Gog and Magog

Gog and Magog, names several times used in the Bible, and given to the famous figures of giants in the Guildhall, London. Magog is spoken of by the writer of Genesis as a son of Japheth; Ezekiel speaks of Gog, prince of Magog, as a terrible ruler in the far north, united with the Persians, Armenians, and Cimmerians against Israel; Gog and Magog in the Apocalypse appear as co-ordinate terms comprehending all future enemies of the kingdom of God. The name Magog was often applied generally to all the unknown races north of the Caucasus. The Guildhall giants are images of the last two survivors of a race of giants who inhabited Albion, descendants of wicked demons and the thirty-three infamous daughters of the Emperor Diocletian, who, after murdering all their husbands, sailed to Albion. These giants Brute and his Trojans finally overcame, leading the last two survivors prisoners to London, where they were kept as porters at the palace-gate. This is Caxton's account; another represents one of the giants as Gogmagog, and the other as a British giant who killed him, named Corineus. These giants have stood in London since the days of Henry V., and have witnessed all its history since. The old giants were burned in the great fire, and the new ones, which are 14 feet high, were constructed in 1708. The ancient effigies, which were made of wickerwork and pasteboard, were carried through the streets in the Lord Mayor's Shows, and copies of the present giants were in the show of 1837. Formerly other towns in England and abroad had their giants, as the Antigonus of Antwerp, 40 feet in height, and Gayant, the giant of Douay, 22 feet in height.