The Falling of the Elder Tree

The Forest giants and the Stone Giants have been at war with each other, since long before the human memory can remember. This old spite has caused devastating wars throughout the history of Salan, including the centuries long series of conflicts known as the Giant Wars.

To learn where this fighting began, we need to go all the way back, near the creation of the world, and hear a story learned from the gods themselves...

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W
hen Salan was just created, the world was empty and lifeless. The gods sent Leitandár the Sower on the lands, and he ploughed the hard rocks into soft soil. Then he traveled merrily all over the new fields. And wherever he stepped, there sprouted grass in his footsteps, where he hit with his staff, there saplings sprang from the ground, and where he lay to rest, there spread verdant flower fields. The trees grew fast, and in the new woods, Wild Spirits took the form of countless beasts. The world was full of life, and the gods were happy with the creation.
But when Leitandár had gone, all the plants kept growing, and soon the whole world was covered in a thick forest. However, one tree grew taller than any other, and soon it was so tall, that it threatened to leave all the other plants in its shade, and it could almost reach the Heavens of the Gods. Therefore the Gods decided, that the tree must be cut down. The gods asked the giants to help, because they were the strongest creatures of the creation. The forest giant refused, because he loved all the trees like his brothers. But the stone giant agreed. He made a great axe, or the same stones that he himself was made of, and mananged to fall the great tree.
However, this angered the forest giant, who swore vengeance on the stone giant who had betrayed him. A terrible fight broke out between them, and the young world was devastated by their battles. The giants tore the earth apart, and hurled great stones at each other, and the bones of the earth shook from their fighting. Even the gods were afraid when they saw this, because right when the world had seemed so good, the giants threatened to tear it apart and destroy everything again. Then the gods regretted creating the giant, for he was too strong and quick to anger. So they set on a quest to find every giant, and slay them. But the Forest Giant hid deep in the forest, and the Stone Giant buried himself deep under the mountains, and the gods could not find them.

And so, even though the fighting ceased for a while, the two races of giants have always been enemies ever since that. And the giants have never again trusted the gods.

Type

Metaphysical, Divine

Motivation

The purpose of this old Faren tale seems to be to explain why the two races of giants are in war, and why the giants don't worship the pantheon of gods that the humans do.

The constant wars induced by the Giants were such a fundamental part of the life of the early Farens, that the myth is here connected seamlesly to the creation of the world itself.

Variation

Some versions of the myth tell, that the gods first tried to fall the tree themselves, but were unable to do so, because the tree was so big. This, however, caused much debate between the theologists, considering the nature on the gods. Would it really be possible for the gods to fail in such a mundane task? Could the creation of the gods be more powerful than the gods themselves?

Even though this detail has been omitted in this standard version, the conclusion of the story still contains the failure of the gods to find and destroy the giants. This seems to show, that the scholars only partially succeeded in reconciling this conflict