Grendel's mother

"Grendel's Mother" redirects here. For the Mountain Goats song, see Grendel's Mother (song).
An illustration of Grendel's mother by J. R. Skelton from Stories of Beowulf (1908) described as a "water-witch" trying to stab Beowulf

Grendel's mother (Old English: Grendles mōdor) is one of three antagonists in the anonymous Old English poem Beowulf (c. 700–1000 AD), the other two being Grendel and the dragon. Each antagonist reflects different negative aspects of both the hero Beowulf and the heroic society in which the poem is set.[removal or clarification needed] Grendel's mother is introduced in lines 1258b to 1259a as: "Grendles modor/ides, aglæcwif".

Grendel's mother, who is never given a name in the text, is the subject of an ongoing controversy among medieval scholars. This controversy is due to the ambiguity of a few words in Old English which appear in the original Beowulf manuscript. While there is agreement over the word "modor" (mother[1]), the phrase "ides,[2] aglæcwif[3]" is the subject of scholarly debate.

  1. ^ Tichy, Ondrej; Rocek, Martin. "módor". Bosworth-Toller's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  2. ^ Tichy, Ondrej; Rocek, Martin. "ides". Bosworth-Toller's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  3. ^ Tichy, Ondrej; Rocek, Martin. "ag-lǽc-wíf". Bosworth-Toller's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online. Retrieved 2022-02-09.