Dedicatory Epistle: An imaginary letter to the Rev. Dr Dryasdust from Laurence Templeton who has found the materials for the following tale mostly in the Anglo-Norman Wardour Manuscript. He wishes to provide an English counterpart to the preceding Waverley novels, in spite of various difficulties arising from the chronologically remote setting made necessary by the earlier progress of civilisation south of the Border.
Volume One
Ch. 1: Historical sketch. Gurth the swineherd and Wamba the jester discuss life under Norman rule.
Ch. 2: Wamba and Gurth wilfully misdirect a group of horsemen headed by Prior Aymer and Brian de Bois-Guilbert seeking shelter at Cedric's Rotherwood. Aymer and Bois-Guilbert discuss the beauty of Cedric's ward Rowena and are redirected, this time correctly, by a palmer [Ivanhoe in disguise].
Ch. 3: Cedric anxiously awaits the return of Gurth and the pigs. Aymer and Bois-Guilbert arrive.
Ch. 4: Bois-Guilbert admires Rowena as she enters for the evening feast.
Ch. 5: During the feast: Isaac enters and is befriended by the palmer; Cedric laments the decay of the Saxon language; the palmer refutes Bois-Guilbert's assertion of Templar supremacy with an account of a tournament in Palestine, where Ivanhoe defeated him; the palmer and Rowena give a pledge for a return match; and Isaac is thunderstruck by Bois-Guilbert's denial of his assertion of poverty.
Ch. 6: Next day the palmer tells Rowena that Ivanhoe will soon be home. He offers to protect Isaac from Bois-Guilbert, whom he has overheard giving instructions for his capture. On the road to Sheffield Isaac mentions a source of horse and armour of which he guesses the palmer has need.
Ch. 7: As the audience for a tournament at Ashby assembles, Prince John amuses himself by making fun of Athelstane and Isaac.
Ch. 8: After a series of Saxon defeats in the tournament the 'Disinherited Knight' [Ivanhoe] triumphs over Bois-Guilbert and the other Norman challengers.
Ch. 9: The Disinherited Knight nominates Rowena as Queen of the Tournament.
Ch. 10: The Disinherited Knight refuses to ransom Bois-Guilbert's armour, declaring that their business is not concluded. He instructs his attendant, Gurth in disguise, to convey money to Isaac to repay him for arranging the provision of his horse and armour. Gurth does so, but Rebecca secretly refunds the money.
Ch. 11: Gurth is assailed by a band of outlaws, but they spare him on hearing his story and after he has defeated one of their number, a miller, at quarter-staves.
Ch. 12: The Disinherited Knight's party triumph at the tournament, with the aid of a knight in black [Richard in disguise]; he is revealed as Ivanhoe and faints as a result of the wounds he has incurred.
Ch. 13: John encourages De Bracy to court Rowena and receives a warning from France that Richard has escaped. Locksley [Robin Hood] triumphs in an archery contest.
Ch. 14: At the tournament banquet Cedric continues to disown his son (who has been associating with the Normans) but drinks to the health of Richard, rather than John, as the noblest of that race.
Volume Two
Ch. 1 (15): De Bracy (disguised as a forester) tells Fitzurse of his plan to capture Rowena and then 'rescue' her in his own person.
Ch. 2 (16): The Black Knight is entertained by a hermit [Friar Tuck] at Copmanhurst.
Ch. 3 (17): The Black Knight and the hermit exchange songs.
Ch. 4 (18): (Retrospect: Before going to the banquet Cedric learned that Ivanhoe had been removed by unknown carers; Gurth was recognised and captured by Cedric's cupbearer Oswald.) Cedric finds Athelstane unresponsive to his attempts to interest him in Rowena, who is herself only attracted by Ivanhoe.
Ch. 5 (19): Rowena persuades Cedric to escort Isaac and Rebecca, who have been abandoned (along with a sick man [Ivanhoe] in their care) by their hired protectors. Wamba helps Gurth to escape again. De Bracy mounts his attack, during which Wamba escapes. He meets up with Gurth and they encounter Locksley who, after investigation, advises against a counter-attack, the captives not being in immediate danger.
Ch. 6 (20): Locksley sends two of his men to watch De Bracy. At Copmanhurst he meets the Black Knight who agrees to join in the rescue.
Ch. 7 (21): De Bracy tells Bois-Guilbert he has decided to abandon his 'rescue' plan, mistrusting his companion though the Templar says it is Rebecca he is interested in. On arrival at Torquilstone castle Cedric laments its decline.
Ch. 8 (22): Under threat of torture Isaac agrees to pay Front-de-Bœuf a thousand pounds, but only if Rebecca is released.
Ch. 9 (23): De Bracy uses Ivanhoe's danger from Front-de-Bœuf to put pressure on Rowena, but he is moved by her resulting distress. The narrator refers the reader to historical instances of baronial oppression in medieval England.
Ch. 10 (24): A hag Urfried [Ulrica] warns Rebecca of her forthcoming fate. Rebecca impresses Bois-Guilbert by her spirited resistance to his advances.
Ch. 11 (25): Front-de-Bœuf rejects a written challenge from Gurth and Wamba. Wamba offers to spy out the castle posing as a confessor.
Ch. 12 (26): Entering the castle, Wamba exchanges clothes with Cedric who encounters Rebecca and Urfried.
Ch. 13 (27): Urfried recognises Cedric as a Saxon and, revealing herself as Ulrica, tells her story which involves Front-de-Bœuf murdering his father, who had killed her father and seven brothers when taking the castle, and had become her detested lover. She says she will give a signal when the time is ripe for storming the castle. Front-de-Bœuf sends the presumed friar with a message to summon reinforcements. Athelstane defies him, claiming that Rowena is his fiancée. The monk Ambrose arrives seeking help for Aymer who has been captured by Locksley's men.
Ch. 14 (28): (Retrospective chapter detailing Rebecca's care for Ivanhoe from the tournament to the assault on Torquilstone.)
Ch. 15 (29): Rebecca describes the assault on Torquilstone to the wounded Ivanhoe, disagreeing with his exalted view of chivalry.
Ch. 16 (30): Front-de-Bœuf being mortally wounded, Bois-Guilbert and De Bracy discuss how best to repel the besiegers. Ulrica sets fire to the castle and exults over Front-de-Bœuf who perishes in the flames.
Volume Three
Ch. 1 (31): (The chapter opens with a retrospective account of the attackers' plans and the taking of the barbican.) The Black Knight defeats De Bracy, making himself known to him as Richard, and rescues Ivanhoe. Bois-Guilbert rescues Rebecca, striking down Athelstane who thinks she is Rowena. Ulrica perishes in the flames after singing a wild pagan hymn.
Ch. 2 (32): Locksley supervises the orderly division of the spoil. Friar Tuck brings Isaac whom he has made captive, and engages in good-natured buffeting with the Black Knight.
Ch. 3 (33): Locksley arranges ransom terms for Isaac and Aymer. Aymer agrees to write on Isaac's behalf to Bois-Guilbert, to urge Rebecca's release, in exchange for Isaac loaning him money to pay his ransom to the banditti.
Ch. 4 (34): De Bracy informs John that Richard is in England. Together with Fitzurse he threatens to desert John, but the prince responds cunningly.
Ch. 5 (35): At York, Isaac stays with a friend, Nathan, as he strives to rescue Rebecca from the Templestowe. At the priory the Grand-Master Beaumanoir tells Conrade Mountfitchet that he intends to take a hard line with Templar irregularities. Arriving, Isaac shows him a letter from Aymer to Bois-Guilbert referring to Rebecca, whom Beaumanoir determines must be a witch.
Ch. 6 (36): Beaumanoir tells Preceptor Albert Malvoisin of his outrage at Rebecca's presence in the preceptory. Albert informs Bois-Guilbert of her trial for sorcery, and warns Bois-Guilbert not to defend her. Mountfichet says he will seek evidence against her, including bribing a few fake witnesses with fabricated stories.
Ch. 7 (37): Rebecca is found guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to death. At Bois-Guilbert's secret prompting she demands that a champion defend her in trial by combat.
Ch. 8 (38): Rebecca's demand is accepted, Bois-Guilbert being appointed champion for the prosecution. Bearing a message to her father, the peasant Higg meets him and Nathan on their way to the preceptory, and Isaac goes in search of Ivanhoe.
Ch. 9 (39): Rebecca rejects Bois-Guilbert's offer to fail to appear for the combat in return for her love. Albert persuades him that it is in his interest to appear.
Ch. 10 (40): The Black Knight leaves Ivanhoe to travel to Coningsburgh castle for Athelstane's funeral, and Ivanhoe follows him the next day. The Black Knight is rescued by Locksley from an attack carried out by Fitzurse on John's orders, and reveals his identity as Richard to his companions, prompting Locksley to identify himself as Robin Hood.
Ch. 11 (41): Richard talks to Ivanhoe and dines with the outlaws before Robin arranges a false alarm to put an end to the delay. The party arrive at Coningsburgh.
Ch. 12 (42): Richard procures Ivanhoe's pardon from his father. Athelstane appears, not dead, giving his allegiance to Richard and surrendering Rowena to Ivanhoe.
Ch. 13 (43): Rebecca is tied to the stake, and no champion appears. Bois-Guilbert, racked by guilt, begs her to run away with him. Rebecca refuses. Ivanhoe, exhausted and not fully recovered from his injury, appears as Rebecca's champion, and as they charge Bois-Guilbert dies the victim of his contending passions.
Ch. 14 (44): Beaumanoir and his Templars leave Richard defiantly. Cedric agrees to the marriage of Ivanhoe and Rowena. Rebecca takes her leave of Rowena, leaving a message of her thanks to Ivanhoe for saving her, before her father and she quit England to make a new life under the tolerant King of Granada.
