Theme trail · 8 stops
Giants
“Mountains, islands and rocks: for many peoples, giants made them.”
When a landscape is too big to be explained, a pointed mountain, a rock in the middle of the sea, a cliff made of columns, many peoples have thought of giants. Some imagined them as creators of the world, others as bulky neighbours, and others still carved them in stone.
Gargantua of the AlpsAosta ValleyIn the Alps a curious giant sat on the mountains and left the Matterhorn between his legs.
The OrcolatFriuli-Venezia GiuliaIn Friuli the Orcolat, an ogre asleep beneath the mountains, makes the ground shake.
Polyphemus the Cyclops and EtnaSicilyIn Sicily a Cyclops hurled into the sea the rocks you can see at Aci Trezza.
The Giants of Mont'e PramaSardiniaIn Sardinia the giants are real: stone statues buried for three thousand years.
HumbabaMesopotamian mythologyIn Mesopotamia a giant guarded the cedar forest.
Finn McCool and the Giant's CausewayCeltic mythologyIn Ireland a giant built a path of columns into the sea, then ran away.
YmirNorse mythologyIn the North the whole world is made from the body of a giant.
PanguChinese mythologyAnd in China another giant kept the sky and the earth apart until they stayed in place.
Next trail: House Spirits
Who's behind this
Ciro Simone Irmici
I build websites, apps and games. I built the Atlas with artificial intelligence and I check every card and every source myself. I am not a scholar of mythology: I tell these legends with respect and always say where they come from. If you know a legend from your town, write to me.
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