# Knights Who Say "Ni!"
The **Knights Who Say "Ni!"** (Korean: 니라고 말하는 기사) are fictional forest guardians in the comedy film *Monty Python and the Holy Grail*, who bar [King Arthur](https://www.edgepedia.org/king-arthur) and his knights from passing through their wood until they are appeased with a shrubbery.[1](https://python.mzonline.com/holygrail/scene16/) • [2](https://namu.moe/w/%EB%8B%88%EB%9D%BC%EA%B3%A0%20%EB%A7%90%ED%95%98%EB%8A%94%20%EA%B8%82%EC%82%AC) They announce themselves as "the keepers of the sacred words" and wield the word "Ni", pronounced "knee", as a weapon whose repeated utterance debilitates Arthur's party.[1](https://python.mzonline.com/holygrail/scene16/) • [3](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-knights-who-say-ni-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-45th-anniversary)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Film and scene | *Monty Python and the Holy Grail*, the forest scene in which they block Arthur's passage[1](https://python.mzonline.com/holygrail/scene16/) |
| Sacred words | "Ni", "Peng", and "Neee-Wom"[3](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-knights-who-say-ni-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-45th-anniversary) |
| Leader | A 12-foot-tall mustachioed head Knight played by Michael Palin, who takes 12 parts in the film[3](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-knights-who-say-ni-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-45th-anniversary) |
| First demand | A shrubbery that "looks nice" and is "not too expensive"[4](https://www.intriguing.com/mp/_scripts/ni.php) |
| Second demand | A second shrubbery placed "slightly higher" for a "two-level effect", and the mightiest tree in the forest cut down with a herring[4](https://www.intriguing.com/mp/_scripts/ni.php) |
| Weakness | The word "it", which pierces their brains[3](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-knights-who-say-ni-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-45th-anniversary) |
## The scene and its demands
Arthur's party is warned before entering the wood: "Those who hear them seldom live to tell the tale."[1](https://python.mzonline.com/holygrail/scene16/) The Knights then appear, with the Tall Knight declaring "We are the Knights Who Say 'Ni'!" and identifying the sacred words as "NI … Peng … and Neee … Wom!"[1](https://python.mzonline.com/holygrail/scene16/) The word's power works through repetition: the Knights cry "Ni!" in unison, and the Tall Knight threatens "We shall say 'Ni' again to you if you do not appease us."[1](https://python.mzonline.com/holygrail/scene16/) The Syfy retrospective describes the utterance as repeated, annoying, and piercing, wearing Arthur's band down to the point of appeasement.[3](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-knights-who-say-ni-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-45th-anniversary)
The Knights require a sacrifice: "A SHRUBBERY!", one that "looks nice" and is "not too expensive", failing which Arthur's party "shall not pass through this wood alive".[4](https://www.intriguing.com/mp/_scripts/ni.php) • [1](https://python.mzonline.com/holygrail/scene16/) Arthur obtains one from Roger the Shrubber, played by [Eric Idle](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-idle), after Lancelot hacks up a wedding party.[3](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-knights-who-say-ni-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-45th-anniversary) When he presents it, addressing them as "O Knights of Ni", the Knight of Ni accepts it and praises the laurels particularly.[1](https://python.mzonline.com/holygrail/scene16/)
**The renaming and second demand.** Possession of a shrubbery triggers the Knights' transformation: "We are now no longer the Knights Who Say 'Ni'" but "the Knights who say 'Ekky-ekky-ekky-ekky-z'Bang, zoom-Boing, z'nourrrwringmm'", in the transcript's spelling; the Syfy retrospective renders the same string as "Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptang Zoo Boing".[4](https://www.intriguing.com/mp/_scripts/ni.php) • [3](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-knights-who-say-ni-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-45th-anniversary) Under the new name the Knights demand a second shrubbery, to be placed beside the first "only slightly higher, so we get the two-level effect with a little path running down the middle", and further require Arthur to cut down the mightiest tree in the forest "Wiiiiiithh.... A HERRING!"[4](https://www.intriguing.com/mp/_scripts/ni.php)
**Defeat by "it".** The Knights fall to an ordinary pronoun. Arthur's band discovers that the word "it" pierces the very brains of the Knights who formerly said "Ni", and they unleash a flurry of "it"s; the leader accidentally says "it" three times, dooming the other knights.[3](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-knights-who-say-ni-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-45th-anniversary) • [2](https://namu.moe/w/%EB%8B%88%EB%9D%BC%EA%B3%A0%20%EB%A7%90%ED%95%98%EB%8A%94%20%EA%B8%82%EC%82%AC)
## Place among the film's antagonists
The film was written by [Graham Chapman](https://www.edgepedia.org/graham-chapman), John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and [Michael Palin](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-palin) as a parody of Arthurian legend, and its credits jokingly credit direction to llamas alongside Gilliam and Jones.[3](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-knights-who-say-ni-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-45th-anniversary) The Knights sit within a sequence of absurd obstacles that structure Arthur's quest. The Syfy retrospective lists the French soldiers, who fart in the heroes' general direction; Tim the Enchanter, the sagacious wizard; and the Black Knight, who fights his way to a dramatic draw despite his lack of limbs.[3](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-knights-who-say-ni-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-45th-anniversary)
## Legacy and cultural references
The scene has been re-created and parodied across software, games, and fan video. The [Python Software Foundation](https://www.edgepedia.org/python-software-foundation) named its official CLA enforcement project "the-knights-who-say-ni" on GitHub, drawing an analogy between the knights demanding a shrubbery and lawyers requiring a signed [Contributor License Agreement](https://www.edgepedia.org/contributor-license-agreement) before a contributor may pass.[5](https://github.com/python/the-knights-who-say-ni/) In games, parodies appear in a *World of Warcraft* quest and in *The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion*'s Shivering Isles expansion, where in the town of Highcross an Argonian named Runs-In-Circles runs about shouting "Ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni!".[2](https://namu.moe/w/%EB%8B%88%EB%9D%BC%EA%B3%A0%20%EB%A7%90%ED%95%98%EB%8A%94%20%EA%B8%82%EC%82%AC) In fan video, a popular mashup overlays the scene's audio onto footage from *The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers* in which the Riders of Rohan confront Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, so that the trio "must now find... a shrubbery! One that is nice, and not too expensive".[6](https://www.ksl.com/article/news/features/hyst/have-you-seen-this-the-riders-who-say-ni/46589661)
## References
1. [Monty Python and the Holy Grail — Scene 16: The Knights Who Say 'Ni', python.mzonline.com](https://python.mzonline.com/holygrail/scene16/)
2. [니라고 말하는 기사, Namu wiki](https://namu.moe/w/%EB%8B%88%EB%9D%BC%EA%B3%A0%20%EB%A7%90%ED%95%98%EB%8A%94%20%EA%B8%82%EC%82%AC)
3. [Monty Python and the Holy Grail's Knights Who Say Ni deep dive, Syfy Wire](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-knights-who-say-ni-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-45th-anniversary)
4. [The Knights Who Say "Ni" — Monty Python and the Holy Grail (transcript), intriguing.com](https://www.intriguing.com/mp/_scripts/ni.php)
5. [python/the-knights-who-say-ni, GitHub (Python Software Foundation)](https://github.com/python/the-knights-who-say-ni/)
6. [Have You Seen This? The Riders Who Say 'Ni!', KSL.com](https://www.ksl.com/article/news/features/hyst/have-you-seen-this-the-riders-who-say-ni/46589661)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Film characters and fictional worlds › Comedy film characters*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license