‘[In my book, Wizardry and Wild Romance], I take [the origins of fantasy] back to Amadis of Gaul, I suppose. [Also,] Walter Scott, the Gothic writers…’ —Michael Moorcock, interviewed in Paris, 2006

‘His [Alexandre Dumas’] historical fiction lacks, at least to me, the gripping vividness of Sir Walter Scott, for instance...’ Robert E. Howard, November 1932

Sir Walter Scott was born yesterday...two hundred and fifty years ago. On August 15, 1771. Born before the Declaration of Independence had been penned by Jefferson. Born less than two hundred years after his Border Reiver ancestors had been--somewhat--tamed by the ascension of King James to the throne of a united Great Britain. Two hundred and fifty years is one-quarter of a millennium...and yet, Scott's works still speak to readers. They remain in print and are likely to do so.

Despite his descent--by way of a junior branch--from the mighty Scotts of Buccleuch on the Scottish Border, Walter was birthed into modest means off an alley within the walls of the city of Edinburgh. Before he was three, he contracted polio and was sent south to his paternal grandparents and the healthy air of the Borders. Scott would spend much of his youth on the Borders and it was there that he would finally conquer his lameness, though the struggle with his ailment left psychic marks upon him.

During his therapeutic walks around the Borders, Walter began to collect the ballads from the wild and bloody past of that Debatable Land. The result would be The Minstrelsy Of The Scottish Border, wherein he collected the dark and blood-soaked ballads of his paternal homeland. That collection, published at the height of the British craze for epic poetry, became a bestseller. Scott then wrote his own ‘pastiche’ version of such ballads, The Lay of the Last Minstrel. Several more such poetry books followed, all of which sold well.

However, since about 1805, Walter had developed the urge to write novels about the history of Scotland. That first novel, Waverley, was published in 1814. This was a true gamble on Scott's part. 'Real' poets were considered to be above such things, novels at the time generally thought to be something along the line of what we consider 'romance novels' now. All of such being about contemporary life, not the distant past. Walter was already a wildly successful poet...and yet, he took the plunge.

When Scott published Waverley, the historical past was an undiscovered country, modern novel-wise...except for Jane Porter's The Scottish Chiefs. Her book has legitimate claims to being the first 'modern historical novel'. However, when she wrote it, she was in consultation with Walter the entire time, with Scott having Waverley on the back-burner all the while. In an alternate timeline, Walter Scott dissuaded Porter from writing her novel to make way for his novel. In real life, he encouraged her and, so, Jane Porter can claim the first published historical novel. That is the kinda man Walter Scott was.

Waverley sold like crazy and basically created the 'historical novel' market as we know it today in the Western world. Scott would go on to write over twenty-five more novels, all but one being in the 'historical' category. Basically, everyone in the British Empire went nuts over Scott's novels. Richard F. Burton was not only a Scott fan, but he--by coincidence--served under Walter's nephew in India. The Brontes and Jane Austen were also admirers of Scott.

Walter's influence wasn't just felt within the confines of the nascent British Empire. The Brothers Grimm, Tolstoy, Balzac and Fenimore Cooper were all fans. The man’s popularity and influence crossed all categories in a manner not seen since Shakespeare. It is hard to find a twentieth/twenty-first century equivalent to Scott. No author, not Hemingway nor King, has dominated a century the way he did.

When it comes to authors of the last three hundred-plus years, one would have to search hard for an author who has had more cultural impact than Scott. Did you know he coined the term, 'The War of the Roses'? Where would George R. R. Martin be without that? We might as well quote GRRM right here:

'Sir Walter Scott is hard going for many modern readers, I realize, but there’s still great stuff to be found in IVANHOE and his other novels.'

Everyone knows that Robin Hood split the Sheriff of Nottingham's arrow with one of his own, right? That is not in the original Robin Hood legends. That is from Ivanhoe.

Ivanhoe is one of the two Scott novels I've read in anticipation of this anniversary. Despite urgings from various people--Morgan Holmes being chief among them--I had never read any of Sir Walter Scott's novels, though I had read some of his Border ballads.

Ivanhoe is legit. There's a reason why the novel has been adapted to film/TV at least fifteen times since movies started being made. It's dramatic and exciting. Scott narrates several combats and battles but I want to keep this short, so here is a brief account of the Battle of Northallerton as described by Sir Cedric, who fought in it as a youth::

'Ay, that was a day of cleaving of shields, when a hundred banners were bent forwards over the heads of the valiant, and blood flowed round like water, and death was held better than flight. A Saxon bard had called it a feast of the swords - -a gathering of the eagles to the prey - -the clashing of bills upon shield and helmet, the shouting of battle more joyful than the clamour of a bridal.'

Walter, from his days on the Border, knew how people from times gone by described battles and combat. There is zero doubt in my mind that Robert. E. Howard thrilled to the 'vividness' of such passages.

We know that REH was inspired by Scott's prose--as were countless authors before him. The same goes for Moorcock. When GRRM talks about 'hard going' in regard to Sir Walter Scott, I just shake my head. Any reader out there who can interpret/translate lyrics from songs on the 'Urban Contemporary' singles chart should be just as able to derive meaning from Sir Walter Scott's prose. Simple as that.

Having only read Scott's Ivanhoe and The Betrothed, I've spotted phrases that REH and Moorcock took from Scott. Schoolkids in 1950s America were reading Ivanhoe with little problem. Now, it's 'rough going'.