Knight of the Sacred Words – Knights Who Say “Ni!” and Monty Python’s “Coconut Horses”
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/NPC:Knight_of_the_Sacred_Words
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/Quest:Knight_of_the_Sacred_Words
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Who_Say_%22Ni!%22
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWCNDbWcSLY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python_and_the_Holy_Grail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XPnIUtcANg
Thank you to Ashlee D for her help.
Knight of the Sacred Words is a dodgy knight that sends wizards on odd quests. He is the Keeper of the Sacred Words, but he cannot remember what they were.
Apparently the three words he’s forgotten are “knee”, “pang”, and “nee-wom”.
When you bring the Knight the Sacred Words, he reveals himself as the Knight who says Ecce Ecce Ecce P’Kang Ruim-Boing! Fear him! Your Wizard is unimpressed.
The former Knight of the Sacred Words wishes to leave the High Road, but he needs Coconuts to do so. He enlists the aid Your Wizard to find coconuts, which you do, right next to some swallows. Though you cannot tell if they are Marleybonian or Zafarian swallows. He leaves Avalon after completing his final quest, “Hasty Retreat”. This is due to the place being too dangerous.
The Knights Who Say “Ni!”, also called the Knights of Ni, are a band of knights encountered by King Arthur and his followers in the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the play Spamalot. They demonstrate their power by shouting “Ni!”, terrifying the party, whom they refuse to allow passage through their forest unless appeased through the gift of a shrubbery.
(Michael Palin is the tall speaking Knight)
The knights appear silhouetted in a misty wood, wearing robes and horned helmets; their full number is never apparent, but there are at least six. The leader of the knights, played by Michael Palin, is the only one who speaks to the party. He is nearly double Arthur’s height, and wears a great helm decorated with long antlers. The other knights are large, but of human proportions, and wear visored sallet helmets decorated with cow horns. The knight explains that they are the “keepers of the sacred words ‘Ni’, ‘Peng’, and ‘Neee-Wom'”. Arthur confides to Sir Bedivere, “those who hear them seldom live to tell the tale!”
The knights demand a sacrifice, and when Arthur states that he merely wishes to pass through the woods, the knights begin shouting “Ni!”, forcing the party to shrink back in fear. After this demonstration of their power, the head knight threatens to say “Ni!” again unless the travelers appease them with a shrubbery; otherwise they shall never pass through the wood alive. When Arthur questions the demand, the knights again shout “Ni!” until the travelers agree to bring them a shrubbery, which the head knight specifies must be “one that looks nice. And not too expensive.”
In order to fulfill their promise to the Knights of Ni, the party visits a small village, where Arthur and Bedivere ask an old crone where they can obtain a shrubbery. The woman questions them, and Arthur admits that it is for the Knights who say “Ni!”, whereupon she refuses to cooperate. Arthur then threatens to say “Ni!” to the old woman unless she helps them, and when she still refuses, begins shouting “Ni!”. Bedivere has trouble saying the sacred word, which he pronounces “Nu!” until Arthur demonstrates the correct technique. As the crone shrinks back from their combined assault, they are interrupted by Roger the Shrubber, who laments the lack of law and order that allows ruffians to say “Ni!” to an old woman. Arthur obtains a shrubbery from Roger, and brings it to the Knights of Ni.
The head knight acknowledges that “it is a good shrubbery”, but asserts that the knights cannot allow Arthur and his followers to pass through the wood because they are no longer the Knights who say “Ni!”, now being the Knights who say “Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptang Zoo Boing!”, and must therefore give Arthur a test. Unable to pronounce the new name, Arthur addresses them as “Knights who until recently said ‘Ni!'”, inquiring as to the nature of the test.
The head knight demands another shrubbery, to be placed next to but slightly higher than the first; and then Arthur “must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest—with a herring!” The knight presents a herring to be used. Arthur objects, asserting that “it can’t be done!” upon which the knights recoil as though in fear and pain. It soon emerges that the knights are unable to withstand the word “it”, which Arthur’s party is unable to avoid saying. The knights are soon incapacitated by the word, which even the head knight cannot stop repeating, allowing Arthur and his followers to make their escape.
Why did the Knight of the Sacred Words need coconuts to make his escape?
n AD 932, King Arthur and his squire Patsy, who claps coconut shells as Arthur mimes riding a horse, travel Britain searching for men to join the Knights of the Round Table. Along the way, Arthur debates whether African or European swallows could carry coconuts. He passes through a town infected with a plague, recounts receiving Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake to two anarcho-syndicalist peasants, and defeats the Black Knight. At an impromptu witch trial, he recruits Sir Bedevere the Wise, later joined by Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot, and the aptly named Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Film, along with their squires and Robin’s minstrels. Arthur leads the knights to Camelot, but changes his mind after the knights in the castle perform a musical number, deeming it “a silly place”. God then appears and orders Arthur to find the Holy Grail.
Originally the knight characters were going to ride real horses, but after it became clear that the film’s small budget precluded real horses (except for a lone horse appearing in a couple of scenes), the Pythons decided their characters would mime horse-riding while their porters trotted behind them banging coconut shells together. The joke was derived from the old-fashioned sound effect used by radio shows to convey the sound of hooves clattering. This was later referred to in the German release of the film, which translated the title as Die Ritter der Kokosnuß (The Knights of the Coconut).
Avalon references are located here.
Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references, I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.
Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages.
Kinght of the Sacred Words and Coconut Quest marker images are from Wizard101, and are copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment.
Knights Who Say “Ni!” image is borrowed from the Monty Python wiki and is copyright Python (Monty) Pictures.
Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.
Vulcan Stev's Database 