Please explain sending ending よったか

Question

This is an excerpt from ゲド戦記

竜が人間の地である
この東世界に現れよったか

Dragons here, in the east? Can this really be true?

I don't understand what よったか is doing here - can anyone kindly explain?

Thankyou!

Answer 1

This よった is the ta-form of よる, which is an auxiliary verb that adds an feeling of disdain, accusation or surprise. It's like やがる but sounds old or dialectal, and you would see this typically in western speech and the role language of old speakers. Etymologically, it derived from おる (居る), and おる itself has this function, too.

逃げよった！ (old/western)
≒ 逃げおった！ (old/western)
≒ 逃げやがった！

Damn, [he] ran away!

よる has several other functions. See: Function of 「masu-stem」＋よる in Kansai-ben

よる

〘助動〙 (補助動詞「おる（居）」の変化したもの。活用は「よら、よろ・より、よっ・よる・よる・よれ・よれ」) 動詞の連用形に付いて、動作主を軽く卑しめる意を表わし、また、その動作が進行中であることを表わす。

(Source: 精選版 日本国語大辞典)