[gentle twinkling music]
[dramatic inspirational music]
[dramatic orchestral music]
[gentle orchestral music]
- [Merlin] Gentlemen, King Arthur.
[gentle orchestral music]
- My Lord.
- Gentlemen.
Have you prepared a
reception for the invaders?
- We have.
The barbarian Danes will soon learn
that England, under Arthur,
is no peasant village to be
sacked and b*rned at will.
- We set up our line of battle
on the plane before Tyning Forest.
- Before the forest?
That leaves Tyning Abbey
at the mercy of the Danes.
- This is a m*llitary matter.
We need no advice from you, Master Merlin.
- w*r is always a matter
of general concern.
These monks at Tyning
Abbey do important work,
copying manuscripts that
would otherwise be lost.
- Well then uh, give the
brothers fair warning
and tell them to leave.
- Leave, just at the moment
when they are working
on an important discovery
of a book by Archimedes?
- Who?
- Let us concentrate on
the battle problem first,
then see how many forces we
can spare to defend the abbey.
- [Speaker] Or we att*ck here,
and then so, and then so.
- How many are there?
- My Lord, I personally
shall account for 50 of them,
upon my honor as a knight.
- They will scatter like grasshoppers.
- [King Arthur] But how
many Danes are there?
- Whatever their number, Sire, we att*ck.
- And for Saint George.
- And by Saint George, I
still want to know, how many?
- We are not mathematicians,
Sire, we are knights.
- The art, the science of
lances and swords is our life.
It is not so, Sir Lancelot?
- Yes, and a very narrow life it can be.
Would it be fair to say, Sir Exeter,
that we do not, in fact,
know the number of the Danes?
- Not fair, Sir.
- No?
- We know precisely.
There are 200 in the
South, 150 in the East,
and two columns of 100 and 200
swing round from the North.
- In other words, 650 Danes in all.
- Hm, you and your precious arithmetic
has just sealed the fait
of the abbey, my friend.
If there are 650 Danes, we
shall need every single man.
- What are we worrying about?
A handful of books?
- Yes, and only a handful
of people can read them.
- Mm, the flower of England.
- [Speaker] My Lord?
- I had gathered together,
under my command,
the best knights, the most honorable,
the most intelligent, the most brave,
and yet, in some matters,
your ignorance is appalling.
Oh yes it is.
The world was not always like this.
In Greece, in Rome,
in Syracuse, where this Archimedes lived,
men not only wrote and read,
but were beginning to rest
secrets from the Earth.
And what happened to us?
We live, shut away from
the world, isolated.
- Oh, just as well, I say.
Can't see the need of a
lot of foreign notions.
- Whether you can see the need or not,
we must defend that handful of books.
In them lies the key to the
past, and hence, the future.
- I don't see the problem, my Lord.
Tyning Abbey is in a dead end,
surrounded by steep hills,
I doubt it more than a
scouting party of Danes
will pass that way, if any.
- All the more shame that it should fall
for lack of defense.
- Lord Exeter, will you
volunteer to take a group.
- Please, my Lord, I have sworn to my lady
that I will fight for five hours on end
and k*ll 20 Danes as
proof of my love for her.
- Sir Kay.
- I drew up the plan of battle.
- Very well then, I will volunteer.
[playful orchestral music]
- Merlin, the Magnificent.
- Full Tyning Abbey.
- May I volunteer for
your army, Commander?
- Thank you, Sir Lancelot.
However, knowing Merlin's wizardry,
I don't think it'll be necessary
for your sword to leave its scabbard.
[playful orchestral music]
[gentle dramatic music]
[Father singing quietly]
- [clears throat] Reverend
Father, we have visitors.
- If they're hungry, feed them.
- They wish to speak with you.
- Well give them a little money then.
- But one of them is a knight.
- Oh.
- And with them,
is a man who said, "Tell Father
Till, my name is Merlin."
- That boy?
I told him the last time,
if he ran away again,
we wouldn't take him back.
Ah!
[pattering footsteps]
- Where is he?
- Father Till.
- Eh?
- Father Till!
- Don't shout, I'm not deaf.
Merlin!
I'm getting old, boy.
- Never!
- So you're a knight now, eh?
- No no no, this is the
knight, no this one!
This is Sir Lancelot and
this is his squire, Brian.
- Wash your face, boy, it's dirty.
Over there.
And properly.
What have you done with
all of the knowledge
I packed into your square head, hm hm?
- Not as much as I might, but
perhaps more than you hoped.
- Ah, slippery as usual. [laughs]
Properly, properly I said.
I suppose you've come to buy rope.
- [Merlin] Rope?
- Well we must have some means
to sustain us in our work.
This poor soil will grow
practically nothing,
so we make rope.
- But our visit is for another purpose.
We have come to protect you.
- We are well protected, thank you.
- There's a possibility of an
att*ck from invading Danes.
- A whole patrol, probably.
- But while we continue to stay
here, you can work in peace.
We've heard about the Archimedes book.
- Archimedes?
Oh, you want to see it?
- Oh very much.
- Before you go, don't you
think we ought to discuss plans
for defending the abbey?
- Oh yes, beautiful, beautiful Abbey.
[Lancelot laughs]
- I shall be the laughing stock
of every squire at Camelot.
Think of it, while they achieve glory,
battling the Danes-
- You have to stand guard
over a lot of old books.
- Yes.
And if we are att*cked, are
these our foot soldiers?
- Don't worry, Brian,
we'll have a garrison armed to the teeth.
Now see if you can find me some ladders.
- Ladders?
You can almost jump over these walls.
- Ladders, as many as you can.
- Ladders.
[door rattles]
- Here it is.
[Father grunting]
The Magnum Opus of Archimedes himself.
- May I?
- Of course, my boy, of course.
We haven't even finished
translating it yet,
but already we have uncovered
the most remarkable hypothesis.
- Hm, a large body,
regardless of its weight,
displaces its own volume of any liquid.
Fascinating, fascinating.
Let me see, simple
principles of the lever,
how a large weight can be
moved by a small force.
- It is all explained here,
but we can't decipher it.
We don't know what it means.
- By means of this
apparatus, any single person,
even a small child can move an object
many times its own weight.
- It's a miracle.
- No Father, not a miracle, science.
Father, this is going to
take a great deal of work.
Do you mind if I study the book?
- Certainly, my boy, certainly.
[men grunt]
- Now come on, let's try
and get one of the sides off
one of these ladders. [grunts]
You look put out, Brian.
- Why not?
A tremendous battle, with over
and I shall miss it.
- Skins, they must have some skins here.
See if you can find me a skin.
- Skin?
- Yeah, skin.
- You never take me seriously.
[gentle orchestral music]
[dramatic orchestral music]
[Brian stuttering]
- The Danes?
How many?
- Too many!
Shall I saddle the horses?
- Well we can't take on too many.
- I didn't mean to fight,
I mean get out of here.
- We came here to defend this abbey.
Anyway, I thought you liked mortal combat.
- But they'll swarm all over us.
- Don't you worry, go and call the monks.
[pattering footsteps]
- The Danes are coming!
Come to the courtyard!
The Danes are coming!
[pattering footsteps]
- Oh dear.
Oh dear, what are we going to do?
I could make us invisible,
but I haven't enough time.
- Commander, your place is here.
Tell us when the Danes appear
and tell us how many of them there are.
Brothers, if you give me a hand,
I think we can avoid trouble.
- We are men of God.
We will not raise our hands
against our fellow men.
- Not your hands, but your voices.
I want you to cry out.
When I give the signal,
cry out like soldiers
anxious to go into battle.
- Lancelot.
- Yes?
- They're coming.
- Right, follow me.
Now quick, take up this ladder.
Come on.
That's it, on the shoulders.
Now follow the wall with it.
[dramatic orchestral music]
Right, march back and forth.
That's it.
[dramatic orchestral music]
- They're coming!
- Right.
Cry out now, like an army, now!
[monks groaning uninspired]
No, no, louder, fiercer!
[monks shouting]
[Lancelot b*ating drum]
[monks shouting]
[monk shouts]
Thank you.
- It was wonderful.
- What's all that noise about?
Come on, back to your work,
hurry. [clapping hands]
What do they think this is, a holiday?
What are those people doing
down there? [confused mutter]
Hurry, [clapping hands] come on!
- Magnificent strategy.
I couldn't have done better myself.
- Unfortunately, they don't
seem to be running very far.
- They wouldn't dare
come back, would they?
- I wonder.
If we had a real m*llitary force here,
we'd make a sortie and chase after them.
They know that as well as I do.
They're gonna lie low
for a while and watch us.
And if we can't prove our noisy
strength, they'll try again.
- History will record
that while Lancelot halted the invader,
it was Merlin who destroyed him.
- Who's gonna write this history, you?
- I have more magic
than you ever dreamt of.
You see that rock over there?
- [Lancelot] Yes.
- What would you say if I
could bring it crashing down
on the invading Danes?
- I would say, "Commander, you
have annihilated the enemy."
- Then you must find some
means of delaying them.
- Are you serious?
- Serious, of course I
am, but I must have time.
- How much?
- As long as you can give me.
- All right, I'll try.
[dramatic orchestral music]
[gentle dramatic music]
- You are working hard, boy.
- Equal weights, equal distances
from a central point will balance.
Unequal weights will not,
but unequal weights,
unequal distance will.
- You understand it?
- Yes, I think so.
Now look.
Unequal weights, unequal
distance from a central point
will balance.
I've used a small force
to move the large one.
- Hm, remarkable.
- There's more here.
By a system of block and tackle,
the weights and strength of one man
can come to equal the
weight of the whole world.
Says Archimedes, "If I had
a platform to stand on,
I could move the whole universe."
- He has it all worked out
in diagrams and numbers on the next page,
but we can't make out what he means.
- Here, give me a quill.
[dramatic orchestral music]
[gentle orchestral music]
[dramatic orchestral music]
[birds chirping]
- Do you speak English?
- Soon, you speak Danish.
- Do you respect the flag of truce?
[speaks a foreign language]
[men laugh]
- What do you want?
- I was about to ask you
what you want to do with the old abbey.
- Same as you.
- Nothing?
We were just passing by.
- Where are you going?
- To join King Arthur.
- So you come into this
valley, you don't go from here.
- No?
- No.
How many men you've got?
- Enough.
Were you scouting for a way
to att*ck King Arthur from the rear?
Ah, well now you know you can't do it,
why don't you rejoin your army?
We'll meet again, on the field of battle.
- [Dane Soldier] You want
to join Arthur, go ahead.
We like it here.
- So you are interested in the abbey.
- We take a look inside.
- There's only a few old men there.
They're sturdy, they're poor.
- Us too.
- Believe me,
the only thing they have
that's valuable are books.
I'm sure you're not interested in books.
- Books.
We'll burn it to the ground.
- Why, because of the books?
- Yeah.
- Books can't do you any harm.
- Hey, Bulloff.
[soldier grunts]
[soldier grunts]
[body thumps]
See, could break bone or cr*ck
head, but him not afraid.
He's never seen books.
Books make men soft.
- You want to be hard and tough, for what?
- To k*ll enemies.
- But the books say men
are brothers, not enemies.
- Life is tough, men must
be tough or else men die.
- Books don't make men soft.
- Books make men foolish in the head.
[dramatic orchestral music]
- And fast.
- In Denmark, men fight with their swords!
[blades clinking]
[Dane grunting]
[dramatic orchestral music]
[Dane grunts]
[swords clink]
- Tie him up and take him away.
- I warn you, if you don't
respect our flag of truce,
not a one of you will leave here alive.
[soldiers speak foreign language]
- Hey, how many soldiers you say in there?
- I didn't.
- Nothing but priests,
they climb and look.
- All the more reason
to leave them in peace.
- What they doing?
Lots of rope around.
- If you're curious, why
don't you go up to the gates?
- Now?
- Tomorrow might be too late.
- No hurry.
- Oh but there is.
They may be hiding their gold.
Tomorrow you'd never find it.
- You think you're very clever.
You want us to go today.
We're not fools, we stay here tonight.
Tomorrow, we have nice fire of books, mm.
- Well, I see there's
nothing I can do to stop you.
- You're my prisoner.
I'll tell you what I do,
we wait 'til after battle,
if we b*at Arthur, we k*ll you.
If he b*at us, we sell you for money.
Eh, [speaks foreign language]
- Fascinating, remarkable.
- Master Merlin, it's almost midnight.
- Brian, take this down to
Father Till, immediately.
Hurry, hurry!
- Ah good, the final piece of the puzzle.
- [Brian] What is it?
- If you could read, you'd understand.
Lay on with the hammers good,
my brother, we're nearly finished.
[hammers clattering]
Uh, Ignatius-
[hammers clattering]
[Dane soldier grumbles]
- Hey, they keep that up all night?
- It's an old English custom.
It wards off evil spirits.
- Barbarians. [grumbles]
[hammers clattering]
[birds chirping]
[clock tower chiming]
[birds chirping]
- We'll soon put a stop to that too.
Hey. [speaks foreign language]
[birds chirping]
[speaks foreign language]
[shuffling footsteps]
[birds chirping]
- Father Till, our guests are on the way.
- Well feed them, feed them,
or give them something.
- But these are the ones
who want to burn the books.
- Oh, but I won't let them.
- Then come with me.
[gentle dramatic music]
[dramatic orchestral music]
Come along.
There.
- I have no time for your tricks now, boy,
we'll have our games as usual,
during recreation period.
- Games?
Father, this is no game.
- No game, eh?
No game?
Then what do you call all this,
if it isn't Tug of w*r, hm?
[birds chirping]
[laughs] It's Archimedes.
- Yes.
[Father laughs]
Anytime now, Father.
- Wait!
- Go away, boy, I'm busy.
- But Sir Lancelot-
- Go, get away, boy!
Go on, Father.
That's right, go on.
Yes.
[Father laughs]
[dramatic orchestral music]
[Father laughs]
[dramatic orchestral music]
[rock rumbling]
[dramatic orchestral music]
[debris crashing]
[dramatic orchestral music]
[soldier groaning]
[dramatic orchestral music]
- Wonderful, wonderful!
- Well, what are you all
standing around for, eh?
What is this, whips and tide?
Come, back to your desks.
- H-
- King Arthur.
- I-
[pattering footsteps]
- My Lord, how goes the battle?
- Do you really think I should be here
if there were Danes left to chase?
- We routed them, for good.
- Sorry you missed it.
- But I see that you've
managed to preserve
the treasures of antiquity.
- Not I, Sir Kay, but Master Merlin.
- [Speaker] What, Master Merlin?
- Oh truly.
- Oh a few incantations,
and we were fortunate,
the stars were right to perform a miracle.
- You are Lord Arthur?
Then take good care of this boy, my Lord.
I know of nobody else
who could have translated
the diagrams of Archimedes
in such short a time.
- Archimedes.
- Well I mean, it's a sort of,
let this be an object
lesson to us all, my lords,
in books, there are more miracles
than can be performed by any one man.
Let us guard them with our lives.
- Well spoken, Merlin, and well done.
[inspirational orchestral music]
♪ Now listen to my story,
yes listen while I sing ♪
♪ Of days of old in England
when Arthur was the king ♪
♪ Of Merlin the magician,
and Guenevere, the queen, ♪
♪ And Lancelot, the bravest
knight the world has ever seen ♪
♪ In days of old when knights were bold ♪
♪ History's told of Lancelot ♪
♪ In days of old, when knights were bold ♪
♪ History's told of Lancelot ♪
[upbeat orchestral music]
[gentle twinkling music]