1. The Real Native Americans Behind the Fictional Patagonian Giants
The first challenge to the tall tales about Patagonian giants came from the famed British seaman and pirate, Sir Francis Drake, who encountered Patagonians during his own circumnavigation of the globe. As described by his nephew: “Magellan was not altogether deceived in naming these giants, for they generally differ from the common sort of man both in stature, bigness and strength of body, as also in the hideousness of their voices: but they are nothing so monstrous and giant-like as they were represented, there being some English men as tall as the highest we could see, but peradventure the Spaniards did not think that ever any English man would come hither to reprove them, and therefore might presume the more boldly to lie.”
Yet the fictional accounts of South American giants persisted and were accepted as true by many. As late as 1766, rumors circulated that a British Royal Navy ship had encountered a tribe of 9-foot tall natives. However, when the ship’s account of the voyage was finally published, it turned out that the natives measured actually stood around 6 feet 6 inches tall – quite tall, but not incredibly so, and certainly not giants. In reality, the tribe in question, the Tehuelche, were statuesque and bigger than average. But for the most part, they stood in the 6-foot range.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Here are our sources:
Ancient History Encyclopedia – Semiramis
Atlas Obscura – The Modern Movement to Exonerate a Notorious Medieval Serial Killer
Archaeology Archive, September 23rd, 1998 – King Arthur Was Real?
Baldwin, David – Robin Hood: The English Outlaw Unmasked (2010)
Canisius College – The Niland Brothers
Encyclopedia Britannica – Eldorado, Legendary Country
Encyclopedia Britannica – Giles de Rais
Encyclopedia Britannica – Samu-ramat
Hemming, John – The Search for El Dorado (1978)
History Collection – The Most Epic Myths From Around the World
Lawrence Today Magazine, Fall, 2004 – European Travel Writings and the Patagonian Giants
Live Science – Santa Claus: The Real Man Behind the Myth
Military – These are the Real Brothers Behind ‘Saving Private Ryan’
Museum of Hoaxes – Patagonian Giants
National Geographic History Magazine, February 5th, 2019 – Who Was the Real Robin Hood?
Parada, Carlos – Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology (1993)
Telegraph, The, July 11th, 2010 – Historians Locate King Arthur’s Round Table
Theoi, Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology – Midas
Wikipedia – Saving Private Ryan
Wolf, Leonard – Bluebeard: The Life and Times of Gilles de Rais (1980)