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Albanian giants are as tall as pine
trees, with black beards that reach to their knees. They catch men to eat and
women to fan the flies away. |
Giants have enormous size and
strength packed in a human form. They can roar like thunder, make the earth
shake, and snack on grown people. Their characteristics depend on their
nationalities. Irish giants are pleasant, English giants are openly evil, and
Welsh giants are clever and cunning. All giants have a keen sense of smell, and
they are always smelling out little boys (fee fi fo fum). But their brains
never match their bodies. The smallest person can always outsmart the most
terrible giant. Giants are proof that intelligence is more important than
size.
Who's Who of Giants
Super Giant
Atlas was one of the
Titans in Greek mythology. After the Titans lost a battle with the god Zeus,
Atlas's punishment was to carry the earth on his shoulders for
eternity.
Gentle Giant
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Scientists have found gigantic skulls
and enormous jaws that may have belonged to a race of giants half a million
years ago. |
Paul Bunyan, an American
folk hero, was a giant of the north woods. He was taller than the trees, and
when his footprints filled with water, they created the ten thousand lakes of
Minnesota.
Biblical Giant
Goliath, a warrior giant,
terrorized whole armies with his size and strength. Only a young boy named
David would challenge him. With a slingshot and a stone, David beat
Goliath.
One-Eyed Giant
The Cyclops was a
man-eating giant who had one eye in the middle of his forehead. In Greek
mythology, the Cyclops captured the hero Odysseus, who escaped after he
put out the Cyclops' eye.
Mountain Giants
Yeti, the Abominable
Snowman of Tibet, Yerin, the Wildman of China, and Sasquatch, the
Big Foot of America, are all mysterious giants who live in the mountains. There
are many stories of sightings or attacks by these mysterious creatures.
Man-Eating Giant
An ogre is a man-eating
giant. Rakshas was an ogre who lived in a palace in India. His gold and jewels
made him rich, but he was dirty and dumb. Like all ogres, he enjoyed eating
people.
Giantess
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Gruagachs are Scottish giants and
giantesses. |
Most giant wives are depicted as
stay-at-homes who spend their time making bread out of ground-up human bones.
Befri, a French giantess, carried off young girls who did not want to
spin thread into cloth. But Grendel's Mother, in the story of Beowulf,
was an ogress who could sneak up on sleeping warriors and eat 15 of them at a
time. She was killed by the hero Beowulf, who used a magic sword of the
giants to slay her.
Cold Giant
Jack Frost is an enormous,
hoary giant whose cold breath freezes the earth, covering it with frost. His
fierce roar can shatter icebergs.
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