ales , ▁especially ▁from ▁the ▁ 1 7 th - century ▁French ▁writer ▁Charles ▁Per ra ult , ▁who ▁borrow ed ▁most ▁of ▁his ▁stories ▁and ▁developed ▁his ▁" og re " ▁from ▁the ▁ 1 6 th - century ▁Italian ▁writers ▁Giovanni ▁Francesco ▁Stra par ola ▁( cred ited ▁with ▁introdu cing ▁the ▁literary ▁form ▁of ▁the ▁fair y ▁tale ) ▁and ▁Gi amb att ista ▁Bas ile , ▁who ▁wrote ▁in ▁the ▁Nap les ▁dialect , ▁stating ▁that ▁he ▁was ▁passing ▁on ▁or al ▁fol kt ales ▁from ▁his ▁region . ▁In ▁the ▁tales , ▁Bas ile ▁used ▁hu or co , ▁h uer co ▁or ▁u er co , ▁the ▁Ne ap ol itan ▁form ▁of ▁Italian ▁or co , ▁" gi ant " ▁or ▁" mon ster ", ▁to ▁describe ▁a ▁large , ▁hair y , ▁t usk ed , ▁man n ish ▁be ast ▁who ▁could ▁speak , ▁lived ▁in ▁a ▁dark ▁forest ▁or ▁garden ▁and ▁might ▁capture ▁and ▁eat ▁humans . ▁ ▁Tol k ien ▁ ▁St ated ▁et ym ology ▁ ▁Tol k ien ▁began ▁the ▁modern ▁use ▁of ▁the ▁English ▁term ▁" or c " ▁to ▁denote ▁a ▁race ▁of ▁evil , ▁hum ano id ▁cre atures . ▁His ▁earliest ▁El v ish ▁diction aries ▁include ▁the ▁entry ▁Or k ▁( or q -) ▁" mon ster ", ▁" og re ", ▁" dem on ", ▁together ▁with ▁or q indi ▁and ▁" og resse ". ▁He ▁sometimes ▁used ▁the ▁pl ural ▁form ▁or qui