“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” Genesis 6:4
Biblical, literary, and literal, my blog looks at the variety of usages of Giants in the Earth. While the scripture reference sounds supernatural and mythical, Rolvaag’s use of the Biblical verse emphasizes his protagonists’ metaphorical struggles, and both sources bring light to the historic observations of real giants and their grave sites around the world.
I loved O. E Rolvaag’s book, Giants in the Earth, and had to read it a number of times, in high school, and undergraduate classes for English, and I used it as one source for my master’s thesis. The title gives key evidence to these Biblical-size struggles the immigrants faced daily. The Norwegian pioneers were like my German-Russian settlers in Dakota Territory. They started with little, lost loved ones who could not stand up to the sacrifices of settling in a wild, nearly untameable country. Men wanted adventure and the ability to conquer. Women wanted settlement and familiarity with what they left behind in their Old Countries. Beret, in Rolvaag’s novel, embodies the weak female. His “she” is like many other delicate women who would have a hard time dealing with the giants they know in their homeland much less the unknown ones on the virgin Great Plains: lack of trees and places to hide behind to protect themselves, blinding blizzards, grasshopper plagues, drought, floods, which curse them in an unknown land.
Giants in the Earth: Many newspapers in the 1860s up to the early 1900s reported articles like: “In Clearwater, Minnesota, the skeletons of seven giants were found in mounds. These had receding foreheads and complete double dentition.” Around the United States, some proved to be hoaxes. Some were never explained, silenced, scooped out, and sent to the ends of the earth, never to be discussed again.
(Last year I reported some of this): “In the “Pioneer Press” of June 29, 1888, is an account of the discovery, twelve miles from Clearwater, N. E. 1/4, sec. 21, T. 121-27, by Charles W. Pinkerton, of the town of Corinna, of the remains of seven persons, said to have been from seven to eight feet high.” Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, History of Wright County, Minnesota, 1888. 
The chapter heading in the History of Wright County by Franklyn Curtiss -Wedge (1915) entitled, “Nature’s Paradise — The Coming of Man — The Eskimo — The Mound Builders — Purpose of the Mounds — Life and Habits of the Mound Builders — Location of the Mounds — Excavations and Discoveries — Relics,” delineates the history of the first humans to set foot in what would become the United States and sets the background for Minnesota’s own burial mounds and even sets of giants (History of Wright County, Minnesota: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. cn : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive). I copied and pasted some of the articles, but they didn’t transfer well due to the age of the original manuscript, but you can read them here if you wish: giants from curtiss-wedge.
reference for the picture: http://thebiggestsecretsoftheworld.blogspot.com/2011/02/double-row-teethed-skeletons-found-at.html?m=1
This video on youtube: http://America Unearthed: GIANT BONES UNCOVERED (S1, E4) | Full Episode | History – YouTube mentions Clearwater, Minnesota, slightly. These videos are set further west, closer to Fergus Falls. and Morehead, MN. The producers also get involved in the area’s Norse Rune Stone, considering some of the legends that giants lived in the area.
This site, Smithsonian Coverup, has a number of videos. The spokesperson, Hugh Newman, states that when he goes around the world talking about his findings, he is asked, “So where are the bones?” He and others have followed leads to museums all over the world, but few if any are found.
- Newman explains and compares all the giants that have been found around the world here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kaUyGdUw-s
- This site shows Newman going to the Smithsonian to dig up the answers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srx_qv8ChsM.
So the search for giants goes on just like the searches for Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster, and UFOs. I have no idea if the truth is covered up or if these stories are hoaxes. I think I’d like to see and judge for myself though.
But in the meantime, I’ll give you a hint to why I want all of us to know about it: I have a new plot development with my protagonist becoming involved with the native giants close to Clearwater, Clearwater Lake, and Corrina Township. Even I don’t know where my brain’s wavelength will take me tomorrow as I start writing again.