 Meanwhile, the Morrigan, who Garner presents as a malevolent shapeshifting witch, has a name adopted from Irish mythology, where she is a war goddess who is the most powerful aspect of the tripartite goddess Badb.Literary critic Neil Philip also argued that further folkloric and mythological influences could be seen in the character of Grimnir, who had both a foul smell and an aversion to fresh water, characteristics traditionally associated with the Nuckalevee, a creature in Scottish folklore.Accompanying this, Philip opined that Grimnir was also "half identified" with the creature Grendel, the antagonist in the Old English poem "Beowulf".