Question

Describe the adventures of the mysterious Black Knight in the novel Ivanhoe.

Answer 1

The Black Knight is the disguised King Richard of England. It is a disguise King Richard uses during most of the novel, when he is still hiding his presence in England. As the mysterious Black Knight, Richard is involved in a spate of adventures: He fights with Ivanhoe (also in disguise) at the tournament, rescues the Saxon prisoners from Torquilstone, and meets Robin Hood andhis merry men.On the second day of the tournament, the knights who were opposed to the Disinherited Knight, including de Bois-Guilbert, Athelstane, and Reginald Front-de-Boeuf, all attacked him at once. He fought valiantly, and with the aid of a mysterious warrior called the Black Sluggard (or Black Knight), he forced Athelstane and Front-de-Bouef from the fray. He charged de Bois-Guilbert and unhorsed him, winning the tournament in grand fashion. When Rowena, as a Queen of Love and Beauty, stepped forward to crown him, she removed his helmet. The Disinherited Knight’s identity is revealed: he was Ivanhoe.Ivanhoe, the disinherited knight, was captured in the castle. In the combat, Front-de-Boeuf led the defenders of the castle against the yeomen of Locksley and the Black Knight. The Black Knight succeeded in capturing de Bracy, he valiantly charged into the burning castle to rescue Ivanhoe from the flames. The other prisoners manage to escape on their own; however, in the smoke. When the spoils from the castle were divided, the Black Knight took his due, but Cedric proudly refused a share of his Norman captor’s wealth. The Black Knight also freed de Bracy, though he

warned him that if he did not behave more honourably in the future, a worse fate than The Knight awaited him. The Black Knight eventually revealed his identity as King Richard and declared that Fitzurse was banished from England, but ordered that Prince John not be held guilty for the attack.

King Richard’s rule of England is contrasted with Robin Hood’s rule of the forest. Richard is a valiant and brave man, but he is a fairly careless king, given that he has abandoned his subjects to pursue his dreams of victory in the Crusades. Robin, on the other hand, is a thief, not a king, but he has appointed himself a protector of the downtrodden Saxons, and he makes the well-being of the country his business.

Ivanhoe and Rowena are married at last. Over the years to come, Ivanhoe distinguishes himself in the service of King Richard, but his career is cut short by the early death of the King in the battle near Limoges, after which perish all the projects undertaken by Richard in his lifetime.