Tom Hickathrift

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Tom Hickathrift is a legendary strongman from East Anglia who fights giants. In some tales he is a giant himself, but most say he had extraordinary strength.

In one version, he was a labourer during the Norman Conquest in Tilney, Norfolk. He used an axle-tree stuck in a cartwheel as a weapon to fight a giant in a marsh. When the axle-tree broke, he grabbed a sturdy miller to help him, and together they defeated the giant. Some stories even say this earned him the governorship of Thanet.

In another tale, told by Joseph Jacobs, Tom lives in the marshes near the Isle of Ely. He begins lazy and greedy, but he is incredibly tall and strong—strong as twenty men. He can carry heavy loads, throw a heavy ball far, and outsmart troublemakers. He later works delivering beer in Wisbech. He crosses paths with the Wisbech Giant, who comes with a club, but Tom fights back with his axletree and cartwheel and kills the giant, winning the giant’s land and the respect of the people.

There are links between Tom and the Norse god Thor because of similar feats and hammer-like weapons. The legend still lives in the Wisbech area, in local art, place names, rhymes, and reenactments. Today you can see references to Hickathrift in old decorations, a few local buildings named after him, and in stories that people tell about East Anglia.