Ivanhoe
Walter Scott's medieval novel that reshaped historical fiction.
Ivanhoe: A Romance, by Walter Scott, came out in three volumes in December 1819 as part of the Waverley novels. This series is seen as foundational for historical fiction, and Ivanhoe became the most famous of the nearly thirty books in the cycle. Unlike Scott’s earlier Waverley novels, which were set in 16th- and 17th-century Scotland, Ivanhoe takes place in the high medieval period of the 1190s. Over time, it became Scott’s most remembered and cherished novel, with many adaptations in the 1900s.
The story is set in medieval England and features a tournament, outlaws, a witch trial, and tensions between Jews and Christians, as well as Normans and Saxons. Many writers, including Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, and John Henry Newman, credited the novel with sparking greater interest in chivalric romance and medievalism. It also shaped popular views of historical figures like King Richard the Lionheart, Prince John, and Robin Hood. C.S. Lewis noted that the Waverley novels helped create a sense of historical period that was largely absent in earlier works like Gibbon’s *Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire*.
Scott began dictating *Ivanhoe* in early July 1819, after finishing *A Legend of the Wars of Montrose* in late May. He was still suffering from severe stomach pains and used John Ballantyne and William Laidlaw as scribes. For the second half of the manuscript, Scott was able to write himself, completing the novel in early November 1819. For medieval details, he relied on works by antiquarian Joseph Strutt, historians Robert Henry and Sharon Turner, and a translation of André Favine’s *The Theatre of Honour and Knight-Hood*. He also drew on Chaucer, the romance *Richard Coeur de Lion*, and Joseph Ritson’s collection of Robin Hood ballads.
The novel was published by Archibald Constable in Edinburgh, with a print run of 10,000 copies priced at £1 10s. It was released on 20 December 1819 and in London on 29 December, still anonymous like all Waverley novels before 1827. Scott made minor changes in the early 1820s and a major revision for the 1829 ‘Magnum’ edition, which appeared in volumes 16 and 17 in September and October 1830. The standard modern edition, edited by Graham Tulloch, was published in 1998 as volume 8 of the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels.
Set in 1194, the plot follows the Saxon knight Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, who is disinherited by his father Cedric for supporting the Norman King Richard and for loving Lady Rowena, Cedric’s ward and a descendant of Saxon kings. Cedric wants Rowena to marry the powerful Lord Athelstane, a Saxon pretender to the throne. Ivanhoe joins King Richard on the Third Crusade and is said to have played a notable role at the Siege of Acre. The book opens with Norman knights and prelates seeking shelter at Cedric’s home, guided by a pilgrim. That same night, Isaac of York, a Jewish moneylender, also asks for refuge at Rotherwood.
- author
- Walter Scott
- genre
- Historical novel
- setting
- England, 1190s
- part_of
- Waverley novels
- known_for
- Inspiring medievalism and chivalric romance
Verified Timeline
Quick Facts
- Author
- Walter Scott
- Country
- Great Britain
- Language
- English
- Series
- Waverley Novels
- Genre
- Historical novel, chivalric romance
- Publisher
- Archibald Constable (Edinburgh); Hurst, Robinson, and Co. (London)
- Release Date
- 20 December 1819
- Media Type
- Pages
- 401 (Edinburgh Edition, 1998)
- Preceded By
- A Legend of Montrose
- Followed By
- The Monastery
- Wikisource
- Ivanhoe (1820)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Scott drew on three works by antiquarian Joseph Strutt: Horda Angel-cynnan (1775–76), Dress and Habits of the People of England (1796–99), and Sports and Pastimes of the People of England (1801). He also used histories by Robert Henry (The History of Great Britain, 1771–93) and Sharon Turner (The History of the Anglo-Saxons, 1799–1805). His clearest debt to an original medieval source was the Templar Rule, reproduced in The Theatre of Honour and Knight-Hood (1623). Chaucer and the fourteenth-century romance Richard Coeur de Lion were also helpful. The figure of Locksley was influenced by Joseph Ritson's Robin Hood: a collection of all the ancient poems, songs and ballads (1795). The novel follows Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, a Saxon knight disinherited by his father Cedric for supporting King Richard the Lionheart and for loving Lady Rowena. It opens with a pilgrim aiding Isaac of York, a Jewish moneylender, to escape the Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert. At the tournament at Ashby, Ivanhoe, masked as 'Desdichado' (Spanish for 'Disinherited'), defeats Bois-Guilbert and is declared champion. He is rescued in the melee by a knight called Le Noir Faineant ('the Black Sluggard'). The party is captured and taken to Torquilstone castle, where a rescue is mounted by the Black Knight and Robin of Locksley. The castle is set aflame by the Saxon crone Ulrica as revenge for her father's death.
Reader's Guide
Ivanhoe is considered seminal to historical fiction and became the best-known entry in the Waverley cycle of nearly thirty books. It shifted Scott's focus from 16th- and 17th-century Scotland to high-medieval England during the 1190s, influencing popular perceptions of historical figures such as King Richard the Lionheart, Prince John, and Robin Hood. The novel was credited by Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin with inspiring increased interest in chivalric romance and medievalism. As John Henry Newman put it, Scott 'had first turned men's minds in the direction of the Middle Ages'. C.S. Lewis wrote that 'it is doubtful whether the sense of period is much older than the Waverley novels', noting its absence in Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Ivanhoe's depictions of a tournament, outlaws, a witch trial, and divisions between Jews and Christians, Normans and Saxons left a lasting mark on literature and popular culture, with many twentieth-century adaptations. The first edition was published by Archibald Constable in Edinburgh on 20 December 1819, with a print run of 10,000 copies at a cost of £1 10s (£1.50).
Did You Know?
- Ivanhoe was published on 20 December 1819, though all first editions carry the date 1820.
- The print run for the first edition was 10,000 copies, priced at £1 10s (£1.50).
- Scott dictated much of Ivanhoe due to severe stomach pains, using John Ballantyne and William Laidlaw as amanuenses.
- The figure of Locksley was influenced by Joseph Ritson's 1795 compilation of Robin Hood ballads.
- C.S. Lewis credited the Waverley novels with creating the modern sense of historical period, absent in earlier works like Gibbon's Decline and Fall.
More in Novels & Major Fiction 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record