Giants

Giants are essentially large humans, often with some additional supernatural characteristics or powers. Some of them have two or even three heads like described in Jack the Giant-Killer, or only one eye, like Cyclops, described in Odyssey. We can find giants in all kinds of literature, from the Bible to Science Fiction novels. Giants are often portrayed as cannibals, greedy, no very smart, and in possession of valuable objects.

On general level giants represent all dangers in our environment. On intimate level giants represent parents (or other grown-ups) who are much bigger and stronger than kids.

In both cases, brute force is no use. Giants have too much power. This is not represented in his height and muscles, it can be seen in their huge castles, treasures, and magic objects. All this should be taken from the giants. But it's never enough just to get their power, giants can be defeated only by killing the. Otherwise, they will come back and present a life-threatening danger to us and our loved ones.

We can symbolically defeat giants by taking away their most valuable possessions, like Jack in Jack and the Bean-Stalk did. These objects are almost always very similar to real objects little kids crave for but are not allowed or capable to handle them. Gold represents money, seven-league boots represent the power of going around alone and fast, their insatiable appetite represents the ability to eat a lot (not to be taken for granted in most of the countries in the world just a few decades ago), their power in, well, the power kids are always dreaming to have, ...

Giants are popular creatures in myths, legends, bible stories, and fairy tales. They are in most cases of the male gender, which supports the theory they represent fathers in a symbolic sense just like witches represent mothers. We intend to represent some stories about the most well-known giants in the world and a bit of background for each one where that's possible.

For starters, there will be some superb illustrations of the giants in fairy tales.

The picture above comes from The History of Bluebeard's Wives by Sabilla Novello, published in 1875. The scene portrays Bluebeard decapitating a man-eating ogre who had a princess Timidella (the blond beauty holding the muscular body of her hero) captured in his castle, waiting to gain some additional fat before being served as a dinner. But Bluebeard rescued her and she eventually became his fifth wife. Illustrated by George Cruikshank Junior, a nephew of much more known George Cruikshank who illustrated his share of giants too.