Excalibur (film) Quotes

Excalibur (film) is a TV program that debuted in 1970 . Excalibur completed its run in 1970.

It features John Boorman as producer, Trevor Jones (composer) in charge of musical score, and Alex Thomson (cinematographer) as head of cinematography.

Excalibur (film) is recorded in English and originally aired in United States. Each episode of Excalibur (film) is 140 minutes long. Excalibur (film) is distributed by Warner Bros..

The cast includes: Nicol Williamson as Merlin, Nigel Terry as Arthur, Paul Geoffrey as Perceval, Niall O'Brien as Kay, Nicholas Clay as Lancelot, Gabriel Byrne as Uther, Clive Swift as Sir Ector, Patrick Stewart as Leondegrance, Helen Mirren as Morgana, Liam Neeson as Gawain, Cherie Lunghi as Guenevere, Robert Addie as Mordred, Gabriel Byrne as Uther Pendragon, Katrine Boorman as Igrayne, and Robert Addie as Boy Mordred.

Excalibur (film) Quotes

Clive Swift as Sir Ector

• (Clive Swift) "I remember my first joust. It looks far worse than it feels."

Nicol Williamson as Merlin

• (Nicol Williamson) "It is a lonely life, the way of the necromancer -- oh, yes. Lacrimae Mundi; the tears of the world."

• (Nicol Williamson) "Look into the eyes of the dragon and despair."

• (Nicol Williamson) "The days of our kind are numberèd. The one God comes to drive out the many gods. The spirits of wood and stream grow silent. It's the way of things. Yes -- it's a time for men, and their ways."

• (Nicol Williamson) "You're not listening -- well, your heart is not. Love is deaf as well as blind. That's it."

• (Nicol Williamson) "Now look, I once stood exposed to the Dragon's Breath so that a man could lie one night with a woman. It took me nine moons to recover. And all for this lunacy called, "love", this mad distemper that strikes down both beggar and king. Never again. Never."

• (Nicol Williamson) "When a man lies, he murders some part of the world."

• (Nicol Williamson) "What are you afraid of?"
• (Nigel Terry) "I don't know."
• (Nicol Williamson) "Shall I tell you what's out there?"
• (Nigel Terry) "Yes, please."
• (Nicol Williamson) "The Dragon. A beast of such power that if you were to see it whole and all complete in a single glance, it would burn you to cinders."
• (Nigel Terry) "Where is it?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "It is everywhere. It is everything. Its scales glisten in the bark of trees, its roar is heard in the wind. And its forked tongue strikes like -- like --"
• (Nicol Williamson) "Whoa. Like lightning. Yes, that's it."
• (Nigel Terry) "How can I? What should I? Must I?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "Do nothing. Be still. Sleep. Rest in the arms of the Dragon. Dream."

• (Nicol Williamson) "Show the sword. Behold. The Sword of Power. Excalibur. Forged when the world was young, and bird and beast and flower were one with man, and death was but a dream."
• (Nicol Williamson) "Speak the words."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "One land, one king. That is my peace, Cornwall."
• (Lord Cornwall) "Lord Uther, if I yield to the Sword of Power, what will you yield?"
• (Gabriel Byrne) "Me yield?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "He has given, now you must."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "The land from here to the sea shall be yours if you enforce the King's will."
• (Lord Cornwall) "Done."
• (Nicol Williamson) "Good."
• (Lord Cornwall) "King Uther, let us feast together. To my castle."

• (Nicol Williamson) "Ooh, that plan is well known. You'll have to do better than that."

• (Nicol Williamson) "Looking at the cake is like looking at the future, until you've tasted it what do you really know? And then, of course, it's too late."
• (Nicol Williamson) "Too late."

• (Nicol Williamson) "Remember, there's always something cleverer than yourself."

• (Nicol Williamson) "Good and evil, there never is one without the other."

Robert Addie as Boy Mordred

• (Robert Addie) "Any message for your dear brother, my father?"
• (Helen Mirren) "You are my message."

• (Robert Addie) "I've come to claim what is mine, Father."
• (Nigel Terry) "Show yourself."
• (Nigel Terry) "I cannot give you the land. Only my love."
• (Robert Addie) "That's the one thing of yours I don't want. The quest knights have failed. They're all dead. And YOU -- are dead, too. I shall come back and take Camelot by force."

• (Robert Addie) "Come, Father. Let us embrace at last."

• (Robert Addie) "You seek what Arthur wants? That thing they call the Grail?"
• (Paul Geoffrey) "I do."
• (Robert Addie) "Then follow me."
• (Robert Addie) "They were looking for it too. But they weren't good enough."

Gabriel Byrne as Uther

• (Gabriel Byrne) "The sword. You promised me the sword."
• (Nicol Williamson) "And you shall have it; but to heal, not to hack. Tomorrow, a truce; we meet at the river."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "Talk. Talk is for lovers, Merlin. I need the sword to be king."

• (Gabriel Byrne) "Merlin. Where are you? Call your dragon to weave a mist to hide us."

• (Gabriel Byrne) "Where have you been?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "I have walked my way since the beginning of time. Sometimes I give, sometimes I take, it is mine to know which and when."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "You must help me, Merlin."
• (Nicol Williamson) "Must I?"
• (Gabriel Byrne) "I am your King."
• (Nicol Williamson) "So. You need me again now that my truce is wrecked. Years to build and moments to ruin. And all for lust."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "For Igrayne. One night with her. You don't understand, you're not a man. Use the magic. Do it."
• (Nicol Williamson) "Igrayne -- You will swear by your true Kingship -- to grant me what I wish, then you shall have it."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "By Excalibur, I swear it."
• (Nicol Williamson) "What issues from your lust, shall be mine. Swear it again."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "I SWEAR IT."

• (Gabriel Byrne) "Merlin. You come when you're not asked, and pay no heed when I call you."
• (Nicol Williamson) "Oh, I have slept -- for nine moons. What I did for you wasn't easy. Now, you must pay me. The child is mine, Uther -- you swore an oath."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "They were hasty words, Merlin. This is flesh and blood."
• (Katrine Boorman) "Uther, is this true? Don't let him take the child."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "I swore an oath, Igrayne. I made a pact with Merlin."
• (Katrine Boorman) "It was you; you came to me that night. YOU ARE THE FATHER."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "To kill and be King -- is that all?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "Perhaps not even that."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "You strike me with words hard as steel."
• (Nicol Williamson) "You betrayed the Duke. You stole his wife. You took his castle. Now, only fools trust you; now, only a fool would. You're not the one, Uther. Give me the child; I will protect him."
• (Gabriel Byrne) "TAKE HIM -- TAKE THE DEVIL CHILD."

Helen Mirren as Morgana

• (Helen Mirren) "Your eyes never leave me, Merlin."
• (Nicol Williamson) "Can't I acknowledge beauty?"
• (Helen Mirren) "Can't you acknowledge -- love? Perhaps you ache for what you've never known."
• (Nicol Williamson) "Perhaps you lust for what you cannot have."

• (Helen Mirren) "I have conceived a son; my king"
• (Helen Mirren) "my brother."

Nigel Terry as Arthur

• (Nigel Terry) "Where hides evil in my kingdom, then?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "Always -- where you never expect it. Always."
• (Liam Neeson) "I know where."
• (Nigel Terry) "Where, Sir Gawain?"
• (Liam Neeson) "I cannot say."
• (Nigel Terry) "You must speak your heart. You sit at the Round Table. Where is this evil?"
• (Liam Neeson) "He's our best -- and our bravest -- why, then, is he never here? Without Lancelot, this table is nothing. Is there anyone here who doesn't think him a god? And now to be driven from us"
• (Liam Neeson) "by a woman's desire."
• (Cherie Lunghi) "In the idleness that comes with peace, I see that gossip has bred its own evil. I will forgive your hasty words. Come -- drink from Lancelot's cup, and partake of his 'goodness'."
• (Nigel Terry) "You DARE accuse the Queen, Gawain?"
• (Liam Neeson) "I do."
• (Cherie Lunghi) "I protest my innocence."
• (Nigel Terry) "WERE I NOT KING, I WOULD MAKE YOU PAY WITH YOUR LIFE FOR WHAT YOU'VE SAID."
• (Cherie Lunghi) "Will you not champion me?"
• (Nigel Terry) "I cannot. I am your King, and I must be your judge in this. Lancelot must do it. He also stands accused. I decree; that at sunrise, two days from now, the champions will meet, and the truth shall be known. For by the law of God, no knight who is false can win in combat with one who is true."

• (Nigel Terry) "Merlin, where are you going?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "Where do you think? You have a kingdom to rule."
• (Nigel Terry) "But how? I don't know how."
• (Nicol Williamson) "You knew how to draw the sword from the stone."
• (Nigel Terry) "That was easy."
• (Nicol Williamson) "Was it? I couldn't have done it."
• (Nigel Terry) "You couldn't?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "You're the King. Not I."
• (Nigel Terry) "But where to start?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "Well what do think happened since you ran off."
• (Nigel Terry) "Sir Ector and Kay. They must be waiting all this time. All the great Knights were against me except for Leondegrance of Camelyard. If he supports me, the Knights are all against him."
• (Nicol Williamson) "Right now they lay siege to his castle."
• (Nigel Terry) "I need him. We must help him."
• (Nicol Williamson) "There you are. That was easy too. Wasn't it?"

• (Nigel Terry) "Ready my knights for battle. They will ride with their king once more. I have lived through others for far too long. Lancelot carried my honor, and Guenevere, my guilt. Mordred bears my sins. My knights have fought my causes. Now, my brother, I shall be -- king."

• (Nigel Terry) "I've often thought that in the hereafter of our lives, when I owe no more to the future -- can be just a man -- we might meet. You'd come to me, claim me yours, know that I am your husband."
• (Nigel Terry) "It is a dream I have."

• (Nigel Terry) "Perceval, take Excalibur. Find a pool of calm water. Throw the sword into it."
• (Paul Geoffrey) "No."
• (Nigel Terry) "Obey me, Perceval. Do it, and return."
• (Nigel Terry) "When you cast it in, what did you see?"
• (Paul Geoffrey) "I saw nothing but the wind on the water. My King, I couldn't do it. Excalibur cannot be lost. Other men --"
• (Nigel Terry) "DO -- as I command. One day, a King will come, and the Sword will rise -- again."

• (Nigel Terry) "Which is the greatest quality of knighthood? Courage? Compassion? Loyalty? Humility? What do you say, Merlin?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "Hmm? Ah. Ah. Ah, the greatest. Uh, well, they blend, like the metals we mix to make a good sword."
• (Nigel Terry) "No poetry. Just a straight answer. Which is it?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "All right, then. Truth. That's it. Yes. It must be truth above all. When a man lies, he murders some god of the world. You should know that."

• (Nigel Terry) "Will he live?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "Oh, yes."
• (Nigel Terry) "Will Guinevere?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "Yes."
• (Nigel Terry) "Merlin, will I ever have a son?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "Yes."
• (Nigel Terry) "No riddles? Nothing but a simple "yes"? That frightens me."
• (Nicol Williamson) "But a King should be afraid, Arthur, always -- of the enemy. Waiting, everywhere. In the corridors of his castle, on the deer-paths of his forests, or in a more tangled forest -- in here."

• (Nigel Terry) "Now, once more, I must ride with my knights to defend what was, and the dream of what could be."

• (Nigel Terry) "Do you still have the Sight, Merlin? Are they together?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "Yes."
• (Nigel Terry) "You warned me of this, all those years ago. What must I do now -- Kill them?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "I can tell you nothing. My days are ended. The gods of once are gone -- forever. It's a time for men. It's your time, Arthur."
• (Nigel Terry) "I need you now -- more than ever."
• (Nicol Williamson) "No. This is the moment that you must face at last. To be King, alone."
• (Nigel Terry) "And you, old friend? Will I see you again?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "No. There are other worlds. This one is done with me."
• (Nicol Williamson) "That's it."

• (Nigel Terry) "I was not born to live a man's life, but to be the stuff of future memory."

• (Nigel Terry) "I have often thought that in the hereafter of our lives, when I owe no more to the future and can be just a man, that we may meet, and you will come to me and claim me as yours, and know that I am your husband. It is a dream I have --"

• (Nigel Terry) "Swear faith to me, and you shall have mercy. I need battle lords such as you."
• (Uryenes) "A noble knight swear faith to a squire?"
• (Mador) "NEVER -- NEVER."
• (Nigel Terry) "You are right."
• (Nigel Terry) "You're right -- I'm not yet a knight."
• (Nigel Terry) "You, Uryenes, will make me a knight. Then as knight to knight -- I can offer you mercy."
• (Nicol Williamson) "What's this? What's this?"
• (Mador) "Keep it, Uryenes."
• (Uryenes) "In the name of God, St Michael and St George, I give you the right to bear arms and the power to mete justice."
• (Nigel Terry) "That duty I will solemnly obey, as knight and king."
• (Nicol Williamson) "I never saw this."
• (Uryenes) "Rise -- King Arthur."
• (Uryenes) "I am your humble knight, and I swear allegiance to the courage in your veins. So strong it is, its source must be Uther Pendragon's. I doubt you no more."

• (Nigel Terry) "Merlin. What have I done?"
• (Nicol Williamson) "You have broken what could not be broken. Now, hope is broken."
• (Nigel Terry) "My pride broke it. My rage broke it. This excellent knight, who fought with fairness and grace, was meant to win. I used Excalibur to change that verdict. I've lost, for all time, the ancient sword of my fathers, whose power was meant to unite all men -- not to serve the vanity of a single man. I am -- nothing."

• (Nigel Terry) "Thanks be to God you're alive."
• (Nicholas Clay) "I, the best Knight in the world bested. This is a great day. For my search is over, my King. Make me your champion."
• (Nigel Terry) "But your life and lands are far from here."
• (Nicholas Clay) "I gave up my castle and my lands. This is my domain. Within this metal skin. And I pledge all that I still own. Muscle, bone, blood and the heart that pumps it."
• (Nigel Terry) "And a great heart it is. Sir Lancelot, you will be my champion."

• (Nigel Terry) "Move aside. This is the king's road; and the knights you joined arms against were his very own."
• (Nicholas Clay) "I await the king himself. His knights are in need of training."
• (Nigel Terry) "I am King. And this"
• (Nigel Terry) ", is Excalibur, sword of kings from the dawn of time. Who are you? What do you seek?"
• (Nicholas Clay) "I am Lancelot of the Lake, from across the sea. And I have yet to find a king worthy of my sword."
• (Nigel Terry) "That is a wild boast. You lack a knight's humility."
• (Nicholas Clay) "Not a boast, sir. But a curse. For I have never met my match in joust or duel."
• (Nigel Terry) "Move aside."
• (Nicholas Clay) "I will not. You must retreat, or prove your worth in the test of arms under the eyes of God."
• (Nigel Terry) "Then may He give me the strength to unhorse you. And send you with one blow, back across the sea."
• (Nicholas Clay) "Then come across, sir."

• (Nigel Terry) "Any man who would be a knight and follow a king -- follow me."

Paul Geoffrey as Perceval

• (Grail Figure) "What is the secret of the Grail? Who does it serve?"
• (Paul Geoffrey) "You, my lord."
• (Grail Figure) "Who am I?"
• (Paul Geoffrey) "You are my lord and king. You are Arthur."
• (Grail Figure) "Have you found the secret that I have lost?"
• (Paul Geoffrey) "Yes. You and the land are one."

• (Paul Geoffrey) "Lancelot help us. Come back to us. Arthur needs you. Lancelot."

• (Paul Geoffrey) "You and the land are one. Drink."
• (Nigel Terry) "I am wasting away. I cannot die and I cannot live."
• (Paul Geoffrey) "Drink from the chalice. You will be reborn and the land with you."
• (Nigel Terry) "Perceval -- I didn't know how empty was my soul -- until it was filled."
• (Niall O'Brien) "Arthur."
• (Nigel Terry) "Ready my knights for battle. They shall ride with their King once more. I have lived through others far too long. Lancelot bore my honor and Guenevere my guilt. Mordred bore my sins. My Knight have fought my causes. And now my brother, I shall be -- King."

• (Paul Geoffrey) "I can't give up hope, Lancelot. It's all I have."

Nicholas Clay as Lancelot

• (Nicholas Clay) "Your rage has unbalanced you. You, sir, would fight to the death, against a knight who is not your enemy. Over a stretch of road you could easily ride around."
• (Nigel Terry) "So be it. To the death."

• (Nicholas Clay) "Yield sir, I have the advantage."
• (Nigel Terry) "I will not. Fight me from your horse or on foot, but fight me, your avoidance mocks me."
• (Nicholas Clay) "I sought only not to harm you."

Patrick Stewart as Leondegrance

• (Uryenes) "Lord Leondegrance. Join us against the boy."
• (Patrick Stewart) "I saw what I saw. The boy drew the sword. If a boy has been chosen, a boy shall be King."
• (Uryenes) "NO, I challenge that."
• (Clive Swift) "The sword has been drawn."
• (Uryenes) "Are you with us, or against us?"
• (Patrick Stewart) "Against you."

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