Ivanhoe

CHAPTER V

1 (p. 62) epigraph: The quotation is from Shylock’s famous speech from The Merchant of Venice (act 3, scene 1). Scott borrowed much from Shakespeare, most notably the stagy, pseudo-medieval language spoken by the characters in Ivanhoe. With the choice of this epigraph, he explicitly holds up Shylock as his model for Isaac.

2 . (p. 65) “all the babble of the fabulous Sir Tristrem: [Author’s note] Sir Tristrem. There was no language which the Normans more formally separated from that of common life than the terms of the chase. The objects of their pursuit, whether bird or animal, changed their name each year, and there were a hundred conventional terms to be ignorant of which was to be without one of the distinguishing marks of a gentleman. The reader may consult Dame Juliana Berners’s book on the subject. The origin of this science was imputed to the celebrated Sir Tristrem, famous for his tragic intrigue with the beautiful Ysolte. As the Normans reserved the amusement of hunting strictly to themselves, the terms of this formal jargon were all taken from the French language.

3 (p. 65) Northallerton … the Holy Standard: The English defeated the Scots in a famous battle on Cowton Moor, near Northallerton, in 1138, at which the English carried the banners of Saints Peter, John, and Wilfred.

4 (p. 66) Knights Hospitallers: A militant order of monks founded in 1120 to superintend the Christian Hospital in Jerusalem. Their importance as a military force grew with the Crusades, and by the late twelfth century they were the Knights Templars’ principal rivals.

5 (p. 66) St. John-de-Acre: A strategically important port in northern Israel taken by Saladin in 1187, St. John-de-Acre was recaptured by the Crusaders four years later. The legend of a victory tournament began with the romance Richard Coeur de Lion (see note 15 to the Dedicatory Epistle, above), which is also Scott’s source for significant details of the Ashby tournament in Ivanhoe.