Grendel's Mother-6

The mother of Grendel is not that much different from Grendel himself. She is first described in Beowulf as a “greedy she-wolf (line 574).” She’s just as ugly, disfigured, and strong as her evil son. Because she’s a little disfigured, it affects the way she walks and does so with a slight limp. Even with this limp, it doesn’t stop her from getting what she wants. When she’s introduced into the poem of Beowulf, it begins by talking about how she had ruled for fifty years. Although there’s no reference towards her age, we can assume she’s at least in her sixties or seventies. It’s also a mystery as to what kind of relationship Grendel and his mother shared. In line 578, we find out that she also has claws much like Grendel, her son. If someone were to be captured in them, there’s no escaping. She lives beneath the waves where the water is hot like a fiery flame. This is symbolism towards the idea of living in Hell because both she and Grendel are relatives of Satan himself. In a way you can feel sorry for her because she didn’t chose to live this kind of life but now that she is, she must be killed to defeat evil. Living beneath the sea also explains why she smells like raw tuna, a completely foul smell. The very smell can paralyze anyone in its way before she can even get a hold of them. It’s not easy to fight something that smells as bad as her. Grendel was spawned in that slime so she can’t help but smell a little raw. Both Grendel and his mom are descendents of Cain and represent evil so it’s only natural for them to live in a dark world resembling Hell. At first we don’t even know she exists at all. She goes virtually unnoticed throughout Beowulf until the death of Grendel. This obviously upsets her because her son has just been killed. After the death of her son, she attacked Herot to avenge her son. She only takes one man however, Hrothgar’s closest friend. She also takes the trophy of her son’s arm off the rafter and brings it back with her beneath the waves to her den. She eagerly wants to get back at Beowulf and kill him. When the battle between the two first begins, she has the upper hand as she pins Beowulf to the ground. After a brief battle between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother, he viciously stabs her in the neck with a magical sword, breaking bone and all. The sword he got off a wall in the lair. Her grainy voice, like that of man, roared in agony as the sword ripped through her. Bright light came through in that hall from the Heaven’s as evil was defeated. Grendel and his mother were no more. Good had once again defeated evil. The Danes and King Hrothgar were once again safe from evil and all things that are bad.