In medieval Irish myth, the Firbolg were descended from the ‘Muintir Nemid’, an earlier group who abandoned Ireland and went to different parts of Europe. Those who went to Greece became the Firbolg and eventually returned to the now-uninhabited Ireland. After ruling it for some time, they were overthrown by the invading Tuatha Dé Danann.
First appearing in D&D in the Monster Manual II (1983) the firbolg is a reclusive giant that prefers to avoid contact with other races. Among their own kind, they live in colonies, which are usually found in forests or caverns and watched by guard towers. Firbolgs resemble humans, though much larger, and men sport great, thick beards.
This figure is a TSR – Ral Partha (1989) metal one piece figure, 11-419. I bought it decades ago along with a Hill Giant and Fire Giant from the same range. I sold the other two giants a few years back. They were good sculpts, but much too small. The fire giant was about the same size as this guy, but should be nearly twice as tall. This figure is at the right scale. It’s taken me much too long to remember it and actually decide to paint it.
Painting it was pretty easy. It’s a good sculpt with nice detail, but its simple in that there’s only the animal fur/skin, belt, boots and sword. It has a good size rectangular base, which attached well to a 50mm round base, and I added some stone to fill it out a little more. The first two images are a bit brighter than they should be – the animal fur is rather darker in normal light.
For a size comparison, here’s the Firbolg next to a WotC pre-painted Hill Giant and a post-painted Citadel Dwarf.
Dragons of Lancasm 