Tradition / Region: Belgian Mythology
Alternate Names: Giant of Hamme
Category: Giant
The Myth
The Reus te Hammen refers to a legendary giant or giants associated with the town of Hamme in Flanders. The most tangible element of the legend is a massive bone kept in the local church, believed by the people to be the thigh bone of a giant.
According to tradition, this enormous bone was pulled from the river Durme long ago and preserved in the church, where it came to be treated almost like a sacred relic. Its unusual size reinforced the belief that giants once lived in the region.
Older accounts speak of two giants who lived on opposite sides of the river. They argued over who was taller and went to prove their size by reaching the roof of a church under construction, each able to place stones without the need for scaffolding.
In other versions, there were three giants who built a church in Hamme themselves, their height allowing them to work directly at roof level. One of them was said to cross the river simply by walking through it, unaffected by its depth.
Local traditions also preserve traces of their presence in the landscape. Certain paths and features, such as “giants’ roads,” were believed to mark where they once moved, and these places were treated with caution and respect.
The giant of Hamme was not just a distant myth but a figure tied to physical evidence, local geography, and enduring popular belief, linking the land, the people, and the memory of beings of immense size who once walked there.
Sources
de Cock, A. (1921). Vlaamsche sagen uit den volksmond. In Amsterdam: Maatschappij voor goede en goedkoope lectuur p. 154.