Ivanhoe is a novel by Sir Walter Scott. It was written about 1819, when the famous "Wizard of the North" was at his best, and appeared in print the following year. The tale combines romance and adventure. The scene is laid in England in the days of Richard I. The plot is one of the green-wood, archery, Saxon outlawry, Norman oppression, tournament, castle storming, and orderly battle. Gurth, the swineherd; Wamba, the jester; Brian de Bois-Guilbert, the knight templar; Locksley, the green-coated outlaw; Friar Tuck, the fat monk; sturdy Cedric, the Saxon; haughty Front de Boeuf; Richard Coeur de Lion, disguised as the Black Knight, are leading characters. Ivanhoe, the discredited Saxon son, is the hero; but Rebecca, a Jewish maiden, is the noblest of all.
Ivanhoe is Scott's most famous novel.
