Today I am going to be silly, and refer to a scene from one of my favourite Arthurian films, Monty Python And The Holy Grail. In the scene I’m referring to, King Arthur and his knights, on their quest for the Grail, arrive at the cave of Caerbannog. The cave, which is supposed to give them information they need, has a guardian: the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.
They get a warning from one Tim the Enchanter. This animal has a mean streak a mile wide, he tells them. It kills! The bones of many men lie outside, but it takes them a while, and the loss of three knights - Bors, Gawain and Ector - to convince them. The fluffy white bunny can leap into the air and bite your head off - and does. They need a weapon.
Fortunately they have a group of monks travelling with them, led by Brother Maynard. And the monks carry a holy relic: the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch!
When Arthur remembers about it, he asks them to fetch it and read out the instructions. They bring it out with great reverence, from a reliquary. The instructions are from the Book Of Armaments, in King James Bible style.
Arthur follows the instructions, though he can’t count to three, and says, “One...two...five...” and throws it into the cave, where it presumably kills the rabbit.
Take a look at the picture. It’s the Sovereign’s Orb of the UK, which inspired the Holy Hand Grenade. Doesn’t it look like you could pull out the cross and throw it? It is used at coronations. Fortunately for the last sovereign who used it, Monty Python And The Holy Grail was about twenty years in the future, or her solemn face might have had a hard time staying that way!
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| Public Domain |
A lot of fans have re-created this prop, because it’s easy to make.
The Pythons were not ignorant. They met at Cambridge university and one of them, at least, Terry Jones, wrote lots of history books when he wasn’t clowning for our pleasure. When they sent up something, they knew what they were doing. I used two scenes from this film for my Year 8 mediaeval history class - “Bring out your dead!” and the “witch weighed against a duck” scene. The kids laughed, but they remembered those particular bits of history later, if nothing else.
In fact, when I first saw this film, I was busy writing my Honours thesis on Arthurian literature and I laughed all the harder because I picked up the in jokes. It’s a very funny film, but even funnier if you are familiar with the background.
Caerbannog, or Caer Bannog, was a name for Carbonek, the castle of the Holy Grail. The rabbit, of course, was sending up all the monsters of Arthurian, and other, mediaeval tales. And the enchanter was not Merlin, he was ... Tim!
And that’s it for today. I had some good news when I woke up yesterday morning: a story of mine has been accepted for an anthology, and I need to focus on doing the edits, however minor.
See you tomorrow, with something a bit more solemn. I just had to have a break for silliness!
17 comments:
I love that whole sequence. The arcane, highly-specific language of the "Book of Armanents" makes me laugh every time.
Same here, Liam!
I love that movie! Although I know there are a lot of jokes I am missing because I don't have all the knowledge you do.
Congratulations on your good news!!!
I don’t think the film was made for the likes of me, Anita. You can thoroughly enjoy it without picking up the in jokes. And thanks, I’m thrilled - doing the editing now.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a great film. The Pythons were brilliant.
The Orb really does look like a grenade.
Yes, absolutely agree, Brian! A brilliant team and a clever image.
Now I'll have to find and watch the movie!
An A-Z of Faerie: Grim
Hi Sue - what a fun post ... and I loved the backstory you gave it - with the personal touch. They are amazingly clever people ... and obviously loved their knowledge as well as being able 'to take the micky' out of history ... wonderful - thanks for reminding us! All the best - Hilary
Thanks, Hilary, glad you enjoyed it. Yes, the Python team were amazing! When they took the Mickey, they knew exactly what they were doing. .
Hi Ronel! The film is a classic and should be easily available on DVD or streaming.
I love that movie. Extremely quotable :D
The Multicolored Diary
Definitely quotable, Zalka! “Let’s not go to Camelot, it’s a silly place!” “What is the flight velocity of an unladen swallow?” And many more.
Hi Stuart! And what is wrong with Jabberwocky? I have a copy of that myself, somewhere in my DVD collection. The Lumberjack Song is the one to which I actually know all the words. I have Grail, Brian and a boxed set of the TV series.
First of all, congratulations on having a story accepted! Second, those scenes you mention are all great. The instructions for the hand grenade are hysterically biblical, and I've always been rather fond of the witch's philosophic "It's a fair cop" when she's found guilty. Stay well
Thanks, UrbanDragon! A wonderful film, very funny and a classic.
Monty Python And The Holy Grail has to be among my top films, along with Life of Brian. The historical-religious-Arthurian research shows in both, but as you point out, the Pythons were highly-educated in their clever way. And they went on to show it in other non-fiction material.
Those two are among my favourite films too. The Pythons were brilliant.
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