Читать книгу Legends & Romances of Brittany - Льюис Спенс - Страница 24

Table of Contents

Regarding the nomenclature of the several species of megalithic monuments met with in Brittany some 38 definitions are necessary. A menhir is a rude monolith set up on end, a great single stone, the base of which is buried deep in the soil. A dolmen is a large, table-shaped stone, supported by three, four, or even five other stones, the bases of which are sunk in the earth. In Britain the term ‘cromlech’ is synonymous with that of ‘dolmen,’ but in France and on the Continent generally it is exclusively applied to that class of monument for which British scientists have no other name than ‘stone circles.’ The derivation of the words from Celtic and their precise meaning in that tongue may assist the reader to arrive at their exact significance. Thus ‘menhir’ seems to be derived from the Welsh or Brythonic maen, ‘a stone,’ and hir, ‘long,’ and ‘dolmen’ from Breton taol, ‘table,’ and men, ‘a stone.’[7] ‘Cromlech’ is also of Welsh or Brythonic origin, and is derived from crom, ‘bending’ or ‘bowed’ (hence ‘laid across’), and llech, ‘a flat stone.’ The allée couverte is a dolmen on a large scale.