When Giants Walked the Earth

Antwerp is a city of giants, albeit that can be the gigantic ego of the local Antwerpenaar, but it is the city of giants, or at least one for sure, that is Antigoon, the giant who ruled over the Antwerp harbor on the Scheldt, the river that runs through it.

Antigoon was large enough to straddle the Scheldt and as ships passed beneath his colossal legs, if they did not pay his toll, would be smashed to smithereens with a mighty blow from his fist. Well, people don't like taxes and tolls, that much is clear in history and in current American events. Some taxes are indeed necessary, I believe, but Antigoon was just plain greedy.

Others agreed, and one day, a strapping young Fleming named Brabo came to the rescue of all, and a legend was born, as well as a folk etymology for the city's name of Antwerpen. Instead of paying the toll, Brabo excised his own payment and cut of one of Antigoon's hands, casting it into the river, freeing the denizens of Antwerp to go back to drinking their Belgian beers and eating mussels in peace. The action of Brabo's deed is said to be immortalized then in the name "Antwerpen" which is said to be a contraction of "hand werpen" or "to throw the hand."

As such, the city's motif is a severed hand, which is proudly displayed throughout the town on banners, posters, a giant hand sculpture on the Meir, and even gooey-center filled chocolates for gifts to give to friends and loved ones, or total strangers, who come to visit Antwerp.

Last year, however, a different type of Giant came to town, an experience that I will never forget, and is one of the reasons that I do really love this town (and think that Brussels is Boring ;-)).

Royal DeLuxe, a French artistic company based in Nantes, also loves Antwerp (or Anvers for the French-speakers). Antwerp is one of only a "handful" of cities worldwide that Royal de Luxe has chosen to use as a cityscape for its incredible street theater performances using enormous marionettes, which are able to evoke true emotional responses from the street-born audiences.

It was a brilliant performance last year, spanning three days of intrigue and magic. The "program" was kept secret and you had to find out by reading clues in the newspaper or on a website as to where the two giants would appear.

The story was of the Little Giant girl (De Kleine Reuzin) who arrived on her gigantic boat and who was looking for her uncle, the Diver (De Duiker), who had emerged from the Antwerp Harbor. Throughout the day, these two marionettes traversed the city, searching in vain for each other, often just missing one another.

My daughter and I followed the steps of the Little Giant all day last year on one of the days, here on the back of the bike and us racing around the streets trying to find the two. Sometimes we found her napping and snoring loudly, other times dancing a jig on the quays, and even taking a potty break in between the cars parked along the street. We also found the enormous diver sleeping on the St. Jansplein and saw him wake up and start his journey to find his lost niece. Here is someone's version of that event posted on Youtube. My daughter and I were actually right behind the giant anchor that you see in the right-hand side of the frame at the end as the Diver is leaving the square. We were right at the front and you could literally feel the earth shake as he passed us by, towering above the houses, accompanied by a live band. It was the greatest street performance I could ever imagine.

Take a moment from your busy day and watch this video. You might even feel strangely calm by the end of it.

Eventually, the two wandering giants did find each other and in a moment that I can scarcely explain, I was really, really emotional seeing two large pieces of wood, cable, and scaffolding hug at twilight. It was amazing as to the level that I came to really care for these characters in the span of just a few days. When the two departed in the Little Giant's ship from London Bridge on the Antwerp harbor, I was very sad to see them go, as if I was watching two good friends leave on a magical journey, and they had floated away into the mist of memory and enchantment.