"Loke, Gawan, þou be grayþe to go as þou hettez

And layte as lelly til þou me, lude, fynde

As þou hatz hette in þis halle, herande þise knyʒtes.

To þe Grene Chapel þou chose, I charge þe to fotte

Such a dunt as þou hatz dalt--disserued þou habbez--

To be ʒederly ʒolden on Nw Ʒeres morn.

Þe Knyʒt of þe Grene Chapel men knowen me mony;

Forþi me for to fynde, if þou fraystez, faylez þou neuer.

Þerfore com, oþer recreaunt be calde þe behoues."

[“See to it, Gawain, that you go as you have promised,

And faithfully seek me, man, until you find me,

As you have sworn in this hall, in the hearing of these knights.

To the Green Chapel you go, I charge you, to get

A stroke as you have struck -- for you do deserve it --

To be promptly repaid on New Year’s morn.

As ‘the Knight of the Green Chapel’ many men know me;

And so to find me, if you ask, will you never fail.

Therefore come, or you must be called ‘recreant knight.’”]

(Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, lines 448-56)

This site by Michael Twomey; last updated 16 September 2020

Photograph: Michael Twomey