Editing Beowulf (section)

=== Second battle: Grendel's mother ===

{{further|Grendel's mother}}

The next night, after celebrating Grendel's defeat, Hrothgar and his men sleep in Heorot. Grendel's mother, angry that her son has been killed, sets out to get revenge. "Beowulf was elsewhere. Earlier, after the award of treasure, The Geat had been given another lodging"; his assistance would be absent in this attack.<ref>{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=James |title=The Norton Anthology of English Literature vol. A |date=2012 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |location=New York |page=70}}</ref> Grendel's mother violently kills [[Æschere]], who is Hrothgar's most loyal advisor, and escapes, later putting his head outside her lair.

Hrothgar, Beowulf, and their men track Grendel's mother to her lair under a lake. [[Unferð|Unferth]], a warrior who had earlier challenged him, presents Beowulf with his sword [[Hrunting]]. After stipulating a number of conditions to Hrothgar in case of his death (including the taking in of his kinsmen and the inheritance by Unferth of Beowulf's estate), Beowulf jumps into the lake and, while harassed by water monsters, gets to the bottom, where he finds a cavern. Grendel's mother pulls him in, and she and Beowulf engage in fierce combat.

At first, Grendel's mother prevails, and Hrunting proves incapable of hurting her; she throws Beowulf to the ground and, sitting astride him, tries to kill him with a short sword, but Beowulf is saved by his armour. Beowulf spots another sword, hanging on the wall and apparently made for giants, and cuts her head off with it. Travelling further into Grendel's mother's lair, Beowulf discovers Grendel's corpse and severs his head with the sword. Its blade melts because of the monster's "hot blood", leaving only the hilt. Beowulf swims back up to the edge of the lake where his men wait. Carrying the hilt of the sword and Grendel's head, he presents them to Hrothgar upon his return to Heorot. Hrothgar gives Beowulf many gifts, including the sword [[Nægling]], his family's heirloom. The events prompt a long reflection by the king, sometimes referred to as "Hrothgar's sermon", in which he urges Beowulf to be wary of pride and to reward his thegns.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hansen |first=E. T. |title=Hrothgar's 'sermon' in Beowulf as parental wisdom |doi=10.1017/S0263675100003203 |journal=Anglo-Saxon England |volume=10 |pages=53–67 |year=2008}}</ref>