Grendel

Submission for 2013 Creature Cabal.
I thought it was really strange that I got sick on the Sunday I decided to post the son of Cain on this blog, so I decided to wait an extra day. (I got better, thank you very much.)
From the first English monster story comes this year's literary creature submission. A son of the first murderer, (and, therefore, the embodiment of all things evil) he lives in exile in the moors of the wilderness of Denmark, despising all joy and happiness. When the the grand mead-hall Herat is built not far from his home, he goes mad from their sounds of merry-making. That, night, he exacts revenge by invading and killing thirty of the king's guard. For the next several weeks, many brave knights do their best to bring this beast down, but he's cursed so no mortal weapon may harm him. It isn't long before the blood of those warriors ran like river water out of the hall. So, the hall sits in useless for twelve long winters, ruled by the unspeakable Grendel...
Some design notes; I'm fairly certain Cain was a human, so it isn't likely that he'd father this any time soon. However, the monster's home (the Epic poem Beowulf) offers some clues. His mother is referred to as a "she-wolf" during her fight with the title character. While not descriptions are very clear otherwise, it DID place a lot of emphasis on Grendel's arms, and their might and value as a trophy. If anything, THOSE had to stand out in the final design. Also, since all the poem was- simply- was a complex propaganda piece for Christianity, I thought Germanic Paganism would be fun to incorporate.
Food for thought...

Drawn in Pencil, colored in Photoshop