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THE CHALK
GIANT OF
CERNE ABBAS:
The gigantic figure of a man has been cut into the surface of a chalk down in Dorset in Southern England. Who is the giant and what does he represent? Who carved the figure, when and why?
The largest and best preserved of England's hillside figures is carved into the green turf near the village of Cerne Abbas in the county of Dorset. He is uncompromisingly pagan: SSm (180ft) tall, brazenly naked with an erect phallus, his ribs and nipples delineated.
In his raised hand he wields a knobbed club 37m (121ft) long; his left arm is outstretched and he may once have held an object in his left hand. Letters and numbers may once have been inscribed between the feet of the giant but have not survived, and considerable argument has arisen over their message. The letters may have been the giant's name; or they may have been ANO, standing for anno, 'in the year of', the numbers being the date 1748 when the figure was recut. Alternatively, they may have been IHS which represented JESUS, or IAO which referred to Jehovah, or JHD Jehovah/ Jesus hoc destruxit, meaning 'God has overthrown this'.
Over the centuries, many legends have grown up around the figure. He was said to represent a real giant who created havoc in the area by eating sheep and causing other destruction. One day he lay down on the hillside to digest his latest meal and fell asleep. The local people took the opportunity to kill him and then carve his outline in the chalk.
(Atlas of Mysterious Places – Marshall Editions Ltd -