Jul 27, 2017 08:05
6 yrs ago
French term
United Kingdom
pierre folle
French to English
Other
Geography
landscape features
In a document about an area of Limousin. Talking about stone features. context: "Une lande aux **pierres folles** et à sacrifices ? Ces chaos rocheux aux silhouettes étranges étaient souvent qualifiés de **«pierres folles»**. Les gens pensaient que ces rochers abritaient des êtres mystérieux tantôt bénéfiques tantôt maléfiques." I have found details of a dolmen called "La Pierre Folle", and the legend of the man who went mad trying to destroy a rock, but is this a specific term, or does it just mean "mad stones"? Thanks for any help
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +3 | "pierre folles" (crazy stones) |
Vissertrans
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| 4 +2 | scattered boulders |
B D Finch
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Proposed translations
+3
42 mins
Vissertrans
France
France
Native in English
France
Chemistry, Chemie, chimie, scheikunde
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English, Dutch to English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
"pierre folles" (crazy stones)
It could be an allusion to "l'Espace Pierres Folles", a geological museum in the Beaujolais built on the site of an old quarry where a local building stone "pierre dorée" was mined.
Or perhaps an allusion to the dolmen de la "Pierre Folle" à Bagneux
'http://www.valencay-tourisme.fr/decouvrir-le-pays/en-voir-et...
Or perhaps an allusion to the dolmen de la "Pierre Folle" à Bagneux
'http://www.valencay-tourisme.fr/decouvrir-le-pays/en-voir-et...
Example sentence:
...elle a simplement donné naissance aux « Pierres Folles ». Un musée entièrement dédié à la géologie, qui rend hommage aux roches et pierres qui soutiennent les constructions du Beaujolais.
Nous sommes devant l'entréé de l'Espace Pierres folles à Saint-Jean-des-Vignes
Reference:
https://www.beaujolais.com/article/les-pierres-dorees-a-la-decouverte-de-la-petite-toscane-francaise
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Shog Imas
8 hrs
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| agree |
Gordon Matthews
: It sounds to me as if these rocks/stones are erratics, the geological term for rocks or boulders which have been transported by a glacier to somewhere where they don't belong, so that you might find a granite rock in an area of limestone, for example.
23 hrs
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| agree |
Yolanda Broad
: In New England, we call these wandering rocks. And, in checking Google, I see that other parts of the US also have "wandering rocks."
1 day 18 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks for your help!"
+2
1 hr
French term (edited):
pierres folles
scattered boulders
I think that the French source term needs to be in the plural. It makes no sense at all in the singular, the point of the term is the spatial relationship between the boulders.
Looking at pictures of "pierres folles", I think that they are best described as "boulders".
Looking at pictures of "pierres folles", I think that they are best described as "boulders".
Reference:
http://i-cms.linternaute.com/image_cms/original/249824-les-pierres-folles-de-fournols.jpg
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
GILLES MEUNIER
19 hrs
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Thanks Gilou
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| agree |
ormiston
23 hrs
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Thanks ormiston. I do thing "crazy stones" sounds both un-English and rather like crazy-paving (where "crazy" doesn't mean "mad", but "crazed").
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Discussion
Perhaps 'haphazardly'?
I've never personally come across 'pierres folles' used with any specific technical geological meaning; I suspect it just means 'bewitched stones' or 'possessed stones', something long those lines; we do have a kind of stone known as 'pierre morte', which is a weak, friable, cleavable stone that is not surprisingly regarded as being pretty poor for building with; I think it is a kind of micaceous schist.