The Excalibur is also a Casino/ Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Set in a castle in the days of Camelot, customers are entertained by jugglers, singers, magicians and contortionists. There is also a "Tournament of Kings" jousting dinner show,and a talented cast of 28 performers whose free shows fill the castle with energy, hoping to keep players entertained and gambling. There is also a moat, a fire-breathing dragon and of course, Merlin.

Casino amenities include 4000 air conditioned rooms, 6 theme restaurants, 4 bars, 2 outdoor pools, a jacuzzi, 2 wedding chapels and banquet facilities.


http://www.escapetoeden.com/excaliber.htm
The magical faerie sword wielded by Arthur, the High King of Albion (or Britan as it was later known) during his reign. Replaced the sword drawn from a stone (which proved his parentage) for differing reasons - some tales say the sword shattered, others that Merlin simply thought he needed a new one. Its scabbard was said to heal any wound, its blade to carve through any foe.

Middle English, Excalibur.

Old French, Escalibor.

Medieval Latin, Caliburnus.

Welsh, Caledvwlch.

Celtic, Kaleto.

Excalibur:

from the Latin Caliburn, used primarily by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who derived it from the Welsh name Caladfwlch, which in turn comes from Cuchulainn's sword Caladbolg, meaning "Hard Lightning."

The sword of King Arthur, forged on Avalon (according to Geoffrey), and given to him by the Lady of the Lake to replace the Sword in the Stone (according to Robert de Boron and subsequent writers). It had the magical property of being able to cut through metal and never breaking; but better yet, the shieth made the wearer unable to be injured in battle. When Merlin asked the young Arthur which was better, the sword or the shieth, Arthur answered the sword. Merlin said that this decision would cost the king his life. Morgan le Fay would later steal the scabbard and switch it with a fake one, thus enabling Arthur's mortal wound at Mordred's hand. Excalibur is then said to have been thrown into the lake where it came from, presumably the lake surrounding the Isle of Avalon.

The Irish origin for the name is no mystery; Irish communities settled along the southern coast of Wales from the fifth century onwards; even without this, there was certainly communication and trade between Ireland and Wales. Also, several Irish figures show up in the story "Culhwch and Olwen":

Crychwr the son of Nes, and Cubert the son of Daere, and Percos the son of Poch, and Lluber Beuthach, and Corvil Bervach
Conchobor mac Nessa; Cu Roi mac Daire; Fergus mac Roigh?; Laegaire Buddach; and Conall Kernach.

The Dark Ages

The Land Was Divided And
Without A King

Out Of Those Lost Centuries
Rose A Legend...

Of The Sorcerer, Merlin,
Of The Coming Of A King

Of The Sword Of Power...

EXCALIBUR

It is the story of a Sword,
forged by the gods when the world was young,
cast into the stone by Uther Pendragon,
drawn by his son Arthur who became the King.

With the Sword he restored peace,
which was broken shortly after by the betrayal of his Wife and his First Knight.
He went mad just after having sent all his knights on the Quest for the Grail.
The secret of the Grail was finally revealed
by the last and the purest of the Knights of the round table.

ARTHUR
Which is the greatest quality of knighthood? Courage? Compassion? Loyalty? Humility?

MERLIN
Truth. It must be truth, above all. When a man lies he murders some part of the world.

He rode with his knights once again for the last time
to defeat his Nemesis...


It is undoubtedly the best movie of all times. I saw it 11 times on silver screen and don't even count the DVD version...
The screenplay is almost perfect (although I always thought it was Galahad who found the Grail).
The score is fantastic and one must say that Wagner and his Ring der Nibelungen fits perfectly in the Medieval World depicted by Boorman. It features:

My favorite actor is of course Nicol Williamson playing Merlin. His acting is between sarcastic and pragmatic, also served by a script that can be ironical on some quotes, and of course his scottish accent. The best one is (IMHO) :

MERLIN
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!

He got angry because Arthur asked him to make Guenevere love him. Merlin makes reference to the summoning of the Dragon for Uther who thereby took the shape of the Duke of Cornwall, his castle and his wife, Igrayne (He didn't even bothered taking off his 35kg full plate armour by the way). Cornwall died in the process and Arthur was conceived.
A legend is born.

There are also a bunch of not already famous actors (Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart) at an early stage of their careers, and Boorman's whole family (his Daughters Katrine as Igrayne, Telsche as the Lady of the Lake and his son Charley as young Mordred) and even Byrne's Daughter Barbara as young Morgana...
Ah! Nepotism!

Concerning the charm of making uttered by Merlin to summon the Dragon, Alias Mother Jonez provided in his node Charm of making a most excellent explanation, so I won't describe it in here (Ack!).


Directed by John Boorman in 1981

Screenplay by John Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg after Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.

Genre : Medieval, Adventure

Rated : PG (surprising since there is a lot of blood and dead people... I would have said Rated R)

Cast
Nigel Terry...........King Arthur
Helen Mirren..........Morgana
Nicholas Clay.........Lancelot
Cherie Lunghi.........Guenevere
Paul Geoffrey.........Perceval
Nicol Williamson......Merlin
Robert Addie..........Mordred
Gabriel Byrne.........Uther Pendragon
Keith Buckley.........Uryens
Katrine Boorman.......Igrayne
Liam Neeson...........Gawain
Corin Redgrave........Cornwall
Niall O'Brien.........Kay
Patrick Stewart.......Leondegrance
Clive Swift...........Ector
provided by the good old Movie Database

One Land, One King, One Sword

Everything Quests: Film Reviews

A superhero team published by Marvel Comics. Excalibur first appeared in Excalibur #1 in 1988.

After the Mutant Massacre in which the forces of the villain Mister Sinister decimated the ranks of the super-hero team the X-Men, two of their members Nightcrawler and Shadowcat were sent to Muir Island, the base of a mutant research station headed by Dr. Moira MacTaggert. While the two were recovering, it was believed that their fellow teammates had given up their lives to protect the world from the evil influence of the Adversary.

About the same time, Rachel Summers, the daughter of Scott Summers (the mutant X-Man Cyclops) and Jean Grey (Marvel Girl/Phoenix) from an alternate timeline, escaped from the clutches of the extra-dimensional menace Mojo. Arriving in England, Summers, who had inherited a portion of the Phoenix force was pursued by agents of Mojo in the form of Warwolves. Phoenix was aided by Nightcrawler and Shadowcat as well as the British heroes Captain Britain and Meggan. After defeating the Warwolves, the five heroes decided to continue to work together, calling themselves Excalibur after the legendary sword of King Arthur.

The team had many adventures, at one point hopping dimensions due to the actions of a sentient mechanical device called Widget. They fought such groups as the Technet and Crazy Gang and later became embroiled in opposing the forces of an black-ops group called Black Air.

The group later expanded to include the Phalanx/human hybrid called Douglock, the former X-Man Colossus and a former British secret agent named Peter Wisdom. The group disbanded after Captain Britain and Meggan were married and the three former X-Men decided to return to the United States.

Ex*cal"i*bur (?), n.

The name of King Arthur's mythical sword.

[Written also Excalibar, Excalibor, Escalibar, and Caliburn.]

Tennyson.

 

© Webster 1913.

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