sir gawain and the green knight

We don't realy find out a lot about Gawain's journey through the woods.  Gawain rides for months through a rough, unfriendly, and godless land. Often alone, Gawain has no friends but his horse and talks to no one but God. And no one he encounters knows of the Green Knight or the Green Chapel. Gawain battles with beasts and giants in his travels and struggles through a harsh, cold country which would have killed a weaker or more faithless man. On Christmas Eve, after toiling through a daunting wood, Gawain beseeches the Lord and Mary to guide him to some haven where he may attend mass and properly pray on Christmas morning. Then he finally finds the Green Knight's castle.