This is rather a ramble which started by my drawing Pellinor & the Lady from the Dragonfae oracle. I tend to look at the cards before I read the book, and in this case the name and the small dragon reminded me of the story of King Pellinore and the Questing Beast from the Arthurian legends.
The card has the words Bittersweet Farewell, and it is according to the book about two lovers who have to part. I cannot help but find the Pellinore story more apt. I am not surprised to see this card though because my daughter and her girlfriend of 2 and a half years, whom we all love very much, are going their separate ways. They still love each other, Liv will always be part of our family, as we will hers, and I know they need space to grow, but I cannot help be sad. It is very bittersweet. But we need this in our lives I guess, just like Pellinore needed his beast and vice versa.
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| Dragonfae Oracle by Lucy Cavendish |
King Pellinore spent his life searching for the Questing Beast, it drove him crazy. He would fall sleep in the saddle, so tired was he, even if he were not actively hunting he was thinking about his dear beast. Pellinore's quest got him into some bad situations involving such horrors as his own daughter torn apart by wild beasts of the forest, a curse on his life, the death of his horse and the failure of a friends loyalty and eventually his own death.
This beast was Pellinore's life….. if he ever found it, he would probably have died in the saddle, as his whole life purpose, according to him, would have been over. As it was he didn't find the beast as he was killed by the sons of King Lot of Orkney, whom he in turn had killed.
And what of the beast, was he as dependent on the chase as the King? Well there is rarely a good story that has no antagonist... as it happens the beast did suffer when at one time in his life Pellinore stopped his hunt and decided to take some rest and relaxation in a soft and comfortable bed at the home of his friend Sir Grummore. As we know, too much of the good life can be a danger to ones soul and this indeed happened to the King and his poor beast. He ventured out one day to renew his hunt and found the best pining away and half dead in the forest. To quote from T.H. White's
The Once and Future King:
“The spectacle which they came across was one for which they were not
prepared. In the middle of a dead gorse bush King Pellinore was sitting,
with tears streaming down his face. In his lap there was an enormous
snake’s head, which he was patting. ‘There, there’, the King was saying.
‘I did not mean to leave you altogether. It was only because I wanted
to sleep in a feather bed, just for a bit.’ ‘Poor creature’, said King
Pellinore indignantly. ‘It has, pined away, positively pined away, just
because there was nobody left to take an interest in it. How I could
have stayed all that while with Sir Grummore and never given my old
Beast a thought I really don’t know. Look at its ribs, I ask you. Like
the hoops of a barrel. And lying out in the snow all by itself, almost
without the will to live.’ ‘I happened on it in this gorse bush here,
with snow all over its poor back and tears in its eyes and nobody to
care for it in the wide world. It’s what comes of not leading a regular
life. Before it was all right. We got up at the same time, and quested
for regular hours, and went to bed at half past ten. Now look at it. It
has gone to pieces all together, and it will be your fault if it dies.
You and your bed. fter giving the Beast wine and bread The King insists that the
hunting party tie the Beast to a pole to transport it back to the castle
to be warmed by the fire and fed and nurtured back into health. The
King himself tended it until they were both ready to begin the quest
anew.”
“The
questing Beast having revived under the influence of kindliness and
bread and milk had bounded off into the snow with every sign of
gratitude, to be followed two hours later by the excited King, and the
watchers from the battlements had observed it confusing its snowy
footprints most ingeniously, as it reached the edge of the chase. It was
running backwards, bounding twenty foot sideways, rubbing out its marks
with its tail, climbing along horizontal branches, and performing many
other tricks with evident enjoyment. They had also seen King Pellinore –
who had dutifully kept his eyes shut and counted to ten thousand while
this was going on – becoming quite confused when he arrived at a
difficult spot, and finally galloping off in the wrong direction with
his brachet (hunting hound) behind him.” taken from T.H. White's The Once and Future King published by Harper Voyager.
I love this story, it is one of my very favorite parts in the legends of King Arthur, and it is such a wonderful example of how it is the, journey, the chase that matters, and not the destination or the prize. Both King Pellinore and the beast need each other, the beast needs to be wanted, his life depends on it, as much as Pellinore depends on the beast to give meaning to his life. When Pellinore stops the chase the beast is saddened, pines away and almost dies. To me the beast is like our spirit, when we neglect it and suffer ourselves too much worldly comfort, it becomes weak and begins to fade, it can no longer bring us the joy it once did.
There some images of The Questing Beast, that I really love.... the first by Arthur Rackham
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| Questing Beast by Arthur Rackham |
This next image is just beautiful and it is by a very talented illustrator
Carisa Swenson
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| Questing Beast by Carisa Swenson |
Carisa also has another
website which shows her delightful sculpted goblins, dolls and beasts of all kinds.
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| The Questing Beast by Claudon |
The final beast for today is by
C. David Claudon who retold Mallory's Morte d'Arthur.
I really love the idea of a wonderous and fantastical beast representing my soul or spirit... what does your soul look like?
