Page 21 - Volo's Guide to Monsters

R I MONSTER LORE.

cave paintings. Often they employ aspects of legends
are great practitioners of rune carving, both because of
events or meetings in the manner of highly sophisticated
solidity and permanence of magical runes. Stone giants
"tale carvings" relate legends or the stories of important
The exception is rune magic. Giants are drawn to the
ice, stone, or even earth, in the case of hill giants. These
ning. As a consequence, it's a path rarely taken.
typically tell their tales with pictograms etched in wood,
giants away from pursuits that are valued by the ord-
learning. Instead of writing stories with words, they
though, demands a degree of devotion that would take
hill, frost, and fire giants, which place little value on
but it isn't maat, either. Mastering the secrets of magic,
Many giants are illiterate or nearly so-particularly
by itself isn't acknowledged by the ordning; it isn't maug,
dwarves hotly dispute.
that humans, dwarves, and elves do. Arcane scholarship
script is a fact that giants take for granted but which
gravity. Very few giants, however, study magic in the way
ants were first in the world and thus the creators of the
to use some forms of magic related to air, weather, and
dwarves such as ores, giants, and goblinoids. That gi-
closely by storm giants. Both types have an innate ability
today, including by many traditional enemies of the
most outwardly magical are the cloud giants, followed
the dwarves as their own. This alphabet is used widely
Giants have a paradoxical relationship with magic. The
a modified version of the runic letterforms claimed by
GIANTS AND MAGIC
For much of their written communication, giants use
RUNES AND TALE CARVINGS
hill giant-haugjotun
greeti ngs-helsingen (he/s)
wind-vind
usually prove themselves maat to gain a giant's respect.
good/holy/honorable-maat
white-kvit
Non-giants are considered maug out of hand and must
gold-gi/
warrior-krigga
make themselves maug.
frost giant-isejotun
up-opp
ditions of the ordning. Hill giants who choose that path
would represent a flagrant turning away from the tra-
tribe-stomm
fortress-Jesting
same hill giants worshiped Yeenoghu, however, that act
temple-bapart
fire giant-ildjotun
brutal raiding is an inborn trait of the hill giants. If those
teeth-tenner
orable-maug
tices of hill giants as distasteful but not maug, because
storm giant-uvarjotun
evil/unholy/dishon-
A storm giant, for example, might see the raiding prac-
stone giant-steinjotun
elf-alv
will-in themselves and their clans.
silver-so/v
enemy-uven
the qualities giants admire-the "giantness," if you
dwarf-dverg
shield-sko/d
evil, but on whether its actions enhanced or diminished
red-rod
death-dad
the basis of whether what it did was inherently good or
mother-hi/d
danger-fare
a consequence. A giant isn't judged by other giants on
meat-kjott
chieftain-fore,
maat and maug acts, and rises or falls in the ordning as
light-stig
cow-kue
a host of other factors. Every individual commits both
which is influenced by behavior and attitude but also by
king-kong
cloud giant-skyejotun
personal philosophy but its standing within the ordning,
bravery-prakt
human-van
maat or maug by their kin. What matters isn't a giant's
black-sort
journey-ford
Individual giants aren't necessarily thought of as
battle~s/ag
intruder-ubuden
undesirable.
honor-rang
arrow-pit
what other languages call evil, unholy, dishonorable, or
armor-harbunad
home-heim
(pronounced mog) is the counterpart term, embodying
A GLOSSARY OF GIANT WORDS
they consider good, holy, honorable, or desirable. Maug
describe ideas, behaviors, creatures, and objects that
as giants would find poetry written in Elvish.
cepts. Maat (pronounced mott) is the term giants use to
ogy. Most non-giants find a tale carving as unintelligible
because their definitions encompass several related con-
able to viewers who aren't steeped in the giants' mythol-
translates directly into Common or any other language,
well understood by giants, but they can be indecipher-
guage and the giants' worldview. Neither one of them
betrayal of love. Such symbols and visual allegories are
Two words have special significance in the Giant lan-
tion of Iallanis being stabbed in the back represents the
MAAT AND MAUO
indicates that the giant was a liar or a deceiver; a depic-
or head floating above the shoulders of another giant
doesn't have lungs as large as beer barrels.
about the giant pantheon. For example, Memnor's face
are nearly impossible to reproduce for any creature that
creatures, and some vowel sounds emitted by giants
Lead me to your king. Fang meg zo dun kong.
have a hard time hearing the tiny voices of human-sized
Attadc our enemies! Anfol su uvenir!
converse with all types of giants, but giants sometimes
maug er meg nom.
Any non-giant who learns the Giant language can
My name is Red Wind of a Thousand Evils. Rodvind Tusen-
generally understand one another.
Where are you going? Wie fem du?
own distinctive accent, but giants of different types can
Who goes there? Wer fers dir?
fragmented into many dialects, and each type has its
I give you respect. Am du paart.
nants from their once-grand empire. Over time it has
Who is your leader? Wer dunfomr?
The language that giants share is one of the few rem-
What is your tribe and rank? Wo dun stomm rad?
THE GIANT TONGlJE
REPRESENTATIVE GIANT PHRASES