Ces 3 géants ont vraiment existé !

• Present in folklore, mythology, and history • Appear in various cultures across the world

• Giants hide as magical creatures (example: Japanese Gashadokuro) • Giants disappeared as primordial beings predating humanity • Giants are us: exceptionally tall humans

Ancients believed remarkably tall humans had a giant in their lineage, allowing nobles to boast or explain humanity's decline

Gabbara, a man of 2m97, was paraded like a circus beast to the Emperor's feet

• In late 13th century BCE, exceptionally tall invaders pillage Egypt's northern coasts • They flee drought and famine from the Aegean Sea • Among them, the Peleset, likely descendants of the Pelasgians, become the Philistines in Palestine

In 10th century BCE, Goliath of Gath challenges King Saul's armies. He's known as descendent of the Rephaim, giants of mythology. David, a humble young man, dares to confront him.

• Only the Bible mentions Goliath, with conflicting accounts of who killed him • His armor fits the Iron Age rather than Bronze Age • Excavations reveal Philistines, of European origin (Crete), frequently measured up to 1m90

• Goliath may have suffered from acromegaly, causing excessive growth but with handicaps (reduced vision, slow reflexes) • More likely, Goliath was simply very tall (about 2m to 2m10), appearing monstrous to Semitic peoples averaging 1m50

Early in the Hundred Years' War (1359), the English win victory after victory, spurring exceptional peasants to emerge. Baron Guillaume L'Aloue assembles 200 laborers to fortify a castle at Longueil against an English attack.

• A contingent of 1,600 English soldiers attacks. Guillaume L'Aloue falls to enemy steel. • The Great Ferré, an exceptionally tall valet armed with a large iron axe, kills 18 enemies on the ground • The peasants apply their technique: strike directly, strike hard, never stop • Nearly all 1,600 English are killed, drowned, or flee

After his victory, the Great Ferré drinks a full bucket of icy water, triggering high fever. Bedridden, he kills 5 English soldiers sent to assassinate him. He drinks icy water again, and the fever claims him that night.

• Historian Colette Beaune published a work proving the feat entirely true and barely exaggerated • The Great Ferré's memory never faded: the account was preserved continuously through oral and written tradition • 19th-century national myth only slightly embellished the event

• In 1480, Pier Gerolfs Donia is born in Frisia, independent for 3 centuries • Frisia suffers civil war since 1350, with nearly 150 years of skirmishes and assassinations • The Habsburgs and Burgundy seek to seize this divided territory

• Pier stands over 2 meters tall, hence his nickname Grutte Pier (Big Peter) • Legend claims he lifted his plow with one hand to show where he lived • The Fries Museum in Leeuwarden preserves his supposed sword: a two-handed sword 2m15 long and 7 kg

• Grutte Pier forms an army of 4,000 peasants and serves Charles of Guelders • He becomes captain, resistance fighter and pirate, called the Scourge of the Dutch • In his first year, he captures 28 ships. He pillages the city of Medemblik and seizes 11 additional ships from an admiral

• Grutte Pier's beloved wife Rintze is killed by the Zwarte Hoop gang in 1515, driving him to fight with vengeance • After years of struggle, disillusioned or ill, he abandons the fight and returns home • He dies peacefully in his bed in 1520 • His image was revisited in legends, songs, and television works across the centuries

• What leads to downfall: Goliath's swagger, the Great Ferré's stubbornness and recklessness • What leads to downfall: Grutte Pier's thirst for vengeance

• David's cunning and strategic intelligence • The Great Ferré's humility and determination • Pier's wisdom in withdrawing once duty is fulfilled

Even today, exceptionally tall men and women continue to walk the earth, giving rise to contests and records, though this condition regularly brings medical complications

Humanity remains ever hungry for splendor, myths and legends, continuing to dream of exceptional figures that capture collective imagination