“Stay,” quoth one on the bank above his head, “and ye shall speedily
have that which I promised ye.” Yet for a while the noise of whetting
went on ere he appeared, and then he came forth from a cave in the crag
with a fell weapon, a Danish axe newly dight, wherewith to deal the
blow. An evil head it had, four feet large, no less, sharply ground, and
bound to the handle by the lace that gleamed brightly. And the knight
himself was all green as before, face and foot, locks and beard, but now
he was afoot. When he came to the water he would not wade it, but sprang
over with the pole of his axe, and strode boldly over the brent that was
white with snow.
Sir Gawain went to meet him, but he made no low bow. The other said,
“Now, fair sir, one may trust thee to keep tryst. Thou art welcome,
Gawain, to my place. Thou hast timed thy coming as befits a true man.
Thou knowest the covenant set between us: at this time twelve months
agone thou didst take that which fell to thee, and I at this New Year
will readily requite thee. We are in this valley, verily alone, here are
no knights to sever us, do what we will. Have off thy helm from thine
head, and have here thy pay; make me no more talking than I did then
when thou didst strike off my head with one blow.”
“Nay,” quoth Gawain, “by God that gave me life, I shall make no moan
whatever befall me, but make thou ready for the blow and I shall stand
still and say never a word to thee, do as thou wilt.”
With that he bent his head and shewed his neck all bare, and made as if
he had no fear, for he would not be thought a-dread.