Word: knighting
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...king's enlightened path is always blocked by problems. One of them is a movable castle full of French knights who defend their ramparts by shouting down intolerable sexual insults and pelting would-be attackers with a hail of dead farm animals-most unchivalrous. Another obstacle is a Black Knight of uncompromising combativeness; after Arthur has severed all four of his limbs, the knight perversely insists on trying to bite the king on the ankle. Then there are the guardians of a sacred forest who demand a tribute of shrubbery -something with "a nice layered effect"-before allowing Arthur...
Arthur's adventures reach no logical conclusion. They are simply brought to an abrupt end when a police car rolls up and the entire Round Table is rounded up. The knights are charged with being accessories to the murder of the historian who popped up midway in the movie - BBC style - to supply some useless background on the traditions of medieval romance. The intervention of the bobbies also leads to the fine sight of a fully armored knight spread-eagled against the squad car and being patted down for concealed weapons...
...call the action heavy-handed is an understatement. A knight in the forest bars the way for King Arthur and refuses to admit he is defeated even after Arthur slashes his arm off (blood spurts as if from a faucet); Arthur then chops his other arm off, and then each of his legs, before moving on. There's really nothing funny about it. The keynote of the humor is gore. Even in what may be the funniest moment of the film, when a small white rabbit guarding a cave catapults into the air and saws off a knight's head...
...authors rightly approach the castle as the center of medieval life. Their story ranges well beyond the castle gate, but it centers on Chepstow, a well-preserved fortress on the Welsh border not far from Bristol. The 12th century lord of Chepstow, William Marshal, turns up with a companion knight on the tournament circuit in France. Touring the country like early-day golf pros, they clean up handsomely, accumulating scores and scores of horses and piles of armor in more than 100 contests...
...body was washed with soap and hot water, wrapped in a seamless white sheet, and covered by a dark brown shroud. The corpse lay in state briefly at the al Id al Kabir Mosque, which was sur rounded by more than 100,000 mourning Saudis. "Where goes our knight?" some cried. "Where goes our protector against confusion and poverty?" During the fatiha, the introductory in vocation, and again during the prayer for the dead, Arab dignitaries prostrated themselves on the ground. At length, the King's body was transported, with six of Faisal's brothers serving as pallbearers...