From the giants of Europe to the Si-Te-Cah of Nevada, mythology is filled with overly-large humanoids that usually want to eat us. The question is, were these shared myths inspired by something that really existed? Let's look at...
- Big Words: Where do the terms ogre and giant even come from?
- The Si-Te-Cah: A legendary clan of Native American giants - and how they might have been "real"
- Real Life Giants: How pituitary gigantism could explain some of these myths
- Memories of the Neanderthals: While twisted memories of our predecessors might explain others
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| A representation of Orcus, found in the Sacro Bosco of Bomarzo, Italy. (alefolsom) |
Big Words
Have you ever wondered where the word ogre comes from? One possibility is Greco-Roman mythology - the Roman Orcus and the Greek Horkos were both divine figures with a dark reputation (orco even means monster in Italian.) Writers seem to have brought these words into French and then English, slowly morphing them into ogre on the way.
The word "giant" also comes from Greek mythology, specifically the Gigantes. These powerful and destructive creatures were born when the blood of Uranus fell upon Gaia - and they went on to fight the Olympian gods. The word moved through France as geant before becoming giant in English.
It should be noted that creatures resembling ogres and giants show up in far more than Greco-Roman derived mythology - the Scandinavian Jotunn, the Native American Si-Te-Cah, the Japanese Oni... with such a widespread presence, you have to wonder if something real gave rise to the stories...
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| The Giant's Causeway of Ireland looks like an artificial path - but it's all natural. (Hansuan_Fabregas) |
The Si-Te-Cah
I mentioned that creatures like giants and ogres show up in mythology all over the world. That's the case with the Si-Te-Cah, a race of red-haired cannibal giants once said to stalk Nevada.
The Si-Te-Cah feature in the folklore of the Paiute. The stories say that they were frequently raided by these hungry monsters, until the Paiute eventually trapped the giants in a cave and burnt them alive.
The Si-Te-Cah feature in the folklore of the Paiute. The stories say that they were frequently raided by these hungry monsters, until the Paiute eventually trapped the giants in a cave and burnt them alive.
Fast forwards to the early 20th century, when miners searching Lovelock cave for bat guano (a handy source of fertilizer) started turning up Native American artifacts. Professional archeologists got involved and uncovered a cache of human remains - some of which were around 4000 years old.
Some of the remains were surprisingly large (one skeleton was described as being 6'6") and many seemed to have had red hair - though this could just have been the process of natural decomposition.
Now 6'6" is impressive, but certainly not a giant by modern standards. There's precious little data available about the historical height of Native Americans, though a study found that Plains Indians were some of the tallest people in the world during the 19th century... with 5'8" being the height of the average adult male.
The Paiute didn't live on the bison-rich plains - instead, they battled the high desert, fished and hunted waterfowl in lowland marshes and gathered roots, fruits and nuts from plants where they could. It doesn't seem a stretch to suggest that this less nourishing diet may have kept them at a more modest height.
Remember that 6'6" skeleton I mentioned before? Put yourself in the shoes of a Paiute encountering a man towering a full foot (possibly due to a "meat" rich diet) above you - wouldn't you call them a giant?
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| Aside from color, Japanese Oni seem oddly similar to European ogres... (aestelle) |
Real Life Giants
Do you know that gigantism is an actual genetic condition? Pituitary gigantism occurs when too much growth hormone is released (often due to a benign tumor of the pituitary gland) during childhood, resulting in an abnormally large individual.
Symptoms vary from person to person, but a prominent forehead and jaw, thick fingers and toes, large hands and feet, headaches and poor vision, excessive sweating and excessive height are all possibilities.
Though it's an extremely rare condition, we actually have a brilliant example from the modern era: André René Roussimoff, or André the Giant. With a height of around 7'4" and a physique to match, he had a career in wrestling and even acted in The Princess Bride.
So speculate with me here - we have the occasional, rare person who grows abnormally large. They have an overly large jaw and forehead, along with excessive sweating (fun fact, sweat can actually become discolored thanks to certain bacteria.) Constant headaches and poor vision could also lead to an irritable or a seemingly distractible state... but the bulk and reach of such a person would make them a fearsome opponent in a time before guns.
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| Could ogres be a half-remembered tale from the days of cavemen? (Tama66) |
Memories of the Neanderthals
While pituitary gigantism would explain a few things, the rarity of the condition is an issue. Perhaps we should be pointing the finger at another group of humans - the Neanderthals.
They were strong, stocky and more hirsute than modern humans, with a prominent brow ridge for that classic caveman look. They were also generally shorter than modern humans, but exceptions did exist - one particular set of prints found in France indicated a height of 175cm.
We also know that Homo neanderthalensis existed alongside Homo sapiens (in fact, we actually interbred) and that they probably indulged in cannibalism. Caves found in Goyet, Belgium, contained the cracked and butchered remains of hominid bones with the tell-tale tool marks from removing flesh and extracting marrow. The remains were treated identically to deer bones found in the same caves.
Perhaps encounters with cannibalistic Neanderthals entered early human folklore, slowly becoming tales of man eating monsters as the millennia past by?
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