Ogrest'ancestors, ogres and giants: mythor or reality?

Abstract

Giants are numerous in video-games and in contemporary film productions. Yet these more or
lesss monstruous creatures have ancestors who date back to the dawn of time. They are protagonists
of popular traditions as well as cultivated culture. This article proposes a journey into giants’country,
Starts with Greek mythology and the Bible, focussing in the world of wonders, especially in the great
French literary tales, in particular the tales by Madame d’Aulnoy, a contemporary of Charles perrault. The journey also quotes some poetic creations from 16th to 19th century French literature and ends with the evocation of the contemporary universe of the heroic fantasy.

Key-words: Giants, ogre, mythology, fairy tales, heroic fantasy.