Set Out on Our ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ Quiz Quest

When the Three-Headed Giant threatens to kill him “and then have tea and biscuits,” Sir Robin (Idle) turns and runs away. The details of his retreat are then mockingly sung to him by his minstrel (frequent Python collaborator Neil Innes): “Brave Sir Robin ran away / Bravely ran away away / When danger reared its ugly head / He bravely turned his tail and fled.” Fun fact: During the film’s battle scenes, King Arthur also uses “Run away” as his command to retreat. 

The head knight orders them to seek and return with a shrubbery “or else you will never pass through this wood alive!” (The head knight also stipulates that the shrubbery should be “one that looks nice” and is “not too expensive.”) Later, the Knights Who Say “Ni!” order Arthur and company to get a second shrubbery. “Then, when you have found the shrubbery, you must place it here beside this shrubbery, only slightly higher so you get the two-level effect with a little path running down the middle,” the head knight says.​

Tim the Enchanter (Cleese) warns Arthur and his men about the beast that guards the cave of Caerbannog. Tim says it is “a creature so foul, so cruel, that no man yet has fought with it and lived!” (Spoiler alert: It’s a little white rabbit.)

The Holy Hand Grenade is described as a “sacred relic” and resembles the Sovereign’s Orb that is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. However, nobody knows how it works, so King Arthur and his men must consult the Book of Armaments (chapter 2, verses 9 to 21) to figure out how to use it.

When Arthur tries to get some clarity from the Bridgekeeper (Gilliam) about whether it’s “an African or European swallow,” the Bridgekeeper, unable to answer, flies off the bridge into the Gorge of Eternal Peril, allowing the quest for the grail to continue. (Swallows are a running gag throughout the movie.)