A concise Arthurian bestiary

Rex Arturus: detail of 12th-century mosaic, Otranto Cathedral, Italy, depicting King Arthur astride a goat

This concise (but by no means exhaustive) listing in alphabetical order is a mere sampler of beasts appearing in Arthurian narratives: significant omissions are inevitable, and the scope excludes, for example, animals associated with Dark Age saints.

First published in 2005 in Pendragon, the journal of the Pendragon Society, ‘A concise Arthurian bestiary’ borrows from the concept of medieval bestiaries – compilations of weird and wonderful creatures that may or may not have existed, drawn from classical, literary and folkloric sources and often featured in heraldry and local legends.

I’ve kept the original references but slightly emended and expanded the text for clarification. It’s possible that the late fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones may have been influenced by this article when she began her posthumous novel, The Islands of Chaldea, later completed by her sister Ursula.