The Tales of the Killer Rabbit
Cowardice, Violence and Bunnies, from the Middle Ages to modern times
The Killer Rabit scene, one of the most epic episodes of Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones’ 1975
film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, seems to be directly inspired by medieval occurrences.
Among them would be the Allegory of Cowardice sculpture found on the central portal of NotreDame of Amiens (c. 1220). In both cases, knights face a fierce and bloodthirsty creature: a
rabbit.Beyond the apparently direct iconographic link, many other associations arise when
confronting this gothic quatrefoil (a four-leaves clover pattern) and the Killer Rabbit of
Caerbannog's cave (Fig. 1 & 2).
Before I go any further in my analysis, I would like to explain why I should not have
studied that topic. From a purely diplomatic point of view, discussing a film that shows my fellow
countrymen as a bunch of uncivilised and vulgar taunters (Fig. 3) in the very temple of French
culture in the UK could be seen as pure provocation or even worse, as an attempt to inflict a moral
injury to the Entente Cordiale (Fig. 4).
More seriously, dealing with the present topic was indeed a hard decision to make. The
juxtaposition, resulting from a recollection of university lectures about medieval art and a longstanding enthusiasm for the Pythons, seemed at first to be totally adequate to the description for the
submission of papers. It sounded original and ''irreverent'' enough to be worth studying. One quick
check on the Internet nearly destroyed that first impression of originality and irreverence. Indeed,
the Rabbit of Caerbannog, as described in its Wikipedia article (a more irreverent reference could
have been found), is said to be directly inspired by a sculpted medallion from Notre-Dame cathedral
in Paris (Fig. 5). ''The idea of the rabbit in the movie was taken from the façade of the cathedral
Notre-Dame de Paris. This illustrates the weakness of cowardice [sic] by showing a knight fleeing
from a rabbit''1. That terse statement is in many ways disappointing. Because of its apparent validity
induced by the scientific aura of the online encyclopaedia, this information is now widely repeated
and spread around the web, and as a result, taken for granted.
A deeper analysis is therefore necessary in order to go at once beyond that disappointment
and beyond this by far too factual and too simple a connection.
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WIKIPEDIA CONTRIBUTORS
1
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 British comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam
and Terry Jones. This parody of the Arthurian epic relates the quest of the Holy Grail by King
Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. After a long coconut-shell-banging ride through his
kingdom (Fig. 5), Arthur recruits, not without difficulty, his new companions-in-arms. Having
decided not to move in the castle of Camelot (''It's a silly place''), Arthur is urged by God to seek
the chalice where the blood of Christ has been kept: the Holy Grail. Set off on many more or less
unsuccessful adventures, the company is told that an enchanter (there are some who call him... Tim)
could help the Knights finding the Grail (Fig. 6). Led by Tim the Enchanter, the group reaches the
cave of Caerbannog ''wherein, carved in mystic runes, upon the very living rock, the last words of
Olfin Bedwere of Rheged make plain the last resting place of the most Holy Grail'' 2. However,
before entering the cave, the Knights have to defeat the monster that guards the entry, a ''creature so
foul, so cruel that no man yet has fought with it and lived'': a white and apparently harmless tiny
little bunny (Fig. 1). Doubting the seriousness of Tim's warnings, the Knights have to admit they
were wrong after seeing how quick their fellow Bors is beheaded by the ''bad tempered rodent''
(Fig. 7). The second attempt to defeat the rabbit turns out to be a disaster and two other knights are
killed during the attack. While the knights are rethinking their strategy, Lancelot suggests they use
the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, a powerful explosive sacred relic (Fig. 8). The operation is a
success: King Arthur blows into pieces the ferocious blood-splattered rabbit.
The Killer Rabbit scene is one of the best examples of Monty Python's capacity to combine
''Oxbridgian wit and music-hall vulgarity'' 3. Disrespectful cultural references are coupled with
blood squirts in a general subversive and antiauthoritarian discourse. Royal authority and chivalric
bravery are always challenged by various opponents: anarcho-syndicalist peasants, cow-fetching
and excrement-throwing French soldiers, ''eight score young blondes and brunettes, all between
sixteen and nineteen and a half'', the shrubbery-addict Knights who say ''Ni!'' and our rabbit. All
these enemies are absurd and, only in appearance, mundane and prosaic. They clearly don't fit the
expected epic frame of the Arthurian legend. This disrespect toward the ''Arthurian history
sanctioned by the English educational and political establishment'' 4 is perfectly embodied by the
murder of one of the narrators. In scene 9, ''A Famous Historian'' – a BBC TV expert caricature – is
killed by a mounted knight before he could finish his comment (Fig. 9).
2
3
4
A curious contradictory detail. In scene 34, the announced ''mystic runes'' carved by Olfin Bedwere of Rheged are
said later to be the last words of Joseph of Arimathea and are supposed to be written in Aramaic.
UMLAND 1996, p. 67.
KLINE 2012, p. 72.
2
We must therefore bear in mind that particular approach to history when questioning the
inspiration for the Pythons' Killer Rabbit. A medieval sculpture alone couldn't have suggested the
idea of a bloodthirsty rabbit. The creative process is in fact richer and more complex.
Like Chartres and Reims cathedrals, Notre-Dame d'Amiens is ranked among the best
examples of the ''classic'' gothic cathedrals built from the end of the 12th century to the mid-30's of
the 13th (Fig. 10). The term ''classic'', used by art historians like Henri Focillon or Hans Jantzen,
refers exclusively to the formal aspect of the cathedral, seen as an archetype and model. It also
implies an idea of unity and architectonic purity. At the turn of the 20th century, the cathedral of
Amiens was admired by modern commentators for the noble simplicity of its interior, whereas the
richly decorated main western façade was often seen as an anomaly that couldn't fit in a holistic
architectural analysis5. Despite the impressive variety of sculptures, the western portals follow in
fact a very formal scheme. This point is particularly well epitomised by the base of the portals,
entirely covered by series of quatrefoils whose ''repetitious quality [...] is reminiscent of wax
impressions mecanically produced through the imprint of a seal'' 6. Among them is the series of the
twenty-four Vices and Virtues quatrefoils (Fig. 11). These binary combinations are used here to
strengthen the general moral discourse of the central portal dedicated to the Last Judgement. Placed
in the upper register (''vice is more accessible to the visitor than virtue'' 7), the twelve Virtues are
embodied by female allegories holding attributes, whereas the twelve Vices, in the lower register,
are symbolised by scenes rather than personifications (Fig. 12). The vividness and visual power of
these representations contrast with the more semiotic, and in a certain way more difficult to
decipher, allegories. One of the most epic scenes is the one depicting the vice of Cowardice (Fig. 2).
The quatrefoil frames a knight fleeing from a hare hidden in a bush, dropping his sword on the
way. Fear can be read on his face. The meaning of the bird perched on the tree – a detail also
present in the medallion of Notre-Dame of Paris (Fig. 5) – is puzzling. It is often simply ignored in
literature. Could the bird just be a witness of the scene? Knowing the exact bird species would help
in the interpretation of the sculpture. Placed above the Cowardice quatrefoil, its exact opposite,
Courage, shows an armed woman holding a shield with a lion on it, a far more noble and ferocious
beast.
5
6
7
MURRAY 1996, p. 4, p. 87.
Ibidem, p. 106.
Ibidem.
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The quatrefoil of Cowardice, submerged by the amount of decorations and sculptures, must
be seen as a small detail among others and can't be artificially removed from both architectural
structure and intellectual context. The ambivalence of the rabbit's symbolism in medieval collective
imagination has generated a rich iconography. However, neither Amiens's nor Paris' ferocious hare
has inspired Monty Python's Killer Rabbit. Whether it is true or not, that question does not really
matter. Above all else, it was the medieval idea of folly and carnivalesque ''world upside down'' that
influenced the Pythons.
Like many other animals, hares and rabbits have an ambivalent meaning in medieval
Christian symbolism. The hare is considered as an impure animal in Deuteronomy and therefore
unsuitable for consumption according to the Jewish belief. A symbol of lust and ''sanguine
sensuality''8, it paradoxically stands for shyness and fear. In Proverbs 30:26, it is described as a
weak and shy creature: ''the conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks'' 9.
As a result, medieval bestiaries present hares and rabbits as nocturnal and lunar animals, hiding
most of the time in the obscurity of a burrow (or a Scottish cave!). In the comic tale Roman de
Renart, the main character, the fox Renart (or Reynard) has to deal with a young hare judiciously
called Couart, which does not distinguish itself through acts of bravery. The Church Fathers used
the metaphor of the fleeing rabbit to describe the lost and frightened soul looking for help and
shelter in Christ and Church10. Thank God, fear turns into force, and sometimes the ''feeble folk''
strike back and attack their persecutors as it is displayed in some Romanesque sculptures (Fig. 13)
or in literature. In a relatively little known episode of the Roman de Renart, the hare Couart
surprisingly defeats a fur trader who tried to attack him:
Quant je le vi vers moi venir
Adonques ne me poi tenir,
Ainz ving a lui touz ademis.
Si li crachai enmi le vis
Et escopi par grant vertu.11
Carrying the rogue hunter on his back, Couart decides to bring him to justice. The story of brave
Couart has probably been written at a much later date compared to the ''canonical'' episodes. A
previous knowledge of the traditional literary corpus is indeed required to appreciate the
8
9
PANOFSKY 1948, p. 85.
''Cony'' or ''coney'' is an old term for ''rabbit'', coming from old French ''conil'', ''conin''(lat. cuniculus). The original
Hebrew text was in fact refering to hyraxes (also known as ''rock badgers''). In modern translations of the Bible, the
mistake has been corrected.
10 KIRSCHBAUM 1970, p. 222-225.
11 MARTIN 1887, p. 169
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turnaround, since Couart has been constantly described as a coward in the previous tales.12
This iconography of ''revenge''13, though undoubtedly bound to religious concepts, must be
seen as part of the larger context of ''world upside down'' imagery. In this fantasy universe,
traditional hierarchy and decency are temporarily abolished and rebuilt in an ''inverted mirror
configuration'', as can be seen during Carnival 14. Typically graphic examples can be found in
illuminated manuscripts' marginalia, from which Terry Gilliam drew inspiration for the animations
he created for the Holy Grail (Fig. 14). Pythons' Killer Rabbit, the ultimate anti-coward, seems to
be a creature from the medieval world upside down. Many other links can be made. Cowardice is in
fact one of the main themes of the film: ''Run away!'' is the most used line. Cowardice has also its
champion with Sir Robin, the Not-quite-so-brave-as-sir-Lancelot, who always soils his armour
before (not) fighting and whose shield emblem is a chicken. After the failed attack on the Killer
Rabbit, he tries to hide himself under a rock, like the biblical ''coney'' (Fig. 15). The subversive
discourse of the film in which all kind of authorities are challenged, echoes the medieval world
upside down imagery but is not a simple illustration of it. According to Eric Idle's audio
commentary recorded for the DVD version of the film, the Pythons chose a rabbit because it is ''the
most unviolent animal you could think of. Really, it's a white fluffy rabbit […] Stoats are kind of
nasty little things, and bites [sic]. […] We fixed up the rabbit theme from the earlier [...] wooden
rabbit.'' The idea of a bloodthirsty rabbit must therefore be seen as a self-reflexive quotation of
another rabbit of the film. In scene 8, Sir Bedivere conceives a large wooden rabbit to take the
French Taunters by surprise. The operation is a complete failure: the Knights forgot to hide in it and
the French used it as a projectile (Fig. 16). Saying that a medieval sculpture was used as a direct
inspiration would be therefore overinterpreting. Though Amiens' hare and Python's rabbit are
similar in their intellectual and humoristic genesis, the sources for the Killer Rabbit must be found
in the larger scale of collective imagination and popular culture (Fig. 17).
The same problem has arisen with another medieval sculpted rabbit. The 14th century rabbit
of St. Mary's Church in Beverley, ''walking upright with pilgrim's staff and satchel'' is said to have
inspired John Tenniel for his depiction of Lewis Carroll's White Rabbit in Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland'15(Fig. 18). This widely spread story is but an anecdote, and not even a certified one.
However, for it is precisely the characteristic of an anecdote, it will be the information that most
people will remember. Video games show that the Monty Pythons’ and Lewis Carroll’s rabbits have
12
13
14
15
SIMPSON 1996, p. 156-157 & BIANCIOTTO 2005, p. 29-45.
DEBIDOUR 1961, p. 325. See also p. 266-267, p. 272.
LEVY-COOTE 2005, p. 109-119.
KLINGENDER 1971, p. 434.
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even more in common. In many video games (Wizardry, Quest for Glory, Ultima Online, Final
Fantasy XII...) players face so-called ''vorpal bunnies'' 16 (Fig. 19). The imaginary adjective ''vorpal''
refers to Carroll's nonsensical poem Jabberwocky where the hero defeats the indescribable
eponymous monster with a ''vorpal blade''. Published in Alice in Wonderland sequel, Through the
Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, the poem inspired Terry Gilliam for his first solo film
Jabberwocky (1977). From the medieval cathedral sculptures to the White or Killer Rabbits and
video games, the circle is now artificially complete.
As seen throughout the essay, apparently self-evident facts always have to be questioned.
Art history, which often comes up against such anecdotes and myths, is a permanent rethinking of
the historical process. Even if the link seems to be obvious, like the one made between the Killer
Rabbit and Amiens' quatrefoil, the connections are not linear but entirely interwoven in a larger
canvas. A rabbit is never quite the same as another rabbit.
16 TV TROPES CONTRIBUTORS
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