Book Review: Ivanhoe

Romantasy book girlies, this one is for you! Say hello to the book that essentially started it all. We have knights in shining armour, damsels in distress, with trials, acts of valour and chivalry. Heck, there’s even a joust and a cameo from the one and only Robin Hood. This book was a bit of a monster to get through and was over 500 pages long, but worth it in the end.

There is a lot to unpack in this book as it covers some pretty interesting and altogether nasty topics, like witches and anti-semitism, which, unfortunately, still exists in our society today as much as it did back in the time of Richard Leon Coeur. Ivanhoe, our hero, has been exiled from England by his father, Cedric, for joining the Norman King Richard on the failed Third Crusade. Ivanhoe is one of the few remaining members of the Saxon nobility in a dominantly Norman England. Ivanhoe returns to England with many of the European knights to win the hand of the Lady Rowena, but finds himself caught in the midst of a power struggle between the spoilt and villainous John and the good King Richard.

I’ve got to hand it to Sir Walter Scott, he does know how to write a dang epic novel, this book has been credited with reviving interest in the medieval period and chivalric romanticism and modern perceptions of Richard Lion Heart, King John and Robin Hood. This is a novel with a wide scope and a lot of detail to get through. He covers a lot, from the secular poems of minstrels, the Knights Templars and the attitudes to Jews of the time.  I was a little surprised to see that Ivanhoe doesn’t really do much. There are several discussions around him, at the beginning discussing how villainous he is and how he has committed several wrongs, only to be defended by the Lady Rowena as a Knight of the highest chivalric order, etc., etc. Naturally, when he does appear, it is in the most dramatic of circumstances, challenging the Norman nobility to a joust in front of the dreaded ‘King’ John. He wins by the way in a landslide before revealing his identity to the shock (and delight in the case of Lady Rowena) of the crowd, and so begins the power struggle and Machiavellian plots of the novel.

Now, to unpack the not-so-fun bits, Ivanhoe is injured in the joust, despite winning the day. He is taken into the care of Rebecca, a Jewess whose family were made wealthy by acting as money lenders to the English nobility (at the time, adding to their perceived villainy, no one wanted to be in debt to a Jew). But they are unfortunately captured and locked away in a Norman castle. Rebecca is taken off by a Templar Knight, hoping she would become his mistress, but ends up on trial for witchcraft. She is denounced as a heathen, infidel, you name it. Her Father, Issac of York, is also held to ransom, beaten and gaslit into believing that he had converted to the Christian faith. All of which is utter bollocks to be honest. But I find that this is a useful addition; it was ‘writ’ that King Richard had ordered that no Jew be harmed during his reign. An order that wasn’t taken at all seriously, especially during the massacre of York in 1190.

While the book ends happily, Ivanhoe marries Rowena, Cedric and Ivanhoe are reunited, and King Richard reveals himself from his disguise (which was a fun plot twist). You are left with a somewhat bitter taste in the mouth; the chivalric orders of knights in shining armour are somewhat tainted after the abject racism this book showcases. Of course, our hero and heroine are sympathetic, but it is not the palate cleanser it is supposed to be. Either way, this book is really good fun, and I can see how it inspired generations of romantic literature to come.