Friday, February 8, 2008

Grendel's Mother

I just finished this ink drawing last night. My depiction of the mother that spawned, Grendel, the beast that cursed Hrothgar for 12 years. While there are many interpretations of what Grendel's mother might have looked like and where she dwelt. I favored the idea of Grendel's mother being a nearly camouflaged part of the landscape itself. A great thistled and briar-like mane encircles her body. Patches of moss and wetland debris cover her like a hide. Sinewed arms, bearing taloned claws, protrude from within its protection. If Grendel's mother was this frightening, I shudder to think of the visage of her offspring.

(8/0 Royal RG 250 brush, Bombay Black india ink, 300 series Strathmore Bristol, 9" x 12")

4 comments:

DPetersen said...

"Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway"

DLG said...

beautiful work :)

chrisisconfy said...

excellent, i am so tired of the "sexy" interpretations of grendles mother. she was supposed to be a beast, and you captured that sufficiently!

Nathan Pride said...

DPetersen that is certainly an interesting musical quote to attach to the piece. I like it!

Thanks so much cyn and chrisisconfy! I really loved the ancient poem of "Beowulf" and wanted to draw her in a way that would befit a "descendant of Cain" that lives in an underwater cave. I would not have wanted to be in Beowulf's shoes.