Lineage: Gigantes (king of the Giants) · race detail
Where & when: Phlegra / Pallene · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Pindar, Pythian 8; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.6.2
Named Giants
← Glossary · Named giants (glossary) · All races · Nephilim
Giants appear across scripture, the Qumran scrolls, myth and saga, ancient historiography, and the modern medical record. This section lists the ones that are named — the individuals a source actually calls by name — and keeps each one tied to the kind of source it rests on.
The source class is the point of the page. A giant named in Genesis, a giant named in a Qumran fragment, a giant reported by Pliny, and a man measured by physicians at Washington University are four different kinds of claim, and mixing them is how this subject usually goes wrong. Heights are shown as recorded by that source, in that source’s own units, never converted into an assertion of fact. Where two traditions give different figures for the same person — Goliath is the standard case — both are shown.
Every card carries two icons: opens that giant’s own page, and opens the glossary definition.
For giant races and lineages rather than individuals (Nephilim, Anakim, Rephaim, Emim, Zamzumim, Gibborim), see All races. For the Watchers named as the fathers of the Nephilim — Shemihazah, Azazel and the rest of the two hundred — see Fallen Angels and Grigori / Watchers.
Tradition, myth and folklore (36)
Named in Greek, Roman, Norse, Islamic, Celtic and Asian tradition. Recorded as tradition, not asserted as history.
Also known as: Alkyoneus
Lineage: Gigantes · race detail
Where & when: Pallene, Thrace · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.6.1; Pindar, Nemean 4
Lineage: Gigantes · race detail
Where & when: Sicily (Mount Etna) · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.6.2; Virgil, Aeneid 3.578-582
Also known as: Otos
Lineage: Aloadae · race detail
Where & when: Thessaly · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Homer: nine cubits broad and nine fathoms tall at nine years old (about 54 ft / 16.5 m)
References: Homer, Odyssey 11.305-320; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.7.4
Also known as: Ephialtes of the Aloadae
Lineage: Aloadae · race detail
Where & when: Thessaly · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Homer: nine cubits broad and nine fathoms tall at nine years old (about 54 ft / 16.5 m)
References: Homer, Odyssey 11.305-320; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.7.4, 1.6.2
Also known as: Tityus
Lineage: Son of Gaia · race detail
Where & when: Euboea / Tartarus · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Homer: his body covered nine acres (roughly nine plethra) as he lay
References: Homer, Odyssey 11.576-581; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.4.1
Also known as: Antaios
Lineage: Son of Poseidon and Gaia · race detail
Where & when: Libya / North Africa · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated by Homer; Plutarch reports Sertorius opening a tomb at Tingis said to hold a 60-cubit body
References: Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.5.11; Plutarch, Life of Sertorius 9
Lineage: Cyclopes
Where & when: Sicily (traditionally) · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated; his club is compared to the mast of a twenty-oared ship
References: Homer, Odyssey 9.105-566; Euripides, Cyclops
Also known as: Geryones
Lineage: Three-bodied giant
Where & when: Erytheia (traditionally Gades / Cadiz) · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated; described as three-bodied or three-headed
References: Hesiod, Theogony 287-294; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.5.10
Also known as: Talus
Lineage: Bronze automaton giant
Where & when: Crete · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.1638-1688; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.9.26
Lineage: Giant son of Poseidon
Where & when: Boeotia / Chios / Crete · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated; able to walk through the sea with his head above the waves
References: Homer, Odyssey 11.572-575; Hesiod, Astronomy fr. 4
Lineage: Fire-breathing giant, son of Vulcan
Where & when: Aventine Hill, Rome · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Virgil, Aeneid 8.190-267; Livy 1.7; Ovid, Fasti 1.543-582
Lineage: Titans · race detail
Where & when: Far west / Atlas Mountains, North Africa · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated; large enough to bear the heavens
References: Hesiod, Theogony 517-520; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.5.11
Also known as: Kronos; Saturn
Lineage: Titans · race detail
Where & when: Mount Othrys / Elysium · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Hesiod, Theogony 453-506; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.1.5-1.2.1
Also known as: Typhoeus
Lineage: Son of Gaia and Tartarus
Where & when: Cilicia / Mount Etna · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Hesiod: head brushing the stars, hands reaching east and west
References: Hesiod, Theogony 820-880; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.6.3
Also known as: Aurgelmir
Lineage: Jotnar (primordial)
Where & when: Ginnungagap · Primordial
Stature as recorded: Not stated; the world is made from his body
References: Gylfaginning 5-8; Voluspa 3; Vafthrudnismal 21
Lineage: Jotnar
Where & when: Jotunheim · Primordial
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Gylfaginning 7; Vafthrudnismal 29
Also known as: Surt
Lineage: Fire jotnar
Where & when: Muspelheim · From before creation to Ragnarok
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Voluspa 52; Gylfaginning 4, 51; Vafthrudnismal 17-18
Also known as: Thrym
Lineage: Jotnar (king of the giants)
Where & when: Jotunheim · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Thrymskvida (Poetic Edda)
Also known as: Utgarda-Loki (in disguise)
Lineage: Jotnar
Where & when: Jotunheim / Utgard · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: So large that Thor and his companions slept in the thumb of his glove, mistaking it for a hall
References: Gylfaginning 45-47
Lineage: Jotnar
Where & when: Jotunheim / Grjotunagardar · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated; head, heart and shield all of stone
References: Skaldskaparmal 17; Haustlong
Also known as: Thiazi
Lineage: Jotnar
Where & when: Thrymheim, Jotunheim · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Skaldskaparmal 1-3; Harbardsljod 19; Gylfaginning
Also known as: Skadi Thjazadottir
Lineage: Jotnar (goddess of the hunt)
Where & when: Thrymheim, Jotunheim · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Skaldskaparmal 2; Gylfaginning 23; Lokasenna
Also known as: Angrbodha
Lineage: Jotnar
Where & when: Jarnvid, Jotunheim · Mythic age
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Hyndluljod 40; Gylfaginning 34
Also known as: Og son of Anak; Awj ibn Unuq
Lineage: Anakim (Islamic recension) · race detail
Where & when: Levant / Egypt · Age of Moses
Stature as recorded: Traditions vary wildly, from several hundred to several thousand cubits; the figures are legendary and mutually inconsistent
References: Al-Tabari, History; Al-Thalabi, Ara'is al-Majalis (Lives of the Prophets)
Also known as: Shaddad
Lineage: Tribe of Ad · race detail
Where & when: Southern Arabia (Iram of the Pillars) · Pre-Islamic antiquity
Stature as recorded: Not stated; the Ad are described in the Quran as of great stature and strength
References: Quran 7:65-72; 26:123-140; 89:6-8; Al-Tabari, History
Also known as: Goemagot; Gogmagoc
Lineage: Giants of Albion
Where & when: Cornwall / Plymouth Hoe, Britain · Legendary founding of Britain
Stature as recorded: Geoffrey of Monmouth: twelve cubits (about 18 ft / 5.5 m)
References: Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae 1.16; Wace, Roman de Brut
Also known as: Ysbaddaden Chief Giant
Lineage: Welsh giants
Where & when: Wales · Arthurian legendary age
Stature as recorded: Not stated; his eyelids must be propped up with forks
References: Culhwch ac Olwen (Mabinogion), White Book of Rhydderch
Also known as: Bran the Blessed
Lineage: Welsh giants
Where & when: Harlech, Wales and Ireland · Legendary age
Stature as recorded: Not stated; too large for any house or ship, he waded the Irish Sea
References: Branwen ferch Llyr (Second Branch of the Mabinogi)
Also known as: Finn McCool
Lineage: Irish giants (in later folklore)
Where & when: Ireland (Giant's Causeway, Antrim) · Fenian Cycle / later folklore
Stature as recorded: Not stated
References: Fenian Cycle; Ulster and Hebridean oral tradition
Lineage: Scottish giants
Where & when: Scotland and Antrim, Ireland · Later folklore
Stature as recorded: Not stated; described as far larger than Fionn
References: Ulster and Scottish oral tradition
Also known as: Ferracutus; Ferraut
Lineage: Saracen giant
Where & when: Najera, Spain · Legendary reign of Charlemagne
Stature as recorded: Historia Caroli Magni: twelve cubits, with a face a cubit long
References: Historia Caroli Magni (Pseudo-Turpin), ch. 17-18
Also known as: Basajaunak (plural)
Lineage: Basque wild-folk
Where & when: Pyrenees, Basque Country · Folklore
Stature as recorded: Not stated; described as very tall and hairy
References: Basque oral tradition, collected by Jose Miguel de Barandiaran
Lineage: Rakshasa
Where & when: Lanka · Treta Yuga (traditional)
Stature as recorded: Ramayana: of mountainous size, described in yojanas
References: Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda
Also known as: P'an-ku
Lineage: Primordial giant
Where & when: China (cosmogonic) · Primordial
Stature as recorded: Grew ten feet a day for 18,000 years, separating heaven and earth
References: Xu Zheng, Sanwu Liji (3rd century AD)
Also known as: Daidarabochi
Lineage: Yokai giant
Where & when: Japan (Kanto and beyond) · Folklore
Stature as recorded: Not stated; large enough to lift Mount Fuji
References: Japanese regional folklore; Hitachi no Kuni Fudoki
By source class
76 named giants on record · 19 resting on a first-hand examination or eyewitness report. Select a class to filter.
What is deliberately not here
Unnamed giants. This page lists names. Scripture also describes giants it does not name — the six-fingered man of Gath (2 Samuel 21:20), the four sons of the Rapha as a group, the Emim and Zamzumim as peoples. Those belong with the races and lineages, not here.
Unnamed skeleton reports. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century newspaper accounts of giant skeletons in burial mounds, and the red-haired Si-Te-Cah of Paiute oral tradition associated with Lovelock Cave, Nevada, describe peoples and finds rather than named individuals, and almost none survive independent verification. They are not listed as named giants.
Fiction. Figures invented for literature or advertising — Paul Bunyan among them — are excluded. The one fabrication that is listed, the Cardiff Giant, appears under historiography because the fraud itself is a documented historical event with a paper trail, and because the most famous American giant being a carved block of gypsum is the single most useful fact on this page.
Map of Named Giants All races Nephilim Grigori / Watchers Fallen Angels Glossary