Giants are mythical beings, often associated with the creation of mountains, hills, cliffs or various rock formations, including the very worlds themselves, such as our own These often gigantic beings wield powerful magic and even embody natural elements.
Giants are said to have existed since the dawn of time when the gods entrusted them with guarding the boundaries of the worlds. However, the giants rebelled against the rule of the gods, but were defeated, and banished to distant realms. However, it is possible that some of them are still here. We walk on them and live on their backs.
A GAINT, also known as troll or monster often takes on the appearance of its surroundings. These beings are typically massive and resemble humans, also they may have a human body with an animal head, or vice versa, a human head on an animal's body. Gigantic giants at the beginning of the ages look like rocky mountains. Besides stone giants, legends also speak of giants made of ice, lava, and fire, and those who dwell in the depths of the sea.
Giants can be simple or even vulgar beings, but also wise beings, skilled in blacksmithing, construction, and magic. They are described as ugly creatures with a big nose, crooked teeth, claws or horns. Their skin is usually green, gray, even blue, often dotted with warts. It can also be scaly, or completely overgrown with long hairs. These monsters are mostly dressed in rags, animal fur and live in dark caves. But there are also beautiful, noble giants who live in beautiful mountain palaces.
In addition to the giant as such, the Slavs also knew a stone creature called ZRUTA - TROLL. Some were as tiny as a pebble in a stream, others bigger than a house, and they were called Ozruts. Their body was not made of flesh and bones, but of stone. Other nations also know these beings as goblins.
Our ancestors knew of many strange and colossal beings, one of which is GRGALICA - she had black chubby legs, hands like shovels, a trunk like a barrel, shoulders as wide as a bed and a head like a bucket with no neck. She was dressed in rags and had breasts draped over her shoulders, which she used as weapons to strangle people.
Giants can sometimes be helpful to humans if the person encountering them is wise and fair, able to solve their riddles or complete their tasks. However, more often in legends they are opponents that need to be overcome. Victory over a giant symbolizes the subjugation of natural forces or the overpowering of an enemy
To defeat a giant, one could use a special herb, blackberry, which could bind even the most magical beings, including giants. Once the giant was bound, the rising sun's light would turn it to stone.
We can look for the strength of the giant in the goddess Mokosh herself. Also through deities such as Svetogor, the embodiment of the earth's gravity, and his wife Magura, the divine mother of mountains and giants. The water giants, or those made of ice, are closely associated with the divine rulers of the waters, Vodan and Diva.
