Types of giants???

[Burzdol]

I have looked at other topics and they haven't told what I would like to know. How many types of giants are there? What attributes does each type have? What's the difference between thge types? If this has already been discussed, feel free to point me to that page.

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 8:14 PM February 03, 2004: Message edited by: Burzdol ]

[lathspell]

I don't think this question can be answered. As far as I know there's only one type of Giant mentioned in Tolkien's works and those are the Stone Giants in LotR and there are people that doubt if those were actual Giants.
Bilbo, when riddling with Gollum (the Time-riddle), sits there thinking of all the terrible Ogres, Giants and Dragons. But I think this is simply mythology... and if not, there's no name or deed mentioned in LotR carried out by a Giant.

greetings,
lathspell

[lathspell]

there's no name or deed mentioned in LotR carried out by a Giant.

This should be 'in LotR or any other book of Tolkien (as far as I know)'.

greetings once more,
lathspell

[Noxomanus]

Perhaps Ents could be qualified as Giants too. They're big and strong enough and Ent was an old word for giant,if memory serves me right.

[burrahobbit]

There is only one kind of Giant in Middle-earth: the kind that doesn't exist. Hobbits are small things in the wide world, they don't know exactly what everything is, and they make a lot of mistakes.

[Secret Fire]

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

Not necessarily correct, in the Hobbit, Gandalf states, after the company escapes from thre misty mountain goblins that he would have to find a somewhat friendly giant to block up the passage again, so there were giants in the works of JRRT. As far as what they were, JRRT never says.

Bilbo, when riddling with Gollum (the Time-riddle), sits there thinking of all the terrible Ogres, Giants and Dragons. But I think this is simply mythology... and if not, there's no name or deed mentioned in LotR carried out by a Giant.

That's a very innteresting point, but Tolkien believed that every myth and legend is based in fact and so were Gandalf and Aragorn, specifically noted in the Ioreth dialogue.

[lathspell]

As far as what they were, JRRT never says.

Exactly my point. There is only one statement of which you can assume that there were in fact Giants. And it's impossible to know how many species there were.

Tolkien believed that every myth and legend is based in fact

Which I do not doubt, but the fact on which the myth is based doesn't necessarily have to include a Giant. It could be a big, strong man or something... but tales get bigger over Time. So would the man, and so would the myth.
I do not doubt the existence of Giants in Arda, but mythology doesn't always have to be true if it is based on facts.

greetings,
lathspell

[burrahobbit]

Not necessarily correct

Somebody wasn't paying attention. Here is the deal. Bilbo is, strangely enough, a Hobbit. Bilbo wrote The Hobbit for other hobbits. You've got to keep this in mind when you look at everything in The Hobbit. The folk back in the shire don't really care if giants actually exist, just the same as how people in the real world aren't concerned with the fictionality of hobbits. That being, the authors (Messrs Baggins and Tolkien) can inject certain aspects of fantasy into their respective stories. 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.

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 6:18 PM February 05, 2004: Message edited by: burrahobbit ]

[Burzdol]

But Gandalf says to Beorn(in the Hobbit of course) that he saw stone giants hurling rocks in the storm at each other or something, if my memory is correct. When Bilbo saw them he shuddered and then they found the cave, in which they were attacked by goblins.

[burrahobbit]

Yeah, Bilbo wrote that part too.

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 8:46 PM February 05, 2004: Message edited by: burrahobbit ]

[Noxomanus]

I'm under the impression some people try to put Bilbo away as a fantast making stories and conversations up. You could call yourself 'Typical Shire-Hobbit' for that.

Is it so terrible to consider the fact that Tolkiens world has mysterious characters that remain unexplained?

The thing is,we should be discussing what these Giants could have been,not if Bilbo was talking ****. They seem to be just as physical as any character in LotR.

[burrahobbit]

The Hobbit is an accurate portrayal ofevents and a true story (within the confines of Middle-earth) much the same way that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is (within the confines ofour own world). They are both true and accurate, but there are certain embelishments involved (stone giants, lizards).

[Kransha]

To shed some light on the subject.
I believe that there may not be giants per se, since they were originally intended as a plot driving symbol. In one of Tolkein's writings (I don't remember which), Tolkein talks about the flora and fauna of Arda in excess. He does not denote giants as fauna and in fact adds a side note saying that he did so for a reason. The giants, he says, who were encountered in the Hobbit, were a technical metaphor for thunder, possibly not physical beings. He said it was up to the reader to decide whether they were real or not, and if they decided upon the existence of giants, he had nothing to back that opinion up.

[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.