Sir Walter Scott is one of those authors who I’ve always felt intimidated by, for some reason assuming I would find him difficult to read. And yet, I had a feeling I would probably enjoy his books if I could just get around to actually reading them. I had no idea which book would be the best to start with, but as Ivanhoe is probably his best known novel I decided to try that one first.
Ivanhoe is set in England towards the end of the 12th century, during the reign of Richard the Lionheart, who has been away fighting in the crusades, leaving behind his brother Prince John plotting and scheming in his absence. The title character, Wilfred of Ivanhoe, banished and disinherited by his father, has just returned to England and on his return he becomes swept up in a series of adventures involving feuding Saxon and Norman noblemen, a beautiful Jewish girl, Robin Hood and a mysterious Black Knight.
Anyone with an interest in the medieval period and tales of chivalry will find that Ivanhoe has everything you would expect to see in this type of novel: jousting, sword-fighting, archery, tournaments, castles under siege, damsels in distress, bands of outlaws in the woods, and knights in shining armour. I loved it! I discovered that although Walter Scott’s writing is very descriptive and long-winded (lots of detailed descriptions of clothing and weapons etc) I didn’t have any problems understanding what was happening. The dialogue is written in an archaic style but it’s still readable and it all adds to the medieval atmosphere of the story.
I have no idea how much of the historical background is accurate but what does come across strongly is the resentment between the Saxons and the conquering Normans, as well as the tensions between Christians and Jews. Scott introduces us to characters from all four of these groups, which sets the scene for most of the conflict in the novel (the Saxons, for example, are represented by characters such as Cedric, Ivanhoe’s father, who still views the Normans as invaders more than a century after the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest). The attitudes of many of the characters towards the Jews are very negative, but I got the impression that this didn’t reflect Walter Scott’s own opinions. I thought he portrayed the Jewish characters themselves in quite a sympathetic way, which was good to see considering the time period in which this book was written. Rebecca, the daughter of Isaac the Jewish moneylender, was one of the strongest characters in the novel and much more interesting than the other heroine, Rowena.
I thought Ivanhoe himself was a bit of a disappointment. When he made his first appearance as the Disinherited Knight I thought he was going to be a great character, but he quickly seemed to fade into the background and was overshadowed by some of the other, more memorable characters – including the Black Knight, Wamba the Jester, Gurth the Swineherd, and the three villainous Norman knights, Front-de-Boeuf, de Bracy and Brian de Bois-Guilbert. I had never realised there was any connection between Robin Hood and Ivanhoe, but he appears in the novel under the name Locksley, and we also meet a friar living in a hermitage in the forest (Friar Tuck). Apparently Ivanhoe inspired the image of Robin Hood we have today and brought into popular use a lot of the elements of the Robin Hood legend.
So, now that I’ve read Ivanhoe and enjoyed it, which Sir Walter Scott book should I try next? Any recommendations are welcome!
She Reads Novels 
I can’t wait to read this one. I think you should read Rob Roy next! (Bearing in mind I’ve never read Walter Scott…)
Yes, I was thinking about maybe reading Rob Roy next. Either that or The Heart of Midlothian.
My book group nearly had a riot over Ivanhoe and one member said that if we ever chose anything by Scott again she was resigning on the spot. I read Ivanhoe when I was 14 and loved it, read it again and found I no longer have the tolerance for such long winded descriptions.
I found the long windedness and the descriptive passages off-putting at first, but once I got into the story it wasn’t such a problem. I can understand your book group’s reaction, though. He’s probably an author people will either love or hate.
I have no recommendations, I’m just impressed as I’ve always thought of Walter Scott as an intimidating writer too….
It wasn’t easy to read but definitely not as challenging as I had thought it might be. I’m glad I’m not afraid of him anymore!
I read Scott’s The Talisman about a year ago knowing nothing about it going in. It was a really good book about Richard the Lionheart and his battle with the Arabs in Jerusalem. Since I’ve read nothing else by Scott, I don’t know how it ranks among his other books, but I would recommend it. Since reading The Talisman I’ve had Ivanhoe loaded on my Kindle. I need to bump it up on my TBR list.
I am fond of stories regarding the Medieval Period. I can’t even count how many movies about it I’ve already seen. Hearing that Sir Walter Scott is very intimidating in literature, it got me curious on how good his skills in writing really are. It’d be nice to be able to find the book.
Reblogged this on The Templar Knight and commented:
I’ve been meaning to blog on Sir Walter Scott for a while. He hated the Templars – as did quite a few Victorian romantics. They were the all round bad guys, jolly evil and never to be trusted. Rather like the depiction in the movie – Kingdom of Heaven. But not in my forthcoming blockbuster novel – Quest for the True Cross.
Robin Hood was a folk character that Scott borrowed and developed for his novel.
Next you might try, “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court ” by Mark Twain.
Some other ideas if you like action stories:
Kenneth Robert’s “The Lively Lady”
Bernal Diaz’s “Conquest of New Spain” (non-fiction)
The slave autobiography, “Equiano’s Travels” (non-fiction)
Walter Lord’s “A Night to Remember” (non-fiction)
I’ve always felt intimidated by Scott, as well, and have a copy of Ivanhoe on my shelf that I keep pushing behind other books because it scares me! It sounds like there isn’t anything to really be scared of, though. How interesting that Robin Hood appears in the novel – I had no idea!
Scott has always scared me too but I am really encouraged to see your review as it makes me think maybe I should give him a go. The book sounds great!
This is the only Sir Walter Scott novel I have read, but looking at your review I realise I barely remember it, I think a re-read is in order!
I’ve had a copy of Ivanhoe daring me to read it for years but it was The Pirate which I read recently and ended up enjoying, although of course it’s very wordy too.
I’ve got Ivanhoe on my shelf, but have never read it. Looked a bit dull, but now I’m interested in the history aspects–and treating Jewish characters fairly is certainly unusual in English literature!
Imprressed that you managed to read “Ivanhoe”. Recently tried to read “Waverly”, but it’s become one of the very few books that I’ve failed to finish and has put me off Scott for life.