What were the giants (seen by Bilbo in The Hobbit)?
Nobody knows. Among texts considered to be at all canonical (see question III.A.2), giants are mentioned directly only in The Hobbit. This has led some to doubt their literal existence entirely, but they do seem to have a firm place in that book: giants (and the destruction they caused) were seen and heard by everyone, and both Thorin and Gandalf were worried about them. Later, Gandalf says “I must see if I can’t find a more or less decent giant” to block up the goblins’ new gate (where the group was captured). He also mentions them to Beorn. It would be difficult to reject giants without rejecting The Hobbit as a canonical source entirely, which Tolkien clearly did not do. Some believe that the voices heard by the Fellowship on the Redhorn pass were giants, or even that Caradhras itself was a “giant” in some sense. Three explanations for giants are relatively common. Perhaps the most natural is that they are an exceptionally large race of humans. Another is that they are a very large
