The Curious Case of Giants in Skyrim

[@allanturmaine5496]

Elder Scrolls lore: "What is that?" "I dunno, some kind of elf."

[@smittywerben2508]

*Pelinal Whitestrake theme increases*

[@YourWaywardDestiny]

I always wanted to be friends with giants every time I came across them. They're just out there having a good time, doing their own thing, herding their mammoths. I think they'd be good friends.

[@peytongonavy]

#imperialsinvitedtothecookout YourWaywardDestiny

[@hellboyquintex]

iirc, theres a quest in eso where u befriend a giant

[@nealgrimes4382]

@@hellboyquintex Does he use you like he uses his Mammoth.

[@crywlf9103]

@@nealgrimes4382you mean does he milk the player? 😂

[@dingus6317]

@@crywlf9103I hope so

[@crimsonmaelstrom573]

Every time I come across the mourning giant near Mistwatch, I always find myself wishing there was a “weeping action” your Dragonborn could do to mourn with him

[@mojobag01]

I press 'F' to pay respects anyway.

[@crimsonmaelstrom573]

@ I play on the console so I don’t have that option 😅

[@natahndolar2142]

TES6 better have some emotes like that

[@fleezyp]

I always defend him from the random enemies that spawn behind him, then if I’m not doing a quest I will stay there with him, I don’t care for the wheeping emote but honor is well enough for a cool character

[@crimsonmaelstrom573]

@ agreed

[@mpg272727]

In some ways the Giants rather remind of Cyoriils Goblins. Said to be intelligent and sentient, they are known to herd and raise animals, have their own language, culture and customs.. Yet clearly want nothing to do with the races of Men and Mer and just want to be left alone

[@drewzero1]

I wonder if there's a mod for a "befriend giants" amulet like Terry Pratchett's "befriend goblins" amulet in Oblivion. (I've only played on consoles so no mods for me!)

[@Galvatron102]

@@drewzero1 I did a modded Giant race playthrough a couple years ago, there was really nothing of that scale, just your regular "friendly giants" mod, and a small giant settlement I only found on some nsfw site, with like a companion or 2

[@Gooberton87]

@@drewzero1you can download Skyrim mods on console

[@stingerjohnny9951]

@@Galvatron102 Did it include female giants? Asking for a friend

[@Galvatron102]

@stingerjohnny9951 It did, and there was nothing nsfw about them funny enough

[@sunsolar2138]

I'll add that they purposefully desecrated Malacath's shrine in Rift and fought the orc stronghold there

[@bajkotamas1610]

True. Giants are a misterious race and highly intelligent

[@BDFigMom]

That's right!

[@horsesaucery6965]

"where are all the female giants?" Loverslab 💀

[@Brandelwyn]

Also eso

[@gilibran]

Dont need to go there at all, check out PSboss mods on Nexus

[@smuggrog9821]

When it comes to the origins of Giant-kin, I have always theorized that they are essential the "missing link" between the Wandering Ehlnofey and Men or at least the Atmorans. It also explains why the Giants of Skyrim and Wrothgar have pointed ears, since the Wandering Ehlnofey are the progenitors of men but that doesn't necessarily mean they would resemble the races of Men that came to be after the Dawn Era, like they were still the lost brothers and sisters of the Old Ehlnofey at that point, so it is possible they had a mix of elven and human features. So maybe it took a few more generations for round ears to be a physical feature of the descendants of the Wanderers, with it first appearing with the Sea Giants or an ancestor of them. So the Nord legends are on the right track, it just that Giants and Nord didn't come from the Atmorans, the Nords and Atmorans came from the Giants, the Sea Giants specifically since they seem to be the most manish sub type of giant introduced so far. So essentially it goes Wandering Elhnofey>Giants>Sea Giants>Atmorans>Nords, not sure how the other races men like the Nedes or Yokudans fit into this, since thier are a lot of conflicting sources on the "Out of Atmora" theory. The Frost Giants are a whole other can of worms as well but I do think they are distantly related to Giants but that because I also theorize that Troll-kin and Goblin-kin are also distantly related to men and mer as well, through an unknown branch of Ehlnofey but this comment is already long enough and ramblely, so I am not even gonna go into that crack pot theory lol.

[@WretchedRedoran]

That's a cool theory! I theorized something similar, that the ears represent connection to the Ehlnofey. I posted it here in the comments, but my theory focused on the Giants' pointed ears being connected to and a physical manifestation of an adoption of a more elfish philosophy regarding their origin as descendants of the spirits rather than creations, but I have also pondered a branch of the theory that the ears simply represent a generally closer and more primordial connection to the Ehlnofey, though I've had trouble explaining it. I think your theory is really, really cool and it's also pretty close to the latter one I mentioned, and the way you laid out your theory here helped me find a good way to explain mine! P.S. I've also had similar thoughts regarding Troll-kin and Goblin-kin like you've mentioned.

[@daithiodonnell2825]

Yeah, there's a distinctly merrish look to them that suggests a very strong connection to the Elhnofey to me. I don't get that impression from other giants, like the frost giants, but the sea giants of ESO do very much feel related.

[@thiscomment2010]

I'm not with you on frost giants having any relation to other giants. Their superficial resemblance is a product of bethesda using the giant model as a base for the snow giants and lurkers. Their Skyrim design heavily indicates a relation to trolls. The name is like the relation between polar bears and koala bears, no relation at all they only share a name cuz people name things weird. Your theory on the giants origins is excellent tho. much more than Neoth's "they have pointy ears so they're related to snow elves" crap.

[@shearnos]

this is one of my favorite comments i’ve read on the app. please do go into all your crackpot theories.. i’ll watch an hour long video of this even if it’s only scrolling text

[@PixelOverload]

​@@thiscomment2010 aye but what _are_ trolls? They have all of the common traits of man and mer and they appear to be only slightly more of a deviation from the standard humanoid model than Orcs or Falmer, so is it not possible they could be another distantly related cousin, along with the frost giants?

[@autsni]

I remember speculating the giants orgins with my friends in the 3rd grade since we were into the lore, now I'm 22 and still no Tes 6 🤦‍♂️

[@W0KeIzEvil]

You'll be a old man b4 es6

[@clv735]

I had to sit here and do the math... I'm not TOO much older, but damn that's a long ass time 😂

[@nathanlowry9421]

14 years is insane to think about tbh

[@shearnos]

it’s being worked on now though!

[@ethanrumley746]

It going to disappoint

[@-elrean]

I'm glad Njord is back

[@masterneloth]

@@-elrean Im glad people like Njord

[@Tacidian-o1r]

De Njord isch en gueter

[@MusicFreak0426]

Honestly, that opening of ‘Hello hirelings of House Telvanni,’ is so fucking cool. Great work on that.

[@CrookedStar263]

When I first came across a giant I had just started playing the game and it scared me half to death when one was chasing me to Whiterun 😅

[@kalebhowatt6380]

I think this was all our first experience with giants lmao

[@giornogiovanna3079]

Funny how the giants can have braids and such. Means they are intelligent enough to have hairstyles

[@IxxieNyx]

Having hairstyles means they’re intelligent enough to have hairstyles, who would’ve thought 😂

[@epicsponge7934]

@@IxxieNyx he was just making an observation saying that they were smart

[@tarponpet]

Minor misunderstanding. The Giants aren't descended from Atmorans. The Giants and Atmorans can from the same Ehlnofey stock.

[@RebelInTheF.D.G]

My working theory is that some of the races are descended from giants. The tribes that drifted away from Hircine and Kynareth and became more civilized grew smaller and weaker than their precursors until they became separate races entirely. And, going off of that, I'm of the opinion that the Orcs drove the giants of Orsinium into Skyrim, and that's what we see there now. Meanwhile, most of the rest of the precursor giants have gone extinct. It's headcannon, of course, but it isn't unreasonable.

[@benjaminbronnimann3966]

pretty solid headcanon tbf

[@doppy8682]

New here but the roleplay with Njord is very cool since it kind of has him serve as a second POV to the lore which follows how TES lore can be debatable and have differing version depending on who you ask

[@70thalternativeaccount63]

Glad to see the return of Njord in another wonderful video!

[@DylanVanderMerwe-io4uy]

Absolutely underrated channel

[@wyattdowns2016]

I do think you get caught up a bit too much on the pointed ears. While pointed ears are certainty an elvish feature, they're also found on goblins, which i think are technically considered a native tamrielic beastrace(if I'm wrong, please point me in the direction of something that source, they're also pretty interesting). And since I'm fairly certain all elves on tamriel descend from the aldmer, I really think you're making a connection that isn't there. All that being said, I'm fascinated with the implications of the difference in the skyrim giants' ears and sea giants' ears. If not atmoran, then I suspect skyrim's giants are probably distant cousins of trolls going off of the horns and the frost giants semi-similar faces.

[@WretchedRedoran]

If you're interested, I have a theory regarding the pointed ears of the Giants! It's a little bit crackpot, though... So, to start, remember the story of Herma-Mora turning Ysgramor elfish, and how his ears began to grow long and pointed? The way interpreted that story, it was suggesting that it was possible for the ancient Atmorans to become more elfish. That made me think... What if the Giants of Skyrim were a branch of Atmorans who adopted a more elfish outlook/philosophy in some way - like perhaps viewing themselves as descendants of the Ehlnofey / Ancestor Spirits / Aedra, rather than the typically mannish viewpoint of being creations of those spirits (or something similar) - thus developing the elfish feature of pointed ears, but didn't become fully elven and remained a race of Man. This could explain the split that happened between the Atmorans which divided them into Nords and Giants (or maybe this elfening of the Giants happened as a consequence of the split? Though I think that this is less likely). Anyhow, this is my theory for why the giants have pointed ears, that they are Atmorans who embodied a more elfish nature. This can explain them having the pointed ears, but still being considered distant kin of the Nords and a race of Man. There is more I can expand on, and I also have a variant of this theory that looks at the pointed ears as simply being representative of a closer, more primordial connection to the Ehlnofey in general, but I decided to expand on the "Giant elfening" theory here because I figured it would be more interesting. I hope you did indeed find it interesting, and will ponder it as I have!

[@jacobcrowley1675]

It would have been so cool to recruit different Giant tribes in the civil war.

[@crywlf9103]

But they don’t live in tribes

[@IWontBuy-RP]

​@@crywlf9103literally barechested in the freezing cold, yeah, not tribal. Lets call it a clan then 😅

[@ShadowElectricity]

Has there ever been a recorded sighting of a child or adolescent Giant?

[@tarponpet]

ESO giants can look a bit younger but not that young. We never see the young of "enemy" or "monster" races because the games don't want you killing children.

[@arwahsapi]

There are mods for that, not only giant children but also other beasts children as well, such as children of trolls, mammoths, sabrecats, wolves, etc. But the burdens of guilt of making them orphans made me uninstalled the mods

[@sealake7935]

They’re probably chilling with the female giants somewhere far haha

[@PootisPenserPow]

They're born middle-aged. Like Wolf Blitzer.

[@PootisPenserPow]

They're born middle-aged. Like Wolf Blitzer.

[@DavetheNord]

Ysgramor's stories may not be true...but of course Vivec's tales are all literal fact! 😂 I completely dismiss ESO editions to the lore in general and think Giants are best left to the head canon gods!

[@gethsoldsmith]

Most underated elder scrolls channel. I watch you for your personality I can get the same lore elsewhere but I want master neloth to teach me😂

[@greenhowie]

No idea if this is a bug or a feature (thanks Todd) but the last couple of times I started a new game, I deliberately avoided the area where the Companions are killing a rogue Giant, purely because you get nothing for it. Every Giant in those playthroughs tolerated me being very close to them, to the point of actively helping me against Bears and Sabre Cats while being within striking distance. Admittedly a Dragon also just stared at me after decimating a fort but I like to think it was happy I helped.

[@TheRealW.S.Foster]

There's a mod that adds Giantesses in the game, which is something I wish was in the actual game.

[@genocidaltriumph4771]

Gooner

[@misteranthropy7082]

@@genocidaltriumph4771because females?

[@angelcabeza6464]

You haven't seen a girl irl huh ​@@genocidaltriumph4771

[@tarponpet]

2:33 Not really true, Goblin-ken and Trolls also have pointed ears.

[@Dualbladedscorpion7737]

There's also another race of giants in elderscrolls skyrim.... the lurkers

[@davidcavan637]

They're not actually giants they're just daedra that also happen to use the same animations as giants

[@Dualbladedscorpion7737]

@davidcavan637 Ok, well, question how the lurkers came to be exactly? Were they created by hermeas Mora on their own, oh did they use to be normal tamrians but corrupted over time in apocrifa?

[@davidcavan637]

@@Dualbladedscorpion7737 they were likely just daedra created by hermaeus mora or daedra who are loyal to hermaeus mora but there's not much information on them. There is a theory that Mora's other servants, the seekers were mortals who sought the secrets of apocrypha only to be slowly transformed, but there's not too much to back that up. Ultimately we don't know enough about the enemies in apocrypha to say what they are for sure.

[@deancauley5745]

I always assumed Frost Giants were the result of interbreeding between Giants and Trolls, if not that the only other thing I can think of is that they're some sort of "missing link" between the trolls and giants

[@mrsamaritan6881]

Trolls are capable of reading and writing in The Elder Scrolls. They're not animals, just hyper agressive.

[@ploopydiper]

I love the giants. I always hate slaying the one to get heljarchen hall. The only time I don’t feel bad about killing them is when they wander into my yard and attack my husband lmfao

[@shawnberry760]

Hope you had a great Halloween Master Neloth!

[@V1489Cygni]

4:00 Unless atmorans were very long lived, it _wouldn't_ be plausible for some of them to devolve into giants in a single lifespan since Ysgramor was still around to fight them.

[@cXtotheXj]

Doesn't the farmer you run into with the cow get killed by the giant he gives the cow?

[@rockythesnailracechampion7144]

I think that's just the game being full of "features" and not actually what would go down. They get hostile when you go close to them, so I'd imagine the human/cow would activate that hostility.

[@vizzzyy190]

babe wakeup master neloth posted a new lecture

[@hellboyquintex]

12:00 if giants indeed are descendants of the atmorans it would be likelier that they worship the animal gods, or even dragons like the atmorans did.

[@ronaldnelson6692]

I found out that if you attack the mourning giant, he just runs from you.

[@douglascoons5434]

Maybe frost giants are a result of cross-breeding frost trolls and giants? Though I really don't want to know how that happened, lol.

[@Ben_c-j4u]

That poor troll

[@Twiztid_Jupiter]

**ROAAAAAAAAAR** **HWACK HWACK HWACK**

[@TheVincenzoGaming]

@@Ben_c-j4u lucky troll*

[@epicsponge7934]

Probably have the same ancestry

[@ChaoticCory]

I wonder what the giants relationship with the flying whales and dragons were like

[@sinistran2221]

Excellent video, as always, thanks for the upload! May I ask what's the armor Njord is wearing? It looks really good :)

[@masterneloth]

It is the Ysmir Armor Mod. It’s available on PC and Xbox

[@samueltaylor2192]

What if the reason that this group of Atmorans split from Ysgramor and his followers was because they wanted an alliance with the snow elves and the ice giants are the cross-bred descendants of both Falmer and Atmorans combined which would give credence to both theories on their origins...

[@bajkotamas1610]

Would be awesome if Karstag was the strongest character, minus dragons, in the game. Having THAT monster as a limited summon would be awesome❤

[@dimitrilitovsk2372]

I haven't even watched yet but anyone tackling this is really interesting and when I subscribe, expect more comments 🎉

[@RoachDoggJr2112]

My theory- Sea Giants are just straight up Atmorans- or at least a cousin species that lives on the same continent, like Elves/Orcs on Tamriel. They don’t “disappear,” they go home. They only come to Tamriel occasionally to raid and such.

[@DSSProductions]

When you mourned with him standing next to him, I felt that. RIP Mammoth 😔

[@Honky-c9k]

When you think about it, the equivalent of the relationship between nords and giants would be Homosapians and Neanderthals.

[@dfgyuhdd]

I wish giants/mammoths were a more dynamic faction that you could win favor with, or feud with

[@Dsomerton1]

please do a full video about the giant vs the 500 if theres enough info on it available , been playing skyrim for 10 years but havent heard of that before

[@mifune423]

Great new Skyrim content, keep it up!

[@AustinLunger]

What armor does njord wear? That’s pretty cool looking

[@chikasnotmadjustdisappoint6266]

It certainly is a...giant mystery

[@artisticbang9111]

15:07. I mean, how exactly did the Dunmer discover Skooma then? I'm sure they've tried anything out of the box. Like knowing the difference between finger and milk finger taste like 😅

[@batonrougerp7423]

Like the falmer with their chaurus relation (living with them, using their exoskeleton to make armor/weapons). its more logical and reasonable that Giants would use mammoth fur instead of wolf pelts. Im also fairly sure that the club they wield, is the bone of a mammoth. And you can tell the fur embedded in his 'armor' is from Mammoth's pelt. It only makes sense since in reality, many indigenous people's used the pelts and bones of their mostly used animals (plain's indians using Bison pelts/bones), etc.

[@Entoma-s9j]

Giants made such an impression on me the first time i played skyrim that I always make sure to avoid them.

[@ChaoticCory]

I needed this 🥲♥️

[@haydes1285]

Pretty sure giants come from San Francisco and New York

[@treetheenderhyena1880]

5:37 technically the bosmer aren't even elves. they're, like, a shapeshifting primordial ooze

[@itzybitzyspyder]

I totally made an imperial character that was disguised as a Nord. I named him Imma Njord. I come from the era of D&D where every character name was a pun.

[@ragewinninethousand4140]

I have no proof but my headcannon is that they offshoots of snow elves

[@lt_hammerfist5532]

Every play through I do, I treat giants as a right of passage, I won’t do the main quest until I can slay a giant.

[@n3r3sh77]

Bruh I also thought it was a huge femur bone

[@zerotheg0d330]

24:26 "I will see you whenever the faaaaaaaAAWWWK ...... I decide to upload another video" 😭😭😭

[@hault360]

Gaints can't descend from snow elves because the Giant comes from Atmora, and no elf has ever even been there

[@kingofnorthumbria]

Bruh i love this channel. Post more!!!!!!

[@bmelloyello]

Just by looking at giants they look like half elves and half trolls. The lumps on their hides line up with the troll lumps.

[@stevewantsabannana]

Have you done a video about the Rieklings yet?

[@whyhelp141]

I added giant families to my game like aww baby giants then got bored just looking at them and they're all together still in a séance, I mean...I got alot of toes now...

[@NotDr.Evil137]

"WHERE'S THE GIANT, MANSLEY!?"

[@keulron2290]

Don’t Bretons have slightly curved ears in the lore? It’s also possible that the Frost Giants are actually the product of breeding between giants and frost trolls.

[@N1gh7L0rd]

one thing you do not bring up is convergent evolution, which says it is sheer chance that modern giants have sharper ears

[@toewoe]

Giants are also in daggerfall, which are still big, but not massive. They look like big yellow orcs

[@CrayonosaurusRex]

After hearing more about this, I kinda wonder if giants are rhe remnants of something "happening" between Atmorans and Falmer, like a reversal of the Bretons, and instead of becoming magical and French, they became the giants we see

[@HappyVibes834]

This is off topic, but im listening to this while on Skyrim, and i found a Mythic Dawn banner in Castle Volkihar. There might be some connection there

[@vicchung]

I see Neloth video, I click!

[@silentskyrim]

18:24 some giants got freaky with some frost trolls

[@Raycloud]

What armor mod is being used for your Nord?

[@AncientTimes42]

ALL WILL KNEEL BEFORE THE GLORIOUS MASTER NELOTH!!! HIS SUPREME INTELLECTUAL IS MATCHED BY NONE!!! 🪄🪄🪄🪄🪄🪄🪄🪄🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️

[@AsahiMiya]

Wasn't there a book in one of the elder scrolls games that describes the split between the pointed eared giant elves and the giants themselves who were atmoran or came from atmora?

[@ShishouDzukiZaManako]

"how did they find this all out?" see cheese and booze. sometimes you just do.

[@envoy2500]

Wait, it ISN'T called Tower Neloth?

[@joeymurphy9974]

Uhhh snow giants live in solstheim and therefore giants do live in morrowind

[@Blackstonelegion]

Can you Cover Minotaurs next?

[@dovahkiin-t1o]

I use the giant mods by Mihail to add more diversity and add the females and children.

[@Rullisi]

I love Neloth! Subscribed.

[@louhill4317]

When I saw their ears I knew these guys came from mer, my resaon behind this? We knew the mer settled on Tamriel way before humans and the fact we see different subspecies, like the Ayleids, falmer before the fall, just to name a few that lived there for a long time. It wouldn’t be a stretch thinking some evolved to the giants. Maybe the nord stories of giants maybe there are human type on Atmora as we knew that’s where they hailed from. This funny that both mer and man came to Tamriel, yet the Argonians and Khajiit, other breastkin you see and hear about in the lore and games seem to me to be the true people that evolved there, shame to not see more breastkin buildings and cultures there.

[@evilforestspirit]

ive always preffered to think that female and male giants look the same and that there is little distinction between them. then it makes sense that we only see the one type in skyrim.

[@Ralof_McSkooma]

Great scrolltube vidspell my brother, if you're ever around Riften, stop in the Bee and Barb and tell them to put it on my tab.

[@adwarbarbar3722]

After his father they look a fair bit like him too

[@W4iteFlame]

I am constantly mishearing mammoths as manlets...

[@RUSTYCHEVYTRUCK]

Man I remember when I came home to a giant just hanging out in front of my manor, I couldn’t get him to go away so I had to kill him, I feel kinda bad

[@GargoyleDraugr]

Their relationship with mammoths is one of animistic qualities, like reindeer, goat, sheep, cow herding in pagan traditions, respect what you eat, respect the land, don't ruin it.

[@swaggyp2496]

The last I saw a giant it was fighting a mammoth…

[@SabreArchon]

The Giants have their own very complex language. I refuse to believe they can be considered a less intelligent race like they are portrayed. Just because they live a primitive lifestyle doesn’t make them any less intelligent compared to any other race.

[@gamerdog1919]

Ladies and gentlemen we need giants in elder scrolls 6

[@TexasRed649]

What do you mean you palette is too refined to eat mammoth cheese? Dunmer eat bugs.

[@WretchedRedoran]

Not only do Dunmer eat bugs, Dunmer eat a cheese-like substance they scrape from giant beetle things.

[@shaeam.4124]

@@WretchedRedoranfoul 💀

[@andrewp8284]

You’ll “do something” if I don’t like the video? But what if that something is making more content? What if it’s giving me unlimited access to said content…oh wait it’s a threat-*likes video* Lol no really thanks for your content, and I like it freely every time

[@noelrattigan6495]

Omg ive only started the video but i just got a strong feeling that the mammoth cheese isnt from mammoths

[@williamcote4208]

What is the armor mod that Njord is wearing?

[@JanoschNr1]

Just like the real nordic mythology, Giants the grandfathers of all

[@Sophia-vk5bq]

“Where are the female giants??” The adult section of the Nexus. 👀

[@SABandlab]

But giants are in every elder scrolls game i thought? Dagger fall, for one