E. Cobham Brewer
1880
|
NOTE |
Ebeneezer Cobham Brewer is best known for the reference works he compiled to aid readers in understanding literary allusions. The following list of giants from myth, legend, and fable first appeared in his Reader’s Handbook in 1880. Brewer made a rather arbitrary distinction between fact and fiction, placing Biblical giants in a separate list of tall historical figures, for example, but filling that list with exaggerated ancient accounts of 10 foot emperors and kings. The text below is a collated and edited compilation of material from various editions from 1880 to 1910 as well as the Encyclopedia of Superstition, where various additions and corrections were made over time.
|
Giants of Mythology and Fable
Strabo makes mention of the skeleton of a giant 60 cubits in height. Pliny tells us of another 46 cubits. Boccaccio describes the body of a giant from bones discovered in a cave near Trapani, in Sicily, 200 cubits in length. One tooth of this “giant” weighed 200 ounces; but Kircher says the tooth and bones were those of a mastodon.
ACAMAS, one of the Cyclops. (Greek fable.)
ADAMASTOR, the giant Spirit of the Cape. His lips were black, teeth blue, eyes shot with livid fire, and voice louder than thunder. (Caraoens: Lusiad, v.)
AEGAEON, the hundred-handed giant. One of the Titans. (Greek fable.)
AGRIOS, one of the giants called Titans. He was killed by the Parcae. (Greek fable.)
ALCYONEUS or ALCION, brother of Porphyrion. He stole some of the Sun’s oxen, and Jupiter sent Hercules against him, but he was unable to prevail, for immediately the giant touched the earth he received fresh vigor. Pallas, seizing him, carried him beyond the moon, and he died. His seven daughters were turned into halcyons or kingfishers. (Apollonius of Rhodes: Argonautic Expedition, i., 6.)
ALGEBAR. The giant Orion is so called by the Arabs.
ALIFANFARON or ALIPHARON, emperor of Trapoban. (Don Quixote.)
ALOEOS, son of Titan and Terra. (Greek fable.)
ALOIDES, sons of Aloeus, named Otos and Ephialties. (q.v.)
AMERANT, a cruel giant, slain by Guy of Warwick (Percy: Reliques.)
ANGOULAFFRE, the Saracen giant. He was twelve cubits high, his face measured three feet in breadth, his nose was nine inches long, his arms and legs six feet . He had the strength of thirty men, and his mace was the solid trunk of an oak tree, 500 years old. The tower of Pisa lost its perpendicularity by the weight of this giant leaning against it to rest himself. He was slain in single combat by Roland at Fronsac. (L’Epine: Croquemitaine.)
ANTAEOS, sixty cubits (eighty-five feet) in height. (Plutarch.)
ARGES, one of the Cyclops. (Greek fable.)
ASCAPART, a giant thirty feet high, and with twelve inches between his eyes. Slain by Sir Bevis of Southampton. (British fable.)
ATLAS, the giant of the Atlas Mountains, who carries the world on his back. A book of maps is called an “atlas” from this giant. (Greek fable.)
BALAN, “bravest and strongest of the giant races” (Amadis of Gaul.)
BELLE, famous for his three leaps, which gave names to the places called Wanlip, Burstall, and Bellegrave. (British fable.)
BELLERUS, the giant from whom Cornwall derived its name “Bellerium.” (British fable.)
BLUNDERBORE, the giant who was drowned because Jack scuttled his boat. (Jack the Giant-killer.)
BRIAREOS, a giant with a hundred hands. One of the Titans. (Greek fable.)
BROBDINGNAG, a country of giants, to whom an ordinary sized man was “not half so big as the round little worm pricked from the lazy fingers of a maid.” (Swift: Gulliver’s Travels.)
BRONTES, one of the Cyclops. (Greek fable.)
BURLONG. a giant mentioned in the romance of Sir Tryamour.
CACUS, of mount Aventinc, who dragged the oxen of Hercules into his cave tail foremost. (Greek fable.)
CALIGORANT, the Egyptian giant, who entrapped travelers with an invisible net. (Ariosto.)
CARACULIAMBO, the giant that Don Quixote intended should kneel at the foot of Dulcinea. (Cervantes, Don Quixote.)
CEUS or COEUS, son of Heaven and Earth. He married Phoebe, and was the father of Latona. (Greek fable.)
CHALBROTH, the stem of all the giant race. (Rabelais: Pantagruel.)
CHRISTOPHERUS or ST. CHRISTOPHER, the giant who carried Christ across a ford, and was well-nigh borne down with the “child’s” ever-increasing weight. (Christian legend.)
CLYTIOS, one of the giants who made war upon the gods. Vulcan killed him with a red-hot iron mace. (Greek fable.)
COLBRAND, the Danish giant slain by Guy of Warwick. (British fable.)
CORFLAMBO, a giant who was always attended by a dwarf. (Spenser: Faerie Queene, iv., 8.)
CORINEUS. (See Gogmagog.)
CORMORAN, the Cornish giant who fell into a pit twenty feet deep, dug by Jack and filmed over with a thin layer of grass and gravel. (Jack the Giant-killer.)
CORMORANT, a giant discomfited by Sir Brian. (Spenser: Faerie , Queene, vi., 4.)
COTTOS, one of the three-hundred-headed giants, son of Heaven and Earth. His two brothers were Briareus and Gyges.
COULIN, the British giant pursued by Debon, and killed by falling into a deep chasm. (British fable.)
CYCLOPS, giants with only one eye, and that in the middle of the forehead. They lived in Sicily, and were blacksmiths. (Greek fable.) .
DESPAIR, of Doubting Castle, who found Christian and Hopeful asleep on his grounds, and thrust them into a dungeon. He evilly entreated them, but they made their escape by the key. “Promise.” (Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, i.)
DONDASCH, a giant contemporary with Seth. “There were giants in the earth in those days.” (Oriental fable.)
ENCELADOS, “most powerful of the giant race.” Overwhelmed under mount Etna. (Greek fable.)
EPHIALTES, a giant who grew nine inches every month. (Greek fable.)
ERIX, son of Goliath (sic) and grandson of Atlas. He invented legerdemain. (Duchat: Oeuvres de Rabelais [1711])
EURYTOS, one of the giants who made war with the gods. Bacchus killed him with his thyrsus. (Greek fable.)
FERRACUTE, a giant thirty-six feet in height, with the strength of forty men. (Turpin’s Chronicle.)
FERRAGUS, a Portuguese giant. (Valentine and Orson.)
FIËRABRAS, of Alexandria, “the greatest giant that ever walked the earth.” (Mediaeval romance.)
FION, son of Comnal, an enormous giant, who could place his feet on two mountains, and then stoop and drink from a stream in the valley between. (Gaelic legend.)
FIORGWYN, the gigantic father of Frigga. (Scandinavian mythology.)
FRACASSUS, father of Ferragus, and son of Morganta.
Primus erat quidam Fracassus prole gigantis,
Cujus stirps olitn Morganto venit ab illo,
Qui bacchioconem catnpanae ferre solebat,
Cum quo mille hominum colpos fracasset in lino.
(Merlin Cocaius [i.e. Theophile Folengo]: Histoire Macaronique [1606]).
GABRARA, father of Goliah (sic) of Secondille, and inventor of the custom of drinking healths. (Duchat: Oeuvres de Rabelais, [1711]).
GALLIGANTUS, the giant who lived with Hocus-Pocus the conjurer. (Jack the Giant-killer.)
GARAGANTUA, same as Gargantua (q. v.).
GARGANTUA, a giant so large that it required 900 ells of linen for the body of his shirt, and 200 more for the gussets; 406 ells of velvet for his shoes, and iioo cow-hides for their soles. His toothpick was an elephant’s tusk, and 17,913 cows were required to give him milk. This was the giant who swallowed five pilgrims, with their staves, in a salad. (Rabelais: Gargantua.)
GEMMAGOG, son of the giant Oromedon, and inventor of Poulan shoes, i.e. shoes with a spur behind, and turned up toes fastened to the knees. These shoes were forbidden by Charles V. of France, in 1365, but the fashion revived again. (Duchat: Oeuvres de Rabelais [1711]).
GERYONEO, a giant with three bodies (Philip II. of Spain). (Spenser: Faerie Queene, v., ii.)
GIRALDA, the giantess. A statue of victory on the top of an old Moorish tower in Seville.
GODMER, son of Albion, a British giant slain by Canutus, one of the companions of Brute. (Spenser: Faerie Queene, ii. 10.)
GOËMAGOT, the Cornish giant who wrestled with Corineus and was hurled over a rock into the sea. The place where he fell was called “Lam Goëmagot.” (Geoffrey: British History.)
GOGMAGOG, king of the giant race of Albion when Brute colonized the island. He was slain by Corineus. The two statues of Guildhall represent Gogmagog and Corineus. The giant carries a pole-axe and spiked balls. This is the same as Goëmagot.
GRANGOUSIA, the giant king of Utopia. (Rabelais: Pantagruel.)
GRANTORTO, the giant who withheld the inheritance of Irena. (Spenser: Faerie Queene, v.)
GRIM, the giant slain by Greathearf, because he tried to stop pilgrims in their way to the Celestial City. (Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, ii.)
GRUMBO, the giant up whose sleeve Tom Thumb crept. The giant, thinking some insect had crawled up his sleeve, gave it a shake, and Tom fell into the sea, when a fish swallowed him. (Tom Thumb.)
GYGES, who had fifty heads and a hundred hands. He was one of the Titans. (Greek fable.)
HAPMOUCHE, the giant “flycatcher.” He invented the drying and smoking of neats’ tongues. (Ducha’t: Oeuvres de Rabelais [1711]).
HIPPOLYTOS, one of the giants who made war with the gods. He was killed by Hermes. (Greek fable.)
HRASVELG, the giant who keeps watch over the Trees of Life, and devours the dead. (Scandinavian Mythology.)
HURTALI, a giant in the time of the Flood. He was too large of stature to get into the ark, and therefore rode straddle-legs on the roof. He perpetuated the giant race. Atlas was his grandson.
INDRACITTRAN, a famous giant of Indian mythology.
JOTUN, the giant of Jortunheira or Giant-land, in Scandinavian story.
JULIANCE, a giant of Arthurian romance.
KlFRI, the giant of atheism and infidelity.
KOTTOS, a giant with a hundred hands. One of the Titans. (Greek fable.)
MALAMBRUNO, the giant who shut up Antonomasia and her husband in the tomb of the deceased queen of Candaya. (Cervantes: Don Quixote, II., iii. 45.)
MARGUTTE, a giant ten feet high, who died of laughter when he saw a monkey pulling on his boots. (Pulci: Morgante Maggiore.)
MAUGYS, the giant warder with whom sir Lybus did battle. (Libeaux.)
MAUL, the giant of sophistry, killed by Greatheart, who pierced him under the fifth rib. (Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, ii.)
MONT-ROGNON, one of Charlemagne’s paladins.
MORGANTE, a ferocious giant who died by the bite of a crab. (Pulci: Morgante Maggiore.)
MUGILLO, a giant famous for his mace with six balls.
OFFERUS, the pagan name of St. Christopher, whose body was twelve ells in height. (Christian legend.)
OGIAS, an antediluvian giant, mentioned in the apocrypha condemned by Pope Gelasius I. (492-496.)
ORGOGLIO, a giant thrice the height of an ordinary man. He took captive the Red Cross Knight, but was slain by King Arthur. (Spenser: Faerie Queene, i.)
ORION, a giant hunter, noted for his beauty. He was slain by Diana, and made a constellation. (Greek fable.)
OTOS, a giant, brother of Ephialtes. They both grew nine inches every month. According to Pliny, he was forty-six cubits (sixty-six feet) in height. (Greek fable.)
PALLAS, one of the giants called Titans. Minerva flayed him, and used his skin for armour; hence she was called Pallas Minerva. (Greek fable.)
PANTAGRUEL, son of Gargantua. and last of the race of giants. (Rabelais.)
POLYBOTES, one of the giants who fought against the gods. The sea-god pursued him to the island of Cos, and, tearing away part of the island, threw it on him and buried him beneath the mass. (Greek fable.)
POLYPHEMOS. king of the Cyclops. His skeleton was found at Trapani, in Sicily, in the fourteenth century, by which it is calculated that his height was 300 feet. (Greek fable.)
PORPHYRON, one of the giants who made war with the gods. He hurled the island of Delos against Zeus; but Zeus, with the aid of Hercules, overcame him. (Greek fable.)
PYRACMON, one of the Cyclops. (Greek fable.)
RITHO, the giant who commanded king Arthur to send his beard to complete the lining of a robe. (Arthurian romance.)
SLAY-GOOD, a giant elain by the Great-heart. (Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, ii.)
STEROPES, one of the Cyclops. (Greek fable.)
TARTARO, the Cyclops of Basque legendary lore.
TEUTOBOCHUS, a king, whose remains were discovered in 1613, near the river Rhone. His tomb was 30 feet long. (Mazurier: Histoire Veritable du Geant Teutobochus [1618]).
THAON, one of the giants who made war with the gods. He was killed by the Parcae. (Hesiod: Theogony.)
TITANS, a race of giants. (Greek fable.)
TITYOS, a giant whose body covered nine acres of land. He tried to defile Latona; but Apollo cast him into Tartarus, where a vulture fed on his liver, which grew again as fast as it was devoured. (Greek fable.)
TYPHOEUS, a giant with hundred heads, fearful eyes, and most terrible voice. He was the father of the Harpies. Zeus, (Jupiter) killed him with a thunderbolt, and he lies buried under mount Etna. (Hesiod: Theogony.)
TYPHON, son of Typhoeus, a giant with a hundred heads. He was so tall that his heads touched heaven. His offspring were Gorgon, Geryon, Cerberos, and the hydra of Lerne. Typhon lies buried under mount Etna. (Homer: Hymns.)
WIDE-NOSTRILS, a huge giant, who lived on windmills, and died from eating a lump of fresh butter. (Rabelais: Pantagruel, iv., 17.)
YOHAK, the giant guardian of the caves of Babylon. (Southey: Thalaba, v.)
¶ The tallest giant was in the army of Dandolo, the doge of Venice, said to have been 18 yards (54 feet) high. He word a casque on his head as high as a turreted city.--History of Venice (published by Murray, 1831), vol. i. p. 152.
*** Those who wish to pursue this subject further, should consult the notes of Duchat, bk. ii. 1 of his Oeuvres de Rabelais (1650-1735).
ADAMASTOR, the giant Spirit of the Cape. His lips were black, teeth blue, eyes shot with livid fire, and voice louder than thunder. (Caraoens: Lusiad, v.)
AEGAEON, the hundred-handed giant. One of the Titans. (Greek fable.)
AGRIOS, one of the giants called Titans. He was killed by the Parcae. (Greek fable.)
ALCYONEUS or ALCION, brother of Porphyrion. He stole some of the Sun’s oxen, and Jupiter sent Hercules against him, but he was unable to prevail, for immediately the giant touched the earth he received fresh vigor. Pallas, seizing him, carried him beyond the moon, and he died. His seven daughters were turned into halcyons or kingfishers. (Apollonius of Rhodes: Argonautic Expedition, i., 6.)
ALGEBAR. The giant Orion is so called by the Arabs.
ALIFANFARON or ALIPHARON, emperor of Trapoban. (Don Quixote.)
ALOEOS, son of Titan and Terra. (Greek fable.)
ALOIDES, sons of Aloeus, named Otos and Ephialties. (q.v.)
AMERANT, a cruel giant, slain by Guy of Warwick (Percy: Reliques.)
ANGOULAFFRE, the Saracen giant. He was twelve cubits high, his face measured three feet in breadth, his nose was nine inches long, his arms and legs six feet . He had the strength of thirty men, and his mace was the solid trunk of an oak tree, 500 years old. The tower of Pisa lost its perpendicularity by the weight of this giant leaning against it to rest himself. He was slain in single combat by Roland at Fronsac. (L’Epine: Croquemitaine.)
ANTAEOS, sixty cubits (eighty-five feet) in height. (Plutarch.)
ARGES, one of the Cyclops. (Greek fable.)
ASCAPART, a giant thirty feet high, and with twelve inches between his eyes. Slain by Sir Bevis of Southampton. (British fable.)
ATLAS, the giant of the Atlas Mountains, who carries the world on his back. A book of maps is called an “atlas” from this giant. (Greek fable.)
BALAN, “bravest and strongest of the giant races” (Amadis of Gaul.)
BELLE, famous for his three leaps, which gave names to the places called Wanlip, Burstall, and Bellegrave. (British fable.)
BELLERUS, the giant from whom Cornwall derived its name “Bellerium.” (British fable.)
BLUNDERBORE, the giant who was drowned because Jack scuttled his boat. (Jack the Giant-killer.)
BRIAREOS, a giant with a hundred hands. One of the Titans. (Greek fable.)
BROBDINGNAG, a country of giants, to whom an ordinary sized man was “not half so big as the round little worm pricked from the lazy fingers of a maid.” (Swift: Gulliver’s Travels.)
BRONTES, one of the Cyclops. (Greek fable.)
BURLONG. a giant mentioned in the romance of Sir Tryamour.
CACUS, of mount Aventinc, who dragged the oxen of Hercules into his cave tail foremost. (Greek fable.)
CALIGORANT, the Egyptian giant, who entrapped travelers with an invisible net. (Ariosto.)
CARACULIAMBO, the giant that Don Quixote intended should kneel at the foot of Dulcinea. (Cervantes, Don Quixote.)
CEUS or COEUS, son of Heaven and Earth. He married Phoebe, and was the father of Latona. (Greek fable.)
CHALBROTH, the stem of all the giant race. (Rabelais: Pantagruel.)
CHRISTOPHERUS or ST. CHRISTOPHER, the giant who carried Christ across a ford, and was well-nigh borne down with the “child’s” ever-increasing weight. (Christian legend.)
CLYTIOS, one of the giants who made war upon the gods. Vulcan killed him with a red-hot iron mace. (Greek fable.)
COLBRAND, the Danish giant slain by Guy of Warwick. (British fable.)
CORFLAMBO, a giant who was always attended by a dwarf. (Spenser: Faerie Queene, iv., 8.)
CORINEUS. (See Gogmagog.)
CORMORAN, the Cornish giant who fell into a pit twenty feet deep, dug by Jack and filmed over with a thin layer of grass and gravel. (Jack the Giant-killer.)
CORMORANT, a giant discomfited by Sir Brian. (Spenser: Faerie , Queene, vi., 4.)
COTTOS, one of the three-hundred-headed giants, son of Heaven and Earth. His two brothers were Briareus and Gyges.
COULIN, the British giant pursued by Debon, and killed by falling into a deep chasm. (British fable.)
CYCLOPS, giants with only one eye, and that in the middle of the forehead. They lived in Sicily, and were blacksmiths. (Greek fable.) .
DESPAIR, of Doubting Castle, who found Christian and Hopeful asleep on his grounds, and thrust them into a dungeon. He evilly entreated them, but they made their escape by the key. “Promise.” (Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, i.)
DONDASCH, a giant contemporary with Seth. “There were giants in the earth in those days.” (Oriental fable.)
ENCELADOS, “most powerful of the giant race.” Overwhelmed under mount Etna. (Greek fable.)
EPHIALTES, a giant who grew nine inches every month. (Greek fable.)
ERIX, son of Goliath (sic) and grandson of Atlas. He invented legerdemain. (Duchat: Oeuvres de Rabelais [1711])
EURYTOS, one of the giants who made war with the gods. Bacchus killed him with his thyrsus. (Greek fable.)
FERRACUTE, a giant thirty-six feet in height, with the strength of forty men. (Turpin’s Chronicle.)
FERRAGUS, a Portuguese giant. (Valentine and Orson.)
FIËRABRAS, of Alexandria, “the greatest giant that ever walked the earth.” (Mediaeval romance.)
FION, son of Comnal, an enormous giant, who could place his feet on two mountains, and then stoop and drink from a stream in the valley between. (Gaelic legend.)
FIORGWYN, the gigantic father of Frigga. (Scandinavian mythology.)
FRACASSUS, father of Ferragus, and son of Morganta.
Primus erat quidam Fracassus prole gigantis,
Cujus stirps olitn Morganto venit ab illo,
Qui bacchioconem catnpanae ferre solebat,
Cum quo mille hominum colpos fracasset in lino.
(Merlin Cocaius [i.e. Theophile Folengo]: Histoire Macaronique [1606]).
GABRARA, father of Goliah (sic) of Secondille, and inventor of the custom of drinking healths. (Duchat: Oeuvres de Rabelais, [1711]).
GALLIGANTUS, the giant who lived with Hocus-Pocus the conjurer. (Jack the Giant-killer.)
GARAGANTUA, same as Gargantua (q. v.).
GARGANTUA, a giant so large that it required 900 ells of linen for the body of his shirt, and 200 more for the gussets; 406 ells of velvet for his shoes, and iioo cow-hides for their soles. His toothpick was an elephant’s tusk, and 17,913 cows were required to give him milk. This was the giant who swallowed five pilgrims, with their staves, in a salad. (Rabelais: Gargantua.)
GEMMAGOG, son of the giant Oromedon, and inventor of Poulan shoes, i.e. shoes with a spur behind, and turned up toes fastened to the knees. These shoes were forbidden by Charles V. of France, in 1365, but the fashion revived again. (Duchat: Oeuvres de Rabelais [1711]).
GERYONEO, a giant with three bodies (Philip II. of Spain). (Spenser: Faerie Queene, v., ii.)
GIRALDA, the giantess. A statue of victory on the top of an old Moorish tower in Seville.
GODMER, son of Albion, a British giant slain by Canutus, one of the companions of Brute. (Spenser: Faerie Queene, ii. 10.)
GOËMAGOT, the Cornish giant who wrestled with Corineus and was hurled over a rock into the sea. The place where he fell was called “Lam Goëmagot.” (Geoffrey: British History.)
GOGMAGOG, king of the giant race of Albion when Brute colonized the island. He was slain by Corineus. The two statues of Guildhall represent Gogmagog and Corineus. The giant carries a pole-axe and spiked balls. This is the same as Goëmagot.
GRANGOUSIA, the giant king of Utopia. (Rabelais: Pantagruel.)
GRANTORTO, the giant who withheld the inheritance of Irena. (Spenser: Faerie Queene, v.)
GRIM, the giant slain by Greathearf, because he tried to stop pilgrims in their way to the Celestial City. (Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, ii.)
GRUMBO, the giant up whose sleeve Tom Thumb crept. The giant, thinking some insect had crawled up his sleeve, gave it a shake, and Tom fell into the sea, when a fish swallowed him. (Tom Thumb.)
GYGES, who had fifty heads and a hundred hands. He was one of the Titans. (Greek fable.)
HAPMOUCHE, the giant “flycatcher.” He invented the drying and smoking of neats’ tongues. (Ducha’t: Oeuvres de Rabelais [1711]).
HIPPOLYTOS, one of the giants who made war with the gods. He was killed by Hermes. (Greek fable.)
HRASVELG, the giant who keeps watch over the Trees of Life, and devours the dead. (Scandinavian Mythology.)
HURTALI, a giant in the time of the Flood. He was too large of stature to get into the ark, and therefore rode straddle-legs on the roof. He perpetuated the giant race. Atlas was his grandson.
INDRACITTRAN, a famous giant of Indian mythology.
JOTUN, the giant of Jortunheira or Giant-land, in Scandinavian story.
JULIANCE, a giant of Arthurian romance.
KlFRI, the giant of atheism and infidelity.
KOTTOS, a giant with a hundred hands. One of the Titans. (Greek fable.)
MALAMBRUNO, the giant who shut up Antonomasia and her husband in the tomb of the deceased queen of Candaya. (Cervantes: Don Quixote, II., iii. 45.)
MARGUTTE, a giant ten feet high, who died of laughter when he saw a monkey pulling on his boots. (Pulci: Morgante Maggiore.)
MAUGYS, the giant warder with whom sir Lybus did battle. (Libeaux.)
MAUL, the giant of sophistry, killed by Greatheart, who pierced him under the fifth rib. (Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, ii.)
MONT-ROGNON, one of Charlemagne’s paladins.
MORGANTE, a ferocious giant who died by the bite of a crab. (Pulci: Morgante Maggiore.)
MUGILLO, a giant famous for his mace with six balls.
OFFERUS, the pagan name of St. Christopher, whose body was twelve ells in height. (Christian legend.)
OGIAS, an antediluvian giant, mentioned in the apocrypha condemned by Pope Gelasius I. (492-496.)
ORGOGLIO, a giant thrice the height of an ordinary man. He took captive the Red Cross Knight, but was slain by King Arthur. (Spenser: Faerie Queene, i.)
ORION, a giant hunter, noted for his beauty. He was slain by Diana, and made a constellation. (Greek fable.)
OTOS, a giant, brother of Ephialtes. They both grew nine inches every month. According to Pliny, he was forty-six cubits (sixty-six feet) in height. (Greek fable.)
PALLAS, one of the giants called Titans. Minerva flayed him, and used his skin for armour; hence she was called Pallas Minerva. (Greek fable.)
PANTAGRUEL, son of Gargantua. and last of the race of giants. (Rabelais.)
POLYBOTES, one of the giants who fought against the gods. The sea-god pursued him to the island of Cos, and, tearing away part of the island, threw it on him and buried him beneath the mass. (Greek fable.)
POLYPHEMOS. king of the Cyclops. His skeleton was found at Trapani, in Sicily, in the fourteenth century, by which it is calculated that his height was 300 feet. (Greek fable.)
PORPHYRON, one of the giants who made war with the gods. He hurled the island of Delos against Zeus; but Zeus, with the aid of Hercules, overcame him. (Greek fable.)
PYRACMON, one of the Cyclops. (Greek fable.)
RITHO, the giant who commanded king Arthur to send his beard to complete the lining of a robe. (Arthurian romance.)
SLAY-GOOD, a giant elain by the Great-heart. (Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, ii.)
STEROPES, one of the Cyclops. (Greek fable.)
TARTARO, the Cyclops of Basque legendary lore.
TEUTOBOCHUS, a king, whose remains were discovered in 1613, near the river Rhone. His tomb was 30 feet long. (Mazurier: Histoire Veritable du Geant Teutobochus [1618]).
THAON, one of the giants who made war with the gods. He was killed by the Parcae. (Hesiod: Theogony.)
TITANS, a race of giants. (Greek fable.)
TITYOS, a giant whose body covered nine acres of land. He tried to defile Latona; but Apollo cast him into Tartarus, where a vulture fed on his liver, which grew again as fast as it was devoured. (Greek fable.)
TYPHOEUS, a giant with hundred heads, fearful eyes, and most terrible voice. He was the father of the Harpies. Zeus, (Jupiter) killed him with a thunderbolt, and he lies buried under mount Etna. (Hesiod: Theogony.)
TYPHON, son of Typhoeus, a giant with a hundred heads. He was so tall that his heads touched heaven. His offspring were Gorgon, Geryon, Cerberos, and the hydra of Lerne. Typhon lies buried under mount Etna. (Homer: Hymns.)
WIDE-NOSTRILS, a huge giant, who lived on windmills, and died from eating a lump of fresh butter. (Rabelais: Pantagruel, iv., 17.)
YOHAK, the giant guardian of the caves of Babylon. (Southey: Thalaba, v.)
¶ The tallest giant was in the army of Dandolo, the doge of Venice, said to have been 18 yards (54 feet) high. He word a casque on his head as high as a turreted city.--History of Venice (published by Murray, 1831), vol. i. p. 152.
*** Those who wish to pursue this subject further, should consult the notes of Duchat, bk. ii. 1 of his Oeuvres de Rabelais (1650-1735).
Giants in Real Life
ANAK, father of the Anakim. The Hebrew spies said they themselves were mere grasshoppers in comparison to these giants. —Josh. xv. 14; Jud. i. 20 Num. xiii. 33.
ANAK, 7 feet 8 inches at the age of 26. Exhibited in London, 1862—5. Born at Ramonchamp, in the Vosges (1 syl.), 1840. His real name was Joseph Brice.
ANDRONICUS II., 10 feet. Grandson of Alexius Comnenus. Nicetas asserts that he had seen him.
BAMFORD (Edward), 7 feet 4 inches. Died in 1768, and was buried in St. Dunstan’s Churchyard.
BATES (Captain), and his wife, of Kentucky, each 7 feet 11½ inches. Exhibited in London, 1871.
BUCANAN (Henry), 7 feet 4 inches, and most symmetrical. Born at Cuckfield, Sussex, in 1724. Generally called “The British Giant.” Exhibited in London, 1751.
BRADLEY, 7 feet 8 inches at death. Born at Market Wheaten, in Yorkshire. His right hand is preserved in the museum of the College of Surgeons (1798-1820).
BRICK (Joseph), 7 feet 8 inches. His hand could span 15½ inches. (See “Anak.")
BUSBY (John), 7 feet 9 inches; of Darfield. His brother was about the same height.
CHANG-WOO-GOO, 8 feet 2 inches; of Fychou. The Chinese giant. Exhibited in London, 1865-6, and in 1880.
CHARLEMAGNE, 8 feet nearly. He could squeeze together three horse-shoes at once with his hands.
COTTER (Patrick), 8 feet 7½ inches. The Irish giant. A cast of his hand is preserved in the museum of the College of Surgeons (died 1802).
ELEAZER, 7 cubits (? 10 feet 6 inches). The Jewish giant mentioned by Josephus. He lived in the reign of Vitellius.
ELEIZEGUE (Joachim), 7 feet 10 inches. The Spanish giant. Exhibited in London.
Evans (William), 8 feet at death. Porter to Charles I. (died 1632).
FRANK (Big), 7 feet 8 inches; weight, 22 stone; girth round the chest, 58 inches. He was an Irishman, whose name was Francis Sheridan (died 1870).
FRENZ (Louis), 7 feet 4 inches. The French giant.
GABARA, 9 feet 9 inches. An Arabian giant. Pliny says he was the tallest man seen in the days of Claudius.
GILLY, 8 feet. A Swede; exhibited as a show in the early part of the nineteenth century.
GOLIATH, 6 cubits and a span (? 9 feet 4 inches).—1 Sam. xvii. 4, etc. His “brother” was also a giant—2 Sam. xxi. 19; 1 Chron. xx. 5.
GORDON (Alice), 7 feet. An Essex giantess (died 1737).
HALE (Robert), 7 feet 6 inches; born at Somerton. Generally called “The Norfolk Giant” (1820-1862).
HARDRADA (Harold), “5 ells of Norway in height” (nearly 8 feet). The Norway giant.
LA PIERRE, 7 feet 1 inch; of Stratgard, in Denmark.
LOUIS, 7 feet 4 inches. The French giant. His left hand is preserved in the museum of the College of Surgeons.
LOUSHKIN, 8 feet 5 inches. The Russian giant, and drum-major of the Imperial Guards.
M‘DONALD (James), 7 feet 6 inches; of Cork (died 1760).
M‘DONALD (Samuel), 6 feet 10 inches. A Scotchman; usually called “Big Sam” (died 1802). Prince of Wales’s footman.
MAGRATH (Cornelius), 7 feet 8 inches. He was an orphan, reared by bishop Berkley, and died at the age of 20 (1740-1760).
MAXIMINUS, 8 feet 6 inches. The Roman emperor (235-238).
MELLON (Edmund), 7 feet 6 1nches. Born at Port Leicester, Ireland (1665-1684).
MIDDLETON (John), 9 feet 3 inches. “His hand was 17 inches long, and 8½ inches broad.” He was born at Hale, in Lancashire, in the reign of James I.— Dr. Plott, History of Staffordshire.
MILLER (Maximilian Christopher), 8 feet. His hand measured 12 inches, and his fore-finger was 9 inches long. The Saxon giant. Died in London (1674-1734).
MURPHY, 8 feet 10 inches. An Irish giant, contemporary with O‘Brien. Died at Marseilles.
O'BRIEN or Charles Byrne, 8 ft. 4 in. The Irish giant. His skeleton is preserved in the museum of the College of Surgeons (1761-1783). Patrick was 8 ft. 7 in.
OG, king of Bashan. “His bed was 9 cubits by 4 cubits” (? 13½ feet by 6 feet).—Deut. iii. 11.
*** The Great Bed of Ware is 12 feet by 12 feet.
OSEN (Heinrich), 7 feet 6 inches, weight, 300 lbs. or 37¼ stone. Born in Norway.
PORUS, an Indian king who fought against Alexander near the river Hydaspes (B.C. 327). He was a giant “5 cubits in height” [7½ feet], with strength in proportion. — Quintus Curtius, De re gestis Alexandri Magni.
RIECHART (J. H.), 8 feet 3 inches, of Friedberg. His father and mother were both giants.
SALMERON (Martin), 7 feet 4 inches. A Mexican.
SAM (Big), 6 feet 10 inches. (See “M‘Donald.”)
SALMERON (Francis), 7 feet 8 inches. (See “Frank.”)
SWAN (Miss Anne Hanen), 7 feet; of Nova Scotia.
TOLLER, J. 8 ft. (d. 1819.)
*** In 1682, a giant 7 feet 7 inches was exhibited in Dublin. A Swede 8 feet 6 inches was in the body-guard of a king of Prussia. A human skeleton 8 feet 6 inches is preserved in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin.
Becanus says he had seen a man nearly 10 feet high, and a woman fully 10 feet. Gasper Bauhin speaks of a Swiss 8 feet in height. Del Rio says he saw a Piedmontese in 1572 more than 9 feet in stature. C. S. F. Warren, M.A., says (in Notes and Queries, August 14, 1875) that his father knew a lady 9 feet high; “her head touched the ceiling of a good-sized room.” Vanderbrook says he saw a black man, at Congo, 9 feet high.
*** It will be seen that the tallest man was ELEAZER who was 10½ feet. ANDRONICUS was 10 feet.
ANAK, 7 feet 8 inches at the age of 26. Exhibited in London, 1862—5. Born at Ramonchamp, in the Vosges (1 syl.), 1840. His real name was Joseph Brice.
ANDRONICUS II., 10 feet. Grandson of Alexius Comnenus. Nicetas asserts that he had seen him.
BAMFORD (Edward), 7 feet 4 inches. Died in 1768, and was buried in St. Dunstan’s Churchyard.
BATES (Captain), and his wife, of Kentucky, each 7 feet 11½ inches. Exhibited in London, 1871.
BUCANAN (Henry), 7 feet 4 inches, and most symmetrical. Born at Cuckfield, Sussex, in 1724. Generally called “The British Giant.” Exhibited in London, 1751.
BRADLEY, 7 feet 8 inches at death. Born at Market Wheaten, in Yorkshire. His right hand is preserved in the museum of the College of Surgeons (1798-1820).
BRICK (Joseph), 7 feet 8 inches. His hand could span 15½ inches. (See “Anak.")
BUSBY (John), 7 feet 9 inches; of Darfield. His brother was about the same height.
CHANG-WOO-GOO, 8 feet 2 inches; of Fychou. The Chinese giant. Exhibited in London, 1865-6, and in 1880.
CHARLEMAGNE, 8 feet nearly. He could squeeze together three horse-shoes at once with his hands.
COTTER (Patrick), 8 feet 7½ inches. The Irish giant. A cast of his hand is preserved in the museum of the College of Surgeons (died 1802).
ELEAZER, 7 cubits (? 10 feet 6 inches). The Jewish giant mentioned by Josephus. He lived in the reign of Vitellius.
ELEIZEGUE (Joachim), 7 feet 10 inches. The Spanish giant. Exhibited in London.
Evans (William), 8 feet at death. Porter to Charles I. (died 1632).
FRANK (Big), 7 feet 8 inches; weight, 22 stone; girth round the chest, 58 inches. He was an Irishman, whose name was Francis Sheridan (died 1870).
FRENZ (Louis), 7 feet 4 inches. The French giant.
GABARA, 9 feet 9 inches. An Arabian giant. Pliny says he was the tallest man seen in the days of Claudius.
GILLY, 8 feet. A Swede; exhibited as a show in the early part of the nineteenth century.
GOLIATH, 6 cubits and a span (? 9 feet 4 inches).—1 Sam. xvii. 4, etc. His “brother” was also a giant—2 Sam. xxi. 19; 1 Chron. xx. 5.
GORDON (Alice), 7 feet. An Essex giantess (died 1737).
HALE (Robert), 7 feet 6 inches; born at Somerton. Generally called “The Norfolk Giant” (1820-1862).
HARDRADA (Harold), “5 ells of Norway in height” (nearly 8 feet). The Norway giant.
LA PIERRE, 7 feet 1 inch; of Stratgard, in Denmark.
LOUIS, 7 feet 4 inches. The French giant. His left hand is preserved in the museum of the College of Surgeons.
LOUSHKIN, 8 feet 5 inches. The Russian giant, and drum-major of the Imperial Guards.
M‘DONALD (James), 7 feet 6 inches; of Cork (died 1760).
M‘DONALD (Samuel), 6 feet 10 inches. A Scotchman; usually called “Big Sam” (died 1802). Prince of Wales’s footman.
MAGRATH (Cornelius), 7 feet 8 inches. He was an orphan, reared by bishop Berkley, and died at the age of 20 (1740-1760).
MAXIMINUS, 8 feet 6 inches. The Roman emperor (235-238).
MELLON (Edmund), 7 feet 6 1nches. Born at Port Leicester, Ireland (1665-1684).
MIDDLETON (John), 9 feet 3 inches. “His hand was 17 inches long, and 8½ inches broad.” He was born at Hale, in Lancashire, in the reign of James I.— Dr. Plott, History of Staffordshire.
MILLER (Maximilian Christopher), 8 feet. His hand measured 12 inches, and his fore-finger was 9 inches long. The Saxon giant. Died in London (1674-1734).
MURPHY, 8 feet 10 inches. An Irish giant, contemporary with O‘Brien. Died at Marseilles.
O'BRIEN or Charles Byrne, 8 ft. 4 in. The Irish giant. His skeleton is preserved in the museum of the College of Surgeons (1761-1783). Patrick was 8 ft. 7 in.
OG, king of Bashan. “His bed was 9 cubits by 4 cubits” (? 13½ feet by 6 feet).—Deut. iii. 11.
*** The Great Bed of Ware is 12 feet by 12 feet.
OSEN (Heinrich), 7 feet 6 inches, weight, 300 lbs. or 37¼ stone. Born in Norway.
PORUS, an Indian king who fought against Alexander near the river Hydaspes (B.C. 327). He was a giant “5 cubits in height” [7½ feet], with strength in proportion. — Quintus Curtius, De re gestis Alexandri Magni.
RIECHART (J. H.), 8 feet 3 inches, of Friedberg. His father and mother were both giants.
SALMERON (Martin), 7 feet 4 inches. A Mexican.
SAM (Big), 6 feet 10 inches. (See “M‘Donald.”)
SALMERON (Francis), 7 feet 8 inches. (See “Frank.”)
SWAN (Miss Anne Hanen), 7 feet; of Nova Scotia.
TOLLER, J. 8 ft. (d. 1819.)
*** In 1682, a giant 7 feet 7 inches was exhibited in Dublin. A Swede 8 feet 6 inches was in the body-guard of a king of Prussia. A human skeleton 8 feet 6 inches is preserved in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin.
Becanus says he had seen a man nearly 10 feet high, and a woman fully 10 feet. Gasper Bauhin speaks of a Swiss 8 feet in height. Del Rio says he saw a Piedmontese in 1572 more than 9 feet in stature. C. S. F. Warren, M.A., says (in Notes and Queries, August 14, 1875) that his father knew a lady 9 feet high; “her head touched the ceiling of a good-sized room.” Vanderbrook says he saw a black man, at Congo, 9 feet high.
*** It will be seen that the tallest man was ELEAZER who was 10½ feet. ANDRONICUS was 10 feet.
