A THOUGHT ON GIANTS

Legends about Giants are frequently invoked to help bolster evidence for the existence of Bigfoot and other large unknown anthropoids.  However, what investigators should do is to differentiate between different kinds of Giants.  Some may reflect traditions of genuine Bigfoot-like creatures, but some or less likely to.

The categories into which I would divide Giants are as follows:-

(a) Mythological Giants  These would mainly be Giants remembered from their encounters with gods and would include such beings as the gods of Greek and Norse mythology.  These are often on an equal footing with the gods and will sometimes intermarry with them.  They should not be regarded as likely to preserve any reminiscence of real gigantic humanoids.

(b) Etiological Giants  These are Giants believed to have been transformed into geological features.  Mount Atlas, turned to stone by the Gorgon's head would be an example.  Once again, these cannot be used as reasonable evidence for the existence of large humanoids.

(c) Ordinary Giants  These would simply be taller than the people recording their existence.  A small person of Mediterranean origin encountering a person of Norse origin might describe him as a Giant.

(d) Category Four  These are Giants preserved in oral lore.  These could  mean that the groups in whose lore they feature might well have encountered large unknown humanoids/anthropoids in days agone and may even still be encountering them.

Giant