Accolon of Gaul with Other Poems
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Cawein, Madison J. Accolon of Gaul with Other Poems. Louisville: John P. Morton & Co., 1889.
In the long poem Accolon of Gaul (1889), the prolific American poet Madison Cawein (1865-1914) retells Malory's story of the affair between Morgane and Accolon and the treachery of Morgane in duping Arthur with a copy of Excalibur. In broad outline, Cawein follows Malory; but the few changes he makes are significant. Nimue, who rescues Arthur in Malory's version and uses her magic to force Accolon to drop Excalibur, does not appear in Cawein's poem. Instead, Arthur, who realizes after his counterfeit blade shatters that Accolon has the true sword, picks up 'the truncheon of a bursten lance' and strikes Accolon on the wrist as he seizes Excalibur. Since Cawein is telling the story of Morgane and Accolon and not the intricate, extended story that Malory recounts, his exclusion of Nimue seems to be for purposes of narrative compression. Nevertheless, the change makes this climactic moment in the struggle ordinary and almost comic. Another innovation introduced by Cawein is the motivation of Morgane, who appears intent on having a passionate love affair. Morgane 'felt she'd loved' Urience (Malory's Uriens) until she heard of the passionate loves of Tristram and Isoud and Launcelot and Guinevere. She would have Accolon crowned so that the emphasis of the kingdom will shift from war to love.