Giants

The legends and mythology of many cultures include mythological creatures of human appearance but huge size and strength. ‘Giant’ is an English word commonly used for such beings as this and is derived from one of the most famous examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.

In Greek mythology the Gigantes wee a race of giants born of Gaia, who was fertilized by the blood of Ouranos that came about from his castration by Cronus. The Gigantes are said to have attacked the Olympians in what is known as the Gigantomnacy and were led by Porphyrion and Alcyoneus.

The Gigantes attempted to reach the top of Mount Olympus by stacking mountain ranges on top of each other. The ranges of Pelion, Thessaly and Ossa were stacked and the Olympians called upon Heracles when a prophecy warned them that he was required to defeat the Gigante. Heracles delat with not only one Gigante, but slew the Gigantes who had been wounded by some Olympians.

In several Indo-European mythologies, gigantic people are depicted as primeval races associated with wild nature and chaos. These giants are in frequent conflict with the gods usually. There have also been historical stories depicting giants in the Old Testament of the bible. The most famous of these biblical giants is Goliath.

In the Bible there is mentioned an ancient race known as the nephilim, or the fallen, who are often interpreted as being giants. In Hebrew, ‘sons of God’ represents the fallen angels and ‘daughter of men’ stands for human women. Part of the Hebrew Scripture indicates that here were two happenings of fallen angels reproducing with human women. These are believed to have taken place once before the Great Flood, and once after the Flood.

The first occurrence of the fallen angels brought about judgment from God on the earth and is believd to be the reason for the flood of Noah. After the Bible was written, some traditions hold that Kin Nimrod was a member of this giant race of beings. Also recorded in the Bible, is the famous struggle of the giant Goliath and David. Some scholars believe that Goliath of the Bible was on of the nephilim, and believed to have been more than thirteen feet tall.

In Germanic mythologies, the giants are often opposed to the peoples’ gods. Giants of these and Norse mythology, are believed to come in various classes, such as frost giants, mountain giants, and fire giants. Giants are the source of most of the monsters of Norse mythology. It is believed that the giants will storm the home of the gods, Asgard, and defeat the gods in a great war which will bring about the end of the world.

Interestingly, in these same mythologies, the giants are related to the gods through marriage. There are giants such as Mimir, Aegir and Skaoi whom bear very little difference in status to the gods themselves. The ancient Norse mythologies also has it that the entire world of people was once created from the flesh of Ymir, who was a giant of cosmic proportions and considered synonymous with Yama of the Hindu mythology.

In many types of folklore all around Europe, giants were thought to have built the remains of previous civilizations. The Old English poem, ‘The Seafarer’ talks about great stone walls that were the handiwork of giants. In fact, giants provided the least complicated explanation of ancient artifacts discovered by people of this time.

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