Giants & Stone-Giants of Middle Earth | Tolkien Explained

The existence of giants may be debatable in Middle-earth, but Tolkien's use of them in his early legendarium is very real. Today, we explore the appearances and references of giants (and stone-giants) in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and also dive into Tolkien's abandoned writings.
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Giants - Angus McBride
Giant - BFME2
Bargrisar - War in the North
Giant - The White Council
Tarlang - Ralph Damiani
Cave Troll - John Howe
dwarf king - artigas
Giant - BFME2
Giant - BFME2
Forest edge - Felix Englund
Into the Lone-lands - Alan Lee
Riddles In The Dark - John Howe
A Thunderstorm in the Mountains - Matěj Čadil
Nearing the Secret Door - Alan Lee
Hobbit & horse - Catherine Karina Chmiel
Giant 4 - BFME2
Forest Creek - Felix Englund
An Unexpected Party - Alan Lee
Bilbo closeup - Kinko White
Bilbo - Kinko White
Misty Mountains - Steve Airola
Misty Mountains - Painted Dragon
Dark valley - Felix Englund
Bilbo returning home - Daniel Dougherty
Bilbo- Elrodimus Flash
Bilbo at his desk - Abe Papakhian
Beorn's Hall - J.R.R. Tolkien
At Beorns Hall - Ted Nasmith
gandalf - John Howe
Beorn - Anke Eißmann
Gandalf - Skullb*st*rd
Giant 6 - BFME2
Giant 5 - BFME2
Riddles in the Dark - Alan Lee
Riddles in the Dark - Daniel Govar
I am Gandalf - Abe Papakhian
Hillmen and Wolfdogs - Jan Pospíšil
Giant 7 - BFME2
men at pool - Turner Mohan
Minas Tirith - Alan Lee
Mindolluin - Alan Lee
Minas Tirith - Aronja Art
Minas Tirith - Kinko White
mountainside lake - Felix Englund
Beren and Luthien - Ralph Damiani
thingol and luthien - steamey
Luthien - Sara M. Morello
Lúthien Tinúviel - Alan Lee
Luthien Dancing in the Moonlight - Anna Kulisz
The Choice of Luthien - Jenny Dolfen
Luthien - Jenny Dolfen
Luthien Tinuviel - Jenny Dolfen
Luthien Tinuviel - Janka Latečková
Lúthien Reveals Herself to Celegorm - Ted Nasmith
Luthien Tinuviel - Antti Autio
Luthien Tinuviel - Šárka Škorpíková
Luthien Tinuviel - Daniel Dougherty
Luthien of Doriath - Marya Filatova
Lúthien at Tol Galen - Ted Nasmith
Lúthien prepares her escape from Hírilorn - Anke Eißmann
Lúthien Escapes Upon Huan - Ted Nasmith
Bilbo and trolls - Elrodimus Flash
Forest farm - Felix Englund
Troll - JG Jones
Fantasy landscape - Felix Englund
snow trolls - Turner Mohan
Misty Mountains - Felix Englund
Gandalf - Jenny Dolfen
#lordoftherings #giants #tolkien

[@Holammer]

Sweden is littered with large boulders or 'Glacial erratics' left by the Ice Age and they are known as "jättekast" (lit: giant throw). In folklore, people believed Giants got annoyed by the piercing sound of church bells so they threw boulders in an attempt to silence them.

[@SvengelskaBlondie]

A local folk tale from my parts of Sweden talk about the GIant "Visst" and how he created the island known as Visingsö. He wanted to cross the lake Vättern and meet up with his love interest. There's a wooden statue of him that's next to one of the roads that go through Huskvarna, the Ica Maxi in Jönköping also have some artwork in their entrance of the giant Visst.

[@k-la-k6828]

Grendel?

[@mokarokas-1727]

@LordofFireBlood Yes, giants have been around in Nordic myth and folklore since the Vikings and most likely before.

[@mokarokas-1727]

@LordofFireBlood In some parts maybe, but this folklore existed alongside Christianity rather than as part of it. People won't stop telling stories just because the official religion of the state changes.

[@tarminas6805]

The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland was, of course created by a thunder battle between two giants hurling rocks at each other from the Irish and Scottish coasts.

[@ArawnsFire]

Like Vampires and Werewolves, giants were part of Arda’s ancient past. Giants while rare by the Third Age were indeed part of Middle-Earth.

[@cojanemanuel8319]

Vampires and werewolves are present in middle earth?😮😮

[@fant2sy]

@@cojanemanuel8319 both created by sauron in the yt and 1st ages

[@gomongio]

@@cojanemanuel8319During the Quest for the Silmaril undertaken by Beren and Lúthien, during which Finrod Felagund King of Nargothrond fell in Tol-in-Gaurhoth (lit. “Isle of Werewolves”). This place used to be known as Tol Sirion, where Minas Tirith was built by Felagund to guard the Pass of Sirion. In the Dagor Bragollach Sauron captured the tower and inhabited it himself along with Thuringwethil, a vampire servant of the second Dark Lord, and their minions.

[@RobbyBurney]

The art he used for the giants is (mostly) from battle from middle earth game series. One of the better RTS games

[@themole4369]

I hate the giants in that game. Their range and destructiveness as pieces of siege equipment is insane. I've lost so many battles against AI goblins simply because of the giants.

[@AdDewaard-hu3xk]

Cart before the horse.

[@marcekessen8003]

I loved that game

[@bruceyuchuanyu]

@@themole4369they are indeed so broken, even more so than their equivalent ents

[@SvengelskaBlondie]

Here in Sweden, some of our church bells used to have rune inscriptions on them. One of the reasons was that it was meant to "chase away witches and giants" when the church bells rang. Sadly, allot of church bells where lost when some of our kings chose to repurpose them into cannons, I think there's a few still left that are several hundreds of years old (some are quite big, the biggest weighing in at a few tons). From a quick check, the oldest church bells we have where found outside of Uppsala in a field that was being plowed, it came from the 12th century. That church bell is on display at the Swedish History Museum. The oldest in current use is found at Ödskölts kyrka i Dalsland, it also came from the 12th century (roughly the middle of the 12th century). The oldest one with rune inscriptions came from the 13th century, it was found at Saleby kyrka i Saleby, This church bell was made in 1228.

[@SvengelskaBlondie]

@LordofFireBlood Norse runes, at least the older one's are.

[@SvengelskaBlondie]

@LordofFireBlood just do an internet search for "kyrkklockor runor" and you will get quite a few answers. "Åtta medeltida kyrkklockor berättar spännande historier. En del är fyllda med teckningar av sedelärande fabler, andra med skyddande runor, en tredje med ryska kyrilliska tecken - ett krigsbyte från Ryssland. Klangen från kyrkklockorna blev det tydligaste utrycket för skiftet mellan asatro och kristendomen."

[@SvengelskaBlondie]

@LordofFireBlood if you look for "kyrkklockor runor", will give you lots of answers.

[@juanchoguerrero9143]

This isn’t a thunderstorm it’s a thunder battle

[@Hi-fd4cw]

Has real “that’s no moon” energy to it

[@clancyjames585]

It's a special thunder operation...

[@bifrostbeberast3246]

Galadriel in some fan-fic crap TV show: "There is a tempest in me!"

[@charlesgibson4906]

@@clancyjames585 A quick three-day special thunder operation

[@WooogaTooga]

It's worth mentioning too that Treebeard was originally "Treebeard the Giant" before Tolkien settled on the Ents. So it would seem that giants are predecessors to Ents in some way in Tolkien's imagination.

[@peterjay3257]

Enta is Anglo-Saxon for giant.

[@WooogaTooga]

@@peterjay3257 exactly

[@FlorentPlacide]

This is quite pertinent ! When one describes what giants can and could do Ents come to mind as they can do it all (and the did)

[@TijmenHatesads]

>In that case a stone giant made out of stone isn't that far off a wood giant made out of wood. >??? >The Hobbit is canon?

[@WooogaTooga]

@TijmenHatesads The stone giants are only made of stone in the Jackson film. Tolkien doesn't describe the giants outside of them being large

[@LibaryoftheRing]

Giants are one of my favourte races in middle earth and fantasy at that matter, im glad someone finally mentioned them

[@bifrostbeberast3246]

There is a new Giant game that you would love. You play a giant and have to stomp hordes of humans that try to capture you. It's pretty fun.

[@LibaryoftheRing]

Whats it called

[@bifrostbeberast3246]

@@LibaryoftheRing Giants Uprising

[@bifrostbeberast3246]

@@LibaryoftheRing Giants Uprising

[@DrForrester87]

Aw yeah, more Nerd of the Rings!

[@jsimeoneafc2370]

Have you thought of making a theory video if Boromir claimed the One Ring?

[@gondorianslayer4250]

It's not that simple, he gets corrupted.

[@Gongall]

@@ScooterDoge I think you may have missed a big point. The one ring WOULD actually confer power to the one who wanted to use it for that means. When Frodo asks Galadriel why the ring hasn't given him any power, she says its because he hasn't attempted to use it against others. Boromir could probably have used it to defeat sauron's armies (the nazgul would serve the ring most likely too), but Sauron would always remain while the ring did.

[@newworldastrology1102]

C S Lewis friend of Tolkien, also had stone-throwing giants, in The Silver Chair, part of the Chronicles of Narnia/

[@DagorBragollach]

fun to think that even to those in Middle Earth, there was some mysterious creatures partially shrouded in legend.

[@saintskutt]

It's worth noting that Torin also mentions the giants in "The Hobbit" during the thunderstorm in the mountains: "This won’t do at all!” said Thorin. “If we don’t get blown off, or drowned, or struck by lightning, we shall be picked up by some giant and kicked sky-high for a football.” “Well, if you know of anywhere better, take us there!” said Gandalf, who was feeling very grumpy, and was far from happy about the giants himself." Love your videos.

[@valentinkambushev4968]

When haters realize the stone giants weren't just made-up for the Hobbit trilogy.

[@TheGeneralGrievous19]

Didn't You read The Hobbit?

[@valentinkambushev4968]

@@TheGeneralGrievous19 Yes, I have. I am just talking about the people who haven't.

[@madjimjaspers7603]

When you have lotta big rocks in your backyard. 🪨

[@KororaPenguin]

And I wonder if that scene in the _Hobbit_ book would have given Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole flashbacks to the earlier of their own two close calls with giants. (I know, different Inkling)

[@VGGPTA]

He meant for the movies

[@witext]

In old Norse mythology, the mountains came from giants dying & turning to stone, as people thought mountains looked like people lying down Because of this, in Norway, there’s a particularly mountainous region called “jøtunheim” or giantshome which is also the name of one of the places in midgård

[@bighand1530]

I prefer Middle Earth over Norse Mythology.

[@justindurfee9375]

The poem about Luthien's hair sounds like a stylization of the story of Rapunzel altered to fit in the tales and histories of Middle-earth. No doubt Tolkien would have taken as much inspiration from such children's stories as he did from Norse, Greek and Old Englinsh mythologies.

[@valentinkambushev4968]

There are also seven houses of dwarves, just like Snow White has seven dwarves. That's too much of a coincidence.

[@justindurfee9375]

@@valentinkambushev4968 Very true.

[@rcrawford42]

Seven pops up in lots of legends; one of the "mystic" numbers.

[@Lodrik18]

There is no english mytholgy, Tolkien wanted to create this with Middle Earth (that has already been mentioned on this channel).

[@justindurfee9375]

@@Lodrik18 FYI, Old English is a mixture of cultures whose mythologies combines to form the basis of what became Anglican history. Specifically, Old English refers to early medieval Danish culture (485 - 850 AD).

[@BasedDad]

I am glad they added the stone giants to the Hobbit film trilogy. Good stuff.

[@t.kersten7695]

but a bit pointless because it didn´t lead to anything. but at least it had some great visuals.

[@bighand1530]

Same.

[@oldylad]

@@t.kersten7695if that was pointless then so is everything else included that was mentioned in the book

[@bdonaghu]

You have not fully watched the video until you hear the "...and Debbie"

[@FinrodFelagundTheFair]

People tend to forget that Prof. Tolkien was a linguist well before he wrote anything resembling the Legendarium. They also forget that he is the reason we even have Beowulf or the Saga of Kurumo(?) From Icelandic myths. In those sagas, the heroes or lack thereof in Kuromo's case(as he was a huge inspiration for the Children of Hurin. Particularly Turin himself.) Face off against giants. And Beowulf did so twice. So, it isn't too farfetched to believe that at some point that Prof. Tolkien wanted the giants in his Legendarium. And just like in the sagas, the giants are there, but in the times of the heroes and the reader, it is but speculation. I hope that spreads some light on the issue of giants in the Legendarium. Ultimately I believe that Tolkien took inspiration from the sagas he translated and left them as something that was debated in his universe as well. Note: Copy and pasted from my reply to another comment.

[@colinbaldwin313]

If giants were simply overgrown Men, shouldn't they have created cities and kingdoms as grand as Gondor and Minas Tirith - grander, in fact, because they'd have to be built to scale for these enormous people? I guess they seem more akin to trolls because they appear to fulfill a similar role: living in wild and dangerous places, popping up on one's adventures. If they were really Men, one would expect them to leave a greater impact on the world of Middle-Earth.

[@danielloewen2857]

I guess they were so big they didn't feel the need for proper shelter? Idk man they throw rocks for fun

[@colinbaldwin313]

@@danielloewen2857 Again, that doesn't sound very Mannish to me.

[@The_Tradie_Trainer]

There are still men to this day that live without cities or kingdoms, having done so 1000s of years.

[@colinbaldwin313]

@@The_Tradie_Trainer Should we then assume that the Giants are essentially enormous Wild Men, equivalent to the Dunlendings and Druedain?

[@The_Tradie_Trainer]

@@colinbaldwin313 idk about you but I’m not assuming anything of the sort.

[@adpirtle]

I think it's interesting how he slowly moved away from the concept, until you get to TLotR, when they are eventually replaced entirely,. Personally, I think Ents feel better suited to this world.

[@jaroslavpesek6642]

Ents are wood giants. The name ent even means giant.

[@davepowder4020]

And now I know where the names in Western Gondor in LOTRO come from. I didn't expect that! Tarlang indeed! 😃

[@lilgrublet]

Thank you for this video. One of my favorite of the more obscure parts of the Professor's Legendarium.

[@mattpburgess]

I love the idea that a fantasy world might have it's own fanciful myths and legends; that maybe giants don't exist, but they are referred to as if they do (in a similar way to which people refer to Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster).

[@thevalarauka101]

middle earth cryptids lol

[@stormstrider1990]

In the game Battle for Middle Earth 2, the mountain giants are giant siege monsters of the Goblin faction, similar to the Mumakil of the Mordor faction, matching Tolkien's initial idea of the giants as servants of Morgoth. To me personally, the way the Hobbit describes the giants as a force of nature, and the stories of men and hobbits you described, gives me the impression they were ancient creatures of Arda's past. They might have been numerous once, but dwindled overtime, until only a small number remained in the mountains of Middle Earth. They're nether good not evil. They answer to no Dark Lord, nor do they answer the call of aid of anyone else.

[@CartoonHero1986]

Don't forget Tolkien was writing these stories and legends of Middle Earth pre Plate Tectonics. So a lot of even Developed and Educated Cultures still had folklore as to how geological structures like Mountains and rift valleys formed. He was likely just borrowing something that existed in old local folklore that was already obscure but would hold preconceived lore from other sources in the Anglo Saxon/Celtic/Welsh/Pict/Manx etc history of the Islands.

[@daarom3472]

not pre, but there was scientific debate about it during his lifetime that stopped in the 60ies after it was definitively settled.

[@Cyballistic]

Giants makes more sense

[@FinrodFelagundTheFair]

And you are completely right, mellon nin. People tend to forget that Prof. Tolkien was a linguist well before he wrote anything resembling the Legendarium. They also forget that he is the reason we even have Beowulf or the Saga of Kurumo(?) From Icelandic myths. In those sagas, the heroes or lack thereof in Kuromo's case(as he was a huge inspiration for the Children of Hurin. Particularly Turin himself.) Face off against giants. And Beowulf did so twice. So, it isn't too farfetched to believe that at some point that Prof. Tolkien wanted the giants in his Legendarium. And just like in the sagas, the giants are there, but in the times of the heroes and the reader, it is but speculation. I hope that spreads some light on the issue of giants in the Legendarium. Ultimately I believe that Tolkien took inspiration from the sagas he translated and left them as something that was debated in his universe as well.

[@JenMaxon]

@@FinrodFelagundTheFair Except Beowolf was first translated some time in the 18th century, I think - and there have been a good number of translations since then. Or is that not what you meant?

[@FinrodFelagundTheFair]

@JenMaxon Pardon me, I meant that as far as Beowulf, it was his translation that made widespread distribution, and Prof. Tolkien was the first to translate the Icelandic sagas. I apologize for the lack of clarity on my part and the use of a blanket statement due to laziness. Kemeble first translated the Epic in 1837. But, he fumbled the translation. Changing too much, thus changing the context of the poem overall. Tolkien's version stays closer to the details and rhythm of the original and extremely close to the original sense of the poem, which has been attributed to Tolkien's scholarly knowledge of Old English, whereas Heaney, on the other hand, succeeded in producing a translation better suited for the modern reader. I appreciate you calling me out on my own laziness mellon nin. Due to that, I was given the opportunity to clean it up and clarify the information I had given. I faer nîn linna nan glass, mellon nin.

[@VGGPTA]

Weirdest thing is that yesterday I looked for a video on the stone giant couldn’t find a single one but then today you come out with one crazy coincidence

[@michaelwilliams949]

He may have been a professor but he remained as a boy at heart. He loved filling stories with dragons, but he clearly knew that a mythology simply wouldn't be complete without giants.

[@ColoradoStreaming]

He was also inspired by Norse mythology which has a lot of rock and frost giants in many of the stories.

[@kirbyculp3449]

Watch the norwegian movie Troll Hunter!!

[@Satire-Gaming]

Bilbo was very old and has seen many great storms, I do not think he mistook lightning for giants...

[@soniaromero11]

Yes giants are ancient , I like this post, thank you.

[@Arturoperezp]

maybe they really liked longbottom leaf and meant to call them stoned giants

[@t.kersten7695]

who knows what other great stories Tolkien might have had created if he wanted so. he could´ve filled his world with even more lifes and wonders. and giants can be from different groups or even races with different abilities - some more stupid than others.

[@Enerdhil]

Lifespan was the only thing that was able to stop Tolkien from writing.

[@EinsteinInTraining938]

Has frodo ever worn wigs

[@MerkhVision]

What kind of question is that lmao

[@kocayine4854]

@@MerkhVision It's from an interview with Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan ( IIRC ) would impersonate a random interviewer and ask him if he wore wigs and some other nonsense questions {':

[@ColoradoStreaming]

According to Amazon Sauron definitely did.

[@mikegardner107]

Thank you for this study of some of the more obscure characters. Can you, or have you, done a study on yet another of Tolkien’s characters, indeed a race, that Peter Jackson left out - Ghan Buri Ghan and the Pukel men who guided the Rohirrim along the old and hidden road to safely arrive at the Pellenor fields in time for the battle. And apparently destroyed the Orc host sent to waylay and destroy the Rohirrim, for nothing was ever heard of those orcs again. I think in honor of their fealty in preserving the Rohirrim King Elessar ceded the territory along the mountains to the Pukel mean and forbade men to ever travel there.

[@NerdoftheRings]

Great question! I'm actually planning to do one on them soon. Working on commissioning some artwork as there isn't a whole lot existing for them. Coming soon!!

[@gandalf4751]

😍✅

[@mikegardner107]

And the Stone Guardians at the entrance to the Paths of the Dead who verbally warned Aragorn and the host of the Dunedin who rode with him and Legolas and Gimli that THE WAY IS CLOSED! Also, in LOTR when Sam enters the tower of Barad Dur(?) to rescue Frodo from the Orcs a pair of stone lions at the door have an invisible barrier between them that throws him back. He then uses Galadriel’s Light of Elbereth (?) to open the barrier - and a loud gong sounds. I’m not sure if there was any other action directly from the stone lions when Sam “Rang the front doorbell.” or not.

[@TheHoneyBadger-yh5vj]

May God bless you and your work sir 💙💙💙 deep respect for your work and passionate narration from Croatia Europe 😇😇😇

[@3mmdm32]

I believe Gandalf said He would need to find a friendly Giant to block the tunnel.

[@w.martin2108]

He mentions that in the video

[@theshadowstrike6]

Awesome!

[@bighand1530]

Yes!

[@gandalf4751]

Stone giants truly exist in Middle Earth because it is clearly written in the hobbit book

[@Enerdhil]

True, but the reason they exist in The Hobbit is because Tolkien needed something exciting and cool to tell his kids for their bedtime story.

[@GloriousRAT]

This is another aspect of our writing where we differ. I leave no doubt about races mentioned in my narratives. Yes I have Giants... Stone Giants (so named for the appearance of their skin, rough and gray) and Mountain Giants (named simply for their homeland, since they appear quite Human). The Mountain Giants are seen by the Company in book five.

[@annaroselarsen4218]

Yes I love this!

[@superhaven3647]

I wonder if you’re gonna eventually talk about other mentioned things like mermaids, sprites, sylphs, fays, etc.

[@teamermia7741]

Tolkien's work relies very heavily on ancient Irish folklore, and this connection also throws up an interesting comparison with regard to giants. Finn, a giant of Irish folklore is said to have created the 'Giants Causeway' in county Antrim. Tarlang seems inspired by Finn.

[@Firenutz]

“I want to hear more about Debbie, dad. Why didn't they put in more of her talk, dad? That's what I like, it makes me laugh. And Nerd wouldn't have got far without Debbie, would he, dad?"'

[@perskarva123]

Please for the love of the Valar make a LOTR audio book! I love your voice acting fr.

[@LozPlaya]

He can't. that would violate copyright laws, unless he gets a license.

[@jayyrod1]

I like Andy Serkis reading. It's wonderfully done.

[@JV-ll1cu]

Mitä suotta. Hyvin luettu löytyy jo englanniks

[@CounciloftheRings]

Damn didn't expect to be the second comment! Right on time then!

[@Enerdhil]

Get back to work on a video!! 😅

[@alexsmith7313]

Makes sense that a species obsessed with stone like the Dwarves living in mountain ranges would choose the far more difficult path of digging out and living under the mountains; they’re getting boulders thrown on them outside their holds.

[@kylelavelle8082]

Interesting!! Thanks again Nerds of the Rings for the Incredible productions. 💥💥💪😎⚔️💥💥

[@gandalf4751]

The stone giants exist in middle earth because gandalf and thorin tell beorn about them

[@nerdwatch1017]

Man could you plan for an awesome video idea I thought of for you. Say you become the Kevin Faigi type person over at Warner Brothers and you were given full rights to control the building of what I like to call the TCU Tolkien Cinematic Universe which already has the 2 trilogies and the rings of power series. What stories from all of Arda would you make in movie form or series. I’m asking because you are literally the Nerd of the Rings Bro!!

[@pewpewsalote8802]

I believe the giants don't exist. If they did exist, Sauron ABSOLUTELY would have tried to bend them to his will, such powerful creatures could bring down the walls of Minas Tirith with a single stroke of their hand. Sauron would never pass up such power even if he were unlikely to succeed. And yet there is never any mention of Sauron attempting to corrupt these creatures.

[@paulsarnik8506]

Um, it was a figment of Bilbo's imagination why did Thorin speak about "being kicked skyhigh for a football?" 😮🤓😎✌🏻

[@shokmusic_AC]

Good point! I did remember a dwarf mentioning this but forgot which one said it.

[@Enerdhil]

That is the movie. Nothing like that is in the book.

[@shokmusic_AC]

@@Enerdhil Chapter 4: Over Hill and Under Hill: "This won't do at all!" said Thorin. "If we don't get blown off or drowned, or struck by lightning, we shall be picked up by some giant and kicked sky-high for a football." "Well, if you know of anywhere better, take us there!" said Gandalf, who was feeling very grumpy, and was far from happy about the giants himself.

[@Enerdhil]

@@shokmusic_AC Oh. That was stupid of Tolkien.🧐 Football? Worse than golf.

[@shokmusic_AC]

@@Enerdhil True 🙂

[@xix94]

do a video on Beorn

[@cofpaddy]

I think they're likely like Ents, rarely seen by men or even Elves anymore, few in number, clever and don't often engage in the wider affairs of Middle Earth.

[@andrewthielmann5342]

One of my favorite aspects of War in the North (which is a criminally underrated game, despite it's flaws) was that one of the boss battles is a Stone Giant.

[@jacobsedlack1173]

The average Numenorean was around 8 ft. tall and Gandalf was supposed to be 5'7. That's a 2 foot gap in height and it would follow that misconstrued memories of the High Men would call them giants. Also, some Atlantean mythos concepts have the pre-Cataclysm supermen being taller than the normal humans not from the island realm and Tolkien would have probably been aware of those as he constructed the Akallabeth.

[@shaggycan]

I did think the choice to just make them gargantuan earth elementals in the films was interesting.

[@Enerdhil]

Too much money wasted on CGI.😞

[@taylenday]

Regular humanoid giants living amongst rocks, stones and mountains would have been far better in the movies rather than giants made of rock.

[@devinreese1397]

There were no giants included in the Silmarillion except for the Ents which means Giant in old english. They were written in the Hobbit.

[@MrEmiosk]

Tolkien did intend to rewrite the hobbit to match the tone of lotr. With the silmarillion focusing nearly all on the elves themselves, not the world of men. The silmarillion and all works after are c.r.j.tolkiens work (the silmarillion finished by him) many things can be said but C.R.J is not his father and all the work he's done should not be taken as true as Tolkien imagined it.

[@TarMody]

I believe the stone giants of the Misty Mountains may be related to Melkor. As is known from lore, these mountains are a geographical feature raised by Melkor in order to stop the advance of Vala Oromë. A reflection of Melkor's will spread over Arda. Beings incarnated from this will can be described as giants. This theory also explains their malevolent characteristic. Although they do not have a physical existence, this will may also be the cause of the hallucination in Bilbo's mind.

[@josephfisher426]

If the stone giants are truly named after their recreational boulder tossing, that seems like an in-joke on the local folklore more than anything else (much like the first giants in The Silver Chair).

[@whiteknight257]

Pretty sure the prow of Gondor, Is sold rock. And the city is built around it.

[@samuelbattershell3413]

I would say that Bilbo, as the in-universe author of The Hobbit, is not the most reliable of narrators, as proven in The Lord of The Rings, pre-released of the second edition of The Hobbit.

[@metzdupcounselor]

I love that a brilliant man wrote on behalf of a mythical character writing about witnessing and discussing other mythical characters throwing stones, guffawing, and having lightning battles. A legend made legends within legends.

[@null-4699]

Interesting comments about Minas Tirith being carved by giants. It's worth remembering that many of the anglo saxons, who existed among the ruins of a far more advanced civilisation, the Romans, (exactly how later men existed among numenorean ruins) thought Roman ruins were the work of a race of giants. Enta Geweorc was the term for this (Ent or Ettin being an old english word for giant). Being a scholar of ancient languages and a lover of old english legends, maybe this inspired Tolkien?

[@istari0]

The problem is that it is hard to reconcile Gandalf's statement to Beorn with Bilbo's account or the other mention of giants around Gondor, which really do sound like tall tales or myths and legends set within Middle-Earth itself. I'm inclined to say giants did exist but beyond that we really don't know anything about them.

[@Enerdhil]

Maybe giants were the inspiration for the Argonath.🤔

[@jonahblood-et8wv]

Just want to comment so I'm reminded of this later. I love your videos and you're a great storyteller.

[@madjimjaspers7603]

“You have my sword”🗡️

[@madjimjaspers7603]

@LordofFireBlood yessssss it’s happening, yussssss.

[@jasonsinn9237]

Hey Matt, have you considered doing a video about the Drúedain? I'm reading Unfinished Tales for the first time and was really surprised to discover how interesting they were despite having very little officially written about them. I would also be interested in hearing some of your theories about them.

[@annikinstarkiller600]

I always assumed Tolkien's giants were a reference to the biblical Nephilim

[@wweminehead5458]

The Dawn shall take you

[@smthsmth]

Elves, Dwarves, Orcs... but noo, no stone giants!

[@thatonepersonwhoair-dropsy268]

‘STONE GIANTS’ ‘STONE LAZER GIANTS’ You ain’t a real one if you’ve never seen that

[@chesterbless9441]

I never considered that the stone giants could just be humans. I mean there's little humans in Middle-earth (hobbits), so there could be big ones.

[@kristenrosales2919]

Bless my soul! The legends are true!

[@robertsimpson7424]

Always loved giant lore, even better from Tolkien.

[@bighand1530]

Genesis 6 talks about giants too.

[@erikbender1967]

Til next Saturday!

[@bighand1530]

Currently May 1st 2024.

[@smelisi]

Another terrific video -- but I'm curious, where does the story of Tarlang appear???

[@ManthonyHiggs]

throwing a big rock around and smashing trees has got to be pretty fun

[@MadiaDiVirgilio]

take it from me, it is.

[@RoyCyberPunk]

Tolkien was never going to add a Nephilim like race of giants even non allegorically because their existence would come to pass after fallen angels whose equivalent would be Maiar in Tolkien's legendarium mated with human women and gave birth to those beings so they wouldn't have existed up until the last decades of the third age.

[@robgeraghty6205]

I don't think it's surprising that Tolkein would describe a thunderstorm as a battle when he was a scholar of Scandinavian history and mythology. His illustration of the mountain path showed lightning, but not giants. I think I imagined the stone giants as truly made of stone, like the trolls, only bigger. The description from Gondor sounds like a creation myth similar to many from the Australian Aborigines where characters from stories became parts of the landscape.

[@Bill-uf1sj]

In this video,the author discusses how when 2 Thunderstorms meet. 1 summer when my kids were alot younger,we went on vacation in Maine.We knew some people that rented a cottage.Being on a lake it was great,1 night there were 2t-storms at the other end of the lake,what a display!We weren’t getting any rain but the lightning and thunder from the storms echoed to our end of the lake.I had never seen anything like that before,I sat on the short dock,maybe 15 feet long in a chair and watched in fascination as the lightning battled and thunder boomed!

[@unkownhistory7660]

Bro there were good haradrim in the battle of the pelanor field

[@GaryGrimtooth]

Anyone else hear COOL BEAN?

[@weezact7]

If the giants did build the mountains, is it possible they were Maiar? Maybe those that had remained in a physical form for too long. Or at least descended form the Maiar. It would make sense that the Maiar might be tasked with shaping and rebuilding Middle-Earth. Especially after the War of Wrath.

[@ASu-yw3tf]

I’m a big fan of “The Lord of the Rings” books and I LOVE your videos. I’ve learned a lot from them.

[@nunyabidness-y2r]

Ya know NotR, I have appreciated your content so much over the last year since I discovered your channel. Your research, thoughtful explanations, and presentation of possibilities is very entertaining and thought provoking. You recent award is well deserved! As a matter of fact, your channel is one of only two that I watch the ads all the way through IOT help your channel out. Keep up the good work!

[@michaeljebbett160]

I think a fascinating video topic would be how Tolkien influenced Dungeons and Dragons Some of its concepts are ripped straight outta LotR, and the Estate even sued the creators at one point

[@rcrawford42]

"The phone is circular metal banding!"

[@TreborPaulson]

5:55 “not builded but carven” Is that directly from the page?

[@jameltaylor4241]

I'm watching Supercarlin bros. and he's asking us to go to his website and subscribe to his email list and I'm thinking, "Naw, not you. But maybe if Nerdoftherings had an email list, I'd subscribe to THAT" So...

[@bryanmatthews2370]

Had to come watch this after the rings of power troll "slayer of stone giants and eater of dragon bones", a friend asked me if a troll could kill a giant and dragons. I said 🤷🏿‍♂️ I don't think we know anything about stone giants besides their existence and he didn't kill the dragons just ate their bones like a coyote finding a deer carcass

[@Breno.C]

One thing i'm trying to understand is how a Hill troll could kill a Stone Giant, because currently we are watching the rings of Power season 2 and in EP 3 when Adar meet's Damrod he call's him killer of Stone giant's... Based on the Stone Giant's that we saw in the Hobbit's trilogy, a Hill Troll has no chance against it. Damrod in ring's of Power is what? 14 feet tall? Maybe not even that, and the Stone Giant in the Hobbit's trilogy must be at least 65 feet tall, they would smash a troll like Damrod like a piece of bread for breakfast, the stones they were throwing at each other were twice as big as Damrod. I concluded that either the directors overexagereted the Stone Giant's in the Hobbit's trilogy or Damrod was "nerfed" too much in ring's of Power.

[@jack1235ify]

I can only imagine if Sauron had charmed a few giants to his side during the ear of the ring..and how the story may have changed

[@The_Tradie_Trainer]

I wonder if that’s where JK Rowling got the idea from? Lol

[@Acidfool]

I would like to think that the Giants were just larger, more primitive men, and that Trolls were just Giants corrupted by Morgoth/Sauron. And maybe in an effort to make an entire army of trolls, they diluted the Giants bloodline, leading to fewer purebred Giants and shorter Trolls. Similar to the Numenoreans in the third age!

[@karma_iswhoIam]

Me: That solves the giant argument. You: Ok so we're good? Me: Cul Bin. You: Cul Bin.

[@toncek9981]

Concerning the Hobbit - the whole story is a recollection written by Bilbo, no matter who says what, it can all be just a story embellishment by Bilbo himself... IMHO if they do exist, then it's bit weird that Sauron recruited armies from all over the place, but not giants.

[@flashkraft]

I like to think Giants were part of the original creation of Arda. Like Ents and Giant Eagles. But most were corrupted into a decrepit form by Morgoth which is where Trolls come from. Much like Orcs were originally elves but corrupted into a monstrous form and then later cross bred with men.

[@Pooknottin]

In the small hours of the night giants seem less unlikely.

[@jeffphisher3801]

Why are giants being speculated of their existence when you even mention how they're in the Hobbit

[@bifrostbeberast3246]

gotta admit, Tolkien sucked at poems and song lyrics. All his songs only had aa-bb rhymes, so uninspired, sometimes rhyming on the same word.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

Tolkien's giants were probably based on the Jotun of Norse mythology, who are similar in strength and bestial.

[@Shaden0040]

I think Giants were Maya that weren't there to serve anybody other than Alway originally and after all Ollie's works were done he released them and they decided to be continuous as they were as Giants and rearranged the mountains as they wanted whether or not Melcor got a hold of them and corrupted their purpose is possible but not for all of them some of them well he may have gone on to his side and they may have become the weir worms that Hulken writes about Or is the rest of the Giants stayed above the surface and rearranged the mountains and brought down avalanches and hillsides rock falls and all that kind of stuff. it's just just my idea.

[@Enerdhil]

Interesting idea. BTW, be aware of Google's predictive text changing your Tolkienian words to other words. Maya -> Maiar. Always -> Aulë. Ollie -> Aulë. Melcor -> Melkor. Hulken -> Tolkien. weir worms -> Were-worms.

[@captivatednightshade1432]

Great video, Matt! ❤