Pellinore
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King Pellinore is the king of Listenoise or of "the Isles" (possibly Anglesey, or perhaps the medieval kingdom of the same name), according to the Arthurian legend. He is most famous for his endless hunt of the Questing Beast, which he is tracking when King Arthur first meets him. Pellinore fights the young king at first, but soon becomes his ally and one of the Knights of the Round Table. He has many legitimate and illegitimate children; his sons Tor, Aglovale, Lamorak, Dornar, and Percival all eventually join the Round Table as well, and his unnamed daughter (see Dindrane) becomes a servant of the Holy Grail and helps Percival, Galahad and Bors achieve the mystical object.
Pellinore is a major figure in the Post-Vulgate Cycle and the sections of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur based on it. There, he helps Arthur in his early wars against rebelling vassals, but when he kills King Lot during battle he sparks a bloodfeud between his and Lot's family that results in his death and the deaths of many others. Before this, Pellinore is frequently encountered pursuing the Questing Beast, a strange monster with the head of a snake, the body of a leopard, the haunches of a lion and the feet of a deer. Though he claims his bloodline is destined to perpetually chase the bizarre creature, Sir Palamedes the Saracen takes up the quest, and, according to one version, slays the beast.
A memorable portrayal of King Pellinore comes from T.H. White's The Once and Future King, where he is a bumbling but enduring old man who can't give up his search for the "Questin' Beast" lest the poor creature die of loneliness. He also tends to say the word 'what' after his sentences (Merlyn makes fun of him by stating: "...Or, if I were King Pellinore, I would say 'what what, what?'".)
