I was looking on some music/guitarist site and found the phrase “Here There be Giants” and it seemed so appropriate, so cool and… so familiar. where did the phrase begin? also, where did I see it? I can’t seem to find that site again. Anyone familiar with it?
I believe the phrase appears on ancient maps, where in unknown places there were actually legends of giants (or perhaps the original was “monsters”).
A copper globe of the Earth circa 1503 and currently in the collection of the New York Public Library is inscribed with the Latin, “hic sunt dracones” (“here are dragons”) near the east coast of Asia. According to this site, though the phrase “Here be Dragons” is widely attributed to early maps, this is the only extant example of it.
Alright! Thank you!
“Hic sunt gigantes” sounds unfamiliar, though possible, but I think that the OP’s phrase is a wordplay between They Might Be Giants and the famous “hic sunt…” Latin phrases. As the above site explains, “hic sunt dracones” was not commonly used either. I believe that the origin is “hic sunt leones”, or “lions are here”, which was indeed quite popular (and even truthful) in certain ancient and medieval maps.
Scotty says “There be whales here” after transporting George and Gracie aboard the Klingon Bird of Prey in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home .