Summary: Chapter 14
In November, Sir Ector receives a letter from Uther Pendragon,
the king of England, telling him that the royal huntsman, William Twyti,
will be coming to hunt near Sir Ector’s castle that winter. Sir Ector
is expected to house Twyti, his dogs, and his men.
Summary: Chapter 15
On Christmas night, the whole village comes to the great
hall of the castle to feast. William Twyti is there with his men.
The castle and its fields are beautiful under the snow, and everyone
is in a good mood.
Summary: Chapter 16
Early the next morning, Twyti gathers his men
and his dogs for the hunt. With the help of Robin Wood, they find
a boar. The boar eventually rushes at Twyti, but Robin kills it
with a sword before it can harm Twyti. After the hunt, Pellinore
finds the Questing Beast lying sick on the ground and deduces that
the beast’s decline is his fault. Pellinore is guilt-ridden by the
thought that he has been resting in Sir Grummore’s castle for months
while the beast has pined away in his absence. He gathers men to
bring the Questing Beast back to Sir Ector’s castle, where he plans
to nurse it back to health so the quest can begin again.
Summary: Chapter 17
One day in spring, Merlyn, the Wart, and Merlyn’s talking
owl, Archimedes, have a conversation. The Wart claims that the rook
is his favorite bird because it flies as though it has a sense of
humor. Archimedes says his favorite bird is the pigeon. Merlyn speculates that
the calls of birds and animals are imitations of sounds in nature.
Summary: Chapter 18
That night, Merlyn transforms the Wart into an owl. Archimedes teaches
him to fly gracefully. Once the Wart knows how to fly, Merlyn turns
him into a goose and transports him to a vast, wet plain. The Wart
flies with other geese, looks for food, stands guard as they eat,
and meets a female goose named Lyo-lyok. She makes fun of his strange
behavior, and the Wart tells her that he is really a human. He shocks
her by wondering out loud whether they are guarding against an attack
by other geese. Lyo-lyok tells him that the idea of two
groups of the same species killing each other is unthinkable, since there
are already predators outside of their species and since there are no
boundaries or territories in the air that can be fought over.
Summary: Chapter 19
The Wart learns about the geese’s society from Lyo-lyok.
The geese have no private property or laws, and their leaders are
selected on the basis of their ability to navigate. Soon the time
for migration comes, and on their first day of flight, they travel
to Norway. The Wart wakes up in his human form to hear Kay, with
whom the Wart shares a bed, telling him he snores like a goose.
