The Questing Beast and the Mystery of the Impossible
The Questing Beast, or the Beast Glatisant (Old French: beste glatisant, Modern French: bête glatissante), is a cross-animal monster appearing in many medieval texts of Arthurian legend and modern works inspired by them. In the French prose cycles, and consequently in the quasi-canon of Le Morte d'Arthur, the hunt for the Beast is the subject of quests futilely undertaken by King Pellinore and his family and finally achieved by Sir Palamedes and his companions.
The Eternal Pursuit of the Questing Beast
The Questing Beast, a strange, otherworldly creature, is pursued by knights like King Pellinore and Sir Palamedes, but it is never caught.
Archetype: The Endless Quest * Symbolizes the unattainable or the eternal nature of seeking higher truths.
Symbolism: * The Beast: Mystery, divine purpose, or the perpetual struggle between chaos and order.
"Looking up he saw coming towards him the strangest beast that ever he had seen or heard tell of, which ran towards the fountain and drank of the water. Flames poured from its nostrils. While it drank there was no noise within it; but presently, having finished, it departed with a greater sound than ever.”
