André the Giant was born André René Roussimoff, a French professional wrestler who was over seven feet tall and afflicted with acromegaly, a disorder in which the pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone. He died at age forty-six.
Robert Wadlow, also known as the Giant of Illinois, at eight feet eleven inches, was the tallest person in recorded history. He possessed great physical strength and toured with the Ringling Brothers Circus and also toured promotionally for the International Shoe Company. He died from a blood infection in 1940 at the age of twenty-two.
Victor Frankenstein’s monster from Mary Shelley’s gothic novel was assembled from spare body parts nabbed from graveyards. This poor object of banishment and horror was never even given a name.
Atlas was a Titan giant who went to war against Zeus’s gods of Olympus. Upon defeat, Atlas was forced to carry the weight of the universe on his shoulders for all eternity.
Sasquatch was allegedly an ape-like beast often called the “missing link” who prowled the wilds of the north leaving gargantuan footprints.
In Norse mythology, Grid was a giantess who saved Thor’s life by supplying him with the gifts of a girdle of might, a pair of magical iron gloves, and a magical wand.
The cannibalistic giant from “Jack and the Beanstalk” gets his golden treasure stolen and is murdered by the opportunistic Jack. Another unnamed giant.
The Seminole people spoke of a giant named Tall Man who smelled bad.
Polyphemus Cyclops was a giant of ancient Greek mythology with only one eye centered on his hideous face. He captured the Greek hero Odysseus and his men but they escaped by blinding the giant.
P.S. I was doing some research on giants for a piece I’m writing. Isn’t it amazing what can catch our interest?
