Answer:
These lines tell us that the Green Knight mocked the knights of Arthur’s court for being cowardly and not accepting his challenge. King Arthur stepped up to accept the challenge himself, but Gawain does not let his king suffer such humiliation and accepts the potentially fatal challenge. By this act, Gawain upholds the code of chivalry.
Explanation:
The words to complete the paragraph are humiliation and code according to the context provided by the two paragraphs, Gawain was not going to allow his king to pass through an embarrassing situation and he follows a code that all the King's men have to follow that is also called the honor code, which includes some points as protecting the weak and defenseless, obeying those placed in authority, and always speaking the truth, bravery, courtesy, honour and great gallantry toward women.
