Thomas Wright, Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English:

For they say the king of Portugal cannot sit at his meat, but the giants and the ettins will come and snatch it from him. (Beaumont and Fletcher, The knight of the burning pestle (1613))

I think that means that an ettin/eten/etayn is not, or is not quite, a giant, but Wright says that it is. I don’t know who said this about the poor King of Portugal, or why.

Categories: Empire, Provisions and utensils of the household and the fields

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1. MM
   November 5th 2006 22:59

   The OED supports him.

   [OE. eoten, eten = ON. iœtunn (Sw. jätte, Da. jette):—OTeut. *ituno-z.]
   A giant.
   c1205 Lay. 1801 Heo funden i þon londe twenti eotandes [c1275 eatantes] stronge. Ibid. 17275 Hit hatte þere Eotinde King. c1250 Gen. & Ex. 545 Of hem woren ðe Šetenes borne, MiŠti men, and fiŠti. a1300 E.E. Psalter xviii. 6 [xix. 5] He gladed als yhoten to renne his wai. c1325 Leg. Rood (1871) 118 Quen dauid faŠt againe þat etin has he noŠt his staf for-Šetin. c1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 723 He werrez+Boþe wyth bullez & berez, & borez oþer-quyle, & etaynez. c1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 111 No man is an etene to fede him þus bodili of Crist. c1440 MS. Lincoln A. 1. 17. f. 128 (Halliw.) Fy, he said, thou foule! thou etayne! Alle my knyghtes thou garte be slayne. 1528 Lyndesay Dream Ep. to King 45 Off the reid Etin [v.r. Eitin] and the gyir carlyng. 1549 Compl. Scot. 63 The taiyl of the reyde eythyn vitht the thre heydis. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burning Pestle i. ii, They say the King of Portugal cannot sit at his meate but the Giants and the Ettins will come and snatch it from him.

2. Trevor ap Simon
   November 6th 2006 21:42

   So there’s no difference between a giant and an ettin? I kind of thought an ettin might be a stupid giant or something.

   (Are you paying for the OED? I think I’m about to get academicness, so I’ll be able to Ctrl-V with the best of them)