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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.

There are many legendary authors out there, and then there are authors who create legends. Sir Walter Scott is one of those authors. While he is most notable for the story of Ivanhoe, he spent years writing folklore and traditional mythology in Scotland. In this post, we will examine Sir Walter Scott’s life and writings.

A History of Sir Walter Scott

Walter Scott’s Early Years

Historians can link Sir Walter Scott to Smailholm Tower. There, under its looming shadow his family raised him on adventurous tales of heroes and villains. With this tower over his head, he read literature and poetry. This further pushed him into the world of literary titans. Similarly, on the shores of Sandyknowes, Scott honed his gift for storytelling and verse to contribute to litearry history.

Scott was born in Edinburgh’s Old Town on Aug. 15, 1771 to Anne Rutherford and Walter Scott. Scott’s father was a member of the private Scottish society Writers to the Signet. At a young age, Scott contracted polio and lost the function of his leg for the rest of his life. His family later sent him to live with his grandparents near Roxburgshire, which was some 30 miles from Edinburgh. Scott’s Aunt Janet urged him to pursue his literary interests by reciting poetry to him and teaching him to read.

As it has been stated, his grandmother, Barbara, impacted Scott through storytelling. She told him numerous tales of their ancestors and battles between the Scots and the English. In this way, Scott developed an interest in Scottish heritage, ballad writing, and folklore.

Scott’s Literary Years

As he got older, Scott’s interests in epics, poetry, and books about far away voyages did not wain. He attended the University in Edinburgh to study the classics in 1783. In 1786, Scott began to apprentice with his father to become a Writer to the Signet. Scott became a lawyer in 1792. He also translated books into English for his friend who he would open a publishing house with in 1809.

Scott later published a series of poems for the publishing house, including The Lady of the Lake, and Marmion (1808). Soon after, Scott began publishing his Waverly novels after the success of the first. He would continue writing these novels over the years. His literary career continued from there with Rob Roy (1817) and Ivanhoe (1820).

Walter Scott’s Contributions and Death

Scott is known as the father of historical fiction for his works in legend and lore. In creating Rob Roy, Waverly, and Ivanhoe, Scott transcended basic storytelling tropes and created a genre unto itself. Likewise, he injected life into Scottish folktales and history. Scott suffered a stroke in 1831 and passed away on Sept. 21^st, 1832, at Abbotsford. He was buried by his wife in the border town of Melrose.

Other works by Scott

Glenfinlas (1800)

The Lady of the Lake (1810)

Rob Roy (1817)

Ivanhoe (1820)

The Pirate (1822)

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‘Ivanhoe’ by Sir Walter Scott: Conflicts in the Middle Ages