Giants and Ogres

by Tristram Potter Coffin

Little Virginia Reed and her family join the Donner Party and are snowed in without food in the Sierras

Genres: Fantasy, Mythology, Folklore, Fiction, Reference, Childrens, Art

143 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1985

About the author

Tristram (“Tris”) Potter Coffin was an American folklorist and leading scholar of ballad texts in the 20th century. Coffin spent the bulk of his career at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a professor of English and a co-founder of the Folklore Department. He was the author of 20 books and more than 100 scholarly articles and reviews.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Riesen und Ungeheuer (Verzauberte Welten) von Time Life

Kurzbeschreibung / Inhaltsangabe
Herrscher der Welt - Die Erben der Schöpfung
Beschützer und Ernährer - Eine tödliche Herausforderung
Unversöhnliche Gegner - Kulhwch und Olwen
Der Verfall der Macht - Spuren aus alter Zeit

Kurzmeinung
Fast auf den Tag 9 Monate habe ich für diesen 143-seitigen, illustrierten Band gebraucht. Nicht mein liebstes aus der Time Life Reihe Verzauberte Welten. Dennoch ist die Reihe meiner Meinung nach toll gemacht.

[Hugo Negron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series from Time Life Books on myth, superstitions, and legend, brought to life with beautiful illustrations, and written in a fluid like prose that brings to mind a storyteller sitting by a crackling fire sharing his tales.

I remember reading some of the books in this series when I was younger. I had purchased some through a mail order subscription, but didn't complete the collection, although you can still find them on Amazon, Ebay, and the like. YouTube even has a video of the original TV commercial for when the series was first launched. Time Life could have gone the route of writing this in a dry, historical format, but luckily went with a style that plays well with the topics of the series.

From godlike giants such as Ymir from Scandinavian myth to lesser ogres and trolls, if you are a fan of mythology as I am, this book serves as a great reference and fun read!

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 11th volume of The Enchanted World series should have been called Giants, Ogres, and Trolls as quite a lot of the stories near the end revolve around trolls. The book opens by stating that at the dawn of time, the giants were the mightiest of beings, creatures whom even the gods dreaded. It was from the giants that the Greek and Norse gods had to seize their power. Even after, as was seen in the Northlands where the giants held to their power the longest, the gods looked to the giants as equals, beings to whom they would turn in search of wisdom. Which is the stated theme of the entire volume. Essentially, each story consists of man tricking and destroying the elder race.

Giants eventually adapted into mortal society. Some, such as Bran the Blessed, went on to become kings and heroes. Others befriended and watched over the peasantry. As the giants' waning speeded up, they grew increasingly hostile to humans. They became enemies of humanity, attacking whenever they could. Their cousins, the trolls and the ogres, became total marauders, raping human women and eating human babies.

So far this volume has the only example in the series of The Enchanted World repeating a story. Here they repeat the tale – the original pre-Arthurian version – of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. This story had already been told in the Legends of Valor volume, albeit with a different protagonist, that of the Irish hero Cuchulain. Even if you want to argue that they are two different stories because of the different main characters, even a cursory glance through them will reveal that the plot is exactly the same. Making up for this is the stellar art which is amazing and varied.

[Bud Winn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first books that got me into reading - glad I found it used and own it.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. The stories of Bran were very good, although a couple of the stories were a bit.... shocking, especially with reference to some of the Irish traditions of demonstrating a king's fitness to rule.

[Bear Paw · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of old folk stories about giants from all over... for some of it good, some I have heard before, some of the stories I have never heard before this...

[Jason Prodoehl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well told stories, and quality writing and illustration. Maybe for me the subject matter wasn't that interesting to me. Still, worth reading, as I make my way through this excellent series.

[Jamie Belanger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, like many of the others in the series, was somewhere between mediocre and interesting. I felt the artwork was not on par with the other books, with many pieces looking more like pencil drawings instead of their usual oil painting art style. All in all, it was worth reading once.

[Quaker]

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[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of short articles and stories.

[Trish Ramsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read the enchanted World Series during a hospital visit, wasn't impressed with many of them.