“Though my life I forego,” says Gawayne, “no noise shall terrify me.” And he cried aloud: “Who dwells here and will hold discourse with me?” Then he heard a loud voice commanding him to abide where he stood, and soon there came out of a hole, with a fell weapon—a Danish axe, quite new—the Green Knight clothed just as Gawayne saw him long before. When he reached the stream, he leapt over it, and striding on, he met Sir Gawayne without the least obeisance.

“God preserve thee!” he says, “as a true knight thou hast timed thy travel. Thou knowest the covenant between us, that on New Year’s Day I should return thy blow. Here we are alone; have off thy helmet and take thy pay at once.”

“By my faith,” quoth Sir Gawayne, “I shall not begrudge thee thy will.”

Then he shows his bare neck, and appears undaunted. The Green Knight seizes his grim weapon, and with all his force raises it aloft. As it came gliding down, Sir Gawayne shrank a little with his shoulders, then the other reproved him, saying, “Thou art not that Gawayne that is so good esteemed, for thou fleest for fear before thou feelest harm. I never flinched when thou struckest; my head flew to my foot, yet I never fled; wherefore I ought to be called the better man.”

“I flinched once,” says Gawayne, “but will no more. Bring me to the point; deal me my death-blow at once.”

“Have at thee, then,” says the other, and with that, prepares to aim the fatal blow. Gawayne never flinches, but stands as still as a stone.

“Now,” says the Green Knight, “I must strike thee, since thy heart is whole.”

“Strike on,” says the other. Then the Green Knight makes ready to strike, and lets fall his axe on the bare neck of Sir Gawayne. The sharp weapon pierced the flesh so that the blood flowed. When Gawayne saw the blood on the snow, he unsheathed his sword, and thus he spake:

“Cease, man, of thy blow. If thou givest me any more, blow for blow shall I requite thee! We agreed only upon one stroke.”

The Green Knight rested on his axe, looked at Sir Gawayne, who appeared bold and fearless, and addressed him as follows:

“Bold knight, be not so wroth, I promised thee a stroke, and thou hast it. Be satisfied; I could have dealt worse with thee; I menaced thee first with one blow for the covenant between us on the first night. Another I aimed at thee because of the second night. A true man should restore truly, and then he need fear no harm. Thou failed at the third time, and therefore take thee that stroke, for my girdle (woven by my wife) thou wearest. I know thy secret, and my wife’s gift to thee, for I sent her to try thee, and faultless I found thee: but yet thou sinnedst a little, since thou tookest the girdle to save thy skin and for love of thy life.”

Sir Gawayne stands there confounded before the Green Knight.

“Cursed,” he says, “be cowardice and covetousness both!”

Then he takes off the girdle, and throws it to the Green Knight, and confesses himself to have been guilty of untruth. Then the other, laughing, thus spoke:

“Thou art confessed so clean, that I hold thee as free, as if thou hadst never been guilty. I give thee, Sir Gawayne, the gold-hemmed girdle as a token of thy adventure at the Green Chapel. Come again to my castle, and abide there for the remainder of the New Year’s festival.”