Giants: Myth, Mystery, or Something More?
Tales of giants have a way of slipping between archaeology, oral tradition, folklore, and religion until it becomes difficult to tell what is what. Much like our modern fascination with aliens or unseen intelligences, these accounts sit in that uneasy space between history and myth, where something may have happened, but the meaning of it has been stretched and reshaped by centuries of retelling. It would be easy to dismiss them as fables were it not for the Bible itself. Far from discounting the reality of giants, the holy scriptures talk about them over and over.
The Kandahar Giant
I probably would have stuck with my flannel-graph David-and-Goliath mental image of giants had I not, during my wilderness years, come across the story of the Giant of Kandahar. Across my various paranormal sources, a controversial story about the so-called Giant of Kandahar kept resurfacing. The story primarily circulated in military folklore and internet retellings about an alleged 2002 encounter in Afghanistan. According to the account, U.S. soldiers reportedly encountered a humanoid giant over ten feet tall in a remote cave, who was ultimately killed in an exchange of gunfire. The story includes dramatic details such as extraordinary physical strength and unusual weaponry. A fascinating story, but it has never been verified by military records, eyewitness documentation, or credible investigative reporting.
Most now consider the Kandahar Giant narrative to be a modern myth, likely born from internet amplification of earlier folklore motifs rather than an actual military incident. Yet its persistence is itself noteworthy. Like many modern legends, it reflects an older image resurfacing in contemporary language, where the idea of giants remains psychologically and culturally compelling even in a technological age that has no place for them. But, real or not, what if all stories of giants are not myths?
Giants of North America and the Burial Mounds
Long before modern internet folklore, reports of unusually large skeletal remains emerged in connection with the burial mounds of North America, particularly in the Great Lakes, Mississippi Valley, and Ohio River regions. These mound systems, built over centuries by complex indigenous cultures, became a focal point for early European curiosity and later 19th-century speculation. In newspapers, traveler accounts, and early antiquarian reports, there are repeated, though often unverified, reports of skeletal remains ranging from approximately 7 to 9 feet in length, with some sensational accounts pushing beyond that range. However, these measurements were rarely verified under controlled archaeological conditions, and many reports were based on secondhand descriptions, disturbed burials, or poorly preserved remains that could have distorted perceived size.
The indigenous mound-building cultures created extensive earthworks used for burial, ceremony, and regional gathering. Sites such as Cahokia in present-day Illinois demonstrate sophisticated urban planning, astronomical alignment, and large-scale labor organization, underscoring that these were not simple or primitive constructions. Early European settlers, encountering these monumental structures without a framework for understanding their origins, often projected explanations onto them. One of the most persistent ideas was the existence of a “lost race of giants,” a hypothesis that appeared frequently in 19th-century writing and early pseudo-archaeological literature.
At the same time, there were isolated reports in early Smithsonian correspondence and associated field notes that described occasional skeletons of above-average stature, sometimes estimated at 6’6” to 7’ tall. In the 19th century, when average male height was significantly lower than today, such remains would have appeared striking and were sometimes amplified in public retellings. However, modern anthropological reviews tend to suggest that these cases fall within the upper range of normal human variation rather than indicating a distinct population.
The Smithsonian Institution itself has consistently maintained that there is no verified evidence of a race of giants associated with North American mound sites, and some of the more dramatic claims circulating in popular literature have been traced to misinterpretations, newspaper embellishment, or later mythologizing of early reports. On the other hand, some modern writers accuse the Smithsonian of a cover-up, saying that giant skeletons were excavated and taken to Washington, D.C., never to be seen again. Though these claims are also unverified.
Lovelock Cave and the Red-Haired Giants
One of the most frequently cited examples in modern giant lore is the Lovelock Cave discoveries in Nevada. In the early 20th century, excavations in the cave revealed mummified remains associated with the Northern Paiute cultural context, along with baskets, tools, and ceremonial items. Some early reports described a small number of unusually large remains, with estimates in popular retellings ranging from 7 feet to over 10 feet. Some of the remains were actually described in early reports as unusually large, and a subset of mummified hair appeared reddish in color, which fueled speculation about a distinct population of “red-haired giants.”
However, subsequent analysis suggests that many of these interpretations were exaggerated or misreported. The so-called “giants” could have been within the upper range of normal human variation, and that size exaggeration likely resulted from measurement error, decomposition distortion, or narrative amplification over time. Hmmm . . . so people in the 1800s didn’t know how to measure? They also suggested the reddish hair could be explained through natural post-mortem chemical changes and environmental conditions in the cave. On the other hand, artifacts found there in the very REAL archaeological record of Lovelock Cave have led to speculation about giants, as has the Paiute oral tradition.
Native American Oral Traditions
Across various Native American traditions, there are indeed many oral stories that reference large or powerful humanoid beings, sometimes portrayed as enemies and other times as ancestral or spiritual entities. In some Paiute traditions, the same Paiutes associated with the previously discussed Lovelock Cave, there are accounts of a red-haired group called the Si-Te-Cah.
In the most commonly retold version, the Si-Te-Cah are portrayed as red-haired and unusually large or giant-like. They are often described as aggressive toward neighboring groups, sometimes engaging in warfare or raids, and in certain tellings, they are associated with cannibalism or extreme violence. According to the Paiute, the Si-Te-Cah were eventually trapped in Lovelock Cave and destroyed, sometimes through fire or siege tactics, depending on the version.
Giants in World Traditions
Beyond North America, giant figures appear in mythologies worldwide. In Greek mythology, the Gigantes and Titans represent primordial forces that predate the Olympian order. Norse mythology speaks of the Jötnar, beings of immense size and power who exist in tension with the gods. In Mesopotamian texts, heroic figures such as Gilgamesh are described as physically extraordinary, straddling the line between human and divine. Sound familiar? Recall the part-human, part-divine offspring of the fallen angels discussed in the Book of Enoch?
These recurring patterns suggest that the “giant” archetype is deeply embedded in human storytelling. Whether symbolic of chaos, actual ancestral memory, or the boundary between human and divine realms, giants often represent something larger than physical stature alone. They function as markers of a world that is not fully ordered, where the boundaries of nature, divinity, and humanity are still in flux.
Giants in the Old Testament
Perhaps we could just dismiss the whole idea of giants as ancient fables if it were not for our own holy scriptures. In the Hebrew Scriptures, references to giants appear in several key passages, but they are never treated as a separate biological “species” with an explanation. Instead, they emerge within narrative moments of crisis, transition, and conquest, where Israel encounters peoples described as unusually large, powerful, and seemingly invincible. The first and most enigmatic reference appears in Genesis 6, where the Nephilim are introduced in connection with the mysterious union of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men.”
The text describes the Nephilim as “mighty men of old, men of renown,” a phrase that suggests not only physical stature but also social or legendary status. The Hebrew term itself is ambiguous, but later interpretive traditions often understood it as figures of extraordinary strength, dominance, or even semi-mythic reputation. In the broader narrative of Genesis, their appearance is tied to a world that has become so morally and cosmically disordered that God regrets making it. Later biblical references, such as Numbers 13:33, reconnect the Nephilim motif when the Israelite spies report seeing giants in Canaan and describe themselves as “grasshoppers” in comparison.
Ancient Jewish interpretive traditions, particularly those reflected in Second Temple literature such as Enoch and Jubilees, significantly expand the Nephilim narrative. In these texts, the Nephilim are often portrayed as the offspring of fallen angels and human women, a race of giants whose violence and corruption contribute to Divine judgment. While these writings are not part of the Hebrew Bible canon in most traditions, they influenced early Jewish and some early Christian thought, to the point that Jude mentions them in the New Testament. Some early traditions interpret the Nephilim not merely as large humans but also as beings associated with a boundary violation between the heavenly and earthly realms. In some strands of interpretation, their “renown” is linked not to virtue, but to fame rooted in power, violence, and pre-flood corruption. From Enoch, their rise was the actual reason behind the biblical flood that only Noah survived.
Moving forward in the biblical narrative, later texts refer to groups such as the Rephaim and the Anakim, who are consistently associated with extraordinary size and strength. The Rephaim appear in several contexts, sometimes as ancient inhabitants of the land and sometimes as a term for the dead in the underworld, suggesting that the word may have carried both ethnic and mythic associations. The Anakim, in particular, are described in Numbers and Deuteronomy as a formidable people inhabiting Canaan before the Israelite conquest. Their size and strength were so intimidating that the Israelite spies reported feeling completely outmatched, framing the land as one that “devours its inhabitants,”.
Among the most frequently cited figures in this tradition is Og, king of Bashan. In Deuteronomy, Og’s bed is described as being made of iron and measuring nine cubits in length and four cubits in width, roughly translating to about 13.5 feet by 6 feet depending on the cubit standard used. This detail is often interpreted as an indirect indicator of extraordinary stature, though it may also reflect royal symbolism or ceremonial architecture rather than literal bodily measurement. Og is presented as one of the last of the Rephaim, a survivor of an older and more formidable population, and his defeat by Israel is framed as a demonstration of divine favor rather than human military superiority.
In some streams of ancient Jewish thought, regions like Bashan, Og’s realm, were associated with earlier moments of rebellion and disorder, places where the boundary between the human and the divine had once been crossed in ways that should not have occurred. Scripture itself does not explain the mechanics of this crossing, and the Orthodox Christian tradition resists reducing it to a biological or systematic explanation. Instead, it preserves the sense that something real and deeply disordered took place. Within that frame, figures like Og are not presented as products of a repeatable biological process, but as lingering echoes of a world that once moved beyond its proper bounds.
The most detailed and iconic giant figure in the Old Testament is Goliath of Gath, described in 1 Samuel 17. His height is recorded in some texts as “six cubits and a span,” which would place him at approximately 9 feet 6 inches tall, though some ancient manuscripts, including the Septuagint and Dead Sea Scroll traditions, give a slightly lower figure of “four cubits and a span,” closer to 6 feet 9 inches. This textual variation itself highlights the fluidity of ancient numerical transmission. Goliath is depicted as a fully armored Philistine champion whose physical presence inspires fear in the Israelite army, reinforcing the giant's role as an embodiment of overwhelming opposition.
Goliath is also described as having family members or “brothers” in later biblical texts, particularly in 2 Samuel 21, where several additional Philistine warriors of great stature are mentioned, including some possessing six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Interestingly, some reports from mounds around the Great Lakes also described giant skeletons with six fingers. David’s defeat of Goliath becomes a theological turning point, emphasizing that victory is not determined by size, armor, or perceived natural advantage, but by Divine alignment and faithfulness.
What remains consistent across these traditions is not agreement on precise biology or height, but the symbolic weight these figures carry. They are consistently positioned as “larger than life” adversaries, whether physically, politically, or spiritually, and their presence functions to heighten the stakes of the human encounter with the unknown, the threatening, and the seemingly insurmountable.
Where the Stories Converge
When viewed together, all these disparate threads form a strange continuity across time. Ancient texts, oral traditions, archaeological misinterpretations, and modern folklore all seem to circle the same idea: that there were once beings who stood outside the normal measure of humanity, whether physically, morally, or symbolically. Sometimes they are remembered as literal giants, sometimes as enemies of order, and sometimes as warnings encoded in stories. Cultures across time and geography seem drawn to the concept of oversized beings who blur the line between the human and the other, the known and the unknown.
So did real giants roam the earth? Well, that question remains unanswered at present. For myself, it comes down to who I trust. According to multiple ancient cultures and the Bible itself, the answer is yes. According to the known archeological record, the answer is mostly no. Given that science is a relatively young field as compared to the eons of time and that our knowledge and understanding of the world around us continues to grow, I tend to lean toward believing the ancient cultures and religions of the world on this one.
Grace and light to you all.