Ispolin
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The ispolin ( bg, исполин , plural ''ispolini'') is a legendary giant in
Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...
mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
. While the appearance of the ispolin varied according to the myth and region, ispolini were believed to have inhabited the
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
before humans and to have been considerably taller.


Etymology

''Ispolin'' with the meaning of "giant" appears in Rus'
Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
texts as early as the 11th century.
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n linguist Max Vasmer believes the word's
etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
is tied to ''spali'', a name for the defeated
Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
inhabiting what is today southern Russia. The word appears as ''Spalaei'' in 1st-century
Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
author
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
's '' Natural History.


Origin and appearance

Bulgarian founding myths refer to the ispolini as the second out of three generations of people to inhabit the Earth, the third generation being modern humans. The first people that God created were dwarves or little people, i.e. ''dzhudzheta'' (джуджета, singular джудже ''dzhudzhe''). However, because of their low stature these people were unable to protect themselves from wild animals or to effectively cultivate the land, and thus they died out. Dwarves were succeeded by ispolini, whom Bulgarians believed God created as the opposite of dwarves. Various myths describe them as up to tall and having huge heads, while other legends portray ispolini as possessing three heads and a single eye, the size of an egg, on their forehead, or a single leg. In some aspects, the ispolin bears a resemblance to the
cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...
of ancient
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
. Besides their height, ispolini also possessed supernatural powers. Ispolini were believed to have inhabited the prehistoric mountains. Their voices were thought so powerful that they were able to communicate between each other even when they were standing on far-away mountain tops. Ispolini lived in caves and were carnivorous, feeding exclusively on raw meat. They were regarded as a natural enemy of dragons (змейове ''zmeyove'') and would often engage them in battle. Despite their physical strength and stature, ispolini were not invulnerable. Bulgarian legends claim that the most dangerous object for an ispolin was the
blackberry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...
bush. Due to their height and sluggishness, ispolini were unable to spot or avoid blackberry bushes, so they would trip, get caught in the thorns and perish. Perceiving the blackberry as a great and powerful danger, ispolini were believed to offer sacrifices (курбан ''
kurban Kurban is a term for animal sacrifice in: *Islam, see qurbani *Judaism, see korban *the Balkans, see kourbania It may also refer to: Given name * Kurban Günebakan (born 1978), Turkish boxer * Kurban Kurbanov (born 1985), freestyle wrestler fro ...
'') to the blackberry in order to propitiate it. However, the legend goes, God destroyed ispolini because he judged that they were, just like dwarves, not suited for life on Earth. In many regions of Bulgaria, large heaps of stones, often ruins of ancient buildings, are interpreted as ispolin graveyards. It was common practice that when a person passed such an area, they would throw a stone as a form of denouncement ('' anathema''). Because ispolini and thus their "graveyards" were also known under the names елини ''elini'' ("Hellenes"), латини ''latini'' ("Latins") and жидове ''zhidove'' ("Jews"), such heaps are attributed to the pre-
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
civilizations that inhabited the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
. Ruins that were commonly tied to the mythological ispolini could be found near Samokov,
Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...
, Malko Tarnovo and Ihtiman. Bulgarian scholars interpret the association of Latins and Greeks with legendary ancient giants as a result of the wars that medieval Bulgaria waged against these people. Humans who were often forced to wage war were thought to be inherently strong and bulky.


Various ispolini

A large number of characters or groups were described as "ispolini", depending on the region of Bulgaria.


References

{{Slavic mythology Bulgarian folklore Giants