It is a bitterly cold, grey January morning. The snow is pelting down cruelly, the wind is howling across the hills, driving deep snow drifts into every dale, and Gawain is getting ready to face what he considers to be his biggest challenge yet. This time last year an imposing stranger, a giant green man swathed in green and gold, had interrupted the New Year's feast at Camelot and challenged the court to a beheading game. Gawain had valiantly beheaded the man with one swing of a great axe and the party had recoiled in horror when the Green Knight picked up his head, held it aloft and announced that Gawain must seek him out for a returning blow in one year's time. Gawain has travelled far in search of the Green Knight, enduring harsh conditions and battling fierce monsters. He has enjoyed brief respite in a castle called Hautdesert, where he has been allowed to lie in bed until late in the day and be entertained in the warmth of the castle by his host's wife, who met him every morning in his chamber while his host Bertilak went out hunting. His break is now over, and he must confront his destiny. He dresses in the finest clothes, dons the brightest armour and adds as a final touch the green and gold silk girdle given to him by his host's wife on their last morning together in his chamber. Despite the terrified warnings of his guide, Gawain seeks out the Green Knight to receive his beheading. Though he stands to receive the blow, he flinches away from the axe and the knight misses. Duly admonished, he stands stock-still, awaiting death as the gleaming great axe swings down for a second time towards his bare neck.

To the surprise of both Gawain and the modern reader encountering Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for the first time, the Green Knight does not kill Gawain, but instead gives him a small nick on his neck before releasing him.