What are Grendel's mother's character traits in Beowulf?

Grendel’s mother is a monster who is described as “wife of trolls.”  She is a terrible beast that lives deep in the depths and rarely comes out, but she mourns Grendel’s death.

She was doomed to dwell in dreary waters and cold streams ever since Cain cut down his only brother, his father's son, with his sword-edge. (ch 19)

Grendel’s mother is not given a specific name, further reinforcing the fact that she lives through her offspring.  She is described as “bloodthirsty and grim,” and driven to avenge her son’s death.

She is not afraid, because she is so driven to take revenge on the men.  She thinks of nothing but killing as many of them as possible.  Beowulf is not there when she tears through the hall, but is able to go after her and kill her.  He follows her, the guardian of the lake, without malice.  She is a horrible monster, but she is still a mother and her hatred of her son’s killers is understandable.

What does Grendel's mother in Beowulf look like?

The Beowulf poet provides very little description of Grendel's mother in terms of her appearance. She is said to have "talons" and seems to have a tough hide, as Beowulf cannot pierce it until he wields a special sword made by the giants. She is described as aglaeca, a word also used to describe Beowulf. It has sometimes been translated as "fiend" or "monstrous," but this is disputed; and even if this is the correct meaning, it does not necessarily give any indication of her physical appearance.

We know quite a lot about what the poet thinks of Grendel's mother in terms of her personality, however. She is described as being greedy and gloomy of heart. We also know that she has incredible strength, enough to be able to pick up and kill an armed man. This is, in some ways, a terrible crime, but again the language used to describe Grendel's mother's actions suggests that she is acting simply as even Beowulf would. She is avenging her son by snatching away Aeschere, Hrothgar's main advisor, from Heorot, which is an example of what the heroic code would require noble warriors to do in such a situation. We know that she has such excessive strength that there was little chance of Aeschere being able to resist her, and the same is true of Beowulf himself.

Ultimately, then, the physical appearance of Grendel's mother is left to the imaginations of readers. Although many critics and readers have assumed that she is a hideous monster, there are other valid ways to envision her.

What obstacles does Beowulf face when confronting Grendel's mother?

Beowulf faces many challenges in his battle with Grendel’s mother.

The first and most obvious challenge Beowulf faces is finding and reaching the lair of Grendel’s mother. After the bloody attack on Heorot, Beowulf tracks the footprints of Grendel’s mother across desolate moors. The tracks lead to the edge of a cliff and a body of water that is seething with “sea dragons and monsters.” Presuming that Grendel’s mother will be found below the surface of the water, Beowulf casually kills a sea monster with an arrow and dons his helmet and armor for underwater battle. After delivering a brief speech, Beowulf dives into the water.

A second challenge that Beowulf faces is reaching the lair. It is revealed that Beowulf swims for “the better part of a day” before he can even see the bottom. Apparently, Beowulf’s super-human prowess in battle extends to his ability to hold his breath!

The third challenge faced by Beowulf is an ambush by Grendel’s mother. Snatching Beowulf in the water, Grendel’s mother’s “savage talons” cannot pierce the thick chain-mail Beowulf wears. In the water, Beowulf appears to be temporarily outclassed. Grendel’s mother drags him to her lair, clearly intending to finish him off. However, when Beowulf finds his feet again, he manages to unsheathe his sword.

This leads us to the fourth challenge: Beowulf’s sword can’t pierce the skin of the “swamp hag.” This is significant because the sword had been given to him by Unferth, and it was claimed that

It had never failed the hand of anyone who hefted it in battle.

When Beowulf realizes that the sword has failed him, he is unfazed. He abandons the legendary sword and determines to fight Grendel’s mother with his bare hands, anticipating a similar outcome to his earlier struggle with Grendel.

However, the fifth and most serious challenge Beowulf faces is that he is outmatched by Grendel’s mother in hand-to-hand combat. For the first time in the poem, Beowulf loses his confidence,

The sure-footed fighter felt daunted,
The strongest of warriors stumbled and fell.

Although he is saved from death by his armor, we are told that without it,

The son of Ecgtheow would have surely perished.

This moment is significant because it marks the first time in the poem where Beowulf is outmatched. Beowulf cannot defeat Grendel's mother without a weapon. Luckily for him, he spots a glittering sword amongst a pile of treasure in the lair, grabs it, and lops Grendel’s mother’s head off in a single stroke.

The battle with Grendel’s mother is a significant moment in the poem because although it highlights Beowulf’s superhero-like qualities, it also reveals that he is not invincible. Although he is superhuman, Beowulf is a mortal with weaknesses that are highlighted in later episodes of the poem.

Who does Grendel's mother kill in Beowulf?

Grendel's mother sneaks into Herot and kills Æschere (or Esher), who is described as one Hrothgar's favorite thanes, and a close associate of his. Hrothgar thus asks Beowulf to go and avenge the man's death. This Beowulf promptly does, following her to her lair in a nearby lake There Grendel's mother drags him to the bottom, taking him into her lair. Protected by his mail, he kills her with a magic sword, wielded by giants, that he spies in the hall. In the process, he severs the head of the corpse of Grendel as a trophy. Thus the king's liegeman is avenged, and Beowulf gains even more glory.

What does Grendel's mother symbolize in Beowulf?

In answering this question, it's important to be aware that there are many competing interpretations of the symbolism of Grendel's mother. That being so, one should recognize that no authoritative answer to this question exists.

A number of scholars and critics have, over the years, advanced the novel theory that Grendel's mother represents the unfathomable depths of human consciousness, a dangerous and mysterious place.

The pagan medieval Scandinavian culture depicted in Beowulf was not particularly amenable to any deep exploration of the human mind. Their values were relatively straightforward, based as they were on a warrior code. There was no empirical method by which to delve into the human mind to uncover the wellsprings of action.

Indeed, theirs was world was a world full of mystery, and human consciousness and its workings were, in this prescientific age, especially unfathomable. Grendel's mother is herself something of a mystery, a creature that, like her son, cannot adequately be explained. It is entirely appropriate in this regard that she lives in the dank, dark depths of a mere which she has inhabited for a hundred years.

The murkiness of Grendel's mother and the lair in which she lives aptly symbolizes the unfathomed, and possibly unfathomable, depths of the human consciousness. This is a realm that lies beyond the limits of adequate human knowledge.

In Beowulf, why is Grendel's mother feared and how does she die?

Grendel is a fierce animal, a monster of surpassing strength.  However, his mother possesses both an intelligence  he lacks, and supernatural abilities.  She lives at the bottom of a lake and can control both the water and the animals.  People fear her because she is a cunning and intelligent witch with powers they don't understand.

Beowulf is unable to kill her with his own sword.  She is too protected by her magic.  However, he spies in her lair the sword that was made giants, and kills her with a slice to the throat.

What is the symbolic significance of Grendel and his mother in Beowulf?

The epic poem Beowulf has an interesting trait, and it is that it mixes elements of paganism and Christianity. when it comes to the Christian elements, we find that Grendel, the dragon, and his mother are described as descendants of Cain. In Christianity, Cain and Abel are recognized as the sons of Adam and Eve. Presumably, Abel was the good son, while Cain was the bad one.  According to the biblical story,  Cain killed Abel and is known in the faith as the "kin killer".

It is also accepted in Christianity that all the descendants of Cain would be monsters, and other destructive beasts that represent the sins of the human race. Therefore, the fact that Grendel and his mother are described as descendants of Cain implies that they represent the forces of evil. Contrarily, Beowulf and his people are representative of the forces of all that is good, because both God and "the fates"  gave him a mission to fulfil. The fact that he fulfilled this destiny and defeated Grendel and his mother (evil) is what gave him his quality of superhero.

How does Beowulf kill Grendel's mother in Beowulf?

Beowulf's battle against Grendel's mother proves to be much more difficult than his earlier battle against Grendel himself. In fact, he very nearly loses the battle and is saved by a bit of good fortune. 

To reach Grendel's mother Beowulf has to swim to the bottom of a deep lake, so deep that "for hours he sank through the deep waves," before he "At last saw the mud of the bottom."

Once he finds her the battle is intense. With Grendel, he was able to rip off the arm, which sent Grendel running for safety. Grendel's mother is much more ferocious. The sword, Hrunting, given by Unferth, is unable to harm her. And Beowulf's helmet, always trustworthy to him in the past is rendered useless:

They wrestled, she ripped 
and tore and clawed at him, bit holes in his helmet,
And that too failed him; for the first time in years
Of being worn to war it would earn no glory.

Their fight continues until Beowulf finds something to help him:

Then he saw, hanging on the wall, a heavy
Sword, hammered by giants, strong
And blessed with their magic.

It is this sword, created by an ancient race of giants, that Beowulf uses to finally defeat her. 

Is Grendel's mother considered a monster in Beowulf?

The word "aglaeca" in Beowulf has sparked a fair amount of scholarship over the centuries. The word was translated by the influential scholar Frederick Klaeber, in the phrase "aglaec-wif," as "monstrous." His translation described Grendel's mother as a "monstrous woman." However, later scholars have pointed out that aglaeca is also a word used to describe Beowulf. If this is the case, it is more likely that it means superhuman or warrior. It is certainly notable that the same word is used to describe both Beowulf and his opponent, suggesting that if Grendel's mother is a monster, she is no more so than Beowulf himself.

There is other language used within the poem which would seem to classify Grendel's mother as a noble woman or warrior, such as "ides" or "lady." Grendel's mother is a foil to Beowulf in many ways, but in others, she behaves in exactly the same way as he does and adheres perfectly to the heroic code. Her son, her kinsman, has been murdered, and she therefore goes out of her way to avenge his death. This is exactly what Beowulf is doing on behalf of Hrothgar, and it is exactly what the heroic code would expect a noble warrior to do.

If we think about Grendel's mother in this way, as a heroic figure defending her child, it is difficult to classify her outright as a monster.