Gawain, nephew of King Arthur, accepts the challenge and beheads the knight. The knight then picks up his head and vows that in a year and one day, Gawain shall meet him for his return blow. Gawain, after staying with a country lord, meets the Green Knight at his church and rather imperfectly, in a non-chivalric manner, accepts the return blow of the Green Knight. .
Beowulf is a Germanic epic poem that was first written some time before the beginning of the second millennia A.D. Scholars have yet to prove either who originated the tale of Beowulf or who first wrote it down, so we will refer to "the poet of Beowulf" and not any person in particular. The poet has transformed a traditional Germanic epic into a Christian epic poem. There is a balanced mix of old pagan elements alongside Christian ideals. .
Within the prologue of Beowulf we are given numerous Christian ideals. The poet subtlety compares Beow, son of Shield, with Jesus Christ when he speaks of Beow's birth, " a boy-child was born to Shield a comfort sent by God" (32). It is believed that one of the intents God had for his only son on Earth was that he be a salve for the suffering of humanity. Strangely, there are not any references to Jesus or the "son of God" in Beowulf. God, in the lines that follow, is referred to as the "Lord of Life" and "the glorious Almighty" (33). When Shield dies, he passes into the "Lord's keeping" (since Christians believe that they are embraced and come into the presence of God upon death), yet he is given a proper Viking burial; a funeral pyre on a longboat (33). .
The first part of Beowulf starts with a recounting similar to the Bible story of Genesis. Grendel, when introduced, is given one of the ultimate stigmas in the Christian lexicon by being referred to as one of " Cain's clan, whom the Creator had outlawed / and condemned as outcasts. For the killing of Abel / the Eternal Lord had exacted a price- (35).