The Book of Friendly Giants
“Good-by,” he roared. “And don’t forget the giant Riverrath”
THE BOOK OF
FRIENDLY GIANTS
BY EUNICE FULLER
WITH INTRODUCTORY VERSES
BY SEYMOUR BARNARD
AND DRAWINGS BY
PAMELA COLMAN SMITH
“Giants should always be
brotherly with giants, but only
with good giants.”
Maxim of Pantagruel.
NEW YORK
THE CENTURY COMPANY
Copyright, 1914, by
The Century Co.
Published, October, 1914
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
In Defense of Giants
Somehow or other, the giants seem to have got a badname. No sooner is the word “giant” mentioned thansome one is sure to shrug his shoulders and speak in ameaning tone of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Now, thisis not only unkind, but, on the giants’ part, quite undeserved.For, as everybody who is intimate with themknows, there are very few of the Beanstalk variety.
No self-respecting giant would any more think ofthreatening a little boy, or of grinding up people’sbones to make flour, than would a good fairy godmother.Giants’ dispositions are in proportion to the size of theirbodies, and so when they are good, as most of them are,they are the kindest-hearted folk in the world, and likenothing better than helping human beings out of scrapes.
The trouble is that many of the stories were written bypeople who do not really know the giants at all, but areso afraid of them as to suppose that giants must be crueljust because they are big. Every one else has taken itfor granted that the giants were big enough to take careof themselves, and so nobody has bothered to look intothe facts of the case. Mr. Andrew Lang has given usa whole rainbow of books about the fairies, but no oneseems ever to have written down the whole history ofthe giants.
This is a pity, particularly since a great many peoplehave had a chance to know the giants intimately. Forin the old days the giants used to live all over the world—inGermany, and Ireland, and Norway, and even herein our own country. And since they have moved backinto a land of their own, they have sometimes come intoother countries on a visit and a brave Englishman, asyou will see, once went to visit them.
The history of the giants is as simple as their good-naturedlives. All the giants came originally from onebig giant family. And wherever they went, they keptthe same giant ways, and enjoyed playing the same big,clumsy jokes on each other.
