pierre folle

English translation: "pierre folles" (crazy stones)

08:05 Jul 27, 2017
French to English translations [PRO]
Geography / landscape features
French term or phrase: pierre folle
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
Nicky Over
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:50
English translation:"pierre folles" (crazy stones)
Explanation:
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...
Selected response from:

Vissertrans
France
Local time: 09:50
Grading comment
Thanks for your help!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +3"pierre folles" (crazy stones)
Vissertrans
4 +2scattered boulders
B D Finch


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


42 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
"pierre folles" (crazy stones)


Explanation:
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...

Example sentence(s):
  • ...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

    https://www.beaujolais.com/article/les-pierres-dorees-a-la-decouverte-de-la-petite-toscane-francaise
    Reference: http://www.zevisit.com/tourisme/route-des-vins-du-beaujolais...
Vissertrans
France
Local time: 09:50
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks for your help!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Shog Imas
8 hrs

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

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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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
pierres folles
scattered boulders


Explanation:
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".


    Reference: http://i-cms.linternaute.com/image_cms/original/249824-les-p...
    https://grahamdunn.photoshelter.com/image/I0000.9bHjXq9GU0
B D Finch
France
Local time: 09:50
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 23

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  GILOU
19 hrs
  -> Thanks Gilou

agree  ormiston
23 hrs
  -> 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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