Questing Beast

The Questing Beast was an unusual and probably one-of-a-kind creature that was eternally pursued by a number of knights and kings. Even King Arthur himself once encountered the beast as it stopped to drink at a lake he was resting by. The Questing Beast was a large animal with the head of a large serpent, the body of a leopard, the hooves of a deer and the tail of a lion or snake. It was larger than a horse, perhaps the size of a rhinoceros, and very fast. Many knights made the hunting of this beast their life's mission, including the famous King Pellinore. However, none of them ever succeeded. The beast appears to be immortal, as King Pellinore revealed to Arthur that his family had hunted this individual creature for many generations. The questing beast represents the ultimate unattainable goal; the subject of a quest that can never be finished.