Ivanhoe Ivanhoe Intel 80286 Category="1820 books"Category="1952 films"Category="Best Picture Oscar Nominee"Category="British novels"Category="Fictional knights"Category="Films based on novels"Category="Historical novels"Category="Nuttall Encyclopedia"
For other uses, see Ivanhoe (disambiguation).

[image] Ivanhoe is a Novel by Sir Walter Scott. It was written in 1819 and set in 12th century England, an example of historical fiction. Ivanhoe is sometimes given credit for helping to increase popular interest in the Middle Ages in 19th century Europe.

It is the story of one of the remaining Saxon noble families, at a time when the nobility was overwhelmingly Norman. It follows the protagonist, Wilfred of Ivanhoe-a scion of the Saxon family out of favor with his father due to his allegiance to the Norman king Richard I of England-as he comes back from the Crusades. The legendary Robin Hood, under the title of Locksley, is also a character in the story, and the character Scott gave him in Ivanhoe shaped the modern idea of Robin Hood, the cheery noble outlaw.

Ivanhoe himself spends much of the story out of action, having been seriously wounded in the opening chapters. He is nursed by Rebecca, daughter of Isaac the Jew, but there can never be a romance between them, partly because of her religion and partly because Ivanhoe is already betrothed to the Saxon Rowena, his childhood love. However, his great enemy, the Templar Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert, finds Rebecca so irresistible that he is prepared to sacrifice everything for her. Many of the book's critics prefer Rebecca as a heroine to the relatively colourless Rowena.

In 1850, the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray wrote a spoof sequel to Ivanhoe called Rebecca and Rowena.

The location of the novel is centred upon South Yorkshire and North Nottinghamshire in England. Indeed the castle within the story is based upon Conisbrough Castle near Doncaster and still stands today as a popular tourist attraction. Reference is made within the story to the Bishop of Sheffield. These references within the story contribute to the notion that Robin Hood lived or travelled in and around this area.

The ancient town of Conisbrough is so dedicated to the story of Ivanhoe that many of the streets, schools and public buildings are named either after characters from the book or the 12th Century Castle.

Characters

Historical Accuracy

Although the general political events depicted in the novel are relatively accurate - it tells of the period of King Richard's imprisonment in Austria following the crusade and his return to England - the story is heavily fictionalized. Most notably, its depiction of an England in which Saxon and Norman nobles are at odds is highly anachronistic - by the late 12th century, there were no such distinctions among an upper class which generally had a common Norman French culture, with elements of English nobility, mainly due to inter-breeding between the different nationalities.

One inaccuracy in Ivanhoe created a new name in the English language: Cedric. The correct name is Cerdic but Sir Walter committed a Metathesis. The satirist H. H. Munro (Saki), with his typical caustic wit, commented: "It is not a name but a misspelling."

Adaptations

The novel has been the basis for three movies, each also titled Ivanhoe;

There have also been numerous television adaptations of the novel, including:

The names "Ivanhoe" and "Rebecca" were also used in the television Fantasy series Dark Knight, but the resemblance beyond the names was small.

External links

This article incorporates text from the Public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopaedia.

Ivanhoe is a suburb in Melbourne, Australia