Medieval misery permeates historical fiction and fictional accounts of the era. Widespread famine, class disparity, and violent struggles for power are all hallmarks of these times. The novel Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott is a classic example of a story setup in these trying times. In this post, we will dig into Ivanhoe by Scott. Adventure and triumph awaits!
Summary
The story is about Wilfred of Ivanhoe, who is a Saxon knight returning from the Crusades. His family and his estate are in turmoil as their support for King Richard I has cost them a great deal, including his inheritance. However, due to his allegiance to the King, his love for Lady Rowena, and his friendship with Robin Hood, Ivanhoe perseveres through struggle and the conflict between the Saxons and the Normans.
As well, Sir Walter Scott, famed Scottish author, published Ivanhoe in 1820. The novel is set in 12th-century England during the reign of King Richard I. The novel features many notable characters, including Robin Hood, Prince John, and Brian de Bois-Guilbert.
Book Blurb
From Amazon: Banished from England for seeking to marry against his father’s wishes, Ivanhoe joins Richard the Lion Heart on a crusade in the Holy Land. On his return, his passionate desire is to be reunited with the beautiful but forbidden lady Rowena, but he soon finds himself playing a more dangerous game as he is drawn into a bitter power struggle between the noble King Richard and his evil and scheming brother John. The first of Scott’s novels to address a purely English subject, Ivanhoe is set in a highly romanticized medieval world of tournaments and sieges, chivalry and adventure where dispossessed Saxons are pitted against their Norman overlords, and where the historical and fictional seamlessly merge.
Reviews
On Goodreads, the novel has 95,333 ratings and 3,135 reviews. There are 26,023 five-star reviews and 2,621 one-star reviews.
Five-star reviews show a great deal of love for this novel. For example, its connection to Robin Hood is lauded. Moreover, reviewers loved the characters in the novel, including the villain. Likewise, the story and “adventures roar like a bullet train,” which lends itself to its action-packed pacing.
What’s more, One-star reviews state that it’s “dreadful” with “endless descriptive passages.” Additionally, the characters are “two-dimensional” and the language is “obscure.” The difficult language results in “extraneous matters.”
Impressions
From its descriptions, Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott sounds a lot like the Kevin Costner Robin Hood (1991). In that movie, it is Robin Hood who returns from the crusades only to find his castle and family in ruins. As such, and because I do love that movie, I believe this story would be approachable for most readers. However, there is laborious language to consider if you are not partial to that, but it is a beautiful told tale and has a great amount of action and romance.
2 responses to “Book Review: ‘Ivanhoe’ by Sir Walter Scott”
[…] Thursday, we read about Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott and how it relates to the story of Robin Hood. Lastly, on Friday, we read the ballad “Robin […]
[…] “Book List: Ivanhoe” […]