| Knights Who Say Ni |
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| monty python and the holy grail | |
| fictional knights | |
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The Knights are led by a man who is approximately 12 feet tall with disproportionately short arms and tree branches inserted into his helmet (played by Michael Palin standing on a ladder). The other knights are of normal human dimensions and act as a chorus, only repeating words and phrases which the head knight has spoken. "Ni" is only the most notable of the sacred words which they are assigned to protect; the others are "Ping" and "Neee-whom". All are infamous for the palpable horror and fear they bring about, whether delivered by the Knights or not. The knights demand that King Arthur buy them a Shrubbery in order to pass through a patch of woodland which they guard. Later, they become the Knights of an odd string of syllables. The saying could be spelled this way: ''Ecky-ecky-ecky-ecky-p'tang-zoo-boing-goodem-zu-owly-zhiv''. Because of the challenging pronunciation, King Arthur simply refers to them as "The Knights who until recently said Ni". Originally, the name was to be changed to "the Knights Who Go Ni... Whom... Ping." Later they demanded that King Arthur get them another shrubbery, arrange the two shrubberies so that they get a two-level effect ("..with a little path running down the middle."), and then proceed to "...cut down the mightiest tree in the forest wiiiiiiiiith... A Herring !" The Knights have a weakness in that a number of words, when spoken to them, cause them pain and agony. The only one of these words that is revealed in the film is the word "it". There was a further scene that was scripted, but either cut or never filmed. In it, the Knights recovered from having "it" said, and when they hear someone else coming, they decide that they'll demand another shrubbery, this time calling themselves the "Knights of Nicky-Nicky". This scene is among the most popular scenes in the movie. The Knights who say Ni have thus, like a lot of Monty Python scenes and sketches, been quoted and referred to in many instances. The Knights' use of the word has been claimed to derive from its Swedish meaning ("you" in the plural or courteous form), although the origin of the Monty Python crew's use of the word has been said by Michael Palin , during the '' Monty Python And The Holy Grail '' DVD commentary, to have been derived from " The Goon Show ". |
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