In the novel Ivanhoe, Sir Walter Scott uses the historical conflict between the Saxon and the Norman cultures of 12th century England to portray a parallel to Scottish and English cultures of the 19th century. The novel is set roughly 100 years after the Norman invasion of England, a time in history when the Norman culture and language dominated society, whereas the Saxon culture and language remained only in the lower class if at all. In 1820 when this book was published, Scotland had been an official part of England for the same amount of time. The Scottish are similar to the Saxons in the book because both of their cultures are being suppressed by a dominating culture, the English and Norman respectively. Through the language and actions of the Norman and Saxon characters in the novel, Sir Walter Scott is constructing a historical allegory for contemporary Scottish-British relations which projects his own conflicting feelings about the Scottish union with Britain, namely that adaptation is required to progress but it is important to remain the same at the core.
Sir Walter Scott had a unique view of Scotland and Scottish history. He was born in the Old Town of Edinburgh, on the border between Scotland and Britain. However, as a child he was sent to his grandfather’s farm at Sandyknowe, deep in the Scottish countryside. Here, the old Scottish culture thrived, and Scott grew up hearing stories of the Jacobite rebellions, of wars and executions, told by people who had seen it firsthand. Scott sympathized with the heroes in the stories, which imbued his partisan, loyalist feelings towards Scotland, even though every rebellion ended in failure. He then went to university, where he fed his fascination with history. He learned to view history as change, as progress. However, Sir Walter Scott saw more in the past than an inferior version of the present. In the introduction to his first novel Waverly, Scott reveals that he was motivated to write by the people of the past and their emotions which “alike agitated the human heart, whether it throbbed under the steel corset of the fifteenth century, the brocaded coat of the eighteenth, or the blue frock … of the present”. People are the focus of his work, and in many of his novels he places them in times of dangerous and fundamental change. Initially, this was confined to 18th century Scotland, the time period that Scott grew up hearing about and likely had the greatest bond to. His first exception to this setting was the 12th century English set Ivanhoe, but it retains the violent change and above all the vibrant characters that made his works so famous.
In the novel, the titular character Wilfred of Ivanhoe returns from the 3rd Crusade, after fighting alongside King Richard, the Norman ruler. Ivanhoe’s father, Cedric, is one of the few remaining Saxon lords in England. Cedric disinherited Ivanhoe for allying with the Norman King Richard, and for loving Rowena, Cedric’s ward whom he plans to marry off to another Saxon lord to continue a line of Saxon nobility. Ivanhoe fights in a tournament in disguise, is wounded, and gets captured along with his father, Rowena, and other characters by Norman knights. They manage to escape and defeat the Norman lords with some help from a band of outlaws and King Richard, who came back to England with Ivanhoe. Cedric reconciles with his son, and allows Ivanhoe to marry Rowena.
Ivanhoe is set in 1194 AD, roughly 100 years after the Norman invasion of England and the Battle of Hastings. This conquest was by far the most impactful and far-reaching event in English history, affecting every class of native Saxon. The nobles were dispossessed of their land and often exiled or killed, to the extent that by 1086 there were only 4 Saxon lords possessing any significant amount of land (Battles). The Saxon peasantry to was punished with higher taxes, higher rent for land, and absorbance into Norman estates. Saxon culture disappeared as well, since the Saxon clerics that recorded them and the Saxon nobles that read and spread them were replaced by Normans with their own stories. Even the very language of the Saxons began to disappear, as children were taught French grammar, not Saxon English, and Norman French was used exclusively in books, charters and courts (Battles). It is no surprise to discover that Saxons themselves soon began to lose their cultural identity. These facts are evidence that, within a generation or two after 1066, Anglo-Saxons and Normans were nearly indistinguishable through the adoption of Norman culture by the Saxons
In Ivanhoe however, the Saxons and Normans are still two very distinct classes, and the conflict is still very alive. As Sir Walter Scott states in the novel, “Four generations had not sufficed to blend the hostile blood of the Normans and Anglo-Saxons, or to unite, by common language and mutual interests, two hostile races, one of which still felt the elation of triumph, while the other groaned under all the consequences of defeat.” (pg. 2). The conflict between the Normans and the Saxons is what drives the plot of the story forward.
One of the main Norman characters in the story, Brian de Bois-Guilbert, makes every opportunity to prove the superiority of the Norman race. He boasts of his Templar order, claiming that they were second to none in the Crusade. When the disguised Ivanhoe challenges his claim stating that a group of English knights beat them in a tournament, de Bois-Guilbert states that he will fight and win against any of those knights in a tournament tomorrow, even though they were all thought to be lost in the Holy Lands. Although he understands the Saxon language, he speaks only French. He lusts after Rowena even in front of the protective Cedric, for he is described as “accustomed only to act upon the immediate impulse of his own wishes.” He captures Cedric and Rowena to get what he wants. Brian de Bois-Guilbert sees himself as a descendant of the Norman conquerors, and sees no reason to compromise with the conquered Saxons.
Cedric, one of the few Saxons in any position of power, is not any more dispositioned to compromise. He is adamant in remaining Saxon, and mourns that Saxon deeds “are lost in those of another race; our language, our very name, is hastening to decay, and none mourns for it save one solitary old man.” (35). His forefathers fought against the Normans, and Cedric still considers the Normans foreign invaders, even though he wasn’t alive in a time before the Norman rule. He is so adamantly against Norman cooperation that he has taken a vow to refuse to take more than three steps from his altar to meet another person not of Saxon descent. He plans to marry Rowena to Athelstan, even though Athelstan isn’t an ideal Saxon, simply to continue a direct line of Saxon royalty. He even disinherits his own son Ivanhoe for following the Norman King Richard, thinking that he cannot cooperate with a Norman and remain a Saxon. Finally, he states that he knows no language but his own and a few words of their “mincing Norman”, refusing to accept any part of Norman culture beyond what was absolutely necessary. Cedric’s father and grandfather fought against the Norman invaders, and he sees no reason to abandon this trend and work with the Normans.
Both the Saxon and Norman cultures, portrayed by Cedric and de Bois-Guilbert respectively, refuse to cooperate with each other. Much of the conflict in the book derives from the Normans trying to take what they want, whether that be taxes, land, or damsels, and Cedric and other Saxons resisting. One notable area of resistance is the two group’s linguistic divide, which Scott emphasizes as a metaphor for their greater cultural conflict. The book opens with a conversation between a jester and a swineherd. When the jester asks what the name of the animals are, the swineherd replies with the Saxon name, swine. When asked what he calls it when it is served, the Saxon uses the Norman word, pork. While this is a discussion on language, it is also representative of the Saxon suppression. The beast goes by its Saxon name while it labors in the dirt, under the care of a Saxon slave, but becomes a Norman when it is brought into a castle and is feasted by nobles. Even the languages which both sides use supports the divide between the two groups. Cedric eats swine flesh, but de Bois-Guilbert takes it and eats pork. Neither side is willing to share, and since the Normans are more powerful, if this rule continues eventually there will be no food for the Saxons.
However, the character Wilfred of Ivanhoe is an exception to the rule. As Bois-Guilbert say his order of Templars were the best of the Crusade, Ivanhoe defends the warriors he fought alongside with as the best, saying that “the English chivalry were second to none who ever drew sword in defense of the Holy Land” (35). Not Saxon chivalry, but English, composed of both Norman and Saxon knights. Scott uses the unifying term to show that Ivanhoe considers Normans and Saxons to be equals, and capable of sharing glory together. The fact that he left his father’s Saxon hold and went to serve with the Norman king indicates that he is willing to accept Normans as rulers, and fellow Englishmen. He goes even farther than that, and risks his life for the Jewess Rebecca, even though both Norman and Saxon despise her race. Ivanhoe is a younger generation than his father. He doesn’t see the war of his forefathers as something to continue. He serves King Richard, and holds a good friendship with him. By the end of the book, Ivanhoe manages to convince Cedric that King Richard is a good man, despite being a Norman. Ivanhoe is a contender for change in the story.
Despite the cultural change that he advocates in public, Ivanhoe does not lose himself and his own Saxon identity. He speaks Saxon to his old companions from childhood, and through these acts of companionship he identifies himself as a Saxon, even while in disguise. While knows French and Arabic, he uses them as tools, whether to travel through France or to hear de Bois-Guilbert speak to his Saracen followers. It is also made clear that he remembers his Saxon love, Rowena. When Ivanhoe wins the tournament, and names the Queen of Honor and Love, he names the Saxon Rowena over Norman and Jewish beauties alike, even while in disguise. While Ivanhoe adapts to Norman culture, he remains essentially himself.
This theme of adapting while remaining essentially oneself is a common one in the novels of Sir Walter Scott. While this is a universal theme, it also is extremely applicable to Scott’s home country of Scotland in the early 19th century, when Scott published his books.
In 1707, Scotland united with England in an event that remains controversial to this day. England wanted Scotland closer united, but the Scottish people only agreed to the act because the country was in an economic crisis because of a failed attempt to establish a colony in Panama, known as the Darien Scheme. Some historians believe that members of Scottish parliament were motivated to unite with England to offset their own losses in the Darien (Devine). There is even evidence of bribes paid to members of Scottish parliament. As for the common people of Scotland, the Act of Union was extremely unpopular. Members of parliament were aware of this, many felt that not even one percent of the Scottish population approved of the Union. Anti-Union Riots were held across Scotland, and the Scottish standing army had to be called in to protect the capital (Devine). This negative feeling towards the union has endured, even to the modern day. This is evident in the Scottish Independence Referendum in 2014, in which 45% of Scotland voted to leave the United Kingdom. Since the UK decided to leave the European Union, another referendum is likely to occur (Severin).
The people of Scotland did not want to unite with England because they feared that they would merely become a province of England, and lose their own cultural identity. To an extent, this did happen. The Scottish vernacular became less common, associated with rural, uneducated people. The Scottish Highlander disappeared, replaced by the English gentleman. Even in literature, scholars deemed Scotland inferior. Sir Walter Scott was taught in school that Scottish history was only suitable for Scotchmen, unfitted for English class, due to the degraded dialect and strangeness of the characters (Ash). Sir Walter Scott would go on to prove this teacher wrong.
Scott mourned the loss of Scottish culture, of what “made Scotland Scottish”. He did not believe that in order for the culture to come back, Scotland had to break the Union with England. Scott recognized the economic benefits of the Union, and believed the best thing for Scotland was to accept the union and move forward. However, Scott remained fascinated with Scottish culture, and he decided to bring it back. Sir Walter Scott took the very things deemed distasteful about Scotland, the uncivilized, strange past, the degraded dialect, and changed the literary world forever. Unlike other historical novelists that simply wrote about the modern era in disguise, Scott’s characters and stories were amazingly true to history, and were incredibly well received. His first novel, Waverly, sold out within two days of release in 1814 (Edinburgh University). It was extolled for its historical accuracy, vivid description, and above all the force of the characters. Waverly marks the birth of the historical novel in the western world. In the next 5 years, he wrote 8 historical novels, all set in 17th and 18th century Scotland. Scot also did much more for Scottish culture, such as securing the public display of the Regalia of Scotland in 1818, one of the greatest symbols of the old Scotland, and managing George IV’s visit to Scotland in 1822, where the King donned a kilt and toasted the Highland chiefs. (Templeton). Scott brought back Scotland, but he made sure to stress that it was necessary to look to future as well as the past
Most of Scott’s novels focus on romantic heroes that fight English rule and are ultimately defeated. These doomed heroes are the people that Scott grew up hearing about. In his first novel Waverly, Edward Waverly is convinced by a Scottish highlander Chief Fergus McIvor to fight in the Jacobite rebellion, supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie. Whereas Fergus is executed after the failed rebellion, Waverly is pardoned for saving the life of an officer on the other side. The book ends with Waverly being rejected by the chief’s passionate daughter, symbolizing the romantic past that Waverly initially wanted to be a part of, and marrying the calmer daughter of a family friend, symbolizing a rational decision to work with the Union rather than against it. In Redgauntlet, published in 1824, the titular character refuses to accept English rule, attempts to start another coup, and is exiled, whereas his nephew who remains loyal to the king is pardoned. Scott emphasizes in these two stories, and many more of his novels, that it is futile to try to bring Scotland back to the past. The only thing a true Scotsman can do is remember his past while he works towards the future.
Ivanhoe is different from most of Scott’s other novels, being set in 12th century England. However, it seems that even when Scott is not writing about Scotland, he is still writing about Scotland. The parallels in Ivanhoe to Scottish society are clear. First, the timeframes are similar. Ivanhoe is set in 1194 AD, 128 years after the Norman invasion in 1066. The novel Ivanhoe was published by Sir Walter Scott in 1820, 113 years after the Act of Union in 1707. In both realities, there has been enough time for the societies to adapt to the new paradigm, to the detriment of the suppressed culture. Both the Saxons and Scotchmen were forgetting their cultures, their songs and stories disappearing into the past.
Part of the culture disappearing in their language. In the novel, and in history, the invading Norman French forcibly became the language of “honor, of chivalry and even of justice, whereas the far more manly and expressive Anglo-Saxon was abandoned to the use of rustics and hinds, who knew no other.” Language is one of the many areas where the older generations refuse to compromise, with Cedric refusing to learn Norman and the Norman knight refusing to speak Saxon. However, French is slowly seeping into the Saxon language. Athelstan, one of the few other remaining Saxon lords, uses melee, a Norman word for combat, at which Cedric gets upset that one of his allies did such a thing.
The Scottish vernacular in the 19th century held a similar reputation to the Saxon language in the 12th. Proper British English was taught in schools and used in courts and books. The Scottish vernacular was deemed an “uncouth and degraded dialect” (Ash) and remained in use only in rural areas, by such people as Scott’s grandparents in Sandyknowe, areas that by many were considered to be backwards. This is what made Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns, who was to Scottish poetry what Scott was to literature, so special. Their success writing book and poems that featured the Scottish language was proof that it was not dead, merely lying dormant.
The generational divide depicted in Ivanhoe also existed in Scotland. Many Scots had fathers and grandfathers that fought in the Jacobite rebellions, just as Cedric’s forefathers fought against the Normans. This recentness of the past conflicts was part of what made Scott’s novels so popular, because people, particularly loyalist Scotts, could relate to them so strongly. However, the rebellious heroes in Scott’s novels, the Cedrics and Redgauntlets and Fergus MacIvors, never succeeded in their goals for independence, and were either cast out or, in Cedric’s case, learned to compromise. The true heroes in Scott’s novels learned to compromise with the oppressors, and they survived and thrived because of it.
These themes in his novels seem to have been transferred to Scotland. In the 1820s and 30s, people who wanted change in Scotland advocated for it not through radical aggression but through legal, constitutional meetings. The reform was focused on amending the Scottish constitution which had been destabilized by corruption throughout the century (Pentland). The ultimate goal was to increase the number of people eligible to vote, increasing popular representation. This made the Scottish constitution closer to the English version, an effect not lost on its advocates. The reform was often presented as achieving English liberties that had been denied to Scotland for too long. In fact, the bill that achieved these liberties, the Scottish Reform Act passed in 1832, was referred to as “the Magna Carta of the people of Scotland”. This acceptance of English culture to progress Scotland is exactly what Sir Walter Scott suggested throughout all his novels.
Ultimately, Sir Walter Scott believes that the Union is good for Scotland. He sees history as progress, and wants his readers to understand that. The heroes of his novels are not the brave warriors defending past traditions, rebelling against the crown. His heroes are those who are willing to compromise, to move their cause forward, and at the same time supporting their own heritage. Whether these novels are set in Scotland like Waverly or Redgauntlet, or in England like Ivanhoe, the theme remains the same. Sir Walter Scott knew that one must adapt to survive in any world, and recognized that Scotland couldn’t remain in the past. However, Scott always struggled to go against the loyalist cause. In his head, he recognized the need to adapt, but in his heart, he remained the little boy listening to the tales of doomed heroes in his grandfather’s farm in Sandyknowe.
Citations
- Ash, Marinell. The Strange Death of Scottish History. Ramsay Head Press Edinburgh, 1980.
- Battles, Dominique. Cultural Difference and Material Culture in Middle English Romance:
- Saxons and Normans. Routledge, 2013.
- Carrell, Severin. “Scottish independence: why a second vote is back on the table.” The Guardian, 13 Mar. 2017, www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/mar/13/scottish-independence-why-second-vote-back-on-table-nicola-sturgeon.
- Devine, T. Independence or Union: Scotland’s Past and Scotland’s Present. Allen Lane, 2016.
- Koelb, Clayton. Legendary Figures. University of Nebraska Press, 1998.
- Pentland, Gordon. Radicalism, Reform and National Identity in Scotland, 1820-1833. Royal Historical Society/Boydell Press, 2008,
- Scott, Sir Walter. Ivanhoe. Wordsworth, 1995.
- “Scott the Novelist.” Walter Scott, Edinburgh University Library, 23 Jan. 2007, www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/biography/novel.html.
- Templeton, Laurence. Remembering our Saxon forefathers: Linguistic Nationalism in Ivanhoe
Originally published 15.10.2019