# Lyrics sung by the monks in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2006, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448 "2006-06-28T04:29:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/1 "2006-06-28T04:29:30Z")
To the best of my recollection, it went something like: \*Vine Jesu Domini Bonae est requiem [thwack]\* Have I got that more-or-less right? Is it based on some actual Latin chant Medieval monks might have sung? How would it translate into English? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/2 "2006-06-28T04:44:40Z")
Pie Iesu Domine. Dona Eis Requiem. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/3 "2006-06-28T04:45:11Z")
“Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem.” [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~ebarnes/python/witch-trial.htm](http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~ebarnes/python/witch-trial.htm) I believe it’s from Dies Irae. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/4 "2006-06-28T04:46:35Z")
> **[Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Monty_Python_and_the_Holy_Grail)** > [@](#): > > Monk Chant > > \*Pie Jesu Domine > Dona eis requiem \* > > Translation: > > \*Compassionate Lord Jesus, > grant them rest \* [http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/python/Sources/monty.python.faq.html](http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/python/Sources/monty.python.faq.html) > [@](#): > > Q: What do the monks chant in the film? > A: The language they are chanting is in Latin and the phrase is … > “Pie Iesu Domine. Dona Eis Requiem.” It means “Holy Lord Jesus. > Grant them rest.” The phrases are included in many Catholic funeral > masses. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/5 "2006-06-28T04:46:47Z")
[According to wiki,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dies_Irae) it appears so, and translates to: Compassionate Lord Jesus, grant them rest. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/6 "2006-06-28T04:47:42Z")
_Rio_ by Duran Duran. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/7 "2006-06-28T06:36:36Z")
Here’s a recent [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=336440) on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/8 "2006-06-28T06:46:47Z")
[QUOTE=thelurkinghorror] I believe it’s from Dies Irae. [/QUOTE] Yes, they’re the last two lines of the hymn _Dies Irae_, the Sequence from the mass for the dead (“Requiem Mass”) in the traditional, pre-Vatican II Roman Rite. Nowadays most people would only come across the \*Dies Irae \* in concert performances of one of the famous orchestral settings of the Requiem Mass (e.g. by Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, Dvorak etc). Of course the \*Dies Irae \* is still sung at traditional Latin Requiem Masses. I sang it at one such funeral mass only a couple of weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/9 "2006-06-28T06:58:22Z")
I always imagined them saying “The Universe is just a figment of its own imaginaaa-tion!” \ Funnier that way. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/10 "2006-06-28T11:08:49Z")
Don’t forget the most critical part of the translation: **thwack** (thwăk) _tr.v._ **thwacked, thwack·ing, thwacks** To strike or hit with a flat object; whack. _n._ A hard blow with a flat object; a whack. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/11 "2006-06-28T16:26:01Z")
Skip ahead a little, Brother Maynard. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/12 "2006-06-28T18:29:43Z")
“Good Lord, _five_ simulposts!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![deadeyesdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@deadeyesdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deadeyesdad)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-sung-by-the-monks-in-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail/362448/13 "2006-06-28T21:22:16Z")
Three Sir!