Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, or as I will abbreviate for the sake of abbreviation, SGGK, begins by summarising the history of Britain, beginning as early as the beginnings of Rome from the Trojan War and Romulus. The poet writes of the great men of Britain, including King Arthur, whence the story of SGGK takes place: his court in Camelot around the Round Table.
After this background, the story begins at Christmastime in Camelot, where Arthur, Genevieve, and their court celebrate by feasting. A large mysterious man clad in green appears and asks someone to dual him. No one in the court accepts, and the green knight questions the fortitude of the knights of the Round Table. Arthur then accepts the dual, but when interrupted by his frail cousin, Gawain, who takes on the dual himself. The green knight demands that after the dual, Gawain must find him where he lives. Gawain accepts and the green knight exposes his neck as Gawain beheads him with an axe. The bleeding head of the green knight. The green knight's body walks to the head, picks it up, and reminds Gawain of their deal. With head in arm, the green knight rode off.
Arthur, unmoved by the odd events, continued the feasting and celebration in his court.
As far as meter goes in the story, I noticed that [roughly] every 20 lines, the poems flow would be broken by four lines of iambic hexameter. These four lines seemed to serve as transitional lines in the poem, moving the story from one event to another.
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