The Questing Beast
“Awaken, king, and
behold the symbol of your destruction.”
Arthur groaned as his
eyes endeavored to open, the shrieking cries of the dying and the tearing claws
of beasts still fresh in his mind. Lifting his head from the cold bark of the
tree he reclined against, he ran a sweaty hand across his face and looked up.
A pair of serpentine
eyes as large as Arthur’s head hovered close before him. Jerking back, the king
instinctively reached for the sword laying at his side, but found himself
unable to bring it to bear. Looking down, Arthur saw that the creature in front
of him had pinned the blade to the ground with the large hoof that extended
from one of the beast’s lion-like forelegs.
“You have no need to
fear me, Arthur Pendragon,” the beast said, his scaly mouth revealing
glistening fangs as he spoke the words in an icy tone. “I have not come here to
bring harm to you.”
Arthur stared at the
beast for a moment, his hand seeming to move of its own accord as it released
its grip on the sword hilt.
A low chuckle rumbled
from the throat of the beast as it slid away from the king, its lithe leopard’s
frame gracefully strutting toward the nearby spring. One eye still focused on
Arthur, the beast dipped its reptilian head down toward the spring and began to
lap up the water with a large forked tongue.
Arthur slowly got to his
feet, his eyes studying the beast, the likes of which he had never seen before.
“What is your name, creature?”
“I am many things,” the
beast replied, lifting its head from the water. “Vengeance. Lust. And chaos.
Things with which you are quite familiar.”
“I know these things,
but have endeavored not to be entrapped in them,” Arthur said.
The beast swung its head
to fully face Arthur once again. “Yet you are a man. Flawed. Full of vices that
you have no hope to suppress. Prone to creating Chimeras like myself—cursed
beasts who are fated only to bring destruction.”
“I do not understand
what you mean,” Arthur said, confused.
“Not yet, but some day
you will,” the beast said. “For now, I will tell you a story.”
The creature settled
down onto the ground by the spring, its long neck nestling next to one of its
muscular haunches. “There was once a princess who was the most beautiful in all
the world. Knights from all over the land sought her hand, and many a lance was
tilted for even the honor of being granted an audience with the fair maiden.
Yet this princess refused to marry all the suitors no matter how worthy they
might be. Her heart, you see, was set on one man--her own brother. Eldagan was
his name, and he was a famed knight in these lands in decades past. In her lust
for Sir Eldagan, the princess formed a contract with a demon, agreeing to spend
one night with the fell creature in exchange for making her brother return the
feelings she had for him.”
Arthur shivered at the
thought of a person going to such lengths for the sake of fulfilling such a
corrupt lust.
“In the end the
treacherous demon betrayed the princess and orchestrated events to where Sir
Eldagan became accused of raping his sister. One of the finest knights of his
era met his demise not on the battlefield in glorious combat, but at the hand
of his own father, who set his dogs upon his unjustly accused son.”
The beast lifted his
head from the ground and fixed Arthur with a stare that was filled with a deep
melancholy.
“I am that princess’s
cursed offspring, a living testament to the evils man is capable of,” the beast
said in a regretful tone. “It was I who slew my mother and the rest of her
unfortunate family.”
Arthur shook his and
looked away from the tragic creature’s mournful gaze. “I did not wish to know
any of this. Why must you tell me these things?”
“A wise king must know
of folly if he is expected to not fall victim to it himself,” the creature
said. “You have already sinned, Arthur, and your sin will bear fruit that will
bring about your destruction in good time, as it did with my poor mother. I
give you this warning, and urge you to be a righteous king who will not repeat
the mistakes of the past. The chaos that will engulf your kingdom is
inevitable, but if you rule with a wise and virtuous hand, then many years of
prosperousness still await your kingdom and your people.”
Arthur nodded. “I would
rule no other way than that, creature, regardless of what you advise.”
The beast rose up to his
feet and bobbed his head in a nod. “Remember me, king. Remember my story. For
one day you will know it to be yours.”
Author’s Note: This
story is based on “The Questing Beast” in the King Arthur unit. I read up on what the Questing
Beast was all about on Wikipedia and decided to write a story that detailed the
Questing Beast’s creation and how it can be seen as being symbolic of Arthur’s
sin of sleeping with his half-sister Morgause and birthing Mordred, who
becomes the agent of his own destruction. I wanted to portray the Questing
Beast as being an intelligent and somewhat tragic creature who desires to pass
on what it has learned through its own creation to Arthur.
 |
| Picture of Arthur and the Questing Beast (Un-textbook) |
Bibliography
Information:
Book: King
Arthur: Tales of the Round Table
Author: Andrew Lang
Year Published: 1902
Web Source: Un-textbook
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to be reading your writing again this week! I think you have a great writing style so I'm glad to be in the same group again this week. I also read this unit this week so I'm glad to be reading someone else's take on The Questing Beast.
I thought you writing about the creation and history of the beast was a really interesting take on the story. I was wondering how the beast came to be when I first read it so I really enjoyed this version of the story!
This brings me back so many memories from my freshman year in high school! During the time when we were studying the history of the English language, we read the Once and Future King, and I will always remember King Pellinore's desire to find the Questing Beast. As always, your talent for description shines in this story. Keep at it!
ReplyDeleteYour story was really intriguing and well written! I would have never assumed that the questing beast had such a creepy and tragic backstory, or such depth as a character. It makes you see the beast in grayer moral tones rather than purely evil. Also, I think it’s interesting how you deviated from the original story and had the beast and his backstory clearly foreshadow Arthur’s own demise. Anyways, well done!
ReplyDeleteHey, Kyle.
ReplyDeleteI have already read through and commented on your introduction in a previous week, so I decided to read another one of your storytelling posts. Even though I did not read the King Arthur unit, I still enjoyed your story! It kept me intrigued the entire time I was reading it. Also, I thought the beast made a very good point when it said it was telling King Arthur of those terrible things so he would not fall victim to them. Great job!
Glad that people liked it. I felt like this story lacked some spark since there's not a whole lot of exciting conflict in it. It's kind of ironic that some of the best-written stories I posted for this class ("Gallery of Accusers," "Yamato and the Demon Boar") tend to get less comments than the ones that I don't think were as good, but it's good to know that even my weaker stuff can still entertain a little.
ReplyDeleteHi again Kyle,
ReplyDeleteGreat job filling in the Questing Beast section from King Arthur. I read that unit and I was disappointed as to why the beast was barely mentioned so I like how you treated it. Your descriptions again were great and I could imagine what was going on much better than the original. You've got me intrigued so now I'm gonna have to look up the questing beast's background.
Great job!