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Article: Giants
- Article from:
- Myths and Legends of the World
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Macmillan Reference, USA. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Giants
Giants play many different roles in myth and legend. These mythical beings, much bigger than people, usually have human form, but some are monstrous in appearance. Giants often seem to be cruel and evil, although they may be merely clumsy or stupid. In some myths and legends, however, they are friendly and helpful or at least neutral.
Giants can represent powerful natural forces that frighten and threaten humans. In the mythology of the Native American Lakota people, Waziya is a northern giant who blows the winter wind. In some traditions, a giant appears as a symbol of
chaos,
threatening to disrupt the orderly natural world or social community.
The evil giants of myth generally ...