The TALL giants: Greek TALOS, Saami STALO, Estonian TÕLL, TOELL-the-Great
(с оригинала на русском: https://anti-fasmer.livejournal.com/87191.html )
...Talos, Talon (Τάλως, Τάλων) the copper giant, a gift from Zeus to guard the borders of Crete, circled the island three times a day and threw 'huge stones' at any enemy ships. Talos had one 'vein' from head to toe, filled with ichor, the blood of the Gods, gagged at the bottom with a 'nail'.
'Bewitched' by Medea, Talos 'went mad' and, in a 'fit', in a 'paroxysm' he 'stumbled', touched a stone with his 'foot', pulling out the 'nail'. The 'blood' ran out, and the giant 'died.
There is a notable parallel with the hero of the Estonian epic, the giant Suur Tõll (Toell-the-Great), from the island of Saaremaa, who threw huge stones at enemies, and walked around the island, leaning on his 5-sazhen (10-meter) walking stick made from the trunk of a fir tree : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toell_the_Great. Estonians have always honored Tõll. It is not excluded that today's name of Revel - Tallinn - may be so in honor of Tõll (and not 'taani linn' - the 'Danish city').
Let us also compare the epics about Talos and Toell-the-Great, to the Saami myth about an evil giant, Stalo, a cannibal who ate human brains, with one eye in the middle of his forehead, and who, similar Cyclop Polyphem in the Odyssey, was first blinded and then tricked into being killed by the other Cyclops:
'He stood up, realized that he had been blinded, and tried in vain to catch the Lapp. Then Stalo told him: “Push the goats out of the hut!” and stood in front of the door with his legs apart. The Lapp pushed the goats, which had to pass in single file and were felt by the giant, who said: “Let the he-goat pass last”. While the goats were going out one by one, the Lapp killed the he-goat, put on its skin, and passed on all fours under Stalo’s legs. “Well,” the giant said, “you can pass now”. But the Lapp was already outside, jumping for joy, and shouting: “I am already outside!” At this point, Stalo thought that only his sons could defeat such a cunning man and asked him his name. He answered: “My name is I myself”, and ran away. When Stalo’s sons returned and discovered the killing of the big he-goat, of which they were very fond, they got angry and asked their father: “Who killed our he-goat?” “I myself!” he answered. Then they killed Stalo.'
Bosi, Roberto. Lapponi: sulle tracce di un popolo nomade, Florence 1995 (The Lapps, Westport 1976). Page 46.
'We underline that a peculiar characteristic of the Cyclopes, one that Homer repeatedly emphasizes, is their great strength, particularly their ability to easily move and throw huge boulders. This unique ability has a significant parallel in Norwegian folklore, where “people say that the giants threw or rolled the huge erratic rocks of the land”. On the other hand, in another Lapp tale, still Stalo “upsets stones so big that today’s people do not manage to move them, even twenty men”.'
extracts from: The Nordic Origins of the Odyssey and the Iliad: the Migration of Myth. by Felice Vinci, 2019.
Were the myths about Talos, Stalo and Toell-the-Great talking about giants from an extinct race of giants?
The Greek description, however, is too explicit about a self-propelled vehicle tanked with some kind of fuel. People named and described the vehicle as best they could (like many other items that were obtained from extraterrestrial "gods").
In any case, the Cretan Talos, Talon, the Saami Stalo, and the Saaremaa's Tõll were giants, and their names must have related to such words as:
tola- (Ingushian language in Caucasus) - to excel;
tollo, tollere, extollere (Latin) - to place on high, raise, elevate, figuratively to exalt, praise; Compare to: τάλαντον [talent] (gr.), talentum [talentum] (Latin) - weight, scales, the largest weight and monetary unit of Greece, Egypt, Babylon, Persia and a number of regions of Asia Minor; figuratively, outstanding abilities, a high degree of giftedness in an area;
стол [stol] (Rus.) - a table (i.e., an elevated desk); столица [stolitsa] (Rus.) - a capital city;
talis (лат.) - significant, important, so significant, so important (e.g., Urbes tantae atque tales - So significant and splendid cities);
Compare to: surname Dallas;
[tel', tell'] תל (Hebrew), تَل (Arab) - a hill (as in Tel-Aviv);
Compare to: Telavi, თელავი - a town in Georgia, an old fortress on a hill, the former capital of the Kakhetian kingdom;
Compare to: Tallinn, the capital of Estonia;
дылда [dylda] (Rus.) - a tall person; дыль [dyl] (archaic Rus.), dyl (Pol.), Diele (Ger.) - a tall log;
tall (Sw.) - a pine-tree;
tall (Eng.) - high, tall;
[tellu] (Akkadian) - tall;
Compare to: Dehli, the capital of India.
Compare also Talos, Talon (Τάλως, Τάλων) - to Colossus, column. See the giant Kalev, the giant Goliath, and kalju (Est.), скала [skala] (Rus.) - a rock.
Compare also tall (Sw.) - a pine-tree, a solid wood used in production of ships -
to сталь [stal'] (Rus.), Stahl (Ger.), steel (Eng.) - a hard metal used in production of swords.
The connection between 'hard wood' and 'solid metal' can be similarly observed in such other phonetic stems as:
- MECH:
мях [myah] (Ingushian) - 1) a solid wood; 2) steel;
[mеχ] (Udi language in Caucasus) - a sickle; [mаχ] (Lezghin language in Caucasus) - iron;
moug (Vepssian) - a club-weapon made of a bog oak;
mõõk, gen. mõõga (Est.), mȭk (Livonian), mõõkka (Votic), meekka (Izhora), miekka (Fin., Karel.),
mēki (Gothic), mækje (Old Norse), mækir (Old Icelandic), méсе (Old Eng.), меч [mech'] (Rus., Belorus., Bulg., Macedonian), мiч [mich] (Ukr.), meč (Sloven., Czech, Slovak), мач [mach] (Serbian), mač (Croatian), miecz (Pol.), мечь [mech'] (Church Slavic), მახვი [makhva] (Georgian), mäč (Turkish), magēn (Middle Persian) - a sword.
- TAMM,TIMBER/TIMER,DEMIR:
tamm, gen. tamme (Est.), täm (Livionian), tammi (Votic, Fin., Izhora, Karel.), tumo (Mari), tumo, tuma (Erzia, Mokshan), ti̮, ti̮pi̮ (Udmurt), tu, tupu (archaic Komi), dąb, gen. dębu [danb, denbu] (Pol.), дѫбъ [danb] (Church Slavic), дуб, dub (Russian and other Slavic languages) - oak-tree;
tammine (Est.) - strong, powerful, mighty, hardy;
тимер, тумер [timer, tumer] (Mari, Merja) - oak-wood;
timber (Eng., Old Frisian), timbr (Old Icelandic), zimbar (archaic German) - industrial timber, logs (from which: Zimmer (Ger.), zimbar, timbar (arch. Ger.), chamber (Eng.), camera (Ital.) - a building, a room)
<->
тимер [timer] (Tatar, Kyrgiz), темір [temir] (Kazakh), temir (Uzbek), demir (Turk.), dəmir (Azeri), [tahamir] (Avestan) - iron.
Compare to names: Timur, Demir, Dimer, Timer, Damir, Tamerlan, Temerlan, Temirlan, Tamirlan, Tamerlane, Tamburlaine.
SIC: -lan in names being same as Eng. -ling, Est. -lane, Komi, Udmurt -lon - meaning 'son of'.
...Talos, Talon (Τάλως, Τάλων) the copper giant, a gift from Zeus to guard the borders of Crete, circled the island three times a day and threw 'huge stones' at any enemy ships. Talos had one 'vein' from head to toe, filled with ichor, the blood of the Gods, gagged at the bottom with a 'nail'.
'Bewitched' by Medea, Talos 'went mad' and, in a 'fit', in a 'paroxysm' he 'stumbled', touched a stone with his 'foot', pulling out the 'nail'. The 'blood' ran out, and the giant 'died.
There is a notable parallel with the hero of the Estonian epic, the giant Suur Tõll (Toell-the-Great), from the island of Saaremaa, who threw huge stones at enemies, and walked around the island, leaning on his 5-sazhen (10-meter) walking stick made from the trunk of a fir tree : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toell_the_Great. Estonians have always honored Tõll. It is not excluded that today's name of Revel - Tallinn - may be so in honor of Tõll (and not 'taani linn' - the 'Danish city').
Let us also compare the epics about Talos and Toell-the-Great, to the Saami myth about an evil giant, Stalo, a cannibal who ate human brains, with one eye in the middle of his forehead, and who, similar Cyclop Polyphem in the Odyssey, was first blinded and then tricked into being killed by the other Cyclops:
'He stood up, realized that he had been blinded, and tried in vain to catch the Lapp. Then Stalo told him: “Push the goats out of the hut!” and stood in front of the door with his legs apart. The Lapp pushed the goats, which had to pass in single file and were felt by the giant, who said: “Let the he-goat pass last”. While the goats were going out one by one, the Lapp killed the he-goat, put on its skin, and passed on all fours under Stalo’s legs. “Well,” the giant said, “you can pass now”. But the Lapp was already outside, jumping for joy, and shouting: “I am already outside!” At this point, Stalo thought that only his sons could defeat such a cunning man and asked him his name. He answered: “My name is I myself”, and ran away. When Stalo’s sons returned and discovered the killing of the big he-goat, of which they were very fond, they got angry and asked their father: “Who killed our he-goat?” “I myself!” he answered. Then they killed Stalo.'
Bosi, Roberto. Lapponi: sulle tracce di un popolo nomade, Florence 1995 (The Lapps, Westport 1976). Page 46.
'We underline that a peculiar characteristic of the Cyclopes, one that Homer repeatedly emphasizes, is their great strength, particularly their ability to easily move and throw huge boulders. This unique ability has a significant parallel in Norwegian folklore, where “people say that the giants threw or rolled the huge erratic rocks of the land”. On the other hand, in another Lapp tale, still Stalo “upsets stones so big that today’s people do not manage to move them, even twenty men”.'
extracts from: The Nordic Origins of the Odyssey and the Iliad: the Migration of Myth. by Felice Vinci, 2019.
Were the myths about Talos, Stalo and Toell-the-Great talking about giants from an extinct race of giants?
The Greek description, however, is too explicit about a self-propelled vehicle tanked with some kind of fuel. People named and described the vehicle as best they could (like many other items that were obtained from extraterrestrial "gods").
In any case, the Cretan Talos, Talon, the Saami Stalo, and the Saaremaa's Tõll were giants, and their names must have related to such words as:
tola- (Ingushian language in Caucasus) - to excel;
tollo, tollere, extollere (Latin) - to place on high, raise, elevate, figuratively to exalt, praise; Compare to: τάλαντον [talent] (gr.), talentum [talentum] (Latin) - weight, scales, the largest weight and monetary unit of Greece, Egypt, Babylon, Persia and a number of regions of Asia Minor; figuratively, outstanding abilities, a high degree of giftedness in an area;
стол [stol] (Rus.) - a table (i.e., an elevated desk); столица [stolitsa] (Rus.) - a capital city;
talis (лат.) - significant, important, so significant, so important (e.g., Urbes tantae atque tales - So significant and splendid cities);
Compare to: surname Dallas;
[tel', tell'] תל (Hebrew), تَل (Arab) - a hill (as in Tel-Aviv);
Compare to: Telavi, თელავი - a town in Georgia, an old fortress on a hill, the former capital of the Kakhetian kingdom;
Compare to: Tallinn, the capital of Estonia;
дылда [dylda] (Rus.) - a tall person; дыль [dyl] (archaic Rus.), dyl (Pol.), Diele (Ger.) - a tall log;
tall (Sw.) - a pine-tree;
tall (Eng.) - high, tall;
[tellu] (Akkadian) - tall;
Compare to: Dehli, the capital of India.
Compare also Talos, Talon (Τάλως, Τάλων) - to Colossus, column. See the giant Kalev, the giant Goliath, and kalju (Est.), скала [skala] (Rus.) - a rock.
Compare also tall (Sw.) - a pine-tree, a solid wood used in production of ships -
to сталь [stal'] (Rus.), Stahl (Ger.), steel (Eng.) - a hard metal used in production of swords.
The connection between 'hard wood' and 'solid metal' can be similarly observed in such other phonetic stems as:
- MECH:
мях [myah] (Ingushian) - 1) a solid wood; 2) steel;
[mеχ] (Udi language in Caucasus) - a sickle; [mаχ] (Lezghin language in Caucasus) - iron;
moug (Vepssian) - a club-weapon made of a bog oak;
mõõk, gen. mõõga (Est.), mȭk (Livonian), mõõkka (Votic), meekka (Izhora), miekka (Fin., Karel.),
mēki (Gothic), mækje (Old Norse), mækir (Old Icelandic), méсе (Old Eng.), меч [mech'] (Rus., Belorus., Bulg., Macedonian), мiч [mich] (Ukr.), meč (Sloven., Czech, Slovak), мач [mach] (Serbian), mač (Croatian), miecz (Pol.), мечь [mech'] (Church Slavic), მახვი [makhva] (Georgian), mäč (Turkish), magēn (Middle Persian) - a sword.
- TAMM,TIMBER/TIMER,DEMIR:
tamm, gen. tamme (Est.), täm (Livionian), tammi (Votic, Fin., Izhora, Karel.), tumo (Mari), tumo, tuma (Erzia, Mokshan), ti̮, ti̮pi̮ (Udmurt), tu, tupu (archaic Komi), dąb, gen. dębu [danb, denbu] (Pol.), дѫбъ [danb] (Church Slavic), дуб, dub (Russian and other Slavic languages) - oak-tree;
tammine (Est.) - strong, powerful, mighty, hardy;
тимер, тумер [timer, tumer] (Mari, Merja) - oak-wood;
timber (Eng., Old Frisian), timbr (Old Icelandic), zimbar (archaic German) - industrial timber, logs (from which: Zimmer (Ger.), zimbar, timbar (arch. Ger.), chamber (Eng.), camera (Ital.) - a building, a room)
<->
тимер [timer] (Tatar, Kyrgiz), темір [temir] (Kazakh), temir (Uzbek), demir (Turk.), dəmir (Azeri), [tahamir] (Avestan) - iron.
Compare to names: Timur, Demir, Dimer, Timer, Damir, Tamerlan, Temerlan, Temirlan, Tamirlan, Tamerlane, Tamburlaine.
SIC: -lan in names being same as Eng. -ling, Est. -lane, Komi, Udmurt -lon - meaning 'son of'.