Aegir

The aegir, sometimes called the Black Horror of the Swamps, are mighty water-dwelling giants standing twelve feet or more (the appendix gives 10-12 feet) and repulsive to look at. Like cyclopses, many have only one eye in the middle of the forehead. They are shaggy and heavily muscled, with wide, flat hands and feet built for swimming, and they haunt swamps, bogs, lakes, ponds and some coasts. They are best suited to water but can survive on land. Dim-witted yet cunning, they use simple tools; most seize prey and drag it under, though some reportedly wield clubs, spears or nets.

They do not breathe water, being closer to aquatic mammals, but huge lungs let them stay under for an hour with ease. Most lair in air-filled caves reached through underwater entrances. They hunt every kind of water creature and sometimes come ashore for a change of diet.

Chiron the Wise records unreliable hearsay from a district plagued by attacks. Some blamed an angry river-god in the shape of a hideous giant man draped in weeds and reeking mud; others named a savage one-eyed giant called Aegir who hated humans, capsized boats, dragged swimmers down and even struck townsfolk in the city before dawn. Aegir and cyclopses are clearly related, sharing looks, love of water and savagery, but cyclopses are much cleverer and have a rough society, while aegir seldom gather in numbers. Both seem to be dwindling, partly as men spread into their lands.