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Here’s a September 2014 lore overview I did regarding giants in the Realms:

“All the Realms know” that giants once ruled over large parts of Faerûn, dominating the continent as much as humans do today. Their kingdoms were many and powerful, and for a time they vied with dragons for dominion over Toril, in a series of wars that nigh-exterminated both races and left an enmity that survives to this day

OSTORIA
The last great giant kingdom was Ostoria, and it is still revered in tales told by giant elders, though no giant alive today is old enough to remember that shining realm. Many smaller successor kingdoms also named “Ostoria” (often in attempts to recapture the lost glory of the lost realm) rose and fell long after the original, so sages today (human and giant alike, not to mention elves, dwarves, and dragons interested in matters historical) are often confused by contradictory texts, ballads, chants, and records as to when the giants last dwelt in great power and held sway over large areas.

(In elder times, giants retained lineages and clan histories through slowly-intoned memorized chants, and many giant elders still recall fragments of these. Among fire giants, these chants have become marching songs, war ballads, and laments for the fallen—who are named, with a line about each one, for example “Garundrar the Great, slayer of many, cut down laughing, died as he wanted to.”)

To cut through much debate and old lore, to express the history of the giants in the Realms simply and briefly:

In ancient times Faerûn was warmer, and much of what is now the Spine of the World and the frozen wastes north of that knife-edged mountain range were verdant lands where almost all of the giants lived. As the region slowly turned cold, advancing glaciers literally buried giant settlements and left the giants with nothing to eat—so they were forced to migrate south.

This brought them into prolonged contact with dragons whose territories covered what is now the Sword Coast, the Heartlands, and more southerly and easterly Faerûn, and turned isolated skirmishes between individual giants and wyrms into prolonged, no-quarter wars of obliteration. Which in turn shattered the giant clans, ending their large kingdoms and forcing most giants into lives of nomadic travel or of lurking in remote places to avoid the attention of dragons (and later, of humans, who were and are just too numerous and persistent to defeat or share territory with—by contrast, giant successes in crushing orcs is thought by some sages to be the reason for the years of relative quiet in civilized lands between orc hordes).

The original realm of Ostoria lies beneath the Great Glacier, its ice-shattered ruins now lost forever save to a handful of the boldest delvers among the stone giants. Giants of all sorts, and their more numerous lesser kin (fomorians, ettins, and ogres) are now spread across Faerûn in small, scattered groups. Though some may style themselves “kings” and claim to rule “kingdoms,” in most cases their real rule extends to no more than a mountain valley or two, or a pair of mountain peaks and the clefts between.

In the Sword Coast and the North of Faerûn, the giants are today and over the last century (the 1400s DR) disposed thus:

FIRE GIANTS
These master forgers and metalworkers are trained, organized warriors, and dwell in volcanically active mountains (above and below ground). They are numerous deep beneath the Alamir, Omlarandin, Marching, and Cloven Mountains, and in handfuls can be found deep beneath the Stormhorns, the Sword Mountains, and the North Sword Mountains.

Some fire giants believe, as a result of visions recently experienced by the fire giant elder Roharr of Deepfires (a fire giant hold of Deepfires within the heart of the central and highest peaks of the Marching Mountains), that their kind has been charged by the god Surtur to seek out the Flame Undying, a rock that burns with unfailing flames yet is never consumed. Whoever possesses it shall enjoy the deity’s favor, shall be healed when sorely wounded, and even rise from death, and shall lead all fire giants to greatness, founding an empire of ruled human lands.

Thanks to Roharr’s visions, this floating rock is thought to be as large as a large adult giant, and believed by those fire giants who revere the idea of the Flame Undying to be somewhere beneath a Sword Coast city, presumably in cellars, sewers, or deeper natural passages and caverns. (It should be noted that some fire giants believe Roharr is mad, and the entire notion of the Flame Undying is foolishness that will lead the race astray). Those who revere the Flame seek it—and at the same time plunder human stores for metal and finished weapons, whenever they can do so without leaving survivors who can raise the alarm among humans. They’re doing this both to deprive humans of weapons, and to gain the metals for themselves, to be reforged into tools and weapons useful to fire giants. They are also eyeing the large herds of edible livestock kept by humans in the vicinity of large coastal cities like Waterdeep, and brought to such cities for sale—and prey upon such foodstores whenever they can.

Fire giant names often end in “ur” or “ar” and often have two or three syllables. It’s the height of blasphemy to have a name that sounds too close to that of the god Surtur.

• MRALVRANDUR
  The fire giant Mralvrandur commands the small fire giant hold of Rorohv (“ROAR-oh-vh”) deep under the North Sword Mountains, using the title “War Prince.” He sends or leads frequent warbands of 12-20 fire giants through the Underdark under Kryptgarden and Westwood, patrolling and scouring out the deepest areas near volcanic rifts, to maintain control over this area south and southeast of the North Swords—and increasingly, in response to recent cult activities in and under the Sumber Hills, has begun to raid east into areas of the Underdark deep under those hills, not to mention mounting surreptitious spying forays into the Kryptgarden, to find dragon lairs so they can be raided and the wyrms slain or driven out. Mralvrandur sees ever-expanding Waterdeep as both a threat and rich pickings to be raided, to keep humans fearful and to hamper their endless expansion. He is not above capturing monsters and unleashing them on human outposts and settlements, but wants human pack animals and livestock as food for Rorohv. He regards the Flame Undying belief as a test set by Surtur, to separate the weaklings among fire giants who can be distracted by such nonsense from the “strong and true” who shall lead fire giants to power and prominence in the surface realms once more.
• ILIGAR
  The fire giant Iligar styles himself “The King Under Sunset,” and rules a large fire giant hold clustered around deep volcanic flows beneath the southernmost Sunset Mountains. A quiet, ruthless, calculating leader, Iligar (who possesses a black beard that flows like a carpet down his front, reaching almost to his ankles, and who is rarely seen not wearing his armor) believes when fire giants bluster and brawl and make much noise, burning when they raid and otherwise attracting attention to themselves, they are being weaklings who are harming their own causes and ventures. He also believes that attempts to seize the nearby ancient giant fortress of Darkhold are the sort of mistakes that have kept fire giants low in rank among giants, when their metalworking and martial skills and energetic lives should have made them far more highly regarded. Iligar seeks to forge alliances with dwarves and humans, and gain holds over individuals of those races who can then serve him as spies and saboteurs—agents who are never, ever trusted, but always themselves watched and covertly and repeatedly tested—all to increase his hidden influence in the Heartlands south of the Sunset Mountains, to east and west—in other words, the southern ports of the Sea of Fallen Stars, and all along the overland caravan routes that link that inner ocean with the Sword Coast. Raid and demonstrate force whenever necessary, but make your reputation and your threats work for you just as effectively, so herders and drovers think themselves fortunate to leave a quarter of their animals penned up for the taking of the fire giants, and in return be allowed to keep their own lives and the other three quarters of their stock.

The FULL VERSION OF THIS POST contains expanded lore on Stone Giants, Frost Giants, Cloud Giants, Storm Giants, and Giant-Kin and Hill Giants, including notable members of these cultures and a history of their deeds and aspirations. The full version of this article is also available as a fully-produced audiobook, narrated by Ed Greenwood, himself. For access to the full article, become a Protector of the Realms and join our rapidly-growing community of adventurers!