Little John Being Massive (Verbal Irony)
One of Robin Hood's Merry Men is given the nickname Little John. Despite his nickname, Little John is actually massive, being described as having near-giant proportions. In this instance of verbal irony, his nickname is in direct contrast to his sizable physical stature.
King Pellinore Spares the Questing Beast (Situational Irony)
King Pellinore spends most of the novel in search of the Questing Beast, but is unable to find it for a long while. This quest consumes him and becomes a point of intense obsession. However, when he actually finds the beast and sees its diminished state, he immediately becomes overcome with a desire to take care of it and abandons his previous goal of vanquishing it. In this instance of situational irony, Pellinore finally reaches his ultimate goal only to do an immediate about-face.
Wart Becomes King (Situational Irony)
From the novel's outset, Wart wants to become a knight and is disappointed that Kay will have the opportunity to do so while he can only hope to become a squire. Moreover, Wart is often forced to do things for Kay because of Wart's lower social status. This divide culminates in the moment in which Kay tells him to retrieve his sword from the inn, inadvertently resulting in Wart removing the sword from the stone. In this moment of situational irony, Kay exercising his social power over Wart results in Wart becoming king.
Wart is the Son of King Pendragon (Dramatic Irony)
The mystery of Wart's parentage isn't revealed until the end of the novel. After Wart has pulled the sword from the stone, Merlyn reveals that he is the son of Uther Pendragon. In this moment of dramatic irony, it showed that all along Wart was the successor to the throne, despite having been placed beneath characters like Sir Ector and Kay throughout the novel.
