Mythology

Bungisngis

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Tradition: Philippine Mythology
Alternative Names: Bungingis
Category: Giant

The Myth

Bungisngis is a one-eyed giant in Philippine folklore, said to dwell in Meluz and Orion in Bataan, as well as in Batangas. It has a humanoid body, a single eye in the middle of its forehead, and a broad mouth that is almost always open in laughter. Its large teeth are permanently visible, and when it throws back its head, its upper lip can cover its face. Two long tusks protrude from the sides of its mouth. Despite having only one eye, Bungisngis possesses an exceptionally strong sense of hearing, along with extraordinary physical strength.

The giant’s name derives from the Cebuano word ngisi, meaning to giggle, reflecting its characteristic laughter. Bungisngis is known for its immense strength but also for its foolishness and tendency to panic. These weaknesses make it vulnerable to clever opponents, who can overcome its physical power through deception and quick thinking.

In the Filipino folktale The Three Friends – The Monkey, The Dog and the Carabao, Bungisngis demonstrates its tremendous strength by lifting a carabao and throwing it with such force that the animal lands knee-deep in the ground. However, the giant is eventually outwitted by the Monkey, whose tricks lead to Bungisngis’s death. The story portrays the giant as a formidable but easily deceived creature, showing how intelligence and cunning can triumph over brute strength.

Sources

“Bungisngis.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 16, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungisngis

Erlach Giant

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Tradition: Swiss Mythology
Alternative Names: The Strong Farmhand, The Strong Servant of Erlach
Category: Giant

The Myth

The Strong Servant is the central figure of a Swiss legend set in Erlach, a town on Lake Biel near Mount Jolimont. During the time when a fortified castle stood in the town, its lord was notorious for his cruelty. He forced his servants to perform exhausting labour, beat those who failed to satisfy him, and set his vicious dogs upon the weakest workers. Some servants died under his brutal treatment, and the tyrant had their bodies thrown into the castle moat.

One evening, an unusually tall and powerful stranger arrived at the castle and offered his services. The lord tested his strength by challenging him to lift a boulder weighing more than three hundred pounds. The stranger instead hurled the enormous stone high into the air, where it buried itself deeply in the ground when it fell. Impressed, the lord hired him, initially treating him well before returning to his usual cruelty.

The lord next ordered the servant to fetch a cartload of wood from the nearby Voweren Forest using four strong white horses. The servant overloaded the cart, but the two front horses refused to pull it. He unharnessed them, tied them behind the cart, and pulled the entire load himself. When the remaining horses also refused to move on Erlach’s uneven cobblestones, he unharnessed them as well and dragged the heavily laden cart all the way to the castle courtyard. The lord watched in astonishment and grew afraid that the stranger’s extraordinary strength might one day threaten his authority.

Determined to destroy the servant, the lord ordered his workers to dig a deep well, making them labour day and night. When the well was sufficiently deep, the strong servant persuaded the others to climb out, claiming he would finish the work alone. Once they were safely above ground, the lord had a massive stone block rolled over the opening and dropped into the well, hoping to crush the servant at the bottom. Instead, the block immediately sprang back out, and the servant called up mockingly that the lord would not trick him so easily.

Terrified, the lord fled into the castle. The strong servant climbed out of the well and pursued him inside. A pitiful cry was heard, and afterward neither the tyrant nor the servant was ever seen again. The legend leaves their ultimate fate unexplained, ending with the mysterious disappearance of both men and the downfall of the cruel lord who had tormented the people of Erlach.

Sources

“Der starke Knecht.” SAGEN.at – Schweizer Sagen. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/allgemein/knecht.html

Black Book Giant

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Tradition: Czech Mythology
Alternative Names: The Frischhof Giant Legend
Category: Giant

The Myth

The legend of The Black Book is set at the Frischhof farm in the Bohemian Forest, where giants once roamed the countryside. One holiday, the farmer’s wife went to church with the farmhands, leaving the farmer alone at home. While he was praying, a group of giants arrived at the farmyard, tore down his fence, and demanded his money.

When the farmer, Frisch, refused to surrender his wealth, some of the giants seized him while the others ransacked his rooms and chests. After gathering their loot, the giants attempted to flee. Frisch then opened a mysterious book of curses kept in his house and read a spell from its pages. The magic immediately immobilized the robbers, freezing them in place so that they could neither escape nor move again.

According to the legend, the frozen giants eventually became the great mountains surrounding Frischwinkel. Their transformation explained the origin of the mountainous landscape around the farm and preserved the memory of the giants who had once terrorized its inhabitants.

The magical book itself eventually met an undignified end. Because its black, sooty appearance made it resemble a piece of bacon, a kitchen girl mistook it for food and threw it into a pot of boiling soup. The book cooked away completely, destroying the source of the farmer’s extraordinary power. Thus, the same legend that explains the origin of the surrounding mountains also recounts the accidental destruction of the book that had enabled Frisch to defeat the giants.

Sources

“Das Schwarzbuch.” SAGEN.at – Böhmerwald-Sagen. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/tschechien/watzlik/schwarzbuch.html

Guflina Giant

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Tradition: Liechtenstein Mythology
Alternative Names: The Guflina Giant
Category: Giant

The Myth

The Giant of Guflina was a gigantic man who lived at Guflina, on the Silum hill near Triesenberg in Liechtenstein, where the land rises toward the Samina Valley. He possessed extraordinary strength and tested it by uprooting fir trees with ease, stripping their branches away with the palm of his hand. His home lay near a rugged cliff containing a deep cave, where a fearsome dragon dwelled.

The dragon was an enormous winged beast with horns and eyes that burned like torches. It terrorized the local miners and mountain dwellers, particularly in spring and autumn, when they drove their cattle to the alpine pastures of Silum and Bargella. At night, the dragon attacked the herds, causing great losses and leaving the people in fear and distress.

Unable to endure the monster’s depredations any longer, the Giant of Guflina challenged it to battle outside its cave. The dragon lunged at him, roaring and snorting with fury, and attempted to dig its powerful claws into his shoulders and strangle him. The giant resisted the assault, suddenly seized the dragon by the neck, and crushed it against the rocky cliff with both hands. The force of his grip broke the creature’s bones, and its dying howl echoed through the mountains.

The miners rushed to the scene and discovered the dragon lying dead on the ground. The mountain folk celebrated their deliverance, for they could once again lead their cattle safely to the alpine pastures. Through his extraordinary strength and courage, the Giant of Guflina had freed the inhabitants of the surrounding valleys from the threat of the dragon.

Sources

“Guflina.” SAGEN.at – Liechtensteiner Sagen. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/seger/guflina.html

Reußenstein Giant

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Tradition: German Mythology
Alternative Names: The Giant Heim, Heim of Heimenstein
Category: Giant

The Myth

The Giant Heim was a legendary giant who lived on the Heimenstein rock in the Neidlingen Valley, in what is now Baden-Württemberg, Germany. One morning, he decided to build a castle on the opposite side of the valley and called out to the people below, asking who would help him. Masons, carpenters, stonemasons, and locksmiths eagerly accepted his offer, for Heim possessed abundant gold and promised generous wages. Before long, they had constructed a magnificent castle on the rocky heights.

When Heim inspected the finished building, he discovered that one nail was missing from a window at the top of the highest tower. Furious at this imperfection, he refused to pay the workers until the nail had been driven into place. However, none of the builders dared to venture out of the high window to complete the task. Heim therefore promised an especially generous reward to anyone brave enough to do it.

A young locksmith’s apprentice volunteered. Although poor, he was in love with his master’s daughter, and his poverty had prevented him from hoping to marry her. With everyone watching anxiously, the young man stepped out of the tower window and began hammering the nail into place. Heim admired his courage and held him securely by the neck until the work was finished, then carefully lowered him to safety.

Pleased with the apprentice’s bravery, the giant praised him and rewarded him with so much gold that he became wealthy. The young man could finally overcome the obstacle of his poverty, and his master’s objections to the marriage disappeared. The legend connects the giant Heim with the castle of Reußenstein and presents him as a powerful figure whose wealth and extraordinary strength are matched by his appreciation of courage and skill.

Sources

“Die Sage vom Reußenstein.” SAGEN.at – Deutsche Sagen aus Baden-Württemberg. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/deutschland/baden_wuerttemberg/reussenstein.html

Heimo and Thürse

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Tradition: Austrian Mythology
Alternative Names: Heimo, Heime, Heimo the Giant, Thürse, Tyrschen
Category: Giant

The Myth

Heimo and Thürse were two enormous mountain giants from the folklore of Tyrol, associated with the origins of Wilten Abbey near Innsbruck, Austria. According to legend, they lived during the period when Christianity first spread into the remote valleys of the Tyrol. Heimo was a cruel and savage giant whose extraordinary height forced him to raise the roof of his house so that he could stand upright. The surrounding inhabitants feared him so greatly that they offered him as much land as he desired in exchange for sparing their farms and homesteads.

Heimo declared that all the land he could encompass would belong to him if he carried a gigantic rock around it on his shoulders. He seized the stone and travelled along the River Sill, around the Patscherkofel mountain, through Igels and around Wilten, before returning to his starting point and hurling the rock westward. He then began constructing an enormous stronghold near the meeting of the Sill and Inn rivers, transporting massive stones from the surrounding mountains.

Another giant, Thürse, lived on the plateau of Seefeld, above Zirl and behind the steep peak of Solstein. He was even taller and stronger than Heimo and had cultivated the plateau where the hamlet of Tyrschenbach would later stand. Thürse hated Heimo and repeatedly sabotaged the construction of his stronghold. When Heimo discovered who was responsible, he armed himself with light armour and an enormous sword and went to confront his rival. Thürse took up a massive wooden beam, and the two giants fought with such violence that the earth trembled and enormous rocks broke away from Solstein and rolled into the valley. Eventually, Heimo’s superior weapons allowed him to defeat and kill Thürse.

After the battle, Heimo heard a Christian monk preaching in the valleys of the Sill. Regretting that he had killed Thürse, he repented of his former savagery, converted to Christianity, and was baptized by the Bishop of Chur. He subsequently built a bridge over the River Inn, traditionally associated with the origin of Innsbruck’s name. Abandoning his plans for a stronghold, he instead founded a monastery at Wilten, which became Wilten Abbey.

The devil, angered by Heimo’s conversion and the construction of the monastery, sent a gigantic dragon to obstruct the work. Heimo fought and killed the dragon, cutting out its enormous tongue. In traditional representations, Heimo holds this tongue in his hand, and the legend claims that the preserved tongue was kept at the monastery. Heimo eventually became a monk at Wilten and lived a pious life until his death. According to the tradition, he was buried in a stone coffin measuring twenty-eight feet and three inches long, which was preserved at the monastery alongside an inscription recounting his story.

Sources

Von Günther, Amalia, Countess. Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874.

Foawr

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Tradition: Manx Mythology
Alternative Names: The Foawr, Manx Giant
Category: Giant

The Myth

The Foawr is a giant from the folklore of the Isle of Man, known for striding across the island while carefully avoiding the houses beneath his enormous feet. According to the tale A Moon of Gobbags, a Foawr lived on Cronk-ny-Iree-Laa, meaning the Hill of the Rising Sun, where he slept among the rocks before wandering across the countryside during the day.

One day, the giant visited the farm of Colcheragh, a notoriously lazy farmer who neglected his fields until they became overgrown with thistles and other weeds. When the Foawr stepped into the thistles, they scratched the soles of his best shoes. Mistaking the weeds for an unusual crop, he asked Colcheragh what they were. Rather than admit that his land was neglected, the farmer claimed that the thistles belonged to the Little Fellows, supernatural beings, and that their down could be used to make a wonderfully soft bed.

The Foawr, whose rocky sleeping place was uncomfortable, offered Colcheragh a pocketful of lead and copper from the old mines and caves near Bradda in exchange for seven bags of thistledown. The farmer avoided immediate trouble by claiming that the down could only be gathered during a mythical event called a moon of gobbags. He insisted that the giant knew what this meant, although no such moon existed. When the Foawr eventually discovered the deception, he threatened to blow Colcheragh’s house into the sea unless the thistledown was ready the following night.

Colcheragh’s wife devised a solution. She advised him to plough the entire field and then claim that the Little Fellows had collected the thistledown and cleared the land while he slept. Colcheragh followed her instructions, leaving no thistles behind. When the Foawr returned with his sacks, the farmer blamed the imaginary Little Fellows and suggested that they had carried the thistledown toward Brearey Mountain. The giant hurried away in pursuit, but naturally found nothing.

The deception saved Colcheragh from the Foawr’s anger, but it also taught him a lesson. From that day onward, he became one of the tidiest farmers on the island, keeping his land free of weeds so that the giant would have no reason to return. The tale combines the formidable size and strength of the Foawr with a humorous story about laziness, clever deception, and the consequences of neglecting one’s responsibilities.

Sources

Broome, Dora. Fairy Tales from the Isle of Man. Isle of Man: Norris Modern Press Limited, 1951 (reprinted 1980).

Lang Bobi Suzi

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Tradition: Belize Mythology
Alternative Names: Long Bobi Suzi
Category: Giant

The Myth

Lang Bobi Suzi is a female monster from the Kriol folklore of Belize, known for punishing disobedient children. She is described as having enormous breasts, which she uses as a weapon to whip children who refuse to obey her commands.

The legend presents Lang Bobi Suzi as a frightening figure used to discipline naughty children. Her monstrous appearance and unusual method of punishment make her a distinctive character in Belizean Kriol folklore.

Sources

“Lang Bòbi Súwè.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 16, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lang_Bobi_Suzi

Bécut

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Tradition: French Mythology
Alternative Names: Bécuts, Bécude, Becuda, The Son of the Bécut, Tartare, Tartaro, Torto, Anxo, Ulhart, Ullard
Category: Giant

The Myth

The Bécut is a monstrous giant from the folklore of Gascony and the Pyrenees in southwestern France. It is a cyclops with a single eye and a terrifying appetite for human flesh. Tales of the creature are particularly common in Bigorre and Béarn, where its stories often follow the pattern of the ancient Greek myth of Polyphemus: a monstrous ogre captures people, but one of his prisoners eventually finds a way to outwit him and escape. Similar creatures appear in neighboring regions under different names, including Tartare, Tartaro, Torto, and Anxo in Basque folklore, and Ulhart in Ariège.

The Bécut is described as an enormous, solitary, and deformed being. In one account, it stands seven toises tall, equivalent to approximately twelve or thirteen metres, although this measurement is symbolic rather than a fixed description. The creature may appear alone or as part of a group. Gascon traditions also include female counterparts, known as the Bécude or Becuda, as well as tales about the son of the Bécut. In one story, the Bécude is portrayed as the monstrous daughter of a wicked stepmother. Some descriptions give the Bécut a snout resembling that of a pig, although its defining feature remains its single eye. One legend claims that an evil spirit granted it supernatural power by squeezing its calves on the day of its birth.

Like the cyclopes of classical mythology, the Bécut is often a herdsman. It raises cattle or, more commonly, sheep whose horns are made of gold. These unusual animals attract the envy of local inhabitants, but the giant itself is a terrifying threat. It hunts Christians, cooks its captives alive on a grill, and devours them, sometimes swallowing a person in a single bite.

The Bécut’s stories frequently end with the creature being defeated through cunning rather than strength. In a recurring motif resembling the tale of Polyphemus, one of its prisoners blinds it by driving a roasting spit into its single eye. Unable to see, the giant can no longer effectively pursue its victims. It eventually falls into a deep ravine and dies. These tales portray the Bécut as a powerful but vulnerable monster whose enormous size and appetite cannot protect it from human ingenuity.

Sources

“Bécut.” Wikipédia, l’encyclopédie libre. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 16, 2026. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9cut

Mitsume-Yōsō

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Mitsume-Yōsō, Three-Eyed Demon Monk
Category: Giant

The Myth

Mitsume-Yōsō is a supernatural figure depicted as a gigantic monk with three eyes in a Japanese woodblock print newspaper published in September 1874. The illustration portrays the strange monk towering over a man and a child, while the accompanying story reveals that the terrifying apparition is actually an old tanuki, a Japanese raccoon dog known for its supernatural shapeshifting abilities.

The story reportedly took place on August 3, 1873, in Yanagihara-chō, Tokyo, where a man named Umemura Toyotarō was awakened by an earthquake at around three in the morning. Unable to fall asleep again, he lay in bed beside two boys, aged fourteen and eleven. Suddenly, the boys became frightened, and a gigantic monk appeared beside Toyotarō’s pillow. The figure grew rapidly until its head nearly reached the ceiling.

Toyotarō bravely seized the shapeshifter by the hem of its clothing and wrestled it to the ground. With the assistance of the two boys, he managed to capture the creature, discovering that the enormous monk was actually an old tanuki in disguise.

Although the woodblock print prominently depicts the monk with three eyes, the original newspaper report described only a monk of extraordinary height and made no mention of additional eyes. The three-eyed appearance was therefore an embellishment of the illustrated version of the story.

Sources

“Mitsume Yoso.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1071401240.html