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Grendel's Mother
By ndhill
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This is a follow up to a painting I did last year of Beowulf tearing off Grendel's arm. I recently decided to carry on with the next part; Beowulf facing Grendel's mother.
My idea behind Grendel and his mother is that they represented the last in a lineage of an old, isolated shamanistic clan that still worshipped the Northern European pagan deities. Their continued survival and propagation (and monstrous appearance) has since depended on a combination of inbreeding and black magic. It makes for good motivation for me as the interpreter of these characters but I don't think I could instill all that in one painting. So I've dropped hints such as the burning alter which depicts the Venus of Willendorf and Grendel's body lying on a mound of the skeletal remains of his stillborn siblings.
My idea behind Grendel and his mother is that they represented the last in a lineage of an old, isolated shamanistic clan that still worshipped the Northern European pagan deities. Their continued survival and propagation (and monstrous appearance) has since depended on a combination of inbreeding and black magic. It makes for good motivation for me as the interpreter of these characters but I don't think I could instill all that in one painting. So I've dropped hints such as the burning alter which depicts the Venus of Willendorf and Grendel's body lying on a mound of the skeletal remains of his stillborn siblings.
Image details
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© 2007 - 2021 ndhill
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It reminded me of a dream I saw once, It was a nightmare: " I saw as a blue monster with too long arms and legs spreaded on the ground, he was sitting and seemed asleep. So I tried to kill it, I approached from his back then I cut one of his arm, but it grew again in a second, I hurried to cut the other arm but it grew again in second, so I ran away coz it was awake! Then I spread some of knifes collection was in an old off freezer. They were shaped in fancy decorative way, and too sharp some were curved. So I chose one, then I walked again towards it but carefully.
For sorry the dream goes blur it didn't show me what happened next but then but cops had arrived.
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The house was in a sunken town, but this house was half sanken. And inhabited!
Anyway, its a great work and story behind make it worthy.
I enjoyed being here, keep it up.
For sorry the dream goes blur it didn't show me what happened next but then but cops had arrived.
------------
The house was in a sunken town, but this house was half sanken. And inhabited!
Anyway, its a great work and story behind make it worthy.
I enjoyed being here, keep it up.


*Looking between skeletons, Grendel, and mum* Damn, Grendel was a teeny baby for such a monstrosity!
And am I the only one here that noticed the tears?
My depiction isn't quite as (awesomely) nasty as this, but a bit closer to what I envision the depiction of her in "Grendel", but she's still not Jolie or lil' miss Playboy.
Film makers, y u make Mama Grendel sexy
!?
And am I the only one here that noticed the tears?
My depiction isn't quite as (awesomely) nasty as this, but a bit closer to what I envision the depiction of her in "Grendel", but she's still not Jolie or lil' miss Playboy.
Film makers, y u make Mama Grendel sexy

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