Almost the only trait that giants have in common is their enormous size and strength.

Some of them, such as Bran the Blessed, have obviously once been gods. Bran was so large that no house could contain him, so large indeed that he looked like an approaching mountain as he waded the channel between Wales and Ireland. His strength was tremendous, but he was essentially benevolent and his decapitated head brought a blessing wherever it was carried, and protected Britain from invaders so long as it was safely lodged in London.

The two great hill figures that still remain in England, the Cerne Abbas Giant and the Long Man of Wilmington, represent god-like figures of the same kind. The Cerne Abbas giant is plainly a fertility god as well as a protective figure.

Some kind and protective giants continue down to comparatively modern times. An example is the Giant of Grabbist, whose character and exploits are described by Ruth Tongue in County Folklore (Vol.VIII). He was one of the stone-throwing giants, of which many are reported, good and bad, and spent a good deal of his time in contests with the Devil. He was full, too, of active benevolence, and once lifted a fishingboat that was in difficulties and set it down safely in harbour.

There is a touch of comedy, even farce, in the tales about the Giant of Grabbist, and it is noticeable that as time went on the giants became gradually more foolish. The kind old Cornish giant of Carn Galva, whose sad story is told by Bottrell in Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall (Vol.I, p.47-48), is an example: