# 'Here there be giants" origin and another Q

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-there-be-giants-origin-and-another-q/286593>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 25, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-there-be-giants-origin-and-another-q/286593 "2005-01-25T15:23:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![harry\_sgame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@harry\_sgame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harry_sgame)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-there-be-giants-origin-and-another-q/286593/1 "2005-01-25T15:23:11Z")

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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?

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**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-there-be-giants-origin-and-another-q/286593/2 "2005-01-25T15:36:13Z")

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I believe the phrase appears on ancient maps, where in unknown places there were actually legends of giants (or perhaps the original was “monsters”).

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-there-be-giants-origin-and-another-q/286593/3 "2005-01-25T15:43:46Z")

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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](http://www.maphist.nl/extra/herebedragons.html), though the phrase “Here be Dragons” is widely attributed to early maps, this is the only extant example of it.

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**Author:** ![harry\_sgame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@harry\_sgame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harry_sgame)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-there-be-giants-origin-and-another-q/286593/4 "2005-01-25T18:36:28Z")

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Alright! Thank you!

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**Author:** ![Eurograff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Eurograff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eurograff)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-there-be-giants-origin-and-another-q/286593/5 "2005-01-25T22:21:42Z")

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“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.

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**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-there-be-giants-origin-and-another-q/286593/6 "2005-01-25T22:48:15Z")

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Scotty says “There be whales here” after transporting George and Gracie aboard the Klingon Bird of Prey in _Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home_ .