Editing The Sword in the Stone (novel) (section)

== Plot of the ''Once and Future King'' version ==
The Wart is an orphan boy being raised by [[Sir Ector]] in the Castle Sauvage surrounded by the Forest of the same name. Alongside Ector's son [[Sir Kay|Kay]], Wart is training as a knight, although he can only rise to be Kay's squire because he is of common birth. Chasing a [[Eurasian_goshawk|tiercel goshawk]] that Kay had let get away during their [[falconry]] practice, Wart gets lost in the Forest Sauvage. He is shot at by an unseen bowman, and he encounters [[Pellinore|King Pellinore]] who is busy hunting the Questing Beast. Eventually, he meets the wizard [[Merlyn]] who is living backward in time, and frequently speaks of things that he has seen in the future. 

Wart and Merlyn return to Ector's castle, and the wizard becomes the boys' tutor. He pays special attention to Wart. Merlyn turns him into a fish, and together they explore the castle's moat. In one of their excursions, the boys and Merlyn encounter [[Little John]], who leads them to [[Robin Hood]] (referred to as Robin Wood) and [[Maid Marian|Marian]]. Their extended stay with Robin culminates in an encounter with a [[griffin]]. Kay manages to slay the beast, taking its head as a trophy. During the fray, the griffin breaks the Wart's collar bone.

While Wart is stuck in bed, Merlyn sends a spell through his bedroom keyhole to turn him into an ant. Wart crawls into the ant farms in his room and learns that ants think in binary terms of "Done" or "Not Done". After his [[clavicle]] heals, Merlyn later changes Wart into a [[badger]], and then a wild [[goose]] that flies so high as to not be able to perceive national boundaries, a pacifist message. Wart is confused about why he is tasked with keeping watch while the other geese eat. He assumes that he is meant to look out for rival geese, but the very notion that geese would eat their own kind is offensive to them. 

When Kay is ready to be knighted, Sir Ector and his retinue travel to [[London]], where he owns some property. As Kay approaches the tournament field, he realizes that he has left his sword back at the inn. Wart is sent back to retrieve it, but finds the inn locked. He finds a [[Excalibur#The Sword in the Stone and the Sword in the Lake|sword stuck in an anvil]] atop a stone in a churchyard. When Wart touches the sword, his senses heighten. He is unable to pull it out, but as he tries again, the voices of all the animals and friends he has made give him encouragement and remind him of the lessons they taught him. On the third try, the sword comes loose, and Wart rushes to Kay with it.

When Kay learns that Wart pulled it from the anvil, he knows it is the sword that will determine [[Uther Pendragon]]'s successor. He tells Sir Ector that ''he'' pulled it from the stone. However, when Ector asks him to replicate the feat, Kay admits that Wart was responsible. Wart is terrified when Sir Ector and Kay bow to him as their King.

After he is crowned, Wart is given gifts from all over the world and from his friends, both animal and human. Sir Ector sends him a dunce cap, which transforms into Merlyn. The wizard explains that Wart is Uther's son, and that his real name is Arthur.