Batten: corpse-fishing giant dragging a ship
Adjacent Kayn nested narrative identifies the one-eyed giant dragging a ship with a corpse-fishing rod. View shows his back; single eye is text evidence, not independently visible here. Selected title-page edition1895; John Dickson Batten1860–1932 credited illustrator; Joseph Jacobs compiler/editor.
Overview
The giant appears when the wandering hero sleeps among the bodies left by a battle. He drags a ship behind him and uses an enormous rod, line and hook to load corpses aboard. The ocean reaches only his knees. The hero is too heavy for the fishing rod, so the giant lifts him in his arms and carries him into a precipitous coastal cave. A captive princess receives the bodies and asks each whether it is alive.
The giant reserves the hero for a future breakfast, eats other bodies and sleeps. The princess explains that a drawn sword has protected her during nearly seven years of captivity. She helps the hero blind the giant with his own roasting bar. A stone thrown into the sea makes the pursuing creature believe his victim has jumped; the projecting bar strikes the doorway and fatally damages his head. Disposal of the immense body occupies seven years and seven days in the narration. Similarity to Cyclops escape stories is clear, but this is a separately transmitted episode with its own fishing-ship setting and outcome.
Origins & earliest records
The directly inspected witness is Jacobs’s selected 1895 combined Kayn story, attributed to MacInnes and Campbell of Tiree. Its wider medieval parallels are reported in the editorial note. No claim is made that this exact fishing episode is an independently read medieval text.
Records & interpretation
The single eye, knee-deep ocean and corpse-hooking supply specific literary anatomy and action. They are not proof of an actual giant or a biological cannibal species. The escape’s resemblance to Polyphemus does not justify merging the characters.
In the literature
“a big giant with only one eye”
The Leeching of Kayn’s Leg; pp188–189; arrival
A single-eyed giant tows a ship through knee-deep water and hooks corpses from the shore. He physically carries the heavier living narrator aboard, reserves him for breakfast and supplies the bodies to a captive king’s daughter in his cave. She explains her seven-year confinement.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
More Celtic Fairy Tales: The Leeching of Kayn’s Leg, pp. 188–191; note XLII
Selected episode and relevant source note inspected. Earlier works named by Jacobs are attributed references, not falsely claimed as independently collated texts.
- 02
More Celtic Fairy Tales
Joseph Jacobs, More Celtic Fairy Tales, selected1895 Nutt/Putnam edition, PG34453. Complete The Leeching of Kayn’s Leg, pp169–194, and noteXLII independently read.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
More Celtic Fairy Tales
Joseph Jacobs, More Celtic Fairy Tales, selected1895 Nutt/Putnam edition, PG34453. Complete The Leeching of Kayn’s Leg, pp169–194, and noteXLII independently read.
- A single-eyed giant tows a ship through knee-deep water and hooks corpses from the shore. He physically carries the heavier living narrator aboard, reserves him for breakfast and supplies the bodies to a captive king’s daughter in his cave. She explains her seven-year confinement.
The Leeching of Kayn’s Leg, pp169–194; One eye, hooked battlefield bodies and captive helper
- The captive woman advises an eye attack with the heated roasting bar. The narrator follows it, then throws a stone into the sea to misdirect pursuit. The giant hits the embedded bar on the doorway and dies; his immense body is slowly disposed of, and the two survivors marry.
The Leeching of Kayn’s Leg, pp169–194; Blinded pursuit and fatal doorway collision
Inconsistent names and omitted mechanisms retained. No prayer, recurring healing formula or ritual instructions excerpted.
Primary source witness
Joseph Jacobs, More Celtic Fairy Tales, selected1895 Nutt/Putnam edition, PG34453. Complete The Leeching of Kayn’s Leg, pp169–194, and noteXLII independently read.
- Jacobs explicitly combines MacInnes’s Folk-Tales from ArgyleshireVII with Campbell of Tiree’s version. His manuscript dating, larger episode counts and comparisons are reported compiler scholarship; this selected adaptation is not represented as a direct transcript of one informant.
No cited manuscript or independent earlier print collation claimed.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textMore Celtic Fairy Tales, selected 1895 edition: The Leeching of Kayn’s Leg, pp. 188–191; note XLIIResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical illustrationBatten: corpse-fishing giant dragging a ship
Adjacent Kayn nested narrative identifies the one-eyed giant dragging a ship with a corpse-fishing rod. View shows his back; single eye is text evidence, not independently visible here. Selected title-page edition1895; John Dickson Batten1860–1932 credited illustrator; Joseph Jacobs compiler/editor.
