Ivanhoe: Volume 1, Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Suddenly, Prince John remembers that he should be picking the Queen of Love and Beauty. He suggests Rebecca, making Aymer blanch at the thought of elevating “a Jewess” to such honor. Aymer suggests Rowena, but Prince John retorts that he sees little difference between a “dog” Jew and a “hog” Saxon. Fortunately, his counselors dissuade him before he can draw the ire of the “Saxon churls” in the crowd. They suggest he allow the day’s victor to select the queen. Noting the crowd’s growing impatience, one advisor, Waldemar Fitzurse, encourages the prince to take his place and allow the festivities to begin.

A herald proclaims the tournament’s rules. The five challengers will fight anyone who wishes to face them. Knights can choose which challenger to fight and can elect to use blunted or sharp weapons. When the five challenging knights fulfil their vow by each breaking five lances, Prince John will declare one the victor, and the victor will pick the Queen of Love and Beauty. The tournament’s second day will feature a melee of all knights who wish to fight; the prince will declare a winner for the Queen of Love and Beauty to crown. Archery, bearbaiting, and other amusements will occupy the third day. Then the heralds shout “Largesse, largesse gallant knights,” and the wealthy spectators toss gold and silver to them.

All the heralds except the two marshals of the field withdraw. By the time the crowd falls silent, knights wishing to face the challengers cram the staging area. The marshals select the first five by lot and allow them to enter the lists. Templeton assures readers that they were all splendidly dressed and that his source text (“the Wardour Manuscript”) describes their coats of arms in great detail. But he glosses over it because readers won’t recognize the names of once-honored knights who died long ago and whose castles have long since crumbled into dust. These five knights disappoint the spectators when each chooses to fight with blunted weapons; medieval spectators, Templeton opines, loved the violence of the spectacle.

The five knights prepare themselves and descend into the lists. At the sound of the trumpets, they charge. Over the first three rounds, although at least one opponent manages to break Ralph de Vipont’s lance, not one of the challengers falls from his horse. The losers straggle off the field to make arrangements for ransoming their horses and weapons—the spoils which go to the winners—back. On the fourth round, only three knights enter the lists; Sir Brian and  Front-de-Boeuf stand unopposed. A long pause follows; it seems few knights remain anxious to test their luck against the challengers.

Cedric, taking each victory for the Norman challengers as a repeated triumph over the honor of true (Saxon) Englishmen, grows increasingly irate. He darts looks at Athelstane as if he wishes that man would stand for the honor of his country, but Athelstane shows no interest in meeting the challengers on the field. He plans to wait until the second day’s melee. The crowd grows restive, and Prince John begins to consider calling the end of the tournament early.

Then, a single knight, of medium build and bearing a shield decorated with an uprooted oak tree and the Spanish word “Desdichado,” or “disinherited” on it, rides into the arena. The Disinherited Knight salutes the crowd graciously as he rides down the lists on a splendid black horse to touch the point of his lance (signifying sharp weapons) on Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert’s shield. He and Sir Brian trade harsh words, then prepare to joust.

The crowd watches with excitement as the knights prepare to charge; although few expect the Disinherited Knight to win, they love his courage and gallantry. On the first charge, neither falls from his horse. In the second charge, although Sir Brian remains in the saddle, his horse falls to the ground. He springs to his feet and draws his sword before the field marshal intervenes, reminding the competitors that the tournament’s rules prevent hand-to-hand combat. Disgraced and defeated, Sir Brian retreats to his tent while the Disinherited Knight addresses the crowd, calling this a victory for English honor against foreign tyrants. Then he bests Sir Front-de-Boeuf, Philip Malvoisin, De Grantmesnil, and Ralph de Vipont in turn to become the day’s victor.