I thought I was the only one that felt that way (sometimes).

Reasonably high on my world-building and atmosphere wishlist for mods/DLC/expansions is expanding on giants in the game. I want giant quests. At the moment it seems things to do with giants boils down to avoid/kill/admire from a distance as the sun sets. I've always tried to avoid killing them (and spent plenty of time admiring from a distance).

I want to know about them. They are sentient, sapient. Do they dream? Do you have quests giants? I want to do your quests. Anyone been giving you trouble? Bandits killing you mammoths? I'll take care of them for you. Want to forge a giant nation? Hey, sounds like fun, I'm in - sapient rights for all!

Friend of the giants, that is what I want to be. And I would love to have a mammoth as a mount (instead of my old nag of a horse I want to turn into glue so I can stick up my "Giant Rights" posters).

Could always just buy a mammoth tusk from a shopkeeper also, a lot seem to sell them.

To fill grand soul gems. Why else?

Only hint I have: Do not fight mammoths and giants on level 13.

I go i with a two handed ebony great sword and just slay the giant or the mammoth in close battle. Before I leveled up, I took them down with arrows. Before that, I made sure I didn't pick any fight with them

I kind of feel bad everytime I kill a giant or mammoth though, they seem very peaceful.

Giants toe why else?

Don't kill the mammoths early on... at least if you ever want to enchant things later on. Save those mammoths for later. They have grand souls, and being easy to kill makes them perfect for enchanting. Oh and giants and mammoths are in the lvl35-40 range... the mammoths actually being higher. Giants have more damage output, but the mammoths have a lot more health.

There are a 'ton' of places you can get the tusks without killing a useful mammoth. Go into the tavern in whiterun and ask about work that needs to be done. She will give you a bounty, complete, go get reward then ask her again. Keep doing that and she will eventually send you somewhere with tusks.

At turnipfarmer: At higher levels the bounty missions send you to kill giants because they cause problems for nearby cities. Remember the first time you went to whiterun? That giant probably killed a chicken or stepped on someone's flowers .

I got my first tusk from that one that falls out of the sky, or rather the one it fell on and killed.

Why would one save the mammoths, can't you just fill a black soul gem with a bandit soul. Bandits are everywhere. Or do the mammoth souls rate higher than bandits?

Do like I did at low level, shoot one Mammoth and run. Usually at least two will come after you and not stop, if you're unlucky the Giants won't give up.
Afterwards, run to the bridge West of Whiterun and sit under it. It takes time, but I took down two Mammoths like that. They can't reach you, and shooting at them is great training too.

Im proud to say I slayed my first frost troll:D

Just steal the mammoth tusk from the inn. When I first got that quest, she was standing there asking for a mammoth tusk, and I could see right over her shoulder one sitting on a shelf. :hubbahubba:

Later I found one in that little chest outside her house too. Nutty lady probably put it there and forgot.

Also, if you *must* kill mammoths and giants, they are incredibly stupid. Stand on a rock ledge that they can't get to, the giants will run off (!!!?) and the mammoth will stand there and stare at you as you place arrows in its eye sockets.

I would typically kill giants, one at a time, with about 60-70 arrows it seemed when I was at level 13, from high places they couldn't reach. You have to scout their area and fight them up close to see their atack range. It seemed a lot harder to kill them while wearing cumbersome heavy armor because I needed to jump from rock formations at times. Now it's TONS easier since I am a level 32 warrior with crazy skills in the 2 handed weapons and my light armor weighs nothing and is real high (70's). I was suprised to kill one in a few heavy hits the other night while fulfilling a jarls request to clear out a giants cave. I took out the one outside with arrows mainly while my companion attacked from the ground. The mammoths (2) went nuts and I had to put them down with arrows too. Then I entered the cave and clobbered the marked giant. Now I am more confident in attacking them if need be as opposed to gingerly walking around them.

I think eating a giants toe is one of the nastiest things to consume in the game....dont you think? That and the deadra's heart....gross. haha

find a bridge -> poke mammoth -> run under bridge -> /laugh at mammoth being unable to hit you and take it down while leveling x combat skill you want to by using the worst damg ability you have just casted/slashed at a lot -> also remember to tell pack mule to stay put and not help or they can get killed off easy.

There is a mammoth tusk behind the publican in The Bannered Mare atop a cupboard. It's easy to sneak back there and grab it while nobody's looking. Ysolda didn't seem to mind that it was stolen.

Also a major advantage that she's right outside The Bannered Mare the vast majority of the time.

Halted Stream Camp is the name of the place to which people are directing you for easy access to a tusk without getting bludgeoned to death at level 13. You get a couple of quests for that place. Look those up first and profit from triple dipping.

Grats dude! : ) those damn frost trolls. I remember my first encounter with one when a noob, this damn thing heals like crazy. Fire, good blocking and strong sword is key to slaying them. Now they are no match.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Ysolda

There are tons of options even for a low level player to get a mammoth tusk. Killing a mammoth is probably the worst and most dangerous one, since you will usually aggro any giant and mammoth nearby. Possible though but not necessary. If you don't want to spend money to just buy one get the quest from the Jarl's advisor (forgot the name - the guy standing left to his throne) to clear the Haltered Stream camp. Will give you a little gold, the "Transmute" spell (on a table in the last room) plus as much tusks as you can carry...