On one level, Hrothgar's queen, Wealhtheow, and Grendel's mother, who is nameless, cannot contrast more starkly. Even though they are both female characters in a masculine society, Wealhtheow exhibits the gentleness and political astuteness we expect from a high-ranking woman, but Grendel's mother, because she is a descendant of Cain, views mankind with the same implacable hatred as Grendel. Women of royal status in Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon tribes are often referred to as peace-bringers or peace-weavers because they serve as moderating influences on the masculine aggression of a warrior societies, and that is Wealhtheow's role in Beowulf. Like Grendel, Grendel's mother is a force of nature bent on man's destruction. There exists, however, a subtle but important point of comparison—both females take steps to either preserve their children or, having lost the chance to preserve, avenge a child's death.
Early in the celebration after Grendel's death, Hrothgar essentially adopts...
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Beowulf as his son:
Now Beowulf, you, / best of men, I will love in my heart / as my own son; keep well / the new kinship. (ll. 946-948)
In a warrior society, this declaration is akin to an oath—in a very real sense, Hrothgar has just acknowledged Beowulf as his son, despite the fact that Hrothgar and Wealhtheow have two younger children; and in this warrior society, Hrothgar's elevating of Beowulf to this status can be seen as placing Beowulf ahead of Hrothgar's children in the line of succession.
Wealhtheow's role as peace-weaver is immediately on display when she reacts to Hrothgar's declaration:
I have been told that you [Hrothgar] would have / this warrior for a son. ... I know... that he will treat / these children with kindness, if you before him, / friend of the Scyldings, leave off the world. (ll. 1180-1183)
As the queen and mother of Hrothgar's two sons, who are his successors, Wealhtheow cannot help but perceive Hrothgar's elevation of Beowulf as an implied threat to the kingship of her children. But rather than challenging Hrothgar or telling Beowulf explicitly that he cannot be Hrothgar's successor, she gently but pointedly reminds Beowulf to treat her children justly. She expands this point immediately by reminding Beowulf that he owes an allegiance to both Hrothgar and her:
I believe that he with good will requite / our children, if he remembers all / the kindnesses we bestowed for his pleasure / and for his honour, when he was yet a child. (ll. 1184-1187)
Wealhtheow subtly makes the point that Beowulf owes allegiance not only to Hrothgar but also to Wealhtheow because "we bestowed" honors upon him. In short, Wealhtheow is trying to insure that her sons remain Hrothgar's sole heir and that Beowulf understands that he is their protector, not their rival.
Unlike Wealhtheow, Grendel's mother cannot take any steps to insure that her child remains undisturbed and alive—Grendel's actions doom him—but she, mirroring Wealhtheow's urge to protect her sons' rights, can at least avenge Grendel's death, a familial duty:
And his mother, still / greedy and gallows-minded / wished to walk/a sorrowful journey, to avenge her son's death. (ll. 1279-1278)
In Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon tribal life, the death of a loved one through battle or murder can be recompensed in two ways—the payment of wergild (that is, the payment of money to compensate for the loss of a loved one) or the death of the killer. Because Grendel and, by extension, his mother are at war with mankind, Grendel's mother has no choice but to kill one of Hrothgar's men.
As different as the two female characters are in most respects—Wealhtheow representing the politics of peace and Grendel's mother the horror of vengeance—both the queen of the Danes and the "queen" of Cain's monstrous descendants are mothers who try to keep faith with their children.