We presume ourselves to be the average I guess, as we talk of Giants and of little folk, as if we are the benchmark, the standard by which to judge what is considered unusually large, or abnormally small. A few examples of each of the extremes we have stories of –

Lilliput – and probably the closest to the thought I had. An imaginary place where the inhabitants are only 6 inches tall. And the arriving Gulliver is seen as a giant, yet is of ‘normal size’ in our eyes. So perceptions and what you know as reality tie into that belief you are viewing a giant, or miniature ‘person’,

Pigmies – these are said to just be slightly smaller versions of ordinary people, not so much anymore, but it is said they existed back in the day.

The Borrowers – another fictional telling as with Lilliput, of miniature people living alongside us, almost completely undetected.

Doozers (Fraggle Rock) – a fun children’s television programme, which has three sizes of things. But it was the tiny doozers that always caught my attention, just getting on and being industrious, like little ants.

Oklahoma folk – little people that have legends and have remained throughout the native Indian folklore.

And the list goes on if you start reading about different places, landmasses, times and cultures, they all feature some kind of idea of small people, and often large too, but mostly small and mischievous. And it may well be just a strange and imaginative story that hung around, and its wonderment so much that people won’t let it go. Or, could it be that they are still here, just hiding in their little cave houses, cracks and crevices, viewing us as overgrown creatures and destroyers of worlds. Keeping themselves to themselves and staying out of the way, because we are the giants now…

(c) K Wicks