Q is for Questing Beast. Possibly a now-extinct relict creodont, Bestialatrat pellinorii was a curious creature described with a snake's head, a leopard's body, a lion's haunches, a hart's hoofed feet, and a white coat. Its alternate name, the Beast Glatisant or Barking Beast, comes from sounds from its belly alleged to resemble the yapping of small dogs or foxes. The type specimen appeared in Arthurian legend accompanied by the allegorical editorializing typical of medieval literature, turning it into a symbol of incest, violence, and chaos that would eventually bring down King Arthur's reign.

My interpretation of the Questing Beast from Arthurian Legend, as seen by King Arthur and pursued by King Pellinore and Sirs Palamedes and Percival. Some speculative animal artists on DeviantArt have reinterpreted various legendary beasts as if they might have been real animals whose appearance and behavior had been distorted and misinterpreted by the less scientifically rigorous scholars of the past.

Art © 10/2017 Marvin E. Fuller