"Many
Monsters to Destroy"
GIANTS
Giants are wonderful literary figures because they represent so
faithfully the concerns of the age in which they are created. Three such
examples, related to the Arthurian legend, include the giants Orgoglio,
Mont St. Michel, and Ysbaddaden Chief Giant. Most frequently, giants
represent hyper-masculinity. They are big, male, and aggressive. Giants
rape women and eat children. Uncivilized and ungoverned, they can
represent men unconfined by societies limitations and let loose to express
his basest nature. The idea of civilized man and beastial man, in the
form of a giant, is expressed differently at different times, but
maintains itself clearly in the texts.
One would expect that the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen's Ysbaddaden, the
giant of Mont St. Michel in Geoffrey of Monmouth, and Spenser's Orgoglio in The
Faerie Queene's to represent different things according to their own times.
However, the theme of beastialness, baseness, and straying from society
remains constant.
Ysbaddaden
Ysbaddaden appears in the early Welsh text Culhwch and Olwen.
The hero of the story,
Culhwch, learns that he is to marry the giant's daughter, Olwen. In order
to do so, however, he must first accomplish nearly impossible feats. He
goes to his kin, Arthur, for help.
Ysbaddaden Chief Giant lives in a fortress removed from society.
He is uncivilized and uncouth. He is bloated and disgusting. So much
so that his eyelids have to be propped up with forks. He challenges
Culhwch, as expected, and explains that only once these feats, including
getting a comb and brush from the ears of
Twrch Trwyth,
are accomplished and he is groomed Culhwch can marry Olwen.
The fortress of Ysbaddaden represents his removal from society and
from
family, two very important aspects of tribal life. He is
completely uncivilized and slobbish. In order to take a bath one has to
leave his fortess completely.
Tribal stories often use the idea of "other" to define themselves.
Ysbaddaden is the threatening outside and Culhwch and all of his helpers
represent the ideal idea of community and family. The only kin that
Ysbaddaden claims are dead or monsters, such as Grendel, from the tale of
Beowulf.
There are many indications of Ysbaddaden's uncivilized nature. He
throws rocks at his guests, and they respond by throwing the more advanced
steel at him. Their aim is true, and although his wounds seem extreme,
for example losing an eye, he whines a complaint and seems otherwise
unconcerned. His hardiness to injury represents another aspect of removal
from humankind toward a more animal-like nature.
Finally, it is enlightening to note that grooming Ysbaddaden kills
him. The story is one where they struggle with nature and violent forces,
and in the end a comb and scissors does Ysbaddaden in. Once nature
becomes civilized, it is no longer a threat. Community has won out.
From the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen
And then Culhwch set out, and with
him Goreu the son of Custennin and those who wished ill to Ysbaddaden Chief
Giant, taking the rare and difficult things with them and heading for his
court. And Caw of Pictland came and shaved the giant's beard--the flesh
and
skin to the bone, and the two ears completely. And Culhwch said, "Have you
been shaved, man?"
"I have,"he said.
"And is your daughter mine now?"
"She is," he said, "but you don't have to thank me for that. Instead
thank
Arthur, the man who made it happen for you. If I had my way you would never
win her. But it is past the time to take away my life."
And then Goreu son of Custennin seized him by the hair of his head and
dragged him after him to the refuse mound and cut off his head and put it
on the post of the castle yard. And he took possession of the fort and
his territory.
And that night Culhwch slept with Olwen. And she was his only wife as
long as he lived. And the armies of Arthur dispersed, each to his own
country.
And thus did Culhwch win Olwen daughter of Ysbaddaden Chief
Giant.
For additional Culhwch and Olwen information see the
beasts page.
And for details of the story see
Culhwch and Olwen.
This
excerpt taken from The Romance of Arthur, edited by James J. Wilhelm.
Giant of Mont St. Michel
This
giant again might be believed to represent the beastial nature of
men. Brutality and violence have always underscored the legend of King
Arthur. In Arthurian Legend, Arthur is the product of rape, since his
father tricked his mother into having sex.
The giant of Mont St. Michel steals women and
brutally rapes them. He is still uncivilized and
lustful. The descriptions of the giant are hyper-masculine and unsavory.
It is no coincidence that Arthur chooses to face the giant alone. Arthur has been brutal, as he
engages in warfare across the
continent.
His civilized veneer is very nice, but under the legend of King Arthur
lurks the giant.
The beast was there at the fire, his lips stained with the gore of half-eaten swine. .
.He struck the king upon the raised shield, with such force as to fill the entire coast with the sound of
the blow and deafen Arthurs ears.
This
excerpt taken from The Romance of Arthur, edited by James J. Wilhelm.
Orgoglio
Spenser's The Faerie Queen is a more modern, sixteenth century
work. The first
book, involving the Redcrosse Knight, is heavy in allegory and symbolism.
The dragon the
Redcrosse Knight and Una encounter is symbolic of sin. Later in the book, in Canto Four,
the Redcrosse Knight watches a parade of sins in the House of Pride. Finally, after he
has been seduced by the tricky Duessa, he becomes weak and prey of Orgoglio the
giant. Canto Seven relates the Redcrosse Knight's defeat and the arrival of Arthur.
Orgoglio means "pride, haughtiness, disdain" in Italian. The Redcrosse Knight's downfall is
lechery and pride. Traditionally, giants were thrown out of heaven for the sin of
pride, so they make an appropriate symbol for Spenser to choose. Orgoglio attempts to kill the Redcrosse
Knight, but Duessa promises him sexual favors to save the knight. The lusty giant agrees to her
proposition.
From The Faerie Queen
But ere he could his armour on him dight,
Or get his shield, his monstrous enimy
With sturdie steps came stalking in his sight,
An hideous Geant horrible and hye,
That with his talnesse seemd to threat the skye,
The ground eke groned under him for dreed;
His living like saw never living eye,
Ne durst behold: his stature did exceed
The hight of three the tallest sonnes of mortall seed.
Book 1, Canto 7 lines 64-72
This quote taken from The Norton Anthology of English
Literature
Arthur and Una will come along and free the Redcrosse Knight from his
predicament, and he will end the story triumphant, but first the giant
which represents his own weakness of character must be defeated.
Return to the
Beastiary
Return
to The Quest.