What is in question here is his "troth" or truth. What is the significance of the green girdle in the final lines? Does the Green Knight play by the rules of courtesy?
What happens the first time the Green Knight raises the ax? What does the guide say about the Green Knight? It is clear that Gawain knows giving in would be a sin and a violation of his host's good hospitality. In traditional "courtly love," a knight performs feats of valor for a lady he loves who is generally not his wife.
This concept is similar to the Chaucerian virtue of " gentilesse ," and may be represented by other terms such as "courtly," "courtliness" or "courteous. Are they idealized, realistically portrayed, caricatures?