h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've just been watching the story of Davifd and Goliath on the History Channel (UK). There is loads more info I can put into this Entry - so be prepatred for an update.

Looking forward to that.

Let me know here, would you? I'm not subscribed to the Update forum. Yet. I probably should be. But I've just subscribed to the Edited Guide Writing Workshop and the Alternative Writing Workshop, along with Peer Review. That's a lot of reading to do!

TRiG.

ne interesting slant on the tale is that Goliath suffered from acromeglia: a condition where his ptuary was out of control and he couldn't stop growing. This explains the occasional poor soul who gets to be nine feet tall and usually dies young, because his body gives out under the weight and stress. Goliath, in this analysis, would lumber slowly, be slow in reflexes and responses, and might well have been a gentle giant forced into armour and battle as a sort of "figurehead" for the Army: his sheer intimidating size would have spared him too much actual fighting, especially in armour and given weapons to match his size. David might have been clever enough to realise taking him down would be a massive psychological and morale blow to the Philistines and a boost to the Israelites - and simply called their bluff, realising the fearsome giant would not be all that good at it if called to actually fight. (Elsewhere in the Bible there's a parable of the giant with feet of clay - another telling of the Goliath story?)