Wales

Arthur and Cai

Worthy Cei went to Mon
To destroy lions.
Little protection did his shield offer
Against Palugís Cat.
When people shall ask, "Who slew Palugís Cat?"

CATH PALUG
A monstrous member of the cat family which appears in Welsh Arthurian poetry. The adjective Palug means 'clawing'. In the poem PA GUR, we are told that Kay went to Anglesey with a view to killing lions and was especially prepared for an encounter with Cath Palug. The poem is incomplete, but it may have told how Kay slew the beast. Welsh tradition told how the creature was produced by the pig Henwen and thrown into the sea, only to be raised by the sons of Palug on Anglesey. (Geoffrey Ashe suggests that a captive leopard, kept by a Welsh king, may have given rise to the tale.)
In Continental tales we learn how Arthur slew a giant cat near Lake Bourget in the French Alps. This combat is commemorated in the local names Col du Chat (cat's neck), Dent du Chat (cat's tooth) and Mont du Chat (cat's mountain). In French the animal was called Capalu. In the ROMANEZ DE FRANCEIS (medieval romance) Arthur fought the cat Capalu in a swamp and it killed him.
It then invaded England and became king. It has been suggested that we may have here an alternative tradition of Arthur's death. In BATAILLE LOQUIFER (medieval romance with limited Arthurian content) there is a youth called Kapalu, a servant of Morgan. # 104 - 156