Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Giants, Gnomes and Goblins




Today is day seven for the A to Z April Challenge. This blog hop has over 1600 participants and lasts throughout the month of April, with posts daily except Sundays. To visit other participants, you can go to the main website by clicking HERE.

I chose Fantasy for my theme and today, for the letter G, is Giants, Gnomes and Goblins.

Giants:

Giants have appeared in various forms and mythologies throughout the world. In Greek mythology, the Titans were the children of Gaea, Mother Earth, and Uranus, the Heavenly Sky. They were of gigantic stature and each Titan governed a certain realm, such as Oceanus over the ocean. Gaea also gave birth to other giants that had one hundred arms and fifty heads.
Norse mythology has even more stories about giants. The Rock and Frost Giants lived in Jotunheim and often battled the Gods. The thunder god Thor was the chief enemy of the giants.

Gnomes:

Gnomes were considered a minor race and appeared with less frequency in literature. They are similar to dwarves, though usually depicted as having more human proportions. They generally live underground.

Goblins:

Goblins appear in many folk and fairy tales as mischievous creatures, bewitching and tormenting men. They often wear caps and are depicted as misshapen and bowed little people. They are associated with the earth, live among tree roots and cracks in rocks, and are meddlesome, but not usually dangerous.

Giants, Gnomes and Goblins are used in fantasy writing by many authors. Tolkien used them in his books, such as The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Have you used them in any of your stories? Tell us...


4 comments:

  1. I've read books where goblins were portrayed as positively vile creatures. Don't remember which books though.

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  2. My favorite giant is the jolly green one. After that, it's Jack & the Beanstalk.

    M. J.
    A - Z Co-Host
    http://mjjoachim.blogspot.com
    http://effectivelyhuman.blogspot.com
    http://lotsofcrochetstitches.blogspot.com

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