A Paradocs Abroad

Menhirs (a Breton word that translates literally as long stone) are standing stones that were erected at least 5000 years ago. This one is the Kerloas Menhir and it is the closest one to the house we are living in at Saint-Renan. It is about 5 km away, atop a 132 m high ridge. It is said that it can be seen from 30 km, but I've not been able to pick it out from more than a few hundred metres away.

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You might have come across menhirs in the Asterix comics because Asterix's faithful friend Obelix is a menhir delivery-man.

According to the plaque near the Kerloas Menhir site it is nicknamed Au Tort (Humpback, in English) because of 2 bumps on its sides. In the 19th century newlywed couples would visit Au Tort on their wedding night to rub their bellies on the bumps; the man in hopes of fertility to produce male children, and the woman to ensure her rule over the household.

The plaque also says that Au Tort was over 12 m tall before it was decapitated by a lightening strike. One of publications we picked up at the local Tourist Office has a photo of it before the strike, and it was definitely more symmetric.

There is also a legend concerning all menhirs. It goes that there are magical treasures buried beneath then. The treasures become visible at the stroke of midnight on Christmas when the menhirs rush to the sea to quench their thirst. Foolish people who try to steal the treasure are mesmerized by its magic and are crushed beneath the menhir on its return before the next stroke of the clock.

I first visited Au Tort a few days after we arrived in Saint-Renan, when, out cycling, I spotted him across the corn field. There were no other people around, and the sky was partly filled with fast-moving clouds. It was a bit mystical standing looking at Au Tort, knowing how long he had stood there, and the feeling of weirdness was compounded when I stood close to the base, looked up at the scudding clouds, and lost all sense of perspective and relativity. What was moving? Me, the clouds, or the menhir?

Susan and I returned on a sunny day a few days later when many more people were visiting Au Tort, and took the photo above, and another from across the corn field.