Giant

For female giants, see Giantess.
For other uses, see Giant (disambiguation).
Look up giant in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The giants Fafner and Fasolt seize Freyja in Arthur Rackham's illustration of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Giants Mata and Grifone celebrated in Messina in August, Sicily, Italy

In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: gigas, cognate giga-) are beings of humanoid 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.[1] It is derived from the Gigantes (‹See Tfd›Greek: Γίγαντες[2]) of Greek mythology.

Fairy tales such as Jack the Giant Killer have formed the modern perception of giants as dimwitted and violent ogres, sometimes said to eat humans, while other giants tend to eat livestock. In more recent portrayals, like those of Jonathan Swift and Roald Dahl, some giants are both intelligent and friendly.

  1. ^ Robert, of Gloucester; Wright, William Aldis (1887). The metrical chronicle of Robert of Gloucester. University of California Libraries. London : Printed for H.M. Stationery off., by Eyre and Spottiswoode. p. 25.
  2. ^ γίγαντες, Georg Autenrieth, A Homeric Dictionary, on Perseus Digital Library