[The Saucepan Man]

There is only one kind of Giant in Middle-earth: the kind that doesn't exist.

The fictional story that Bilbo wrote (though it may mostly be based on his experiences) holds no bearing on the reality that he lived in, just as Tolkien's story holds no bearing on his reality.

I take your point, burrahobbit, but I don't buy it. LotR was supposedly a journal kept by Frodo and finished off by Sam. The Silmarillion was a transcription by Bilbo of histories told to him by the Elves. You might just as well say that all of the more fantastical elements of these stories were elaborations on the part of these overactive Hobbit imaginations.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I fail to see why, in a world containing Orcs, Trolls, Elves, Dwarves and Dragons, Giants and Ogre should not also exist. Clearly, there are a good deal more creatures in Middle-earth other than those that play a part in LotR and the other tales of Arda.