The Blinded Giant
by Unknown · from More English Fairy Tales
Adapted Version
Once upon a time, there was a very big giant. He lived in a mill. Do you know what he did there? This mill was old. The Giant had a big, long tool. It was like a knife. It was the Giant's knife.
The Giant had one big eye. It was in his head. He liked to grind grain. He made special bread. One day, The Giant caught a boy. His name was Jack. The Giant took Jack to his big mill.
Jack worked for The Giant. He worked for a very long time. Jack had to grind and grind. He never had a day off. Jack was very tired. He wanted to play and rest.
A big fair was coming. Jack asked The Giant. "Can I go to the big fair?" he asked. The Giant said, "No, Jack. You must work hard." Jack felt very sad.
One day was very hot. The Giant ate his bread. He felt very sleepy. He lay down to rest. The big knife was in his hand. He closed his one eye.
Jack saw the big knife. He took it with both hands. Jack poked The Giant's eye. The Giant woke up fast. His eye hurt very much. He could not see anything.
The Giant cried out loud. He was very angry. He stood up fast. He closed the mill door. Jack was stuck inside. He needed a clever plan.
The Giant had a big dog. The dog was sleeping soundly. Jack saw a big, shaggy rug. It looked like the dog's fur. Jack put the rug on his back. He made a good plan.
Jack made a sound. "Bow, wow," he barked. The Giant heard the sound. He thought it was his big dog. "Good dog," The Giant said. He did not know it was Jack.
Jack crawled on the floor. He went between The Giant's legs. He barked again. "Bow, wow," he said. Jack got to the door. He opened the door fast. Jack ran outside quickly.
Jack ran far away. He was free. Jack was smart and brave. He found a way to be free!
Original Story
The Blinded Giant
At Dalton, near Thirsk, in Yorkshire, there is a mill. It has quite recently been rebuilt; but when I was at Dalton, six years ago, the old building stood. In front of the house was a long mound which went by the name of "the giant's grave," and in the mill you can see a long blade of iron something like a scythe-blade, but not curved, which was called "the giant's knife," because of a very curious story which is told of this knife. Would you like to hear it? Well, it isn't very long.
There once lived a giant at this mill who had only one eye in the middle of his forehead, and he ground men's bones to make his bread. One day he captured on Pilmoor a lad named Jack, and instead of grinding him in the mill he kept him grinding as his servant, and never let him get away. Jack served the giant seven years, and never was allowed a holiday the whole time. At last he could bear it no longer. Topcliffe fair was coming on, and Jack begged that he might be allowed to go there.
"No, no," said the giant, "stop at home and mind your grinding."
"I've been grinding and grinding these seven years," said Jack, "and not a holiday have I had. I'll have one now, whatever you say."
"We'll see about that," said the giant.
Well, the day was hot, and after dinner the giant lay down in the mill with his head on a sack and dozed. He had been eating in the mill, and had laid down a great loaf of bone bread by his side, and the knife I told you about was in his hand, but his fingers relaxed their hold of it in sleep. Jack seized the knife, and holding it with both his hands drove the blade into the single eye of the giant, who woke with a howl of agony, and starting up, barred the door. Jack was again in difficulties, for he couldn't get out, but he soon found a way out of them. The giant had a favourite dog, which had also been sleeping when his master was blinded. So Jack killed the dog, skinned it, and threw the hide over his back.
"Bow, wow," says Jack.
"At him, Truncheon," said the giant; "at the little wretch that I've fed these seven years, and now has blinded me."
"Bow, wow," says Jack, and ran between the giant's legs on all-fours, barking till he got to the door. He unlatched it and was off, and never more was seen at Dalton Mill.
Story DNA
Moral
Even the most powerful oppressor can be overcome by wit and courage.
Plot Summary
At Dalton Mill, a one-eyed giant who grinds men's bones keeps a lad named Jack as his servant for seven years. When the giant refuses Jack a holiday, Jack seizes the opportunity while the giant sleeps, blinding him with his own knife. Trapped by the now-blind giant, Jack cleverly skins the giant's favorite dog and uses the hide to impersonate the dog, barking and crawling between the giant's legs to unlatch the door and escape to freedom, never to be seen at the mill again.
Themes
Emotional Arc
captivity to liberation
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
The story is presented as a local legend explaining physical landmarks (giant's grave, giant's knife), a common characteristic of folk tales.
Plot Beats (11)
- The story introduces Dalton Mill, a giant's grave, and a giant's knife, hinting at a curious story.
- A one-eyed giant at the mill grinds men's bones and captures a lad named Jack on Pilmoor.
- Jack serves the giant for seven years without a single holiday, grinding for him.
- Jack begs to go to Topcliffe fair, but the giant refuses, insisting he stay and grind.
- On a hot day, the giant dozes off after dinner, holding his large knife loosely.
- Jack seizes the knife and stabs the giant's single eye, blinding him.
- The giant howls in pain and bars the mill door, trapping Jack inside.
- Jack kills the giant's favorite dog, skins it, and puts the hide over his back.
- Jack barks like the dog, and the giant mistakes him for his pet, telling him to attack the 'wretch'.
- Jack crawls on all fours between the giant's legs, barking, reaches the door, unlatches it, and escapes.
- Jack is never seen at Dalton Mill again.
Characters
The Giant
Enormously tall and broad-shouldered, with a single, large eye set in the middle of his forehead. His skin is likely rough and weathered from his existence, and his build is powerful, capable of grinding bones.
Attire: Likely simple, durable clothing befitting a mill worker, but scaled to his immense size. Perhaps a roughspun tunic and trousers, possibly stained with the dust of the mill.
Wants: To maintain his power and control over his domain and servants, and to continue his gruesome practice of grinding men's bones for bread.
Flaw: His single eye (a literal and metaphorical vulnerability), his laziness, and his gullibility.
He begins as a powerful, unchallenged oppressor and ends up blinded, defeated, and tricked by his servant, losing his power and control.
Cruel, possessive, lazy (dozes off after dinner), vengeful, and somewhat dim-witted (easily tricked by Jack).
Jack
A young, agile lad, likely of average height and build for a peasant boy in Yorkshire. His years of grinding might have given him a lean, wiry strength.
Attire: Simple, worn peasant clothing typical of 19th-century Yorkshire, such as a coarse linen shirt, woolen breeches, and sturdy boots, likely patched and dirty from his servitude.
Wants: To escape his servitude and regain his freedom, driven by a desire for a holiday and a normal life.
Flaw: Initially, his powerlessness against the giant; his desperation could lead to rash actions.
Transforms from a resigned servant into a cunning liberator, successfully escaping his oppressor through his own ingenuity.
Patient (endures seven years), determined, cunning, resourceful, brave, and desperate for freedom.
Truncheon
A large, powerful dog, likely a mastiff or a similar breed, given its role as a guard dog for a giant. Its fur would be thick and possibly dark.
Attire: None, as a dog.
Wants: Loyalty to its master.
Flaw: Its trust in its master and its inability to discern Jack's deception.
Starts as a loyal pet and ends up killed and skinned by Jack to facilitate his escape.
Loyal to the giant, but ultimately a victim of Jack's cunning.
Locations
Dalton Mill (Exterior)
The old mill building, recently rebuilt but previously an older structure, with a long mound in front of the house known as 'the giant's grave'. The surrounding area is rural Yorkshire, near Thirsk.
Mood: Historic, slightly eerie due to the 'giant's grave' and the story associated with it, rural.
The setting where the story is recounted, and where Jack eventually escapes from.
Dalton Mill (Interior)
The interior of the mill, where the giant grinds men's bones and where Jack works. It contains a large iron blade, 'the giant's knife', and sacks, likely for grain or bone meal. It's a place of forced labor and confinement.
Mood: Oppressive, claustrophobic, tense, industrial (for the period), foreboding.
Jack serves the giant for seven years, the giant is blinded, and Jack makes his escape.
Pilmoor
An open moorland area in Yorkshire, where Jack was captured by the giant. Moors are typically vast, open, and often desolate landscapes.
Mood: Open, exposed, potentially desolate, a place of vulnerability.
Jack's initial capture by the giant.