Clearly this presents an obstacle for Beowulf because he has to kill Grendel with his bare hands. Although Beowulf has no weapons, he has no problem defeating Grendel with his bare hands. Beowulf tears Grendel's arm from his body, mortally wounding him, “wounded to death,/Grendel was forced to the marshes,/to his joyless lair” (727-730). Beowulf has won the battle since Grendel escapes and will likely bleed from the wound. Beowulf has no difficulty fighting Grendel other than using no weapons, which is not true of Beowulf's next two battles: Grendel's mother and the dragon. After his battle with Grendel, Beowulf must fight Grendel's most arduous mother. Grendel's mother emerges from the swamp to avenge her son and kills one of Hrothgar's most trusted advisors. As a result, Beowulf and other soldiers go to the lake to fight Grendel's mother, which makes the battle against Grendel's mother more difficult. This is because Beowulf is not in his territory and does not have the element of surprise that he had during his fight with Grendel. Before the fight, Beowulf disguises himself