Giants and Dwarfs
When thinking of Giants and Dwarfs, people see complete opposites. (1) In folklore, dwarfs were seen as a species of fairies and lived in mines or mountains. They were small and and on the other hand, (2) giants were seen as huge, strong, terrifying creatures. Everyone has their own ideas of what they are and how they grew up hearing them in stories, but this might not be the case in the history of the medieval times.
Dwarfs
 |
| (4)Portrait of a court dwarf from the Museo del Prado, Madrid. |
(1) There were also household dwarfs. They were put into homes with important people at the time to mainly entertain others.
Giants
(2) Giants were often gate keepers who protected castles. They are extraordinary in size, very strong, and were often challenges to knights and others trying to get to a place or accomplish a quest. They are much larger than their opponents but often were defeated because of their lack of knowledge.
Biblical Giants
 |
| (5) David and Goliath |
But a man of youth, David, didn't like how the philistine went against the army of the living God, so this young man put his trust in God and went up against Goliath. He walks up with no armor and a sling with 5 stones. Goliath mocked him for his age, size, and weapon, but this did not stop David. With his sling and stone, he struck his head bringing Goliath down to the grown. He then grabbed Goliath's sword and cut off his head. All the Philistines fled after seeing what happened. Even dating way back in time, giants were seen as powerful, strong, and destructive who most men feared. They were meant to fight and that they did.
(1) https://www.britannica.com/topic/dwarf-mythology
(2) https://medievaldisabilityglossary.hcommons.org/giant/
(3) https://allthatsinteresting.com/awful-jobs/3
(4) 1 Samuel 17
(5) https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/psalms/
I never thought about why they had specifically chosen dwarfs to stand by Queens or Kings, but it makes sense that they would want them to escort them to appear bigger. I like that you brought up the story in the Bible of David and Goliath. It shows that the way someone could appear could be deceiving and you shouldn't judge a book by its cover!
ReplyDeleteI would love to learn more about giants being defeated because they have a lack of knowledge. I am curious as to how that has been portrayed in stories. It is definitely interesting that they had dwarves work in courts to make kings appear taller, I assume to show dominance or power
ReplyDeleteI never knew that dwarfs would have been places into homes as entertainment during that age. It makes me wonder if their role at this time had an influence on how certain films with fairytales depict dwarfs.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize that dwarfs were connected to fairies; I often think of fairies as small and dainty creatures and even though dwarfs are smaller in stature, I do not connect the two. In the movie "The Princess Bride," there is a giant who challenges the hero to keep him from getting to his love, so giants are seen in modern day Arthurian stories.
ReplyDeleteI was not aware that there were biblical giants. I had heard of David and Golliath but was never aware Golliath was a giant. This piece of information was interesting. I also did not know that dwarfs were a species of fairies.
ReplyDelete