Excalibur from Black Knight #1 text story.
Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur Pendragon, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are sometimes said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. Excalibur was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on.
The Sword in the Stone[]
In Arthurian romance, a number of explanations are given for Arthur's possession of Excalibur. In Robert de Boron's Merlin, the first tale to mention the "sword in the stone" motif, Arthur obtained the British throne by pulling a sword from an anvil sitting atop a stone that appeared in a churchyard on Christmas Eve.
In Welsh legend, Arthur's sword is known as Caledfwlch. In Culhwch and Olwen, it is one of Arthur's most valuable possessions and is used by Arthur's warrior Llenlleawg the Irishman to kill the Irish king Diwrnach while stealing his magical cauldron. Irish mythology mentions a weapon Caladbolg, the sword of Fergus mac Róich, which was also known for its incredible power and was carried by some of Ireland's greatest heroes.
Super-hero team[]
Excalibur from Uncanny X-Force #23 in May, 2012.
Excalibur is a fictional super-hero group appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are depicted as an offshoot of the X-Men, usually based in the United Kingdom. Conceived by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer Alan Davis, the original Excalibur first appeared in Excalibur Special Edition in 1987, also known as Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn.
The first Excalibur consisted of the British superhero Captain Britain, his lover Meggan, and several one-time members of the X-Men and related mutant teams. An eponymous Excalibur series featuring the team lasted from 1988 until 1998. Originally, the series involved cross-dimensional travel that incorporated as many elements of Captain Britain's mythos as it did the X-Men's.
Captain Britain reformed Excalibur to defend London in a series entitled New Excalibur, which ran from 2005 until it was replaced in 2008 by Captain Britain and MI13.
Between Excalibur's disbandment and reformation, a short-lived series entitled Excalibur chronicled the efforts of X-Men founder Professor Charles Xavier and his former nemesis, Magneto, to rebuild the mutant homeland of Genosha. Although written by Claremont with the same title, it had no connection to the superhero team.
Members[]
- Captain Britain, Brian Braddock
- Cerise
- Colossus, Peter Rasputin
- Doug Ramsey
- Juggernaut, Cain Marko
- Kitty Pryde
- Phoenix, Rachel Summers
- Warlock
- Wolfsbane, Rahne Sinclair