The Questing Beast

The Questing Beast is a monster that appears in Arthurian legend. It's not a very well known creature that was slain by Sir Palomides even though it's mentioned a lot in literature, film and artwork. What is this beast? It has a hybrid appearance, being described as having the body of a leopard, hooves of a deer, and the head of a snake. The sounds it made has been mentioned as being similar to barking dogs or foxes. In another version, it was described as small, white, beautiful and sounded like a baby. 

One of the adventures and missions of the knights of the Round Table is to find the Questing Beast and kill it. King Pellinore from Listenoise was hunting it. Other sources say he's from "the Isles" which may be misted islets of the Lake District or from stormy and green Anglesey. He was the father of some of the knights of the Round Table, and his sons include Percifal, Tor, Lamorak, Dornar and Anglovale. For many years the king was forever hunting the Questing Beast. While on the search for the monster, one of his daughters Elaine tragically committed suicide and was eaten by lions. The other daughter of the king, Dindrane, became a maiden of the Holy Grail and spent her life in the Grail Castle as a heroine. Much of this background is needed to learn how important it was to find the Questing Beast.

King Arthur first encountered the Questing Beast while out in the woods, after waking up from a nightmare. He dreamt that Mordred had completely destroyed the realm. Then Arthur saw the Questing Beast drinking water from a nearby pool. Later on he met with King Pellinore who told of the family quest to destroy the monster. Merlin told Arthur that the monster came from a human mother, who was a princess who slept with a demon so she could learn dark magic. Whatever she wanted to do didn't work. Her own brother was butchered to death afterwards, and cursed the princess into baring a child that would be a monster. 

Later the knights Sirs Galahad, Percifal and Palamedes were on a quest for the Grail when they met the Questing Beast. It was rounded up and forced into the lake, and eventually killed by sir Palamedes. The Questing Beast is also called Beast Glatisant. You can find it mentioned in 15th century works Le Morte d'Arthur later on translated and retold by Sir Thomas Malory. You can also find mention of the Questing Beast in Perlesvaus, a romance of the 13th Century.  

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