The film without the cuts. And the book itself.
Decades after the conquest, Saxon and Norman still eye each other across the same table. Something is about to force the fracture into the open.
Wilfred of Ivanhoe
A wounded knight keeps returning under borrowed names until his hidden loyalty becomes public action.
Rotherwood
Under Cedric's torchlight, strangers and outcasts take their unequal places, and every seat is a verdict.
With King Richard absent, who can stop England from sliding into lawless ruin?
Read →England Under Baronial Oppression
In that pleasant district of merry England which is watered by the river Don, there extended in ancient times a large forest, covering the greater part of the beautiful hills and valleys which lie between Sheffield and the pleasant town of Doncaster. The remains of this extensive wood are still to be seen at the noble seats of Wentworth, of Warncliffe Park, and around Rotherham. Here haunted of yore the fabulous Dragon of Wantley; here were fought many of the most desperate battles during the Civil Wars of the Roses; and here also flourished in ancient times those bands of gallant outlaws, whose deeds have been rendered so popular in English song.
Such being our chief scene, the date of our story refers to a period towards the end of the reign of Richard I., when his return from his long captivity had become an event rather wished than hoped for by his despairing subjects, who were in the meantime subjected to every species of subordinate oppression. The nobles, whose power had become exorbitant during the reign of Stephen, and whom the prudence of Henry the Second had scarce reduced to some degree of subjection to the crown, had now resumed their ancient license in its utmost extent; despising the feeble interference of the English Council of State, fortifying their castles, increasing the number of their dependants, reducing all around them to a state of vassalage, and striving by every means in their power, to place themselves each at the head of such forces as might enable him to make a figure in the national convulsions which appeared to be impending.
Scott opens by walking you through countryside you could actually visit, naming Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham, before he lets a dragon and Robin Hood's outlaws loose in the same woods. That mix is the whole promise of the book: a made up story bolted onto real English ground, so the legend feels like it grew from soil you know. Then he names the danger. With Richard captive abroad, the great lords have stopped pretending to obey anyone, arming their households and fortifying their walls, each hoping to come out on top when the country tears itself apart.
A Conquered Land
Decades after the conquest, Saxon and Norman still eye each other across the same table. Something is about to force the fracture into the open.
Disinherited Knight’s Shield
A knight who will not give his name rides in declaring only that he has been disinherited.
Rebecca
A healer behind a veil becomes the clearest moral witness in a world that refuses to keep her.
Ivanhoe
The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.
The Ivanhoe World, as it plays on your phone
- Meet the people. 31 characters, each with a portrait, who they are and what they want.
- Walk the places. 13 places, each pictured, and what happens there.
- Follow the plot. The turns of the story, in order, so you always know where you are.
- Taste the original. 48 key passages in Walter Scott’s own words, each with a short reading of what it is doing.
- The complete book. Every word, in a reader made for your phone. From any passage, one tap opens the book at that very page.
Step inside Ivanhoe
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