Giantesses are imaginary, gigantic women. They are widely believed to be mythological by the humans of modern-day, since the term "giantess" is so generic, it seems possible to describe female giants not native to Earth which fall under the very forgiving criteria as giantesses. This includes the female giant: either a mythical being, such as the Amazons of Greek mythology, resembling a woman of superhuman size and strength or a human woman of exceptional stature, often the result of some medical or genetic abnormality (see gigantism).
Polytheism and mythology
Baltic mythology
In 543, according to the folk etymology for the name of Neringa Municipality, there was a giantess girl named Neringa on the seashore formed the Curonian Spit, who helped fishermen.
Greek mythology
The Titanides, sisters and children of Titans, may not have originally been seen as giants, but later Hellenistic poets and Latin ones tended to blur Titans and Giants. In a surviving fragment of Naevius' poem on the Punic war, he describes the Gigantes Runcus and Purpureus (Porphyrion): Inerant signa expressa, quo modo Titani bicorpores Gigantes, magnique Atlantes Runcus ac Purpureus filii Terras. Eduard Fraenkel remarks of these lines, with their highly unusual plural Atlantes, "It does not surprise us to find the names Titani and Gigantes employed indiscriminately to denote the same mythological creatures, for we are used to the identification, or confusion, of these two types of monsters which, though not original, had probably become fairly common by the time of Naevius". Other giantesses in Greek myth include Periboea, the princess of the giants that participated in the Gigantomachy, and the queen and princess of the Laestrygonians who participated in the attacking and devouring of Odysseus' crew.
Nordic mythology
Female jötnar have a prominent role in Nordic mythology, where they are referred to as , and . While these terms are often glossed as "giantess", in texts containing the oldest traditions, they are often not notably large and the terms are often left untranslated.
Notable include: Gríðr - a gýgr who saved Thor's life. She was aware of the jötunn Geirrod's plans to get Thor killed and sets out to help him by supplying him with a belt of strength, a pair of magical iron gloves, and a magical wand. Gerðr - A beautiful gýgr with whom Freyr fell in love at first sight, as told in Skírnismál. After marrying him, she became the mother of the mythic Swedish king Fjölnir. Skaði - The daughter of Þjazi, whom the gods had killed. After journeying to Ásgarðr from Þrymheimr, she agreed that she would renounce her vengeance on two conditions: that they allow her to choose a husband from among them, and that they succeed in making her laugh. The gods allowed her to choose a husband, but she had to choose him only from his feet; she choose Njörðr because his feet were so beautiful that she thought he was Baldr. Then Loki succeeded in making her laugh, so peace was made, and Odin made two stars from Þjazi's eyes. After a while, she and her husband separated because she loved the mountains, while he wanted to live near the sea in Nóatún. Hyrrokin - A gýgr who came riding on a wolf to Baldr's funeral and gave the ship he had been lain upon such a push that fire flashed from the rollers and all the earth shook. Thokk - The only being who refused to weep upon Baldr's death, resulting in Hel not releasing the god from the underworld until after Ragnarök. According to Snorri Sturluson, Thokk was Loki in disguise.
Hinduism
Giantesses are fairly common in the Hindu religion. The demoness Putana (who attempted to kill the baby Krishna with poisoned milk from her breasts) is usually drawn as a giantess.
Celtic mythology
Giantesses are common in the folklore of Britain and Ireland, particularly Scotland and Wales. A notable giantess in Irish mythology is Bébinn.
Turkish folklore
In Turkish folklore, a man sucking milk of a "giant mother" () is a common narrative. In this theme, a man is supposed to drink the milk of a giantess without being noticed. Thus, he will become an adoptive child of her and the giantess will not attack him. Those motives are encountered in stories (Golden Nightingale), (Eighty Eyes).
Modern art and literature
Books
In Lewis Carroll's story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, there are several scenes where the heroine Alice grows to giant size by means of eating something (like a cake or a mushroom). Similarly Arthur C. Clarke's story Cosmic Casanova describes an astronaut's revulsion at discovering that an extraterrestrial female he adored on a video screen is in fact thirty feet tall.