# The Giant's Harp — Robert Hunter

> *The Giant's Harp* is a fantasy novel by Robert Hunter (1941–2019), the principal lyricist of the Grateful Dead. Composed between 1984 and 1996 and dedicated to the memory of Jerry Garcia, it was published serially on the World Wide Web rather than through any commercial press, making it the longest sustained work of prose fiction by Hunter and one of the most significant — and most overlooked — artifacts of his late career.

## About the work

- **Title:** The Giant's Harp
- **Author:** Robert Hunter (born Robert Burns, 1941–2019)
- **Composition:** 1984–1996
- **Publication:** Serial, on the World Wide Web (1996); never issued in print
- **Dedication:** In memory of Jerome John Garcia (JJG), November 1, 1996
- **Setting:** Terrapin — the mythic geography Hunter first sketched in the Grateful Dead song cycle "Terrapin Station" (1977)
- **Structure:** 21 chapters and an Epilogue
- **Genre:** Mythic fantasy, literary, allegorical
- **Connection to the Grateful Dead:** Expands the Terrapin / Eagle Mall mythos referenced across Hunter's lyrics, including "Terrapin Station," "Lady with a Fan," and the unfinished "Eagle Mall Suite"

## Why this site exists

This is a non-commercial archival edition. *The Giant's Harp* has been functionally unavailable for years. This site preserves and presents it as a legible, beautifully-set reading edition — cover, table of contents, chapter reader, author note, and a critical analysis essay.

## Site map

- [Cover](https://thegiantsharp.online/#cover) — title page and spoiler-free teaser
- [Index of Chapters](https://thegiantsharp.online/#index) — full table of contents
- [Author](https://thegiantsharp.online/#author) — biography of Robert Hunter
- [Analysis](https://thegiantsharp.online/#analysis) — "A Stone Library With Its Arms in the Clouds: Myth, Decipherment, and Eternal Recurrence in Robert Hunter's *The Giant's Harp*"
- [About this edition](https://thegiantsharp.online/about) — background, provenance, citation guidance

## Chapters

1. Whispers of Ist
2. Descent
3. Ballad of the Doubly Drowned
4. The Wind of Ist
5. Wolf O' The Wild
6. The Still of Night
7. Jabajaba of Nikaba
8. Eagle Mall
9. Midsummer's Eve
10. Runes and Riddles
11. The Sacrifice of Ist
12. Footsteps
13. The Desert of Bones
14. The Cat's Eye
15. Breaking the Seal
16. Equinox
17. Ropes and Reasons
18. The Hand of So
19. The Northwest Aisle
20. Blood of Thunder
21. Heritage
22. Epilogue

## Citation

Hunter, Robert. *The Giant's Harp.* Composed 1984–1996. Web edition, The Terrapin Archive, https://thegiantsharp.online.

## Use

Educational and archival. No commercial use. Rights inquiries welcomed via the site footer contact.