Paul Bunyan
Giant with axe
Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack of American folklore, famous for superhuman strength and accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox.
Tales of his impossible feats—digging the Grand Canyon, creating the Great Lakes—spread through logging camps in the late 1800s and were later popularized in advertising and children's books.
He represents the tall-tale tradition of frontier exaggeration.
He eats like Paul Bunyan suggests enormous appetite.
Bladed tool for chopping
- timberWood for construction
- loggingRecording system events
- flannelSoft napped cloth
- woodsmanForest-dwelling wilderness expert
felling · sawmill · forest · pines · spruce · cedar · loggers · stumps
Wildly exaggerated story
- legendUnverified traditional tale
- folk heroCelebrated figure from tradition
- AmericanaHeritage artifacts or music
- oral traditionCulture passed by speech
mythology · yarn · exaggeration · hyperbole · whopper · fable · storytelling · mythic
Extremely large in scale
- toweringOf imposing height
- enormousExtremely large in scale
- massiveExtremely large and heavy
- giganticImmensely large in scale
gargantuan · titanic · immense · hulking · mammoth · oversized · superhuman · larger-than-life
Minnesota city, Crow Wing
- statueThree-dimensional sculpted likeness
- roadside attractionUnusual highway landmark
- North WoodsNorthern forested region
- Lake SuperiorLargest Great Lake
axe
Bladed tool for chopping
woodsman · felling · sawmill · forest · pines · spruce · cedar · loggers · stumps · sawdust
tall tale
Wildly exaggerated story
- legendUnverified traditional tale
- folk heroCelebrated figure from tradition
- AmericanaHeritage artifacts or music
oral tradition · mythology · yarn · exaggeration · hyperbole · whopper · fable · storytelling · mythic · iconic
colossal
Extremely large in scale
gigantic · gargantuan · titanic · immense · hulking · mammoth · oversized · superhuman · larger-than-life · mighty
Brainerd
Minnesota city, Crow Wing
- statueThree-dimensional sculpted likeness
- roadside attractionUnusual highway landmark
- North WoodsNorthern forested region
Lake Superior · tourism · Klamath · Bangor
brawn
Muscular power, bodily might
vigor · robust · toughness · endurance · fortitude · powerful · sturdy · feats of strength
- American folkloretall tales, folk heroes, John Henry, folk narratives, Johnny Appleseed
- Midwest folkloreJohnny Appleseed, tall tales, Wendigo, Native American legends, prairie fires
- Folk Americanared barn, quilt, weathervane, covered wagon, log cabin
- giantsgiant, giants, giantesses, titan, Titans
- literary charactersSherlock Holmes, Scout Finch, Elizabeth Bennet, Macbeth, Huck Finn
- tall talesPecos Bill, John Henry, Johnny Appleseed, Davy Crockett, tall tale
Paul Bunyanreal person
Daniel Boone · historical figure · Davy Crockett · John Henry · Abraham Lincoln
Paul BunyanTom Thumb
Tiny folk tale hero
Thumbelina · Stuart Little · Tinker Bell · leprechaun · dwarf
Paul BunyanJohn Muir
Johnny Appleseed · Rachel Carson · Henry David Thoreau · conservationist · Smokey Bear