In the
Arthurian legends, the
white hart or
white stag is a mystical beast pursued by the
Knights of the Round Table.
Sir Sagremor pursues a white hart in Les Merveilles de Rigomer, another is hunted in the Forest of Adventure in Chrétien's Erec and Enid, Floriant chases one to the castle of his foster mother Morgan Le Fay in Floriant et Florete, Percival cuts off the head of a white stag in the Didot Perceval, and Sir Gawain quests afer the white hart in book three of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.
It has been conjectured that the White Hart of Arthurian lore may have been drawn from Celtic myths, in which the stag was considered a sacred animal, or may be related to ancient Celtic stag cults known to have existed in early Britain.