Week 12 Story: The Mother Monster
Those wretched Northmen with their swords. Their swords and their giant oaf Beowulf. Curse that Beowulf and his pride and valor. He should never had set foot within her feeding grounds. He was arrogant! Young and foolish! He did not know what he had done. He had killed her baby boy! And now he would die!
Mother-Monster paced back and forth in her lair, angrily throwing ingredients into her boiling cauldron. She was furious and heartbroken. Grendel, her pride and joy, her baby, had been needlessly murdered at the hand of Beowulf. She had been so proud of Grendel. He was so large and fearsome, a perfect combination of her reptilian nature and his demon father. When he was just a growing seed, she crafted his heinous form and wicked constitution through alchemic and magical arts. She ripped her own soul from her chest to make Grendel the most fearsome creature in the land. Now, all of that was gone. Her baby lay in a pool of his own blood, dead.
She was not going to let Beowulf survive after destroying her progeny. Long ago she had pledged her life to the gods of the underworld and the wicked creatures of the night. They had blessed her with serpents for hair, scales as skin, and hot fire-breath. She learned the way of their dark magic and now ruled the land. She was meant to be feared and Beowulf would feel her wrath.
She poured her anger into her brewing concoction. The green flame underneath the black pot fed off of her vile hatred. It grew, casting its blazing heat throughout her lair. She hastened to finish her curse. Soon the pot bubbled tar black. She cackled as the foul aroma filled the air. The snakes fastened to her head hissed in glee. Their forked tongues tickled her cheek. She jumped into the pot, shrieking as the potion boiled around her, penetrating her skin.
When the magic was done, she stepped out of the cauldron. Her skin was stained purplish black. No sword of man would now be able to pierce her skin. Any scratch or bite from her would send brackish poison throughout the veins of her prey.
Mother-Monster was ready to kill Beowulf.
Grendel's Mother, the Water Witch. Web Source: Wikipedia
Author's Note: For this story, I was inspired by Beowulf and his interaction with Grendel and Mother-Monster (Grendel's mother). In the story, Grendel is a giant monster who destroys an entire country and feasts on their youth. Beowulf is a young warrior from another country, known for his strength and his clumsiness, Beowulf wants to prove himself as a courageous warrior. He kills Grendel. The next night, the kingdom is attacked by Grendel's mother who is described as a hellish Medusa-like lake monster. Beowulf goes after Mother-Monster and eventually slays her as well. I was intrigued with the idea of a monster avenging her son, so I wanted to write a short excerpt from Mother-Monster's point of view as she prepares to fight Beowulf.
Hey Haley! I like that you chose Beowulf as your inspiration. I think that you took the perspective change and used it well; it was an interesting way to frame the story, and That you really saw her as a somewhat loving mother instead of the power hungry monster that gets shown in the original story.
ReplyDeleteHi, Haley!
ReplyDeleteI also read Beowulf during our British unit, and absolutely loved it! As part of my research, I looked up the film version of Beowulf that came out in 2007, and thought it had an excellent storyline between Beowulf and Grendel's mother. In the movie, Beowulf is seduced by the witch, who births Beowulf's child - the dragon that eventually kills him. I thought it was such a cool twist on the tension between Beowulf and the witch. Like you story above, I am interested in any retelling that further develops the feelings and motivations of Grendel's mother.
Hi Haley! I really liked how for your story you gave us Mother-Monster’s point of view. I think this shows that even monsters care about things (even if it is another monster). I read Beowulf in high school and I also saw some of the movie that had Angelina Jolie. They are nothing alike and I would not recommend the movie as it does not really follow the original story of Beowulf.
ReplyDeleteChanges in point of view are great. Even if she's a monster, many villains and monsters are driven by their own emotions. In a way, it's a reminder that even those considered evil have their own motivations that they don't believe to be evil. Beowulf was doing good by killing Grendel, but doing so resulted in Mother-Monster wanting revenge for her son's death.
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