A few fortunate books manage nail everything so completely that they define their genre. Books such as Dracula, The Lord of the Rings, Moby Dick. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott is one of these. It has everything: Knights in shining armor, damsels in distress, truly evil villains, kings in disguise, serfs for comic relief, hairsbreadth escapes and daring rescues. It even has Robin Hood. Once you’ve read this book you won’t need to ready any other medieval romance.
Ivanhoe is one of Scott’s Waverley novels, so called because when originally published the author was identified only as “the author of Waverley,” his first successful book. It differs from his previous works in that it is set in the 12th century rather than the 17th or 18th centuries and it remains one of his most popular works today. Like Scott’s Rob Roy, it combines historical characters and events with fictional melodrama.
As with any good adventure story, Ivanhoe works on multiple levels. I first read this book in middle school and it still entertains me today more than 50 years later. I prefer to think that this is a testament to Scott’s writing rather than a reflection of my lack of development since the seventh grade.
Open wounds
Ivanhoe takes place about 1194; the wounds from the Norman conquest of 1066 are still raw and there are very real divisions between Norman and Saxon. Add to this a failed crusade, a missing king (Richard I), an ambitious brother (Prince John), and a host of unemployed knights returning from the Holy Land and you’ve got political and social turmoil.
Enter Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the disinherited son of Cedric the Saxon. Cedric, a proud Saxon noble, dreams of reestablishing Saxon rule in England. His son, who had followed the Norman king Richard the Lionhearted on the crusade, represents a younger generation that will bridge the divide between Norman and Saxon and open the way to a modern England. The romantic interests are Lady Rowena, Cedric’s ward, and Rebecca the beautiful Jewess. Villainy is courtesy the Knight Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert and the Norman noble Reginald Front-de-Boeuf.
One of the joys of the book is Locksley, better known as Robin Hood. Scott did not invent Robin Hood—he dates back to the late Middle Ages—but in Ivanhoe he establishes the modern character as we know him today. He is accompanied by his band, including Friar Tuck, also known as the Clerk of Copmanhurst; the bard Alan-a-Dale; and Little John. Anyone who has seen the great Errol Flynn movie The Adventures of Robin Hood will recognize much of the story here. That movie is basically Ivanhoe without Ivanhoe.
AntiSemitism
Scott is unflinching in portraying the antiSemitism of the time. Rebecca and her father, Isaac of York, have prominent roles in the story and although the Jewish community is generally portrayed sympathetically, it is also portrayed in full stereotype.
But Scott also makes it clear that the antiSemitism goes beyond racial and religious bigotry and includes large doses of greed and self-interest. Because the Church at that time frowned on lending money at interest, Jews dominated the emerging banking business that was enabling the beginnings of modern trade. Getting rid of the Jews had the benefit of cancelling a lot of debt.
Scott was, of course, writing historical romance and not history, and all of his characters are to some extent stereotypes. The good knights are noble and valorous, the bad knights are evil, the serfs are comic and loyal, and all the ladies are beautiful. Still, the racial stereotypes can be jarring for the modern reader. Maybe it’s because so many of them remain current today.
On the whole, however, the Jews in Ivanhoe come of better than the religious hypocrites of the Knights Templar, so don’t let this keep you from enjoying a book that is worth reading. As one of Scott’s most popular books today, there are plenty of editions in print and you shouldn’t have any trouble finding one at your local library or bookstore.