The Leading Authority on the Study of Giants

Greetings! I am Professor J. Finch, the world's foremost expert on giants of all subspecies. Here I will post my findings, in the hopes of creating an understanding of these marvellous creatures. Queries are welcome! 🪶All pictures used are credited, DM for removal. Asks are queued, please don't spam additional ones. Questions that have already been answered will be deleted.🪶

[giantologist]

Occ( hey are you doing ok?

((Yeah, just lost inspo for this blog for now. I'm sure it'll come back to me eventually, but the brain will do what the brain does!))

[tiny-james]

I FOUND THE PROFESSOR BUT IF HE LOVED BIRDS au

There he is!

[draw-the-squad-like-this]

Draw your OC like this

[giantologist]

He wouldn't ban eating anything in his classes, ass included

[giantologist]

A carrier pigeon has dropped off a letter!

(Sorry in advance if ya don’t do questions like these! :’D Thought to send an ask in a fashionable fashion and hope submissions still work- )

CC:

Greetings Professor J. Finch,

I trust this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. I am writing to you with great interest in your renowned research. My curiosity has been piqued by a topic that holds personal significance to me, a friend, an acquaintance of mine – the intriguing realm of giant culture.

His particular interest comes from the fact they have a rather terrible curse that causes him to have emotionally tied growth spurts. He is a prince from a kingdom I cannot safely expose and has been in confinement for several years. While he has been taken care of and isn’t in any immediate danger to my knowledge, he has been considering if he would be better suited among giants. However, I do not know if a human like him could fit in with their species or if it’s worth reaching out.

He certainly doesn’t belong with humans anymore.  

In light of this, I humbly seek your guidance and counsel. I am eager to learn about the broader spectrum of giants’ attitudes towards those who experience shifts in size. His foremost desire is to understand his options, and your candid insights would be immensely valued.

I extend my gratitude for your consideration of this matter. Kindly direct your response to my associate’s address, and I shall ensure the information reaches its intended recipient.

Yours sincerely,

Concerned anonymous.

~~~

Dear Concerned Anonymous,

My, what a concerning condition. I can likely see just how stressful it must be for you the person in question. Humans are not very tolerant when it comes to the different and unknown, as I can attest to greatly. I am humbled that you think I am the one to reach out to, and for that I thank you.

If one such as this individual were to seek refuge amongst giants, I would strongly believe that they would find solace. Most giants, at least those accustomed to human contact, would revel in the idea of a friend or lodger that could change size, as it would likely be seen as a sign of strength, something which they, as a species, hold in high regard. As long as shrinking isn’t also an issue, as you might see how being mere inches around one so large may be dangerous, it sounds to me like a splendid idea.

I shall attach a list of my contacts in the giant world, some of my friends that I know will either accept your acquaintance with open arms, or put you in contact with those who will if they are unable to care for the prince. Do bear in mind that the size disparity between their subspecies is of a greater range than any other mammal, so it should be all too easy to accept a size shifter into their homes and hearts.

I do hope you your acquaintance finds the people they need to accept them as the wonderful and blessed person they are.

Professor J Finch

[heartthumpnovel]

It seems like the letter has made it to it’s intended recipient.

[danskjavlarna]

From Playroom Stories by Georgiana Craik, 1863.

I’ve encountered quite a few vintage human giants in the course of my research.

[giantologist]

(( Good evening!

I have a question regarding the funerary rituals of giants.

While I am aware of the fact that they cremate the bodies of the deceased - would it not be better to simply bury the body? Burning such a large organism would cause huge amounts of carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere, which wouldn't be healthy at all for the planet.

Unless, perhaps I am missing a factor on why it is beneficial? If you could explain, that would be great!

Good evening to you.

You do raise a good point, but I do think the amount you speak of is largely inconcequential. It is mainly common practice due to such a large body decomposing causing plague and disease, the fact that there is a religious aspect is a later addition (by later I do mean it still predates humanity).

Burying the bodies, while occasionally done, contributes much more significantly to environmental issues. Soil erosion, contaminants in runoff, possible deforestation, and increased risk of flood, are all factors - although largely dependent on the size of the deceased.

While I may not agree wholly with cremation as a practice, and not just because it makes my job a lot harder when I cannot study remains, it is something that does happen, and considering it has been happening for thousands of years, I daresay the environment has learnt to cope with it.

Unless I'm wrong. But I'm sure that all shall be well in the long run.

Professor J Finch

[oldschoolfrp]

Avalyne the Life Giver, one of Larry Elmore's most well-known paintings, used as the cover of Dragon 140, Dec 1988

[giantologist]

Who's the most dexterous giant you have met? With giants being few and far between in the world of man, how much control do they have with their hands to create human sized crafts?

Greetings!

Giants as a whole are very dextrous compared to humans. Were we on the same scale, it would be comparable to being able to do surgery on a beetle. Their fingers are a lot more sensitive than our own, as tactile affection is important in their culture. They have learnt over generations to be precise and delicate so as to fit in with the small world in which they now exist.

I once knew a giant herbalist named Lucinda, and her command of her own fingers was superb. She could pick the fresh buds from a plant without damaging a single stem of old growth, and when I got a chest infection she delivered a hand sized glass phial of a tincture comprised of mullein, horehound, wild cherry and thyme that cleared me up in no time. I marvelled at how she had managed to fill the bottle, let alone deliver it to me without the thin glass cracking.

One may wonder at how such a thing is possible when giants are capable of such destruction. But, as you well know, that stigma is precisely what I endeavour to stamp out.

Professor J Finch

[giantologist]

Hermit by Andrej Z.T.

[giantologist]

((Here's a shitty lil doodle animation I did with Finch's voiceclaim. As soon as I heard Mike Wozniak speak after I made Finch, I went 'yep, that's him, that's his voice'

[giantologist]

How hard is it to learn giant language?

Quite a difficult question!

On the one hand, the rune system is rather simple, posessing no cases, and thankfully retaining consistent pronunciation. It's easy to write or carve, which is good for people like me, as it means many early giants left written records of their lives.

The language itself is intermediate, as there is no tense. Rather, tense is dictated by a pitch change and a written line: up for future, down for past. Gendered pronouns don't exist, and in general are based on numbers, 'I' being one, 'you' being two, a third party being three, and so on. The order of the words aren't strict, and one could structure their sentence as 'noun-adjective' without being misunderstood. Kennings are also common, with compound words making up a lot of new world words. Village (mansklingord) is 'human-place', and cart (kurtrofarn) is 'animal-wood-move'.

Pronunciation is an entirely different matter. It is impossible for a human to make the sounds required to truly speak pure giantish, rather we have a modified form, coined 'man-tongue' (mansklinglamben), our accents sounding "like talking to someone who has a mouth full of hot bees".

I would recommend trying to learn giantish! It's fun, and very useful!

Professor J Finch

[giantologist]

Hello professor,

You’ve mentioned in previous letters that giants rarely eat humans- if ever, however if my memory stands to reason the myth does spark from a grain of historical reality. Did the consumption of humans by giants result because of famine? Much of the more bizarre human culinary delicacies of culture and eating traditions came because of times where there was little other choice, such as the consumption of Grasshoppers for example. Was the act of consuming humans out of need or desire? And has it become less of an occurrence over time?

Hello to you!

Oh, the human fixation on consumption. Unfortunately the fear we hold is instinctive, for good reason. This information is something I do not like to advertise, as already dwindling populations may suffer as a result, but mansklingannr (the act of consuming humans) goes back almost as long as we do. Not to point fingers, but early man was not as conscious of animal populations as we are today. Many species are extinct due to our own hunger. Many of these species were food for giants as well.

Now, it would’ve been very easy to wipe us out at this stage, our numbers being so few, but we remain. Why? Because even as sustenance we were treated with respect and reverence. Think not of ripe berries to gorge, but precious morsels to utilise for survival.

[image taken from my journal]

It has most definitely faded into extremely uncommon practice, as not only are we known to be sentient now (as my theory is that we were viewed the same as animals) but the retaliation for even one mansklingannr would be far too severe to be worth it. That being said, execution by ingurgitation was around until the turn of the century, with the condemned being treated almost like the stereotypical virgin sacrifice that people like to go back to in anti-giant campaigns. This treatment was reserved for those too dangerous to risk them escaping their fates.

Nevertheless, we shouldn’t live in fear. What was has been, and what will is still to come.

Professor J Finch

[giantologist]

Dear Professor, what is the general demeanor of giants towards humans and other small folk? Do they vary from one culture to another? And have humans been mentioned in some giant folklore?

Greetings!

It does range from person to person, obviously. I've met those with all types of preference, from curiosity to civility, loyalty to love, fear to fury. These mostly depend on past experiences, either recent or generational. However, my generalisation would probably settle on pleasant indifference. We are mentioned in ancient myth only as colour for the most part, a footnote looking up at the mighty shadow of story before us. Ancient giants were much larger than modern subspecies, and as such didn't feel the need to pay any special attention to us, for we could neither hurt them nor assist them.

I am, of course, excluding individual acts. There are many stories of giants actively assisting the growth of humanity, as they still continue to do today!

[image taken from my journal]

I am of the opinion that humanity has been a driving force in the evolution of modern giants, whether they realise it or not.

Professor J Finch

[danskjavlarna]

From The Vision, or Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise of Dante Alighieri (1916).

I’ve encountered quite a few vintage human giants in the course of my research.

Wondering about this post?  Wait for the dissertation (TBA). For now:  Weblog ◆ Books ◆ Videos ◆ Music ◆ Etsy

[giantologist]

Do giants do anything special for when their children come of age?

Greetings!

Giants have a metric for when their child comes of age - it's when they are able to make their first worthy creation. Traditionally, this has been forging their first weapon, not one of a high standard but one that is recognisable as a sword or axe. In modern times, this has branched out to include anything of merit, be it an item of clothing or a rock sculpture of a folk hero.

Once their creation (ikerani, lit. 'age craft') is complete, their parents will take their item and wash it with a prayer to whichever giantish deity is relevant. Afterwards a small feast is prepared, and the child's friends are invited to attend. I have visited one of these parties, and it is less of an ale-soaked romp that I am used to, and more of a reverential look back on the childhood of the individual in question. There is a gravity associated with a child becoming an adult, as they are likely to leave the nest very soon after coming of age, considering the difficulty of an area supporting more than a couple of giants at once.

If invited to one of these gatherings, the only gift you should consider giving is of a culinary kind. It seems to be quite a faux pas to give material objects to one who has come of age, a fact that I cannot find a straight answer as to why.

Professor J Finch

[giantologist]

somewhere in Jotunheim by Oleg Kuzmin

[giantologist]

A carrier pigeon has dropped off a letter!

(Sorry in advance if ya don't do questions like these! :'D Thought to send an ask in a fashionable fashion and hope submissions still work- )

CC:

Greetings Professor J. Finch,

I trust this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. I am writing to you with great interest in your renowned research. My curiosity has been piqued by a topic that holds personal significance to me, a friend, an acquaintance of mine – the intriguing realm of giant culture.

His particular interest comes from the fact they have a rather terrible curse that causes him to have emotionally tied growth spurts. He is a prince from a kingdom I cannot safely expose and has been in confinement for several years. While he has been taken care of and isn’t in any immediate danger to my knowledge, he has been considering if he would be better suited among giants. However, I do not know if a human like him could fit in with their species or if it’s worth reaching out.

He certainly doesn’t belong with humans anymore.  

In light of this, I humbly seek your guidance and counsel. I am eager to learn about the broader spectrum of giants' attitudes towards those who experience shifts in size. His foremost desire is to understand his options, and your candid insights would be immensely valued.

I extend my gratitude for your consideration of this matter. Kindly direct your response to my associate's address, and I shall ensure the information reaches its intended recipient.

Yours sincerely,

Concerned anonymous.

~~~

Dear Concerned Anonymous,

My, what a concerning condition. I can likely see just how stressful it must be for you the person in question. Humans are not very tolerant when it comes to the different and unknown, as I can attest to greatly. I am humbled that you think I am the one to reach out to, and for that I thank you.

If one such as this individual were to seek refuge amongst giants, I would strongly believe that they would find solace. Most giants, at least those accustomed to human contact, would revel in the idea of a friend or lodger that could change size, as it would likely be seen as a sign of strength, something which they, as a species, hold in high regard. As long as shrinking isn't also an issue, as you might see how being mere inches around one so large may be dangerous, it sounds to me like a splendid idea.

I shall attach a list of my contacts in the giant world, some of my friends that I know will either accept your acquaintance with open arms, or put you in contact with those who will if they are unable to care for the prince. Do bear in mind that the size disparity between their subspecies is of a greater range than any other mammal, so it should be all too easy to accept a size shifter into their homes and hearts.

I do hope you your acquaintance finds the people they need to accept them as the wonderful and blessed person they are.

Professor J Finch