Giants in Folklore and Myth

There are as many types of Giants as there are cultures from which they spring. In myth they often contend with with the gods, or are involved in the very act of creation itself. I myself have always had a fondness for more grounded Giants as depicted in Irish, Welsh, and Cornish folklore. These Giants have petty rivalries with another, are often bested by mortals, and on occasion marry them! They may have two or even three heads, and their size can vary greatly.

Perhaps the best known Giant from folklore is the the one from Jack in the Beanstalk. The Jack character also appears in Jack the Giant Killer, in which he defeats a number of Giants and joins King Arthur's court. The story of The Brave Little Tailor also features a Giant, and contains a theme close to the story of Finn McCool who outsmarts a much bigger Giant with the help of his wife using similar methods.

To rein things in and categorize Giants, I tied in to the overall elemental scheme of my world. Taking my cue from D&D, I interpreted Fire, Frost, Stone, and Cloud types as elemental Giants of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Into this mix I added my element of Time.

Next comes grouping by size. Hill Giants in D&D are the smallest of Giants, averaging 8 feet tall. This fits in with the idea featured in many stories of Giants having human wives, being a similar proportion as a 6 foot husband with a 4'-6" wife. Of course, there no reason the Giant shouldn't be the wife, and the human the husband. Intentionally subverting traditional story tropes can be a creative way to break out of gendered assumptions that are an inescapable part of adapting historical cultural stories to a modern game.

While we can make 8 feet the minimum height to qualify as a Giant, there is no theoretical upper limit. Atlas, after all, holds the entire world on his shoulders. However, a "proper" Giant from folklore should be able to easily carry livestock. 20 feet seems a reasonable size for such an ability.

Arthur Rackham

If we make 8 feet a "small" Giant and 20 feet an "average" Giant (a scale increase of 250%), we can call the next size up "large", and with another 250% increase in scale, set it at 50 feet tall. Then we can jump to 100 feet for an "immense" Giant. This is about on scale for the enormous Giant in Castle Amber. 

So now we have four scales of Giant: Small (8 ft), Average (20 ft), Large (50 ft), and Immense (100 ft). Each of these have five types, aligned to each of the five elements for 20 distinct Giant categories.

Inspired by The Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, as well as the mead-hall in Beowulf and the House of the Red Branch from the Ulster Cycle, I've made my Hill Giants clannish, ruled over by lords or chieftans. These Giants are on a whole, open if skeptical to human interaction, keeping to themselves in the lower mountain ranges. Any human daring enough to visit a Hill Giant steading is sure to face challenges of strength, skill, endurance, and wit before being respected by the clan. The Giants are much more likely to judge such a visitor on their willingness to take on such challenges than their ability to overcome them. Inspired by the Trials of Thor, In many cases these challenges will be unfair to the point of impossible, providing much entertainment for the Giants as the guests try to accomplish them.

Next up are the average Giants, which covers most of the Giants in AD&D (Fire, Frost, Stone, and Cloud), ranging from 18 to 24 feet. These Giants can range from lone individuals to those living in more structured groups like the Hill Giants. In general the larger the Giant, the more remote they will live from human settlements.

Large Giants would almost always be unique and solitary. Perhaps they have smaller Giants or humans as servants. Encounters with such Giants would be very rare. Perhaps legendary.

Finally we have the immense Giants of 100 feet in height or more. When thinking of these as elemental types, it seems these would be not too dis-similar to the idea of Djinn or Efreet. Once Giants become unique, ascribing magical powers to them becomes an interesting consideration.