King Pellinore

Pellinore is a major figure in the 13th-century Post-Vulgate prose cycle and the sections of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur based on it.

Though he claims his bloodline is destined perpetually to chase this bizarre monster, Sir Palamedes the Saracen takes up the quest, and, according to one version, slays the beast.

Pellinore was said to have been of the royal line of Joseph of Arimathea, whose dynasty guards the Holy Grail, according to Arthurian lore.

In the Livre d'Artus, Pellinore is called the "Maimed King" after being wounded by a holy spear, having doubted the powers of the Grail.

Another of his daughters, Alyne, dies early when he, not knowing it is her, ignores her pleas for help while hurrying to retrieve Nimue from her abductor at the behest of Arthur.