folklore
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
, giants (from
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
: ''
gigas Gigas may refer to:
* Gigas, one of the Gigantes (Giants) in Greek mythology
* Gigas (company), a Spanish cloud services company
* Guigass, a snow ape like kaiju from ''Ultraman''
* ''Codex Gigas'', a medieval manuscript
* gigue
The gigue ( , ...
'', cognate
giga-
Giga- ( or ) is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of a short-scale billion or long-scale milliard (109 or 1,000,000,000). It has the symbol G.
''Giga-'' is derived from the Greek word (''gígas''), meaning "giant". The ...
) are
being
Existence is the state of having being or reality in contrast to nonexistence and nonbeing. Existence is often contrasted with essence: the essence of an entity is its essential features or qualities, which can be understood even if one do ...
s of
humanoid
A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and '' -oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. By the 20th century, the term came to describe fossils which were morphologically similar, but not identical, to those of ...
appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 from Robert of Gloucester's chronicle. It is derived from the ''
Gigantes
In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, the Giants, also called Gigantes (Ancient Greek, Greek: Γίγαντες, ''wiktionary:gigantes, Gígantes'', Γίγας, ''wiktionary:gigas, Gígas''), were a race of great strength and aggression, ...
'' () of
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
.
Fairy tales
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...
such as ''
Jack the Giant Killer
"Jack the Giant Killer" is a Cornish fairy tale and legend about a man who slays a number of bad giants during King Arthur's reign. The tale is characterised by violence, gore and blood-letting. Giants are prominent in Cornish folklore, Breto ...
'' have formed the modern perception of giants as dimwitted and violent
ogres
An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world. ...
, sometimes said to eat humans, while other giants tend to eat livestock. In more recent portrayals, like those of
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...
and
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...
, some giants are both intelligent and friendly.
Literary and cultural analysis
Giants appear many times in folklore and myths. Representing the human body enlarged to the point of being monstrous, giants evoke terror and remind humans of their body's frailty and mortality. They are often portrayed as monsters and antagonists, but there are exceptions. Some giants intermingle with humans in a friendly way and can even be part of human families with their offspring being portrayed as regular humans where they are often referred to as
half-giant
Half-giants are fictional beings that have one parent that is a giant and another parent that is a different species.
Description
In most cases, a half-giant is the result of a union between a human and a giant. Often they are of normal size or sl ...
s.
Folklorists and historians examine the role giants are assigned in regional geomythologies. For example,
Fionn mac Cumhaill
Fionn mac Cumhaill, often anglicised Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is the leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of young roving hunter-warriors, as well as being a seer a ...
is said to have built the
Giant's Causeway
The Giant's Causeway () is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcano, volcanic fissure eruption, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province active in the region during the Paleogene period. ...
on the
island of Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Irelanda sovereign state covering five-sixths of th ...
. Per a 1965 examination in an
American studies
American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, History of the United States, history, Society of the United States, society, and Culture of the Unit ...
journal, "It is generally admitted today that
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His tall tales revolve around his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox, his pet and working animal. The character originate ...
was a synthetic figure conceived by advertising men rather than the spontaneous product of the folk mind, yet he has been adopted by the American people with enthusiasm...Paul and his blue ox Babe are supposed to have altered the appearance of the American continent; the animal's hoof prints became the lake beds of the Northwest and from its drinking trough spilled the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
." Fossilized remains of ancient mammals and reptiles common to the
Sivalik Hills
The Sivalik Hills, also known as Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas.
The literal translation of "Sivalik" is 'tresses of Shiva'. The hills are known for their numerous fossils, and are also home to the Soanian Middle Pale ...
of India may have influenced aspects of the
Mahābhārata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succe ...
that tell of battles in which "hundreds of mighty, and sometimes gigantic, heroes, horses, and
war elephants
A war elephant is an elephant that is trained and guided by humans for combat purposes. Historically, the war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks, and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific mil ...
are said to have died."
Archeology and paleontology
Claudine Cohen Claudine may refer to: Name
* Claudine (given name), a feminine given name of French origin
Culture
* ''Claudine'' (film), a 1974 American film by John Berry
** ''Claudine'' (soundtrack), its soundtrack album. Music by Curtis Mayfield
Curti ...
, in her 2002 book ''The Fate of the Mammoth'', argued that the history of human interaction with fossil bones of prehistoric
megafauna
In zoology, megafauna (from Ancient Greek, Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and Neo-Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately , this lower en ...
was heavily influenced by giant lore. Per Cohen, the proto-scientific study of giants appears in several phases of human history:
Herodotus
Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...
Tegea
Tegea (; ) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal unit with an area o ...
Crete
Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
after an earthquake, and seemed to refer to evolution as the process by which giants become human-size over time; and
Saint Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...
mentions what is believed to have been the fossilized molar of an ancient
Elephantidae
Elephantidae is a family (biology), family of large, herbivorous proboscidean mammals which includes the living Elephant, elephants (belonging to the genera ''Elephas'' and ''Loxodonta''), as well as a number of extinct genera like ''Mammuthus'' ...
in his '' City of God'', in a passage reflecting on the nature and meaning of the Noahacian deluge. The academic consideration of giants continued through the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and even the early modern period.
Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was s ...
devoted a passage of his '' Genealogies of the Pagan Gods'' to purported archeological discoveries in Sicily that he thought might be evidence of the historicity of ''
The Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'''s
Polyphemus
Polyphemus (; , ; ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and legends", "many-voiced" or "very famous". Polyphemus first ap ...
.Rabelais created a wholly "fabricated giantology" for his 16th-century ''
Gargantua and Pantagruel
''The Five Books of the Lives and Deeds of Gargantua and Pantagruel'' (), often shortened to ''Gargantua and Pantagruel'' or the (''Five Books''), is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It tells the advent ...
''. Massive bones found in 1613 in France were initially assigned to Teutobochus but the examinations of them by various physicians and their publication of diverging conclusions about the bones kicked off a "pamphlet war" between anatomists and surgeons of the day. The discovery of the so-called Claverack Giant in colonial New York triggered giantological investigations by two important early American intellectuals,
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a Puritan clergyman and author in colonial New England, who wrote extensively on theological, historical, and scientific subjects. After being educated at Harvard College, he join ...
and
Edward Taylor
Edward Taylor (1642 – June 29, 1729) was a colonial American poet, pastor and physician of English origin. His work remained unpublished for some 200 years but since then has established him as one of the foremost writers of his time. His p ...
.
Religion and mythology
Abrahamic
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...
tells of the
Nephilim
The Nephilim (; ''Nəfīlīm'') are mysterious beings or humans in the Bible traditionally understood as being of great size and strength, or alternatively beings of great power and authority. The origins of the Nephilim are disputed. Some, ...
before and after
Noah's Flood
The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is a Hebrew flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre- creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the microcosm of Noah's ark.
The B ...
. The word ''Nephilim'' is loosely translated as ''giants'' in some translations of the Hebrew Bible, but left untranslated in others. According to , the Nephilim were destroyed in the Flood, but Nephilim are reported after the Flood, including:
* The
Anakim
Anakim ( ''ʿĂnāqīm'') are mentioned in the Bible as descendants of Anak.
According to the Old Testament, the Anakim lived in the southern part of the land of Canaan, near Hebron (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 15:13). states that they inhabited the regio ...
* The
Amorites
The Amorites () were an ancient Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Eg ...
* The
Rephaite
In the Hebrew Bible, as well as non-Jewish ancient texts from the region, the Northwest Semitic term Rephaite or Repha'im (cf. the plural word in ; , ) refers either to a people of greater-than-average height and stature in Deuteronomy 2:10-11, o ...
s, also known as The
Emite
The Emites ( or ) or Emim ( ''ʾĒmīm'') was the Moabite name for Repha'im. They are described in the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 2 as having been a powerful and populous people. They were defeated by the Moabites, who occupied their land. Th ...
s
The
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers (from Biblical Greek, Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi'', , ''Bəmīḏbar'', ; ) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final f ...
includes the discouraging report by the spies sent by
Moses
In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
into
Canaan
CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
: "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are. (...) All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like
grasshopper
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Grassh ...
s in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." The
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile. It tells of the ...
, describing the actual conquest of Canaan in a later generation, makes reference to such people living there in (Joshua 14:12–15 and Joshua 15:13–14).
The Bible also tells of
Gog and Magog
Gog and Magog (; ) or Ya'juj and Ma'juj () are a pair of names that appear in the Bible and the Quran, Qur'an, variously ascribed to individuals, tribes, or lands. In Ezekiel 38, Gog is an individual and Magog is his land. By the time of the New ...
, who later entered European folklore, and of the famous battle between
David
David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament.
The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
and the
Philistine
Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia.
There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...
Goliath
Goliath ( ) was a Philistines, Philistine giant in the Book of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath's giant, immense stature vary among biblical sources, with texts describing him as either or tall. According to the text, Goliath issued a challen ...
. While Goliath is often portrayed as a giant in retellings of the Biblical narrative, he appears to be significantly smaller than other giants, biblical or otherwise. The
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...
version of the
Book of Samuel
The Book of Samuel () is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that constitute a theological ...
gives his height as six
cubits
The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding Noa ...
and one span (possibly ), while the
Septuagint
The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...
, the 1st-century Jewish historian
Flavius Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing ''The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Judaea ...
and the 2nd–1st-centuries BCE
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...
give Goliath's height as four cubits and one span (possibly ). For comparison, the Anakites are described as making the Israelites seem like grasshoppers. See also Gibborim.
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...
also described the Amorites as giants in his ''
Antiquities of the Jews
''Antiquities of the Jews'' (; , ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus in the 13th year of the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, which was 94 CE. It cont ...
'', circa 93CE, indicating that some sort of fossils may have been on display at that time: "For which reason they removed their camp to Hebron; and when they had taken it, they slew all the inhabitants. There were till then left the race of giants, who had bodies so large, and countenances so entirely different from other men, that they were surprising to the sight, and terrible to the hearing. The bones of these men are still shown to this very day, unlike to any credible relations of other men."
The
Book of Enoch
The Book of Enoch (also 1 Enoch;
Hebrew language, Hebrew: סֵפֶר חֲנוֹךְ, ''Sēfer Ḥănōḵ''; , ) is an Second Temple Judaism, ancient Jewish Apocalyptic literature, apocalyptic religious text, ascribed by tradition to the Patriar ...
describes giants as the offspring of Watchers and women in 7:2.
Armenian
Hayk
Hayk (, ), also known as Hayk Nahapet (, , ), is the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation. His story is told in the ''History of Armenia'' attributed to the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi and in the ''Primary History'' ...
was known as the founder of the Armenian state. Hayk was part of a race of giants who helped construct the
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel is an origin myth and parable in the Book of Genesis (chapter 11) meant to explain the existence of different languages and cultures.
According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language migrates to Shin ...
. Ancient historian
Movses Khorenatsi
Movses Khorenatsi ( 410–490s AD; , ) was a prominent Armenians, Armenian historian from late antiquity and the author of the ''History of Armenia (book), History of the Armenians''.
Movses's ''History of the Armenians'' was the first attempt at ...
wrote, "Hayk was handsome and personable, with curly hair, sparkling eyes and strong arms. Among the giants he was the bravest and most famous, opponent of all who raised their hand to become absolute ruler over the giants and heroes."
Mount Nemrut
Mount Nemrut or Nemrud (; ; ; Greek language, Greek: Όρος Νεμρούτ) is a mountain in southeastern Turkey, notable for the summit where a number of large statues are erected around what is assumed to be a royal tomb from the 1st century ...
is known to have received its name from an Armenian tradition in which
Nimrod
Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...
was killed by an arrow shot by Hayk during a massive battle between two rival armies of giants to the south-east of
Lake Van
Lake Van (; ; ) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey in the provinces of Van Province, Van and Bitlis Province, Bitlis, in the Armenian highlands. It is a Salt lake, saline Soda lake, soda lake, receiv ...
.
Aztec
Aztec mythology
Aztec mythology is the body or collection of myths of the Aztec civilization of Central Mexico. The Aztecs were a culture living in central Mexico and much of their mythology is similar to that of other Mesoamerican cultures. According to legend ...
features the Quinametzin, a race of giant men created in one of the previous solar eras. They are credited with the construction of
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'', ; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City.
Teotihuacan is ...
.
Basque
Giants are rough but generally righteous characters of formidable strength living in the hills of the Basque Country. Giants stand for the Basque people reluctant to convert to Christianity who decide to stick to the old lifestyle and customs in the forest. Sometimes they hold the secret of ancient techniques and wisdom unknown to the Christians, like in the legend of San Martin Txiki, while their most outstanding feature is their strength. It follows that in many legends all over the Basque territory the giants are held accountable for the creation of many stone formations, hills and ages-old
megalithic
A megalith is a large Rock (geology), stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging ...
structures (
dolmen
A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...
s, etc.), with similar explanations provided in different spots.
However, giants show different variants and forms, they are most frequently referred to as
jentilak {{Short description, Basque mythological giants
The jentil (or jentilak with the Basque language, Basque plural), are a race of giants in Basque mythology. This word meaning ''gentile'', from Latin ''gentilis'', was used to refer to pre-Christian ...
and mairuak, while as individuals they can be represented as Basajaun ("the lord of the forests"), Sanson (variation of the biblical
Samson
SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...
), Errolan (based on the
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties
* Francia, a post-Roman ...
army general
Roland
Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...
who fell dead at the
Battle of Roncevaux Pass
The Battle of Roncevaux Pass ( French and English spelling, '' Roncesvalles'' in Spanish, ''Orreaga'' in Basque) in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on ...
) or even
Tartalo
Tartaro, Tartalo, or Torto in Basque mythology, is an enormously strong one-eyed giant (mythology), giant very similar to the Greek Cyclops that Odysseus faced in Homer's ''Odyssey''. He is said to live in caves in the mountains and catches young ...
(a one-eyed giant akin to the Greek
Cyclops
In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; , ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's ''Th ...
Polyphemus
Polyphemus (; , ; ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and legends", "many-voiced" or "very famous". Polyphemus first ap ...
).
Bulgarian
In Bulgarian mythology, giants called ispolini inhabited the Earth before modern humans. They lived in the mountains, fed on raw meat and often fought against
dragon
A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
s. Ispolini were afraid of
blackberries
BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...
which posed a danger of making the giants trip and die, so they offered sacrifices to that plant.
Chilean
There are tales of giants in the northern Chilean port town of
Caldera
A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...
telling of giants who play with ships moving them from one port to another. Tales of the same area also tells of giants who are able to crush humans with their feet and when laying down to sleep being so long as to reach from the mountains to the sea. In some stories the giants are black humanoids or black bulls. In
southern Chile
Southern Chile is an informal geographic term for any place south of the capital city, Santiago, or south of Biobío River, the mouth of which is Concepción, about {{convert, 200, mi, km, sigfig=1, order=flip south of Santiago. Generally citie ...
there are stories of giants said to belong to certain volcanoes such as
Calbuco
Calbuco is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Calbuco. Administratively Calbuco belongs to the Llanquihue Province of Los Lagos Region. The origin of the city was the Spanish Fort Calbuco founded in 1603, ...
and Osorno.
The mythical city of Tololo Pampa in northern Chile is said to be guarded by a giant known by various names including; ''Pata Larga'', ''Gigante Minero'' and ''Minero Gigante''. The giant enters to the mountains to obtain riches to the princess of Tololo Pampa. If a person manages to watch the giant while he works folklore says the person will be blessed with good luck for the rest of their life.
Greek
In
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
, the ''
Gigantes
In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, the Giants, also called Gigantes (Ancient Greek, Greek: Γίγαντες, ''wiktionary:gigantes, Gígantes'', Γίγας, ''wiktionary:gigas, Gígas''), were a race of great strength and aggression, ...
'' (γίγαντες) were (according to the poet
Hesiod
Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...
) the children of
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...
(Ουρανός) and
Gaia
In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...
(Γαία) (spirits of the sky and the earth) where some depictions had them with snake-like legs. They were involved in a conflict with the
Olympian gods
upright=1.8, Fragment of a relief (1st century BC1st century AD) depicting the twelve Olympians carrying their attributes in procession; from left to right: Hestia (scepter), Hermes (winged cap and staff), Aphrodite (veiled), Ares (helmet and s ...
called the ''
Gigantomachy
In Greek and Roman mythology, the Giants, also called Gigantes (Greek: Γίγαντες, '' Gígantes'', Γίγας, '' Gígas''), were a race of great strength and aggression, though not necessarily of great size. They were known for the Gigant ...
'' (Γιγαντομαχία) when Gaia had them attack
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (, , ) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa and Pieria (regional ...
. This battle was eventually settled when the hero
Heracles
Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
decided to help the Olympians. The Greeks believed some of them, like
Enceladus
Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn and the 18th-largest in the Solar System. It is about in diameter, about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. It is covered by clean, freshly deposited snow hundreds of meters thick, ...
, to lie buried from that time under the earth and that their tormented quivers resulted in
earthquakes
An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they c ...
and
volcanic eruption
A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior h ...
s.
Herodotus
Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...
in Book 1, Chapter 68, describes how the
Spartans
Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...
uncovered in
Tegea
Tegea (; ) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal unit with an area o ...
the body of
Orestes
In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; ) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several ...
, which was seven cubits long — approximately 3.73m, or about 12feet 3inches. In his book ''The Comparison of Romulus with Theseus'',
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
describes how the
Athenians
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
uncovered the body of
Theseus
Theseus (, ; ) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages.
Theseus is sometimes desc ...
, which was "of more than ordinary size." The kneecaps of
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
pentathlon
A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek language, Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) (). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Anci ...
, wrote Pausanias. A boy's discus was about in diameter, while a normal adult
patella
The patella (: patellae or patellas), also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in m ...
is around , suggesting Ajax may have been nearly 14feet (over 4m) tall.
The
Cyclopes
In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; , ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's ''The ...
are also compared to giants due to their huge size (e.g.
Polyphemus
Polyphemus (; , ; ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and legends", "many-voiced" or "very famous". Polyphemus first ap ...
, son of
Poseidon
Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...
and
Thoosa
In Greek mythology, Thoosa (, ), also spelled Thoösa, was, according to Homer, the sea nymph daughter of the primordial sea god Phorcys, and the mother, by Poseidon, of the Cyclops Polyphemus.Homer, ''Odyssey'1.70–73 Heubeck, Hainsworth an ...
and nemesis of
Odysseus
In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...
in
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
's ''The Odyssey''). The Elder Cyclopes were the children of Gaia and Uranus, and later made
Zeus
Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus.
Zeus is the child ...
' "master thunderbolt", Poseidon's trident, and
Hades
Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...
' "helm of darkness", during the
Titanomachy
In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy (; ) was a ten-year war fought in ancient Thessaly, consisting of most of the Titans (the older generation of gods, based on Mount Othrys) fighting against the Twelve Olympians, Olympians (the younger generati ...
.
The
Hecatoncheires
In Greek mythology, the Hecatoncheires (), also called Hundred-Handers or Centimanes (; ), were three monstrous giants, of enormous size and strength, each with fifty heads and one hundred arms. They were individually named Cottus (the furious), ...
are giants that have 100 arms and 50 heads who were also the children of Gaia and Uranus.
Other known giant races in Greek mythology include the six-armed Gegeines, the northern
Hyperborea
In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans (, ; ) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the Ecumene, known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas (god), Boreas" (the God of the north wind). Some schol ...
ns, and the cannibalistic
Laestrygonians
In Greek mythology, the Laestrygonians or Laestrygones () were a tribe of man-eating giants. They were said to have sprung from Laestrygon, son of Poseidon. Hesiod, '' Ehoiai'' fr. 40a as cited in ''Oxyrhynchus Papyri'' 1358 fr. 2
Accordi ...
.
Hindu
There are accounts stating humans grew to the size of giants during the
Satya Yuga
''Satya Yuga'' ( ''Krita Yuga'', IAST: ''Kṛta-yuga''), in Hinduism, is the first and best of the four '' yugas'' (world ages) in a '' Yuga Cycle'', preceded by '' Kali Yuga'' of the previous cycle and followed by '' Treta Yuga''. ''Satya Yug ...
, the first of the four cyclical ages (yugas) in the
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
reckoning of time.
Jain
According to
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
, there was a time when giants walked upon this earth.
Jain cosmology
Jain cosmology is the description of the shape and functioning of the Universe (''loka'') and its constituents (such as living beings, matter, space, time etc.) according to Jainism. Jain cosmology considers the universe as an uncreated entity t ...
divides the worldly cycle of time into two parts or half-cycles, ''avasarpani'' (age of descending purity) and ascending (''utsarpani'').
According to
Jain texts
Jain literature () refers to the literature of the Jainism, Jain religion. It is a vast and ancient literary tradition, which was initially transmitted orally. The oldest surviving material is contained in the canonical ''Jain Agamas'', which ...
, the height of
Rishabhanatha
Rishabhanatha (Devanagari: ऋषभनाथ), also Rishabhadeva (Devanagari: ऋषभदेव, ), Rishabha (Devanagari: ऋषभ, ) or Ikshvaku (Devanagari: इक्ष्वाकु, ''Ikṣvāku''), is the first (Supreme preacher) ...
, first ''
tirthankara
In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...
'' of the present half-cycle of time (''avasarpani'') was 500 ''dhanusa'' (longbow).
In ''avasarpani'', as the cycle moves ahead, height of all humans and animals decreases. The following table depicts the six ''aras'' of ''avasarpini''–
Norse
In
Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...
, the (cognate with and ) are often opposed to the gods. While often translated as "giants", most are described as being roughly human-sized. Some are portrayed as huge, such as some frost giants (''hrímþursar''), fire giants (''eldjötnar''), and mountain giants (''bergrisar''). The are the origin of most of various monsters in Norse mythology (e.g. the
Fenrisulfr
Fenrir (Old Norse 'fen-dweller')Orchard (1997:42). or Fenrisúlfr (Old Norse "Fenrir's wolf", often translated "Fenris-wolf"),Simek (2007:81). also referred to as Hróðvitnir (Old Norse "fame-wolf")Simek (2007:160). and Vánagandr (Old Nors ...
) and in the eventual battle of
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, (also Ragnarok; or ; ) is a foretold series of impending events, including a great battle in which numerous great Norse mythological figures will perish (including the Æsir, gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdall, a ...
, the giants will storm
Asgard
In Nordic mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: ''Ásgarðr''; "Garden of the Æsir") is a location associated with the gods. It appears in several Old Norse sagas and mythological texts, including the Eddas, however it has also been suggested to be refe ...
and fight the gods until the world is destroyed. Even so, the gods themselves were related to the by many marriages and descent; there are also such as
Ægir
Ægir (anglicised as Aegir; Old Norse 'sea'), Hlér (Old Norse 'sea'), or Gymir (Old Norse less clearly 'sea, engulfer'), is a jötunn and a anthropomorphism, personification of the sea in Norse mythology. In the Old Norse record, Ægir hosts the ...
who have good relationships with the gods and bear little difference in status to them.
Odin
Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
, often regarded as the chief god, is the great-grandson of the
Ymir
In Norse mythology, Ymir (), also called Aurgelmir, Brimir, or Bláinn, is the ancestor of all jötnar. Ymir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, in the ''Prose Edda'', writte ...
. Norse mythology also holds that the entire world of men was created from the flesh of Ymir, a giant of cosmic proportions whose name is considered by some scholars to share a
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...
with
Yama
Yama (), also known as Kāla and Dharmarāja, is the Hindu god of death and justice, responsible for the dispensation of law and punishment of sinners in his abode, Naraka. He is often identified with Dharmadeva, the personification of ''Dharm ...
of Indo-Iranian mythology.
Troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
s are beings that are sometimes very large. The name ''troll'' is applied to .
An old
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
ic legend says that two night-prowling giants, a man and a woman, were traversing the
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
near Drangey Island with their cow when they were surprised by the bright rays of daybreak. As a result of exposure to daylight, all three were turned into stone. Drangey represents the cow and Kerling (supposedly the female giant, the name means "old hag") is to the south of it. Karl (the male giant) was to the north of the island, but he disappeared long ago.
A ''bergrisi'' – the traditional protector of southwestern Iceland – appears as a
supporter
In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up.
Historically, supporters were left to an individual's free choice and were assu ...
on the
coat of arms of Iceland
The coat of arms of Iceland displays a silver-edged, red cross on blue shield, alluding to the design of the flag of Iceland. It is the only national arms to feature four supporters: the four protectors of Iceland (''landvættir'') as described i ...
.
Paiute
According to
Northern Paiute
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ...
oral history, the Si-Te-Cah or Sai'i are a legendary tribe of red-haired
cannibalistic
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well documente ...
giants, the remains of which were allegedly found in 1911 by
guano
Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...
miners in Nevada's
Lovelock Cave
Lovelock Cave (NV-Ch-18) is a North American archaeological site previously known as Sunset Guano Cave, Horseshoe Cave, and Loud Site 18. The cave is about long and wide.Heizer, Robert F., and Lewis K. Napton (1970). ''Archaeology and the Prehi ...
.Loud, Llewellyn L.; M. R. Harrington (15 February 1929). "Lovelock Cave". University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology (University of California at Berkeley) 25 (1): 1–183. Furthermore, the Paiute creation story tells of "beautiful giants" who once lived between the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
s and the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...
. After giving birth to a disfigured child, the giants treated the child so poorly that the Great Spirit responded by making the land hot and desolate and allowing enemies to conquer the giants. Only two giants survived: Paiute and his wife, both of whose skin became brown from eternally living in the hot desert.
Germania Superior
Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesont ...
. These were crowned with a statue of Jupiter, typically on horseback, defeating or trampling down a giant, often depicted as a snake. They are restricted to the area of south-western Germany, western Switzerland, French Jura, and Alsace.
Other European
In
folklore
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
from all over Europe, giants were believed to have built the remains of previous civilizations. The Danish historian
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus (), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author ...
thought giants had a hand in the creation of
megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...
ic monuments. Similarly, the Old English poem '' The Seafarer'' speaks of the high stone walls that were the work of giants. Natural geologic features such as the massive
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
columns of the
Giant's Causeway
The Giant's Causeway () is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcano, volcanic fissure eruption, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province active in the region during the Paleogene period. ...
on the coast of
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
were attributed to construction by giants.
In the Netherlands, giants are often associated with creating or forming the landscape. For instance, two giants are said to have dug a channel, until they reached the village of
Akkrum
Akkrum is a village in the Dutch province of Friesland. It is located in the municipality Heerenveen, about 17 km south of the city of Leeuwarden.
Akkrum had about 3,395 inhabitants in 2017.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1315 as ...
, where they had an argument and each went his own way, thus splitting the channel into two separate waterways. Others threw up hills, or became hills themselves when they died on the spot. In several legends, giants were evil beings that threatened, robbed and killed travellers or locals; such as Ellert and Brammert, in the province of
Drenthe
Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...
Amadís de Gaula
(in English ''Amadis of Gaul'') (, ) (, ) is an Iberian Peninsula, Iberian landmark work among the Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese chivalric romances which were in vogue in the 16th century, although its first v ...
'' feature giants as antagonists, or, rarely, as allies. This is parodied famously in Cervantes' ''
Don Quixote
, the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
'', when the title character attacks a windmill, believing it to be a giant. This is the source of the phrase
tilting at windmills
, the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
.
Tales of combat with giants were a common feature in the folklore of the
British Isles
The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
. Celtic giants also figure in
Breton
Breton most often refers to:
*anything associated with Brittany, and generally
**Breton people
**Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany
** Breton (horse), a breed
**Gale ...
and
Arthurian
According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the post-Ro ...
romances. In Kinloch Rannoch, a local myth has a local hill resembling a giant named as ''The Sleeping Giant''. Folklore says the giant will awaken only if a specific musical instrument is played near the hill.
Giants
A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore.
Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to:
Mythology and religion
*Giants (Greek mythology)
* Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...
are also prominent in
Welsh folklore
Welsh folklore is the collective term for the folklore of the Welsh people. It encompasses topics related to Welsh mythology, Folklore, folk tales, customs, and oral tradition.
Welsh folklore is related to Irish folklore, Irish and Scottish folkl ...
.
Many giants in
English folklore
English folklore consists of the myths and legends of England, including the region's Legendary creature, mythical creatures, traditional recipes, urban legends, proverbs, superstitions, Folk dance, dance, balladry, and Folklore, folktales tha ...
were noted for their stupidity. A giant who had quarrelled with the Mayor of Shrewsbury went to bury the city with dirt; however, he met a shoemaker, carrying shoes to repair, and the shoemaker convinced the giant that he had worn out all the shoes coming from
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...
, and so it was too far to travel. Other English stories told of how giants threw stones at each other, which was used to explain many great stones on the landscape.
Giants figure in folklore and fairy tales, such as ''
Jack the Giant Killer
"Jack the Giant Killer" is a Cornish fairy tale and legend about a man who slays a number of bad giants during King Arthur's reign. The tale is characterised by violence, gore and blood-letting. Giants are prominent in Cornish folklore, Breto ...
Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon
Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon (Roud 3983, Child 129) is an English-language folk song. The song portrays Robin Hood in a tale of chivalrous adventures, such as are uncommon in his ballads, and has rarely been featured in later tales.Holt, J. ...
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His tall tales revolve around his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox, his pet and working animal. The character originate ...
.
Ogre
An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...
s are humanoid creatures, sometimes of gigantic stature, that occur in various sorts of European folklore.
Rübezahl
Rübezahl (, ; ) is a folkloric mountain spirit ( woodwose) of the Giant Mountains (, , hence his name in Czech and Polish), a mountain range along the border between Czechia and Poland. He is the subject of many legends and fairy tales in Germa ...
, is a kind giant from
German folklore
German folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Germany over a number of centuries. Seeing as Germany was divided into numerous polities for most of its history, this term might both refer to the folklore of Germany proper and of all ...
who lived in the
Giant Mountains
The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše, or Karkonosze (Czech: , , ), are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif). The Czech–Polish bor ...
, along with the Bergmönch, a giant mountain spirit.
Antero Vipunen
Antero Vipunen is a giant who appears in Finnish mythology and Kalevala folk poetry. He is buried underground and possesses very valuable spells and knowledge.
The god-hero Väinämöinen has a spell with three words or '' luotes'' missing. In ...
is a giant shaman that appears in the ''
Kalevala
The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...
'', meeting the epic hero
Väinämöinen
() is a deity, demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical sing ...
to teach him creation spells.
Names
*
Amorites
The Amorites () were an ancient Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Eg ...
-
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' Anakim
Anakim ( ''ʿĂnāqīm'') are mentioned in the Bible as descendants of Anak.
According to the Old Testament, the Anakim lived in the southern part of the land of Canaan, near Hebron (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 15:13). states that they inhabited the regio ...
-
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' Asura
Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the wor ...
-
Indian religions
Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification o ...
*
Behemoth
Behemoth (; , ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful ...
- Hebrew Folklore
*
Druon Antigoon
Druon Antigoon or Druon Antigonus is a Folklore of the Low Countries, Belgian folkloric character. He was a mythical giant (mythology), giant who lived in Antwerp.
Guarding a bridge on the Scheldt, river Scheldt, he exacted a toll from those cr ...
-
Dutch folklore
Folklore of the Low Countries, often just referred to as Dutch folklore, includes the Epic poetry, epics, legends, fairy tales and oral traditions of the people of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Traditionally this folklore is written ...
*
Brân the Blessed
Brân the Blessed ( or ''Brân Fendigaidd'', literally "Blessed Crow") is a giant and king of Britain in Welsh mythology. He appears in several of the Welsh Triads, but his most significant role is in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, '' ...
-
Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology (also commonly known as ''Y Chwedlau'', meaning "The Legends") consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of t ...
Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology (also commonly known as ''Y Chwedlau'', meaning "The Legends") consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of t ...
*
Cormoran
Cormoran ( or ) is a giant associated with St. Michael's Mount in the folklore of Cornwall. Local tradition credits him with creating the island, in some versions with the aid of his wife Cormelian, and using it as a base to raid cattle from th ...
-
Cornish mythology
Cornish mythology is the folk tradition and mythology of the Cornish people. It consists partly of folk traditions developed in Cornwall and partly of traditions developed by Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium, often ...
*
Cyclopes
In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; , ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's ''The ...
-
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
Japanese mythology
Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...
*
Daitya
The daityas () are a race of asuras in Hindu mythology, descended from Kashyapa and his wife, Diti. Prominent members of this race include Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu, and Mahabali, all of whom overran the earth, and required three of Vishnu's a ...
-
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
*
Fomorians
The Fomorians or Fomori (, Modern ) are a supernatural race in Irish mythology, who are often portrayed as hostile and monstrous beings. Originally they were said to come from under the sea or the earth. Later, they were portrayed as sea raider ...
-
Irish mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...
*
Gigantes
In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, the Giants, also called Gigantes (Ancient Greek, Greek: Γίγαντες, ''wiktionary:gigantes, Gígantes'', Γίγας, ''wiktionary:gigas, Gígas''), were a race of great strength and aggression, ...
-
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
Matter of Britain
The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the list of legendary kings of Britain, legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Art ...
*
Goliath
Goliath ( ) was a Philistines, Philistine giant in the Book of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath's giant, immense stature vary among biblical sources, with texts describing him as either or tall. According to the text, Goliath issued a challen ...
-
Book of Samuel
The Book of Samuel () is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that constitute a theological ...
*
Humbaba
Humbaba (Ḫumbaba; , ''Ḫumbāba'', with an optional determinative ), originally known as Ḫuwawa in Sumerian (, ''Ḫuwāwa''), was a figure in Mesopotamian mythology. The origin and meaning of his name are unknown. He was portrayed as an ant ...
-
Sumerian religion
Sumerian religion was the religion practiced by the people of Sumer, the first literate civilization found in recorded history and based in ancient Mesopotamia, and what is modern day Iraq. The Sumerians widely regarded their divinities as res ...
Slavic paganism
Slavic paganism, Slavic mythology, or Slavic religion refer to the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century.
The South Slavs, who ...
*
Jentil {{Short description, Basque mythological giants
The jentil (or jentilak with the Basque plural), are a race of giants in Basque mythology. This word meaning ''gentile'', from Latin ''gentilis'', was used to refer to pre-Christian civilizations an ...
-
Basque mythology
The mythology of the ancient Basques largely did not survive the arrival of Christianity in the Basque Country between the 4th and 12th century AD. Most of what is known about elements of this original belief system is based on the analysis o ...
*
Jötunn
A (also jotun; plural ; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, ; or, in Old English, , plural ) is a type of being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, are often contrasted with gods (the Æsir and Vanir) and with other no ...
-
Germanic mythology
Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon paganism#Mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism.
O ...
*
Kalevipoeg
''Kalevipoeg'' (, ''Kalev's Son'') is a 19th-century epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald which has since been considered the Estonian national epic.
Origins
In pre-Christian ancient Estonia there existed an oral tradition, known as ...
-
Estonian mythology
Estonian mythology is a complex of myths belonging to the Estonian folk heritage and literary mythology. Information about the pre-Christian and medieval Estonian mythology is scattered in historical chronicles, travellers' accounts and in eccle ...
Swahili people
The Swahili people (, وَسوَحِيلِ) comprise mainly Bantu, Afro-Arab, and Comorian ethnic groups inhabiting the Swahili coast, an area encompassing the East African coast across southern Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and northern Mozambi ...
*
Nephilim
The Nephilim (; ''Nəfīlīm'') are mysterious beings or humans in the Bible traditionally understood as being of great size and strength, or alternatively beings of great power and authority. The origins of the Nephilim are disputed. Some, ...
-
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' Og -
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers (from Biblical Greek, Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi'', , ''Bəmīḏbar'', ; ) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final f ...
*
Ogre
An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...
-
European folklore
European folklore or Western folklore refers to the folklore of the Western world, especially when discussed comparatively.
The history of Christendom during the Early Modern period has resulted in a number of traditions that are shared in many E ...
*
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His tall tales revolve around his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox, his pet and working animal. The character originate ...
-
American folklore
American folklore encompasses the folklore that has evolved in the present-day United States mostly since the European colonization of the Americas. It also contains folklore that dates back to the Pre-Columbian era, Pre-Columbian era.
Folklor ...
Aztec mythology
Aztec mythology is the body or collection of myths of the Aztec civilization of Central Mexico. The Aztecs were a culture living in central Mexico and much of their mythology is similar to that of other Mesoamerican cultures. According to legend ...
*
Rakshasa
Rākshasa (, , ; ; "preservers") are a race of usually malevolent beings prominently featured in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Folk Islam. They reside on Earth but possess supernatural powers, which they usually use for evil acts such as ...
-
Indian religions
Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification o ...
*
Rephaite
In the Hebrew Bible, as well as non-Jewish ancient texts from the region, the Northwest Semitic term Rephaite or Repha'im (cf. the plural word in ; , ) refers either to a people of greater-than-average height and stature in Deuteronomy 2:10-11, o ...
-
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' Rübezahl
Rübezahl (, ; ) is a folkloric mountain spirit ( woodwose) of the Giant Mountains (, , hence his name in Czech and Polish), a mountain range along the border between Czechia and Poland. He is the subject of many legends and fairy tales in Germa ...
-
German folklore
German folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Germany over a number of centuries. Seeing as Germany was divided into numerous polities for most of its history, this term might both refer to the folklore of Germany proper and of all ...
/
Czech folklore
Czech folklore is the folk tradition which has developed among the Czechs, Czech people over a number of centuries. Czech folklore was influenced by a mix of Christianity, Christian and pagan customs. Nowadays it is preserved and kept alive by v ...
Sámi shamanism
Traditional Sámi spiritual practices and beliefs are based on a type of animism, polytheism, and what anthropologists may consider shamanism. The religious traditions can vary considerably from region to region within Sápmi.
Traditional Sá ...
*
Tepegöz
In Turkic mythology, Tepegoz or Tepegöz is a legendary creature who has only one eye on his forehead – a kind of cyclops. He is an ogre that appears in the ''Book of Dede Korkut'', a famous epic story of the Oghuz Turks.
Etymology
In Turkic l ...
-
Turkic mythology
Turkic mythology refers to myths and legends told by the Turkic people. It features Tengrism, Tengrist and Shamanism in Central Asia, Shamanist strata of belief along with many other social and cultural constructs related to the nomadic and wa ...
Germanic mythology
Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon paganism#Mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism.
O ...
*
Titans
In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...
-
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
Estonian mythology
Estonian mythology is a complex of myths belonging to the Estonian folk heritage and literary mythology. Information about the pre-Christian and medieval Estonian mythology is scattered in historical chronicles, travellers' accounts and in eccle ...
*
Troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
s -
Nordic folklore
Nordic folklore is the folklore of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. It has common roots with, and has been under mutual influence with, folklore in England, Germany, the Low Countries, the Baltic countries, Finland and S� ...
*
Uriaș
(plural ) is the common Romanian language, Romanian-language designation of Giant (mythology), giants, who are prominent figures in Romanian folklore. There are several varieties of , who share most of their traits but have different names fro ...
-
Romanian folklore
The folklore of Romania is the collection of traditions of the Romanians. A feature of Romanian culture is the special relationship between folklore and the learned culture, determined by two factors. First, the rural character of the Romania ...
*
Ysbaddaden
; "Ysbaddaden, Chief of Giants" (from roots meaning " hawthorn" or "infertile" - or perhaps implying both meanings), is the primary antagonist of the Welsh romance '' Culhwch and Olwen''.Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung i ...
-
Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology (also commonly known as ''Y Chwedlau'', meaning "The Legends") consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of t ...
Ruth Manning-Sanders
Ruth Manning-Sanders (21 August 1886 – 12 October 1988) was an English poet and author born in Wales, known for a series of children's books for which she collected and related fairy tales worldwide. She published over 90 books in her lifetime ...
*
Giantess
Giantesses are imaginary, gigantic women. They are widely believed to be mythological by the humans of modern-day, since the term "giantess" is so generic, it seems possible to describe female giants not native to Earth which fall under the very ...
Gigantism
Gigantism (, ''gígas'', "wiktionary:giant, giant", plural γίγαντες, ''gígantes''), also known as giantism, is a condition characterized by excessive growth and height significantly above average height, average. In humans, this conditi ...
*
Half-giant
Half-giants are fictional beings that have one parent that is a giant and another parent that is a different species.
Description
In most cases, a half-giant is the result of a union between a human and a giant. Often they are of normal size or sl ...
*
List of giants in mythology and folklore
This is a list of Giant, giants and Giantess, giantesses from mythology and folklore; it does not include giants from modern fantasy fiction or role-playing games (for those, see list of species in fantasy fiction).
Abrahamic religions & Religion ...
*
Megafauna
In zoology, megafauna (from Ancient Greek, Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and Neo-Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately , this lower en ...
Processional giants and dragons in Belgium and France
The processional giants and dragons () of Belgium and France are a set of folkloric manifestations involving processional giants, which have been inscribed by UNESCO on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, lists of Intangible Cultural ...
*
* Childress, David Hatcher (1992). ''Lost Cities of North & Central America''. Stelle, IL: Adventures Unlimited.
* Dhallapiccola, Anna (2002). ''Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend'', Thames & Hudson, ()
* Alt URL * Lyman, Robert R., Sr. (1971). ''Forbidden Land: Strange Events in the Black Forest''. Vol. 1. Coudersport, PA: Potter Enterprise.* Dakhloul / Fakih debate, HHUMC (2013). ''Are Giants Just a Hoax?''. Saida, Lebanon: Archive
* Schäfke, Werner (2015). ″Dwarves, Trolls, Ogres, and Giants″. In Albrecht Classen (Ed.): ''Handbook of medieval culture. Fundamental aspects and conditions of the European middle ages'', vol. 1. Berlin: de Gruyter, pp. 347–383.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giant (Mythology)
Fairy tale stock characters