Chapter 2

The Norman horsemen catch up with Gurth and Wamba. One of them is a Cisterian monk dressed in fine clothes. The other is a Knight Templar. The two, attended by several others, demand to know where they will be able to stay for the night and ask where Cedric the Saxon lives. Knowing his master Cedric's hatred of Normans, Wamba, with sheer mischief, gives them wrong and confusing directions. However, they soon meet a Palmer, a holy man who has traveled to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage, who takes them safely to Cedric's mansion.

The travelers are Brian de Bois-Guilbert, a Knight Templar, and the Prior Aymer of Jorvaulx, a Cisterian monk. Scott's portrait of the Prior is not a pleasant one. He appears worldly, having indulged in eating, drinking, and leading a dissipated life; nothing about him seems spiritual. While his costume is basically appropriate for a priest, it is made of the finest and most extravagant materials. The bags under his eyes come from too much drinking. Brian de Bois-Guilbert is a proud, arrogant, and demanding Norman, who is a member of the Knights Templar, a special order of knights who remain celibate as part of their duty. With typical rudeness and arrogance, he demands lodging and directions from Gurth and Wamba. Scott obviously condemns both men; the Prior, a man of the church, is a drunken hypocrite, and the Knight Templar, a representative of Normal nobility, is an arrogant brute.

The servants are clearly aware of Cedric's hatred of Normans. In agreement, they misdirect the traveling Normans on purpose, hoping that they will never reach Cedric's mansion. But a Palmer comes along and points the Norman travelers in the right direction. The Palmer also tells the travelers that Cedric has recently disinherited his son Ivanhoe and that he has a beautiful young ward, named Lady Rowena, who is of very good Saxon origin. This Palmer is actually Ivanhoe, Cedric's son, in disguise.

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