As they had agreed, the Green Knight took the axe.
He was going to cut off Sir Gawain's head, when suddenly he stopped. He tried a second time, but again stopped. The third time, he cut Sir Gawain's neck a little, but didn't hurt him. Sir Gawain was angry. He said: "Why did you try three times? We agreed only once!" The Green Knight told him that he was, in fact, the lord of the castle. "I didn't cut you the first two times because you were honest for two days! But on the third day, you didn't tell me about the belt. So I had to cut you!" Sir Gawain returned to King Arthur's court.