Continuing the adventures of Ivanhoe, last time we left them Cedric and his company, including his daughter Rowena and Isaac the Jewish moneylender and his daughter Rebecca had all been taken prisoner by the Norman lord, Front de Boeuf.
Front de Boeuf has split up his prisoners and poor Isaac is taking the brunt of the bad treatment with his Norman captives threatening him with being placed on an iron grid suspended above a fire, if he doesn’t pay over a huge amount of silver coins, which he doesn’t have. Rebecca and Rowena are both under siege by the Norman lords, but just in time the men in green (Robin Hood/Locksley and his Merry Men) besiege the castle and Front de Boeuf is mortally wounded in the fight.
Ivanhoe, who is wounded and being nursed by Rebecca has been able to witness some of the action and has been impressed by the sight of a mysterious knight dressed in black armour.
So it’s all go at the moment and I can see why Ivanhoe was so popular when it was first published, I think that at times the language is a bit archaic which is what puts people off from reading Scott’s books now but it doesn’t take long to get used to it. So I hope to be writing about chapters 31 to 40 soonish.
Hi, Katrina,
I can see I’m lagging behind you. I’m on Chapter 32 now, but Chapter 40 is a long way off, so I don’t think I’ll be able to post about it til at least the weekend.
I’m enjoying it a great deal, but the build-up to the siege on the castle, like the long build-up to the tournament has proved a bit frustrating. But just the same I’m very glad to be reading Ivanhoe, and even happier that you’re reading it with me.
Judith
Judith,
There’s no hurry, I think I’m at chapter 35, I’m reading various books in between this one, which I don’t often do. They obviously enjoyed long slow build ups way back then!