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szdaily -> Speak Shenzhen -> 
‘Ivanhoe’
    2022-11-18  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

James Baquet

American author George R. R. Martin cites Sir Walter Scott’s 1819 novel “Ivanhoe” as an inspiration for his series, “A Song of Ice and Fire.”

The story portrays a rivalry between the Saxons and the Normans who had conquered them in 1066. Over time, of course, these two cultural strains blended together to become “the English.” Scott, however, keeps the rivalry going about 100 years longer than it actually did. This is just one of the main anachronisms in the novel.

The Norman King Richard the Lion-Hearted, returning from the Holy Land, has been taken prisoner because Richard’s brother, the evil King John, wanted the throne for himself, and arranged for his capture.

Wilfred of Ivanhoe, son of the Saxon Cedric of Rotherwood, had been traveling with Richard. His father disowns him for supporting the Norman king, and for wishing to marry Rowena, Cedric’s ward, whom Cedric planned to marry to a member of Saxon royalty.

Ivanhoe returns to England incognito, calling himself “the Disinherited Knight.” He wins a tournament, aided by a figure called “the Black Knight.” Wounded in the fight, he is tended by Rebecca, whose father is a Jewish moneylender named Isaac of York.

As the Saxons, with Rebecca and Isaac, are returning home, they are captured and imprisoned by an ally of Prince John, Maurice de Bracy, who wishes to marry Rowena. But the Black Knight and Cedric (who had escaped the castle by a clever ruse), along with a man named Locksley and his band, attack the castle and free the prisoners. Brian de Bois-Guilbert, another recently-returned knight, escapes with Rebecca.

Unfortunately, Rebecca — who has special talents in the area of healing — is accused of being a witch and is sentenced to death. But Ivanhoe, grateful for her previous help, champions her in a trial by combat, and Bois-Guilbert is killed.

The Black Knight turns out to be King Richard, freed from captivity. Locksley is none other than the famous Robin Hood (another anachronism, as his legend is set about two centuries after these events). Ivanhoe and Rowena are married, and Rebecca and her father leave for Spain to escape the increasing persecution of the Jews in England.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. taken care of

2. a trick

3. refuses to accept

4. a test of strength

5. in disguise

6. competition

7. like a banker

8. something placed in the wrong time

9. bad treatment of someone because of their religion

10. aspects, threads

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