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Why are giants dumb??

Addison

Auror
Sounds like WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade is thinking of Frost Giants of Norse Mythology. Personally I think they've been classically portrayed as dumb because with their great size and power they never really needed to develop higher thinking. We've had to develop axes, chainsaws and log splitters. All giants have to do is crouch, grab and pull.
 
Loki was a giant, Odin was part-giant, and these were the smartest beings in the universe.

Off of Norse Myth, in Attack on Titan the Female, Armored and Colossal Titans are intelligent. The scariest scenes are when the Female Titan is stomping, slapping, spinning or kicking humans into little bits. It’s even worse when you realize that she’s really a human in Titan form.
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
This makes me think of the cliche of the Offensive Linemen as being dumb and oafish in the NFL. Many years back they tested NFL players for smarts and the O-line was on top.

I think it fits well with the notion that big equals stupid. This is of course not true, but it's common enough, at least in fiction, that it's commonly accepted as truth.

Your average reader won't have to struggle with the idea of a big, stupid giant, but they may have difficulty relating to a big, highly intelligent and refined giant. I'm sure there are stories where it's been done well but I may not have read them or if I did I've forgotten about them.
 
Neither giants of Native American folklore, nor giants of the biblical record were unintelligent. Many Native mythologies portray them as sinister or cannibalistic, but never idiotic. Meanwhile the accounts from Scripture call them “mighty men upon the earth.”
I think our modern day depiction of giants has to do with the stereotype of weaker people tending to be smarter and stronger people tending to be dumber.
 
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