Grendel's Mother - Beowulf

I wanted to take an entirely different approach to portraying Grendel’s Mother than how she is usually
shown in other forms of media. Indeed, she is the Mother of the embodiment of Sin (Grendel), a direct
descendant of Cain, and a social outcast; and yet, before her son is slain by Beowulf, she is never
described as going on any kind of rampage. Grendel’s Mother resides in isolation along with other horrific
creatures, but she only is provoked to violence when she is overcome by grief and a desire to avenge her
son.
Grendel’s Mother is described as being a ‘wolfish swimmer’, with lacerating claws and a tough hide.
Instead of illustrating her as either a hideous sea-monster or a seductive sea nymph (as she has been
portrayed in rather unfaithful movie and video game adaptations), I took inspiration from the Selkie of
Celtic mythology - a shapeshifting creature that can take the appearance of a seal, a maiden, or an
amalgamation of the two; I replaced the seal traits with those of a wolf. She is incredibly strong and
powerful - I emphasized these qualities in her musculature and, to show her age, dulled down the vibrance
of her iridescent scales. The pose itself was inspired by the Weeping Angel statue in Rome by William
Wetmore Story - I wanted to accentuate her grief over her rage.
I desired to make the grotto itself a place of extreme natural beauty, isolated entirely from both good and
bad human influence. The blood in the water is Grendels, the last remnant of a once unstoppable force. As
this illustration shows the grotto before the encounter with Beowulf, I included the sword (named
“Hrunting”) he finds and uses to slay Grendel’s Mother. Lastly, I used the same yellow-green hue of
Grendel’s eyes for his Mother’s own, as well as her tears and bioluminescent lures.
Watch speedpaint here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUaNM-YVkEQ