Near the end of the story, Axl, Beatrice, Sir Gawain, Wistan, and Edwin meet at the top of a mountain near a mysterious monument known as the giant’s cairn, which sits near the pit that Merlin was ordered to help trap Querig in. This cairn—which is similar to other mysterious monuments throughout the land—symbolizes the ugly, hidden truth of England’s history. It is noted more than once, by Sir Gawain and by Wistan, that one doesn’t need to look far to find evidence of past battles and violence; fields filled with buttercups also hold bones from bloody battles just beneath the surface, and seemingly peaceful monasteries were once witness to unimaginable carnage as Saxon villagers made their last stand against bands of Britons. The “giant” buried beneath the cairn is not a monster in the literal sense, but rather a culmination of the dark truth of this conflict: mutual hatred, betrayal, the slaughter of innocent women and children, and an unquenchable thirst for revenge. These are the things that are unloosed when, as Wistan says, “The giant, once well buried, now stirs” after the death of Querig restores everyone’s memories. Once the giant (the truth) is unburied, the nation that had enjoyed peace for years will inevitably revert back to war, and violence will ensue as Saxons exact revenge against the Britons for the atrocities they committed under King Arthur.
The Giant’s Cairn Symbol Timeline in The Buried Giant
