In the Land of the Giants: Folklore’s Biggest Villains. Literally

<![CDATA[Giants have been the villains in many stories, in all cultures, providing a sharp contrast to the heroes. Jack the Giant Killer is probably the most famous one. Folklore tales gave birth to many legends, which developed over the centuries, with each new generation of listeners adding something of their own to the story. One of the most well known folk heroes is Jack the Giant Killer, a young, plucky lad who killed many giants who terrorized the people during King Arthur’s rule. The story itself did not appear in English literature prior to eighteenth century, and there are speculations that numerous stories about giants were simply collected and published by someone, and Jack was created to be hero that ties them all together. We are all familiar with at least one of them, the most famous being Jack and the Beanstalk. There are also some similarities between Jack and some other folklore heroes, such Tom Thumb, or The Valiant Little Tailor, or even some stories from the French folklore, namely Bluebeard. There’s also the Greek Cyclops, as well as the giants in Norse, Indian, Irish and Scottish mythology. Traveling around Britain, especially Wales and Cornwall, Jack slayed many giants, the most infamous one being Cormoran, whose size and monstrosity serves to provide a stark contrast to our hero, who defeated him using only a horn, shovel and pick-axe, proving that inside his tiny body, beats a large heart. He dug a pit in front of the cave where Cormoran slept, twenty-two feet deep, covering it with sticks, straws and mould to appear as it was solid ground. He then waited on the opposite side, and called the giant out when the sun rose by blowing his horn. This awoke and angered Cormoran, who rushed to crush tiny Jack, but he fell into the pit, and Jack finished him off, striking him with his pick-axe on the head. Obviously, numerous parallels can be drawn between this tale and the one found in the Bible, about David and Goliath. Even though Jack commits violent acts, such as ripping a giant’s belly open in one of the stories, more often that not, it is his clever trickery and quick thinking that helps him out of tough situations. He knows he cannot match the strength and the size of Cormoran, Galigantus, or any other giant, so he exploits their weaknesses. Right from the beginning, it’s an unfair right, but Jack is not the one to be discouraged. At the heart of these stories is the battle of good vs. evil, but the giants are used as villains for a reason. They aren’t fully fleshed-out characters with unique qualities that to them apart from one another, but their lowest common denominator is their size, power, brutality, but also their lack of skill and intelligence, as they are always portrayed as blood-thirsty monsters, often clumsy and dim-witted. As such, they serve to provide the perfect foil for our tiny hero, as Jack’s qualities can shine when juxtaposed with characteristics of the giants. These stories give us the message that is that no matter how small you are, you always have a fighting chance to emerge victorious if you use your smarts, wit and bravery against a brute, mindless, destructive force.]]>