What exactly is the airspeed velocity of a coconut-laden swallow? And how can one tell if a witch is made of wood? Such questions have plagued couch-sitting philosophers ever since the release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail

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While the film is absolutely hilarious, what many fans are unaware of is just how much it draws from the actual Arthurian myths and lores surrounding King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Of course, some people were in the know all along. For those who studied King Arthur, these ten references in Monty Python and the Holy Grail made the film even more enjoyable:

Lancelot's Murderous Nature

It goes without saying that Sir Lancelot is one of the most famous characters in Arthurian lore. Modern audiences are familiar with stories of his valor, as well as how he seduced Arthur's wife Guinevere, cuckolding his best friend and rightful king. But Lancelot's origins are even more interesting... and more problematic.

The iconic character first appeared in the 12th Century tale The Knight of the Cart by Chretien de Troyes, and frankly, he was a bit of a sociopath. Recklessly violent and with a callous disregard for the suffering of women, Lancelot comes across as unlikable at best to modern audiences. So when he comically massacres the entire wedding party in the film after abandoning his squire to die, it is a surprising throwback to his origin story.

The Search For The Holy Grail

The search for the Holy Grail is an ongoing theme throughout multiple Arthurian tales and adventure stories in general (see: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). The Grail, which is said to be the cup that Jesus of Nazereth drank from during the Last Supper, was a popular object in the medieval imagination.

Famously, the knight Percival (also called Parzival or Peredur) is known as the Grail Knight for finally finding it. In fact, Wolfram von Eschenbach's 14th Century version of the story, Parzival, is a genuinely hilarious tale of misadventures, wild antics, and petty squabbles that is basically the Monty Python of its time.

"'Tis But a Flesh Wound!"

There are a number of major duels and challenges in the Arthurian tales. In particular, the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight feels relevant here, as it pits the titular Gawain against a foe who seems impossible to slay.

A popular custom in chivalric romances was known as "pas d'armes," or "the passage of arms" in which a knight would lay claim to a specific area (say, a bridge) and challenge any other knight passing through. Generally, winners and losers were decided before anyone was reduced to a quadriplegic.

Bedivere & the Witch

Bedivere the Wise is among the lesser known Knights of the Round Table. Unlike Lancelot, who was a relatively late addition, Bedivere was around for centuries before the Arthurian romances became popular in medieval courts, referred to as Bedwyr Bedrydrant in the 10th Century Old Welsh poem Pa Gur. Sadly, the poem lacks any scene where he explains how women are made of wood.

The witch has similarities to the Lady of the Lake, though there are a number of notable witches that could also be the inspiration here, among them Arthur's sister, Morgan le Fey. The persecution of witches by European Christians is documented as far back as Antiquity, but became a widespread femicidal pandemic long after Arthur's supposed reign. Of course, these days, correcting someone about the truth surrounding witch hunts is apparently cause for a witch hunt.

King Arthur's Questionable System Of Government

One of the funniest and most famous diatribes in Holy Grail has Arthur futilely trying to explain to a peasant that he (King Arthur) is the rightful king, to which the peasant responds "Well I didn't vote for you." Arthur insists he was chosen to reign by the Lady of the Lake, who gifted him with a mystical sword as is what happened in the books. The peasant retorts that his community is an anarcho-syndacalist collective and refutes the idea that a half-submerged maiden hurling broadswords can form a system of government.

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Scholars have debated whether Arthur's lakeside appointment is a form of Sacred Kingship (something anarcho-syndicalists certainly would not submit to). Beyond this, it's interesting to note that there were many challenges to Arthur's crown in the source material -- with communes of peasant workers apparently among them.

"Defeater of the Saxons"

Speaking of people who challenged Arthur's throne, the most famous of his enemies were the invading Saxons, Germanic tribes who came across the sea. One of the titles Arthur goes by in the film is "Defeater of the Saxons."

Whatever victories he might have had, Arthur failed to stop waves of Saxon invaders from settling the Isle of the Britons. Today, that isle is known as England, or Anga-land, after another Germanic tribe who accompanied the Saxons: the Angles.

"King of the Britons"

Arthur repeatedly calls himself "King of the Britons." While he rules of Britain -- or the Isle of the Britons -- the first time Arthur identifies himself by this title is when he is outside the gates of a castle in the movie's opening scene. Interestingly, he does not identify himself by this title when approaching the French castle.

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The Frenchman who taunts him is a fun (if stereotypical) character and addresses the long rivalry between England and France in the middle ages. However, there is a part of France known as Brittany which is occupied by ethnic Britons. Presumably, Arthur is king of these folk too.

"I told him we've already got one."

When Arthur approaches the French castle, he tells the guard on the wall that in exchange for aid, Arthur will grant the castle's lord the honor of joining the search for the Grail. The Frenchman responds that the lord already has one.

While this leads to some light joking, the line actually references the nature of the Grail in the story Parzival, which can't be found by anyone actively looking for it. Because Arthur is looking for food and shelter -- not the Grail -- he accidentally stumbles upon the Grail's true location, as the end of the film reveals. The nasty taunting French guys won't let him have it, though.

Son of Uther Pendragon

The listings of titles contain some of the best nuggets of lore in the film. Early on, Arthur pronounces himself the Son of Uther Pendragon. While Uther is attested to in a number of the Old Welsh sources (generally accepted as the oldest Arthurian documents), Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain famously details how he was Arthur's father.

Today, modern historians debate if either Arthur or Uther ever lived, with many more convinced of the existence of Uther than his more famous son.

Galahad the Chaste

Galahad is one of the most famous of the Knights of the Round Table, despite being a rather late edition to the lore. He is commonly described as the son of one of Lancelot's many dalliances. The movie hilariously dubs him "The Chaste" but this is actually important, as (depending on the tale), only a virgin could find the Grail. Additionally, there was the idea of courtly love -- a concept which detailed the proper etiquette for sleeping with someone who was unavailable, and a concept which contrasted the era's obsession with sexual purity.

Since a knight was expected to stay virtuous (ie., virginal), Galahad being tempted by an entire carnal castle filled with busty, lusty maidens was the ultimate test of his knighthood. Sadly, the film never showed what the dungeon of that place looked like.

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