980) was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor who had an immense and enduring effect on Soviet culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which ...

, starring Peteris Gaudins as Ivanhoe.

Television

There have also been many television adaptations of the novel, including: * 1958: A

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

based on the character of Ivanhoe starring

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the actor to portray Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series, playing the ...

as Ivanhoe * 1970: A

TV miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

starring

Eric Flynn Eric William Flynn (13 December 1939 – 4 March 2002) was a British actor. Early life Flynn was born on 13 December 1939 on Hainan Island, Republic of China (1912–1949), where his father was a customs officer for the Hong Kong government. A ...

as Ivanhoe * 1975: Children's Animated Classics Ivanhoe * 1982: ''

'', a television movie starring

Anthony Andrews Anthony Colin Gerald Andrews (born 12 January 1948) is an English actor. He played Lord Sebastian Flyte in the ITV miniseries ''Brideshead Revisited'' (1981), for which he won Golden Globe and BAFTA television awards, and was nominated for ...

as Ivanhoe * 1986: ''Ivanhoe'', a 1986 animated

telemovie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...

produced by Burbank Films in Australia * 1995: '' Young Ivanhoe'', a 1995 television movie directed by Ralph L. Thomas and starring Kristen Holden-Ried as Ivanhoe,

Rachel Blanchard Rachel Elise Blanchard (born 19 March 1976) is a Canadian actress.Rachel Blanchard's b ...

as Rowena,

Stacy Keach Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor, active in theatre, film and television since the 1960s. Keach first distinguished himself in Off-Broadway productions and remains a prominent figure in American theatre across his ...

as Pembrooke,

Margot Kidder Margaret Ruth Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018) was a Canadian and American actress and activist. She amassed List of Margot Kidder performances, several film and television credits in her career spanning five decades, including her bes ...

as Lady Margarite,

Nick Mancuso Nicodemo Antonio Massimo Mancuso (born May 29, 1948) is an Italian-Canadian actor, artist, playwright, and director. Beginning his career as a stage actor, he had his breakthrough role in the 1981 drama ''Ticket to Heaven'', for which he won th ...

as Bourget, and Matthew Daniels as Tuck * 1995: "Sniffing the Gauntlet", an episode of the PBS show ''

Wishbone Wishbone commonly refers to the furcula, a fork-shaped bone in birds and some dinosaurs Wishbone, Wish bone or Wish Bone may also refer to: * Wish-Bone, an American salad dressing and condiment brand * Wishbone formation, a type of offense in Ame ...

'' that featured a retelling of Ivanhoe. A book tie-in was later published as ''Wishbone Classics #12: Ivanhoe, The Adventures of Wishbone #20: Ivanhound''. * 1997: ''Ivanhoe the King's Knight'' a televised cartoon series produced by CINAR and France Animation. General retelling of classic tale. * 1997: ''

'', a 6-part, 5-hour TV miniseries, a co-production of A&E and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. It stars

Steven Waddington Steven Waddington (born 30 December 1967) is an English film and television actor. He is best known for his starring role as the title role of Derek Jarman's '' Edward II'' and supporting role in Michael Mann's ''The Last of the Mohicans''. E ...

as Ivanhoe,

Ciarán Hinds Ciarán Hinds ( ; born 9 February 1953) is a British Northern Irish actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Love ...

as Bois-Guilbert,

Susan Lynch Susan Lynch (born 1971) is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is known for her role in the 2003 film '' 16 Years of Alcohol''. Her other film appearances include '' Waking Ned Devine'' (1998), '' Nora'' (2000), '' Beautiful Creatures'' (200 ...

as Rebecca,

Ralph Brown Ralph William John Brown (born 18 June 1957) is an English actor and writer, known for playing Danny the drug dealer in '' Withnail and I'', the security guard Aaron (a.k.a. "85") in ''Alien 3'', DJ Bob Silver in '' The Boat That Rocked'' aka ...

as Prince John and

Victoria Smurfit Victoria Smurfit (born 31 March 1974) is an Irish actress. She is known for playing Orla O'Connell in the BBC television series '' Ballykissangel'', Detective Chief Inspector Roisin Connor in the ITV police procedural '' Trial & Retribution'' ...

as Rowena * 1999: ''The Legend of Ivanhoe'', a Columbia TriStar International Television production dubbed into English starring John Haverson as Ivanhoe and Rita Shaver as Rowena * 2000–2002: '' Dark Knight'', a New Zealand/British series, starring Ben Pullen as Ivanhoe and Charlotte Comer as Rebecca * 2017: ''

The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe ''The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe'' (often shortened to ''Prince Ivandoe'' or just ''Ivandoe'') is an animated television series created by Eva Lee Wallberg and Christian Bøving-Andersen and co-created by Daniel Lennard for Carto ...

'', a Danish/British animated

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

Operas

Victor Sieg Charles-Victor Sieg (8 August 1837 – 6 April 1899) was a French composer and organist. He won the 1864 Prix de Rome for his setting of the dramatic cantata, '' Ivanhoé''. Gérard, Yves (2010)"Saint-Saëns and the Prix de Rome: Scandal(s)?" '' ...

's dramatic

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

''Ivanhoé'' won the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1864 and premiered in Paris the same year. ''

'' was the

grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design and stage effects with plots normally based on o ...

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

and

Julian Sturgis Julian Russell Sturgis (21 October 1848 – 13 April 1904) was an American-born British novelist, poet, librettist, lyricist, and footballer. Educated at Eton College, Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, Sturgis distinguished himself in Eton's ...

(Sturgis was recommended by Sullivan's oft-time partner

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...

). It debuted in 1891, and ran for 155 consecutive performances. Other operas based on the novel have been composed by

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

('' Ivanhoé''), Thomas Sari (''Ivanhoé''), Bartolomeo Pisani (''Rebecca''), A. Castagnier (''Rébecca''),

Otto Nicolai Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (9 June 1810 – 11 May 1849) was a German composer, conductor, and one of the founders of the Vienna Philharmonic. Nicolai is best known for his operatic version of Shakespeare's comedy ''The Merry Wives of Wi ...

(''

Il Templario ''Il templario'' is an Italian-language opera by the German composer Otto Nicolai from a libretto written by based on Walter Scott's 1819 novel ''Ivanhoe''. It has been noted that Nicolai's work for the opera stage, which followed the successf ...

''), and

Heinrich Marschner Heinrich August Marschner (16 August 1795 – 14 December 1861) was a German composer best known for his operas. He is considered to be the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner.Der Templer und die Jüdin''). Rossini's opera is a ''pasticcio'' (an opera in which the music for a new text is chosen from pre-existent music by one or more composers). Scott attended a performance of it and recorded in his journal, "It was an opera, and, of course, the story sadly mangled and the dialogue, in part nonsense."

Legacy

The railway running through

was known as the Ivanhoe line between 1993 and 2005, in reference to the book's setting in the locality. A portion of the Silver Lake neighborhood in Los Angeles was established in 1887 as a real estate tract called Ivanhoe. (Realtors John C. Byram and Robert W. Poindexter were behind the tract; it is a myth that it was named decades earlier by Scottish settler Hugo Reid, as he never lived in this section of Los Angeles County.) The upper reservoir and an elementary school are still named Ivanhoe while many of the streets in the area reference Scott's other works and characters such as Locksley, Rowena, Kenilworth, Waverly ic Avenel, and St. George.

Ivanhoe, North Carolina Ivanhoe is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sampson County, North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north ...

is named after ''Ivanhoe''.

References

External links

* Online text on Wikisource * * *
Page on ''Ivanhoe'' at the Walter Scott Digital Archive
{{Authority control 1819 British novels British historical novels Novels by Walter Scott Novels set during the Crusades Robin Hood books British novels adapted into films Novels adapted into comics British novels adapted into operas British novels adapted into television shows Fiction set in the 1190s Novels set in the 12th century Cultural depictions of Richard I of England Cultural depictions of John, King of England Novels set in Leicestershire Novels set in Yorkshire Waverley Novels Sir Walter Scott characters

Composition and sources

Editions

Plot summary

Opening

The tournament

Capture and rescue

Rebecca's trial and Ivanhoe's reconciliation

Characters

Chapter summary

Volume One

Volume Two

Volume Three

Style

Themes

Allusions to real history and geography

Lasting influence on the Robin Hood legend

Historical accuracy

Reception

Sequels

References in other literature

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Films

Television

Operas

Legacy

See also

References

External links