Knights who say Ni

Michael Palin as one of the "Knights Who Say Ni"

The Knights who say Ni are a band of knights from the comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, feared for the manner in which they utter the word "ni" ( /ˈni/, like knee but clipped short). They are the keepers of the sacred words: Ni, Peng and Neee-Wom.^[1]

Details

The Knights are led by a man who is approximately 12 feet tall with disproportionately short arms and reindeer antlers inserted into his helmet (played by Michael Palin standing on a ladder; the original screenplay suggested that he be played by "Mike standing on John's shoulders"). The other Knights are of normal human proportions and act as a chorus, only repeating words and phrases that the head Knight has spoken.

"Ni!" is only the most notable of the sacred words which they are assigned to protect, the others being "Peng" and "Neee-wom." All of these words are infamous for the palpable horror and fear (and suggested pain) they bring about, whether delivered by the knights or not. According to King Arthur, "Those who hear them seldom live to tell the tale!" Later, the leader of the Knights who say Ni changes them to the Knights who say an odd string of syllables (although the knights apart from the head knight continue to say 'Ni'). The saying is spelt the following way according to the "script" subtitles available on the collector's edition DVD: "Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptangya Ziiinnggggggg Ni!" Because of the challenging pronunciation, King Arthur simply refers to them as "The Knights Who 'Til Recently Said Ni." Originally, the name was to be changed to, "The Knights Who Go Ni... Whom... Ping."

The Knights happen to have a weakness in that a number of words, when spoken to them, has the same effect on them as their saying, "Ni" has on others. The only one of these words that is revealed in the film is "it," which is picked up on when Arthur, upon being asked to cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring, declares that "it can't be done." Ultimately, King Arthur and Sir Robin (who shows up with his own knights) both say "it" several times in conversation (unaware that "it" was the word that was causing the Knights pain).

Spamalot

The Knights appear in Spamalot, the 2004 Broadway musical "lovingly ripped off" from the film, with their first scene virtually unchanged. The Knights' new name changes almost nightly, improvised by the actor playing the lead Knight (originally Hank Azaria), but always starting with "Ecky Ecky Ecky F'tang F'tang Olé Biscuitbarrel..." which itself references several famous sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus, including Election Night Special. On 11 November 2006, The night former Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a man in the face while hunting, it was changed to "...good shot Mr. Vice President" followed by the knight miming shooting Patsy and having him remain "dead" for the remainder of the scene. With the 2008 impeachment of Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich in the news, the Knights were able to change around their script in the Chicago performance of Spamalot to mention Blagojevich's selling of a senate seat. In one performance, after the traditional shouting of "Ecky Ecky Ecky F'tang F'tang Olé Biscuitbarrel," the Lead Knight loudly screamed GOAL! for a very long time, before telling the audience the current FIFA World Cup score. During Tim Curry's stint as King Arthur, the knight once finished with "Come up to the lab and see what's on the slab." In Cleveland the knights say a common line from the song Cleveland Rocks saying: "All the little chicks with the crimson lips singing Cleveland Rocks Cleveland Rocks." In performances in Fort Worth the lead knight has ended the name by singing the opening lines of "Deep in the Heart of Texas". At Penn State University, it was ended with, "We are!" with the other knights yelling, "Penn State!" In one performance in New Orleans, "Who Dat!" was added to the end of the "Ecky Ecky..." chant. In a performance in Columubus, Ohio, after a particularly large win for The Ohio State University, the Knights added "Tressel Won!" after the chant. In the South Korean production, the head Knight says "Ni" in place of "T" as a parody of a popular commercial jingle for the SK Telecom company. In a performace at the United States Military Academy, the Knight finished with "Navy Sucks!" much to the enjoyment of the Cadets.

King Arthur refers to them as "The artists formerly known as the Knights who say Ni", a reference to Prince. The other major change in the scene is that the renamed Knights no longer demand another shrubbery, but this time that King Arthur put on a musical and take it to Broadway (on the slight condition that it doesn't have anything to do with Andrew Lloyd Webber). King Arthur does attempt to fulfil this quest in the second act until the Lady of the Lake tells him that he is already in a musical.

Origin

In the DVD commentary for the film, Michael Palin says that their use of the word was derived from The Goon Show. Other parallels to The Goon Show can also be drawn between the strangled voice of the Knights and the voice of Bluebottle.

Television and Video

In the Stargate SG-1 episode "Morpheus", Dr. Daniel Jackson -- the team's archeologist and history expert -- mentions the legendary Arthurian knight "Sir Gawain", to which team leader Col. Cameron Mitchell responds, "Wasn't he one of the Knights who say 'Ni'?"

References

1. ^ Kevin J. Harty (2002). Cinema Arthuriana. McFarland. ISBN 0786413441. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zacTE_4vwp0C&pg=PA144. 

• Topping, Richard (2007). "Monty Python: From the Flying Circus to Spamalot". books.google.co.uk. ISBN 978-0753513156. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ma5-NpRmN2QC&q=%22. Retrieved 21 August 2011. "one of the most celebrated scenes from Holy Grail - almost didn't make it into the film" 
• Driver, M (2004). "The medieval hero on screen: representations from Beowulf to Buffy". books.google.co.uk. ISBN 978-0786419265. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4ThXXw_w5gsC&pg=PA215. Retrieved 21 August 2011. "Aspects of medieval narrative and the playful use of language more generally...may be more fully explored in the scene of the "Knights Who Say Ni" for example, in which words are imbued with irrational power" 
• Larsen, Darl (2003). "Monty Python, Shakespeare, and English Renaissance drama". books.google.co.uk. ISBN 978-0786415045. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3Z6yKtyT-cYC&pg=PA135. Retrieved 21 August 2011. 
• Hunter, Stephen (21 Septermber 2001). "Python's 'Grail': Extra Silly". pqasb.pqarchiver.com (The Washington Post). http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/81712997.html?dids=81712997:81712997&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+21%2C+2001&author=Stephen+Hunter&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Python%27s+%27Grail%27%3A+Extra+Silly&pqatl=google. Retrieved 21 August 2011. "This verbal lunacy reaches its height in a masterpiece of zaniness where the wandering knights encounter some other armored blokes who identify themselves as the Knights Who Say 'Ni.' That's all they do, is say 'Ni.'"