Joseph Ratcliffe Skelton in the context of "Grendel's mother"

⭐ In the context of *Beowulf*, Joseph Ratcliffe Skelton's work primarily concerns which aspect of Grendel's mother?

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⭐ Core Definition: Joseph Ratcliffe Skelton

Joseph Ratcliffe Skelton (1865–1927), often called J. R. Skelton, was a prolific English illustrator, working in watercolour and oils among other media.

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👉 Joseph Ratcliffe Skelton in the context of Grendel's mother

Grendel's mother (Old English: Grendles mōdor) or Mrs. Grendel is one of three antagonists in the anonymous Old English poem Beowulf (c. 700–1000 AD), the other two being Grendel himself and the dragon. Each antagonist reflects different negative aspects of both the hero Beowulf and the heroic society in which the poem is set. Grendel's mother is introduced in lines 1258b to 1259a as: "Grendles modor/ides, aglæcwif".

Grendel's mother, who is never given a name in the text, is the subject of an ongoing controversy among medieval scholars. This controversy is due to the ambiguity of a few words in Old English which appear in the original Beowulf manuscript. While there is agreement over the word "modor" (mother), the phrase "ides, aglæcwif" is the subject of scholarly debate.

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Joseph Ratcliffe Skelton in the context of Scop

A scop (/ʃɒp/ or /skɒp/) was a poet as represented in Old English poetry. The scop is the Old English counterpart of the Old Norse skald, with the important difference that "skald" was applied to historical persons, and scop is used, for the most part, to designate oral poets within Old English literature. Very little is known about scops, and their historical existence is questioned by some scholars.

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