"un tomble crachant"

00:01 Jul 9, 2012 

I notice that most responders gravitate in that direction too. It also fits the context well (sending your allies to their graves with a bolt of ligtning).

@Wolf, about too archaic or obscure: Normally I would agree with your observation but this is a fantasy genre complete with witches and knaves so something a little bit archaic just might be "what the doctor ordered".

I'll have to think some more about exact wording but, for the moment, I'm favoring "call of the grave" perhaps or "from beyond the grave".

Anyway, thank you all for your help, sure helped with direction to think in.

15:37 Jul 7, 2012 

good titles for Harry Poeters

10:23 Jul 7, 2012 

would assist monstrously.

10:12 Jul 7, 2012 

Just a suggestion...trying to think of something better for a proper answer. Think it's best to focus on what the spell is and does, and ignore the FR term altogether.

09:36 Jul 7, 2012 

Or gravemound, as per Petit Robert and http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/tombelle. Not sure if that fits, though. Also, the book is directed at children and young teens, so it can't be something archaic or obscure.

09:15 Jul 7, 2012 

07:35 Jul 7, 2012 

I think Kashew's reply of "grave" could be right, as there are several references in old French where "tomble" is masculine (see http://www.dicocitations.com/citation_littre.php?mot=tomble or in http://www.archive.org/stream/mmoirescouronns26belggoog/mmoi... for example). But he hasn't given any supporting evidence.

23:54 Jul 6, 2012 

If it was an easy, dictionary type sort of thing, I wouldn't ask here.

But, a quick Google search from my geographical location turns up 22 uses of same. Considering how far I am from the nearest French-speaking nation that's saying a lot.

If I change (fake) my geo position to be in the middle of Paris (I used " Rue du Chat-qui-Pêche", just for the sake of it) - it turns up a couple dozen more blogs where I can't understand about 90% of it :-)

23:37 Jul 6, 2012 

@Catharine: "Wolf..." is correct - that's the book I mean.

@Neil: Good idea to ask the customer...IF you could introduce me to same. This is a book published back in 1982 so I doubt I could possibly ask whoever wrote or published that what they meant. And the people who want it translated know even less about idiomatic French than I do - no help there.

Regarding the spell itself: it comes towards the end of the book and is accompanied (as almost everything there) with a stylised pencil-drawn kind of illustration. It looks to me like some thunderclouds gathering in the distance with a few lightnings/thunderbolts thrown in.

What it does: Kills all you allies coming to battle. Doesn't leave a scratch on the character but all flunkies are gone.

p.s. No misspleings either. The book is a little bit worn with a few stains here and there but no, I don't think there is any doubt as to what's printed on the page.

16:19 Jul 6, 2012 

I'm fairly sure there's no such word as "tomble". So why not start by asking the client to find out what word is actually meant? Did they mean "tombé" for example? I doubt they meant "tombe", as the word is feminine.

And what does the spell actually do? Regardless of any literal translation, can you come up with a spell name that fits the actual action of the spell?

11:22 Jul 6, 2012 

What's a "tomble"?

Catharine, I think Kiwibear is referring to the following post:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/folklore/4843102...

09:14 Jul 6, 2012 

Don't know what book you're referring to.
Do you have a whole sentence?