The album begins with a preface where Uderzo replies to the critics of his solo work, specially for the previous album, Asterix and the Falling Sky. He also says The Golden Book is not a whole story, but a succession of short stories celebrating the 50th anniversary of the hero.

Scenario

The story begins in the year 1 AD, fifty years after 50 BC, when all the other books are set. The characters are introduced, but aged fifty years. We then find some craftsmen, tradesmen or Gallic warriors surrounded by their children or grandchildren.

Then we come back this time in 50 BC, in the same village in which the birthdays of Asterix and Obelix, which happen to be the same day, are celebrated. We learn that they have received letters from their friends (Panacea, the pirates, Edifis …). Then Geriatrix jealous of the two Gauls make a rather negative description using an Magnetic resonance imaging picture.

Moreover, at a great feast, many recurring or important characters of the adventures of Asterix, from all nationalities, appear. Each one of them offers his gift to the hero (Ekonomikrisis offers a guide Coquelus, Cacofonix his sheet music, Valueaddedtax new magic potions …) They also made some proposals for the future (clothes changing, marriage, amusement park, theater, art visual …).

And finally, arrive Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. Caesar was reluctant to come to the birthday party when they were both invited. However, he yielded to the wishes of his lady, pleading with the story told in Asterix and Son. But Caesar, the bad loser, decides to offer the Gaul a jar of poisoned wine by its medicamentarus, Choléramorbus. But the centurions, to whom he had entrusted the mission, drank wine, which had in fact been replaced by castor oil, and then won a nice trip to the latrine.

The album is explained by Uderzo as a tribute to Walt Disney, who inspired him to become an artist. It is generally disliked by fans, mostly because Asterix albums tend to be classical, and this album has aliens from outer space and a different, far less detailed drawing style.

Uderzo had been adamant this was not to be the last Asterix album, saying in a Financial Times interview, “No, no, no, it is not the last. Certain journalists believed this because the cover was the mirror image of the first Asterix album. That is indeed the case but it was not at all my intention to suggest it would be the last album.”

Plot summary

Breaking with the more or less historical setting in previous albums, two rival outer space alien ships appear above the Gaulish village.

Before it, Obelix and Asterix were hunting boars, when they found one rigid. As they went back to the village, everyone is also rigid! Luckily, Getafix was in his normal state. Soon, they found a spaceship which an alien named Toon comes out of it. Soon, when the ship moved out, everything was normal again.

The evil aliens Nagma want to know the secret of the great weapon the Gauls have (Getafix’s potion), that is “known throughout the universe”, in order to conquer more planets. However a Tadsilweny called Toon comes to the village with the mission to destroy the weapon. Even the weapon wasn’t destroyed at all, Nagma was forced out of Earth in his defeat, erasing all memory of his visit due to his embarrassment over him being temporarily enlarged to giant size when he consumed the potion due to it being incompatible with his physiology.

The aliens are styled on the happy-faced Walt Disney and DC Comics superheroes of the American comic book style on one side, and futuristic robot and insect-like Japanese manga style on the other.

Awards

2006 Eagle Award for Best European Comic

References

According to Uderzo himself, this book is poking fun at certain American comics and at manga in general. Although he stated that he has no resentment against manga as a genre, Uderzo conceived the nagma alien invasion as a metaphor of the massive import of manga in Europe during the 2000s.

• The United States is famous for alien encounters.
• The Tadsilweny’s favourite food is hot dogs.
• Toon says their leader is called “Hubs”, an anagram of “Bush”.
• Toon wants to confiscate the village’s magical potion because it is a dangerous weapon. This is supposed to be an analogy to when the Bush Administration convinced the world that the Iraqis had secret weapons in the Gulf War and in the 2003 Invasion.
• Nagma is an anagram of manga.
• “Tadsilweny” is an anagram of Walt Disney.
• Akoaotaki, the great sage of Nagmas. Anagram of Takao Aoki, author and creator of the manga Beyblade
• Toon (from “toon”) looks like a purple Mickey Mouse, with small ears. In a scene, he even gets black as a side effect of magic potion, like Mickey. Asterix comments by saying that black suits him well.
• The design of the mothership of the Nagmas is based on the anime robot Grendizer. In the original French version, the smaller ships that it spits are called “Goelderas”, a name which literally means “rat faces”, but is written in a way reminiscent of the French name of Grendizer: Goldorak. It is to be known that the Grendizer cartoon series is/was extremely famous and popular in France. (In Spanish the small ships are called “Kara-Ratas”, which translates to the same thing although is also misspelled on purpose.)
• The golden armor of the Nagma leader could be a reference to the golden armors worn by the protagonists of the anime Saint Seiya, which was also famous in France.
• The “super clones” used by the Tadsilweny are similar to Superman, carry a shining green ring and have the face of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Toon also says that they can become bat or spider super clones. Toon also describes them as “security men” who “keep the peace”, in a way similar to the robot Gort from the classic science-fiction movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.
• Directly translated from French the original title is in fact “The Sky Falls on his Head”, which is the only thing the Gauls fear.
• Centurion Polyanthus – Polyanthus are a cultivated variety of primrose, with several flowers on one stalk, bred in vivid colours.

In other languages

• Catalan: El cel ens cau al damunt
• Czech: Nebe mu padá na hlavu
• Danish: Da himlen faldt ned om ørerne!
• Dutch: Asterix en het geheime wapen
• Finnish: Taivas putoaa niskaan
• German: Gallien in Gefahr
• Greek: Και ο ουρανός έπεσε στο κεφάλι τους
• Italian: Quando il cielo gli cadde sulla testa
• Norwegian: Det store himmelfallet
• Polish: Kiedy niebo spada na głowę
• Portuguese (Brazil): O Dia em que o Céu Caiu
• Portuguese (Portugal): O Céu Cai-lhe em Cima da Cabeça
• Serbian: Asteriks i nebo koje pada
• Spanish: ¡El cielo se nos cae encima!
• Swedish: Himlen faller ner över hans huvud

History

Only one of these stories (Chanticleerix) is completely original in this album, the remainder are reprinted from earlier sources, most notably the French comic “Pilote”.

The majority of these stories were written by Goscinny. Chanticleerix, The Lutetia Olympics and The Birth of Asterix were written by Uderzo after Goscinny’s death. Springtime In Gaul and Asterix as you’ve never seen him were also written by Uderzo alone.

Most of these stories have had only very limited distribution prior to this publication. In 1993 there was an earlier, smaller collection also called La Rentree Gauloise which was only available in French. It also contained a story called ‘L’Antiquaire’(The Antique Dealer) as filler which was not by Goscinny nor Uderzo, does not fit with the other stories and contains two recycled and out-of-character villains. That story has not been reprinted, but otherwise Class Act is an expanded, updated version of this.

Even earlier, in the mid-1980s, a promotional collection of some of these stories appeared in a number of translations (but not English) as Astérix mini-histoires (Asterix Mini-Stories).

The stories

Introduction

Originally an announcement page for Asterix and the Big Fight — the village chief holds a modern press conference for the up-coming stories (parodying the contemporary press conferences of then-president Charles de Gaulle).

( 1964 – Conférence de presse ) – 1 page. First published in Pilote #260; Appeared in “Astérix mini-histoires”

Asterix and the Class Act

Asterix and Obelix catch the village children for the start of the school year, but Obelix is put back in class too when he shows ignorance of current affairs.

( 1966 – Rentrée gauloise ) – 2 pages. First published in Pilote #363; Appeared in the original “La Rentree Gauloise” and “Astérix mini-histoires”

Birth of Asterix

Story of the village on the day of Asterix’s and Obelix’s birth.

( 1994 – En 35 avant J.C. (Julius Caesar) ) – 4 pages. Published in the 35th anniversary special of Pilote (the first Asterix story began in the first issue).

In 50 BC

Introduction to the stories (done for the American market).

( 1977 – En 50 avant J.C. ) – 3 pages. First published in the May 1977 issue of National Geographic Magazine for an article on the history of Celtic people. Appeared in the original “La Rentree Gauloise” and “Astérix mini-histoires”

Chanticleerix

Dogmatix helps the village rooster (national bird of France) defeat an eagle (symbol of Rome) that is terrorizing the local animals, Dogmatix stealing Asterix’s gourd of potion to provide the rooster with the necessary ‘boost’.

( 2003 – Chanteclairix – Le Coq Gaulois ) – 5 pages. New with this album.

For Gaul Lang Syne

Obelix tries to use Gaulish customs to get a kiss from Panacea, but things don’t work out for him.

( 1967 – Au gui l’an IX ) – 2 pages. First published in Pilote #424. Appeared in the original “La Rentree Gauloise” and “Astérix mini-histoires”

Mini Midi Maxi

A fashion show quickly turns into an all-out brawl.

( 1971 – Mini, Midi, Maxi ) – 2 pages. Done for French women’s magazine “Elle” #1337. Appeared in the original “La Rentree Gauloise” and “Astérix mini-histoires”

Asterix as you’ve never seen him

Send up of the more outrageous reader “suggestions”, allowing Uderzo to show his facility with different styles.

( 1969 – Amicales coopérations ) – 3 pages. First published in Pilote #527.

The Lutetia Olympics

For the honour of Gaul Asterix and Obelix help Lutetia (ancient Paris) win the chance to host the ancient Olympic Games by acting as security for the event.

( 1986 – Lutèce olympique ) – 4 pages. Done to aid the 1992 Paris Olympic bid and originally published in the bid’s promotional materials.

Springtime In Gaul

Asterix helps a tiny anthropomorphic personification of Spring overcome Winter.

( 1966 – Le printemps gaulois ) – 2 pages. First published in Pilote #334. Appeared in the original “La Rentree Gauloise” and “Astérix mini-histoires”

The Mascot

Some unlucky Romans try to take Dogmatix as their “lucky” mascot.

( 1968 – La mascotte ) – 4 pages. First Published in Pilote “Super Pocket 1”. Appeared in the original “La Rentree Gauloise” and “Astérix mini-histoires”

Latinamania

A dig at modern French anxiety over the bastardization of the French language, cf Franglais, showing the Gauls using Latin loanwords.

( 1973 – Etc, etc … ) – 1 page. Where it was actually first published is not certain. Appeared in the original “La Rentree Gauloise” and “Astérix mini-histoires”

Obelix’s Family Tree

The authors find a modern descendant of Obelix.

( 1963 – Obelisc’h ) – 5 pages. First serialized as strips in Pilote #172-186. Appeared in the original “La Rentree Gauloise”

Birth of an Idea

A brainstorming session with the authors.

( 1962 – Naissance d’une idée ) – 1 page. First published in Pilote #157. Appeared in the original “La Rentree Gauloise”

Notes

In recent editions of some translations (notably German) a new short story is included:
Obelix: As Simple as ABC

Obelix tries to learn to read after he receives a letter from Panacea for his birthday which he does not want to share with anyone else. This was later included in the book Asterix and Obelix’s Birthday: The Golden Book.

(2004 – Lire avec Obelix ) – 3 pages. First published in French literary magazine “LiRE” for the 45th anniversary of the Asterix comics.

In other languages

• Dutch: Het pretpakket
• Finnish: Gallialainen kertomataulu (The Gaulish Multiplication Table)
• German: Asterix plaudert aus der Schule
• Greek: Ο Αστερίξ και η επιστροφή των Γαλατών (Asterix and the return of the Gauls)
• Italian: Asterix tra banchi e… banchetti
• Portuguese: Astérix e o regresso dos Gauleses
• Polish: Galijskie początki
• Swedish: Åter till Gallien

Plot summary

The story starts with a few surprises: For Asterix and Obelix’ birthday party, their parents have decided to come from Condatum. Their mothers have already arrived, bringing a fabulous Roman sword and helmet as presents, and they immediately fuss about why their sons are still single; their methods to rectify the situation, however, bring little happiness to their offspring.

Meanwhile, however, Asterix and Obelix’ fathers – who run a ‘modernities’ store in Condatum – have inadvertently got themselves into a tight spot: an alcoholic legionary veteran (Tremensdelirius from Asterix and Caesar’s Gift) has pawned a helmet and a sword in their shop – the personal weapons of Pompeius, Caesar’s enemy, which are now in Asterix and Obelix’s possession. Of course, their rightful possessor wants them back, and to this end he employs one of his agents, Decurion Fastandfurious, and a gifted tragic actress named Latraviata. Disguised as Panacea, Obelix’s love interest, who is allegedly suffering from amnesia, Latraviata is to infiltrate the Gaulish village and retrieve Pompeius’s weapons.

However, the real Panacea and her husband Tragicomix soon discover that Asterix and Obelix’s fathers have been imprisoned by Pompeius, and they immediatedly travel to their village to warn their friends. On their way they run into Latraviata and Fastandfurious, who have left the village with Asterix and Obelix (who have not yet realized what was going on) in pursuit, and the game is exposed. Fastandfurious is “menhired”, Pompeius’s weapons are returned to the two friends (with some “slight” damage from menhir pressure), and Asterix and Obelix race to Condatum to free their fathers and to give Pompeius a run for his money. At the end of the story Latraviata is the first actress ever to receive an award for Outstanding Performance, which is believed to how the Academy Award was born.

Notes

• When Asterix and Obelix’s fathers warn Bogus Genius of their sons’ retribution, a legionary whispers that this is a “little quirk of theirs…they’re always quoting from that play, Waiting for Godotrix”, a reference to Samuel Beckett’s tragicomedy, Waiting for Godot.
• The award Latraviata receives parodies a César Award given by the French Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema (hence a golden Caesar). The first César Award for Best Actress was given to Romy Schneider in 1976 (who resembles Latraviata unmasked).
• This is the first time Asterix and Obelix’ parents have an appearance in the mainstream comic line.
• At one point in the story, Obelix hits Asterix in a temper. This is the first time he ever did this (though Asterix later repays the favour while in a hyperactive stupor).
• At the end of this book, Dogmatix finds a mate and has puppies, thus being way ahead of his two masters in getting a mate.
• In this book, Asterix and Obelix have a birthday on the same day. However, in the book Obelix and Co. and the live-action movie Asterix and Obelix take on Caesar, Obelix does not share a birthday with Asterix. This coincides with the retcon introduced in the short story Birth of Asterix, which was published in 1994, nearly 20 years after Obelix and Co., but seven years prior to Asterix and the Actress.

In other languages

• Catalan: Astèrix i Latraviata
• Czech: Asterix a Latraviata
• Dutch: Asterix en Latraviata
• Finnish: Asterix ja Latraviata
• German: Asterix und Latraviata
• Greek: Ο Αστερίξ και η Λατραβιάτα
• Italian: Asterix e Latraviata
• Norwegian: Asterix og Latraviata
• Polish: Asteriks i Latraviata
• Portuguese: Astérix e Latraviata
• Serbian: Астерикс и Латравијата

Plot summary

A band of galley slaves under leadership of Spartakis have taken over Julius Caesar’s personal galley – much to its possessor’s irking, for which he sends his no-good admiral Crustacius to recover the ship.

After some arguing about a safe place to disembark, the slaves decide to set sail for the only place safe from the Romans: Asterix’ small Gaulish village. Crustacius, hot in pursuit and ignorant of the Gauls’ reputation, prepares to attack the village. The Gauls prepare for battle, but Obelix is yet again denied a drop of Getafix’s magic potion. As the Gauls return triumphant from battle, they find Obelix has drunk the remaining cauldron of magic potion- Getafix having made two cauldrons just in case- and that this overdose has turned him into stone, which has also proven that it would be dangerous to drink more magic potion.

The former galley slaves are granted refuge, and Getafix tries desperate measures to return Obelix to his normal state. He tries potions and things that stimulate his emotion (wild boar and a kiss from Panacea), and finally Obelix recovers from his stone state – but as a child! Unfortunately, Obelix has also lost his old strength, leaving him feeling useless as he now cannot lift menhirs or eat boars in the same quantity that he is used to doing so. He is kidnapped by Roman soldiers while trying to run away to the forest. The former slaves travel with Asterix, Dogmatix and Getafix to rescue Obelix who is en route to Rome by galley under Crustacius’ supervision. When they recover Obelix on the high seas, Getafix proposes Atlantis as their next destination in order to help Obelix recover his adult shape.

After dropping off Crustacius and his adjutant with the ever-returning pirates- who are also offered Caesar’s galley to bring back to Rome for a reward, as a compensation for Asterix having (this time, accidentally) sunk their ship-, Getafix brings them to the remnants of Atlantis (the Canary Islands), where the Atlantides have found eternal youth, in the hope that they can restore Obelix’s true appearance. Unfortunately, the Atlantides have no means to help, so the Gauls head back to the village, while the freed slaves decide to live at Atlantis as children forever, finally being free from Rome.

On their way back, the Gauls are intercepted by yet another Roman galley. Asterix is incapacitated by a catapult stone, and when the Romans want to feed him to the sharks all seems lost. Seeing his friend in danger provokes so much emotion that it triggers Obelix to transform within seconds to his former self. With all his conserved aggression from being bossed around the entire album, he first drives off the attacking Roman galley, then smashes the Roman outpost near the village before returning for the traditional village feast.

As for Crustacius, the story ends like this: When swapping Caesar’s galley with the pirates for another ship, Asterix and Getafix had accidentally left the magic potion they had taken along for the trip aboard. When Crustacius gets a sip of it just before Ostia, he easily gets rid of the pirates. But when he realizes the nature of his drink, he commits the same mistake as Obelix and is turned into a statue himself, and his adjutant’s dream of getting a promotion for bringing back the ship is dashed when some over-eager soldiers fire flaming ballista bolts against the supposed pirate vessel.

The statue of the admiral ends up in the Circus Maximus for the lions- with the adjutant and the soldiers reduced to sweeping the arena-, with Caesar expressing his hopes to a baffled Cleopatra that one day the lions may actually develop a taste for granite after all…

Trivia

• The character Spartakis is obviously based on actor Kirk Douglas and his role in the movie Spartacus.
• This is the only album in which two of the pirates are called by name.
• The Atlantean “palace” in the album has been modeled after the ruins of the Minoan civilization. Connections between Atlantis and Minoan Crete have also been explored in Atlantis Mystery, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and other fiction.
• The young Obelix is shown as without his usual great strength. This means that he must be under six years old, as that was about the age he fell into the potion and presumably gained his strength (see How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion When he was a Little Boy).
• This album has perhaps the closest thing in the Asterix series to a major character actually dying, as Admiral Crustacius is left trapped in stone form at the end of the story, without Getafix around to revert him back to normal.
• Cleopatra makes an appearance in this album alongside Julius Caesar. Her physical appearance is quite different from that seen in the album Asterix and Cleopatra. Her skin is much more of a tanned brown color, and she has a normal nose as opposed to the long and pointed one, which was the subject of a running gag in Asterix and Cleopatra.
• The young Obelix actually calls Asterix “Asterix” in this story, but in How Obelix fell in the Magic Potion When he was a Little Boy, he calls him “Athtewixth.”
• This was the first volume in a very long time to break with the tradition of odd-numbered volumes being set abroad (while even-numbered volumes were set in Gaul).

In other languages

• Czech: Obelix a Caesarova galéra
• Dutch: De beproeving van Obelix
• Finnish: Obelixin kaleeri (also translated into Savo dialect as Opeliksin orjalaeva, roughly translatable as Obelix’s Slave Ship)
• German: Obelix auf Kreuzfahrt
• Spanish: El mal trago de Obelix
• Greek: Η γαλέρα του Οβελίξ
• Italian: Asterix e la galera di Obelix
• Norwegian: Obelix på galleien
• Portuguese: A Galera de Obelix (Brazil) O Pesadelo de Obelix (Portugal)
• Polish: Galera Obeliksa
• Dutch: De beproeving van Obelix
• Danish: Så til søs, Obelix!
• Serbian: Обеликсова галија

Plot summary

The story begins when a female bard named Bravura comes to the village to teach the children. She has been hired by the women of the village who think that Cacofonix, the current teacher of the village, is giving the children a poor education. Upon hearing this, Cacofonix leaves the village. When Bravura arrives, the women are stunned by her singing and the men laugh at it (the only difference between Bravura’s singing and Cacofonix’s is that when Bravura sings it doesn’t rain). Bravura is insulted and wonders how the women put up with them.

The next day Bravura asks Impedimenta about this, and tells her not to let her husband boss her around. Impedimenta then tells Vitalstatistix that since she is the chief’s wife, she has as much power as he does. They both lose their tempers and Impedimenta hits Vitalstatistix. He then leaves the village, joining Cacofonix in the forest. Impedimenta is then made chief by majority vote (all the women vote for Impedimenta, but the men don’t dare vote or even speak up against their wives).

Meanwhile, Julius Caesar has another plan to take over the village of indomitable Gauls. His special agent for the task, Manlius Claphamomnibus, swears to bring the “secret weapon” over the ocean discreetly.

Back at the village, the “woman dominance” has caught on to every family, basically destroying the village. Asterix, troubled by all of this from the start, is met by Bravura who tells him that if both of them settle down together they could become chiefs of the village. Asterix accuses her of coming to the village to do just that and loses his temper. Bravura picks Asterix up and kisses him, and Asterix hits her, though he feels sorry immediately after.

Asterix is brought before the new chief for breaking their laws by striking a woman, and is given temporary exile. Getafix objects to this, but Bravura argues with him, getting him angry and causing him to leave the village also. And not only does Obelix join them, but every other village man as well. The men actually have a good time in the forest, drinking beer and eating wild boar.

Claphamomnibus’s ship lands at Gaul, and he unleashes the secret weapon … female legionaries (strongly resembling amazons). Claphamomnibus’s reasoning for the forming of this strange unit is that because of the Gaul warriors’ code of chivalry, they cannot fight women and thus could be easily defeated. Asterix, while scouting the Romans, learns of the arrival of Claphamomnibus and his female legionnaries and is sent as an ambassador to warn the village women of the threat (they worriedly send clothes to their husbands via Asterix and Obelix, in case it gets cold at night in the forest).

Bravura tries to meet the women as an ambassador, claiming that since they are all women, they are sisters. The Roman sentry pounds her and Claphamomnibus insults her. Following this, Asterix approaches Bravura with a plan to get rid of this new problem. Part of his plan is to have Cacofonix sing songs in the forest, causing it to rain and scaring off all animals such as rabbits and snakes (and in one scene even a dragon). This scares the female Roman scout parties, causing them to retreat many times.

The rest of the plan involves the women of the village setting up a mall with the latest styles and accessories from Lutetia, and thus when the Roman women arrive to attack the supposedly undefended village they immediately become absorbed in shopping. In the meantime, the men of the village take out the fortified camps filled with male legionaries; Obelix is even allowed to destroy one of the camps single-handedly, as acknowledgment that he has not been much involved with the storyline until that point. Finally, Cacofonix sings once again as the Roman women leave the village with their shopping, and the terrified women( along with the dragon) flee Gaul on their ship with Claphamomnibus left behind.

The story ends with the Gauls in a good mood, and there seems to be a good mood in Rome as well, for Julius Caesar is the laughing stock of his nation for having had to hire women to defeat the Gauls, and, on top of this, it is again a failure. Something of the feminist bug lingers in the village, with a small girl telling (presumably) her brother that she will be his chief when she grows up.

Notes

• The original French title is La Rose et le Glaive (The Rose and the Glaive). A glaive is a long spear with a shaped blade on the end. The French title may refer to 1953 film “The Sword and the Rose”, and possibly also Paul Verhoeven’s gruesome medieval film “Flesh & Blood” (1985) which is also known as “The Rose and the Sword”.
• The name of the Roman official, Manlius Claphamomnibus, is a pun on the English expression “the man on the Clapham omnibus” — a legal term for a reasonably educated and intelligent but non-specialist person, an everyday person against whom a defendant’s conduct might be judged in a court of law.
• Cacofonix gets to beat up Fulliautomatix for once.
• It borrows plot elements and visual gags from a large number of previous stories, including:

• Sending Obelix back to school from Asterix and the Class Act
• Bard sweeping old musical notes out of the tree house (which fall on passersby below) from Asterix and the Goths
• Using female legionnaires to defeat the chivalrous Gauls from Asterix as you’ve never seen him
• Animals fleeing the bard’s song we see the same scene as in Asterix and the Normans including a turtle running on its hind legs
• Cacofonix’s singing causes rain as in Asterix and the Magic Carpet.
• The village children (with conflict between Unhygenix’ and Fulliautomatix’) from Asterix in Corsica
• An outsider causing an election to replace the chief from Asterix and Caesar’s Gift

• This is the second album in which Asterix is exiled, the first being Asterix and the Cauldron
• Bravura is a caricature, but Uderzo would never confirm who it is. The episode came out just before Edith Cresson was named Prime Minister of France, and Uderzo says in a preliminary note that the two events are not related, even if Bravura does resemble Cresson slightly. She also resembles Christine Ockrent, a famous French journalist and television host.

In other languages

• Ancient Greek: Μεταξύ ρόδου και ξίφους
• Catalan: La rosa i l’espasa
• Cretan Greek: Σπαθί και τριαντάφυλλο
• Czech: Růže a meč
• Danish: Rosen og Svaerdet
• Dutch: De roos en het zwaard
• Finnish: Ruusu ja Miekka (also translated into the Karelian dialect under the name Kallija tyttölöi (roughly translatable as Girls of Gaul))
• German: Asterix und Maestria
• Greek: Ρόδο και ξίφος
• Norwegian: Damenes Inntogsmarsj, translates “The Women Marching In”
• Italian: La Rosa e il Gladio
• Portuguese: A Rosa e o Gládio
• Polish: Róża i miecz
• Pontic Greek: Σπαθιά και τριαντάφυλλα
• Serbian: Ружа и мач
• Spanish: Astérix, la rosa y la espada

The full original French title was Astérix chez Rahazade ou Le compte des mille et une heures (Asterix meets Orinjade or the 1001 Hours Countdown), a reference to Queen Scheherazade who tells the famous 1001 Arabian Nights collection of stories.

Plot summary

Watziznehm arrives in Gaul

In the opening scenes, the Gaulish village inhabited by Asterix and his friends has been newly rebuilt by the Romans (it had been burned down in Asterix and Son). Though Chief Vitalstatistix is trying to give a speech, he is interrupted by the bard Cacofonix, who is testing the acoustics of his new hut. This causes it to rain; a pivotal point in this comic.

A small, dark-skinned man suddenly falls from the sky and introduces himself as Watziznehm the fakir, who had been brought off of his flying carpet by Cacofonix’ downpour. The carpet itself lands near the huts of Vitalstatistix and Geriatrix, causing there to be an argument between their wives as to whom the carpet belongs to. The result is an all-out fight between the villagers. Watziznehm however is delighted because it means that he has found the village of madmen which he was looking for — having been told about it by a Roman trader. He soon settles the argument by terrifying the two ladies with a short flight.

Watziznehm explains that he is searching for a way to make it rain in his country (a kingdom in India in the valley of the River Ganges). He reveals that if it doesn’t rain in 1001 hours (a reference to The Book of One Thousand and One Nights), Princess Orinjade, daughter of Rajah Wotzit, will be executed as a sacrifice to the gods. This prophesy is actually part of an evil scheme by Grand Vizier Hoodunnit, who plans on taking the Rajah’s throne once he had disposed of the only heiress. Vitalstatistix agrees to send the rain-making Cacofonix to India, accompanied by Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix.

Journey on a Magic Carpet

The group sets out slightly disgruntled, as Cacofonix is not allowed to sing and Obelix isn’t allowed to bring a whole cart-load of roasting wild boar with him (Obelix’ constant request for food is a running joke in the story). When Asterix points out some wild boar in the forest, Obelix leans over in such excitement that Cacofonix falls from the carpet, but manages to catch hold of a tree branch.

The next day, they encounter their “old friends” the pirates. Although the Gauls do not, as customary, sink the ship, Obelix throws out all of the ship’s booty on the grounds that it is just junk and not food. The captain hurredly calls for all the food to be brought and the Gauls and the fakir leave with it, paying with just one small coin. After the captain remarks that they got off easily this time, the African lookout reveals that he scuttled the ship to preserve honor.

The carpet flies over Rome, where the Gauls say hello to a feverish Julius Caesar, causing him to go into a further delirious state, and on over the Adriatic Sea. Cacofonix insists on singing, to the point that Watziznehm jumps off the carpet in horror. Without a fakir to steer it, the carpet plummets into the sea, where they are picked up by a Greek merchant’s ship. Watziznehm has fallen into a jug of wine. To sober him up, Cacofonix sings yet again, causing a storm and grounding the ship on a tiny island. Obelix and Asterix free the ship easily, sending the Greek merchant on his way. Obelix is still complaining about the lack of food.

After flying over Athens and Tyre, they enter another thunderstorm (this time, not of Cacofonix’ making). A bolt of lightning strikes the carpet and Watziznehm is forced to make an emergency landing in a Persian village, where a carpet seller refuses to fix Watziznehm’s or sell one of his own carpets. However, after saving the Persians from Scythian raiders, the Persian gives one of his carpets to the Gauls.

In India

The Gauls arrive in India with exactly 30 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds left in which to save Orinjade. When told to sing, however, Cacofonix can do little more than produce three dots: … . He has lost his voice during the journey. Rajah Wotzit’s doctors (some of which, oddly, can speak Latin) proclaim that to regain his voice, Cacofonix must take an overnight bath in elephant milk.

The Gauls take Cacofonix to elephant-man Howdoo’s home and set up the bath, leaving him to sit in it. The evil Hoodunnit, however, sends his henchmen to kidnap the bard, and they take him to an ancient elephant meeting-place and graveyard, tie him up and leave him to the elephants. In the morning, Watziznehm, Asterix and Obelix set out to pick up the bard, but are stopped by Owzat, Hoodunnit’s fakir sidekick. While Watziznehm and Owzat shoot curses at each other, Asterix and Obelix escape down an enchanted rope and go to Howdoo’s to pick up Cacofonix, only to find that he has disappeared.

Dogmatix picks up the smell of elephant milk, and after being held up by tigers, monkeys and a rhinoceros, not to mention Hoodunnit’s henchmen, they arrive at the elephant graveyard to find Cacofonix alive and well; his elephant-milk smell led the elephants to believe that he was one of them.

They return quickly to the capital city with the help of Watziznehm, who has finally defeated Owzat, and arrive right on the count of 0. Asterix sky-punches Orinjade’s executioner into the air and saves her in the nick of time. With the help of his magic carpet, Watziznehm catches Hoodunnit and throws him against a tower. While fighting the Indian guards, Cacofonix realizes that he can speak again (because of the dose of magic potion he had taken), and sings Singin’ in the Rain at the considerable top of his lungs, causing it to rain at last.

At the victory feast in the palace, Obelix muses that now their fellow villagers might be (and indeed are doing so) having their traditional banquet, this time without him. And back in the village, some of the Gauls begin to express some desire to have the bard back, since it hasn’t been raining for some time now. The most unhappy of all appears to be Fulliautomatix the blacksmith who sits apart from the others, cradling the hammer with which he usually knocks Cacofonix out, but appears to be missing him.

Introducing

• Watziznehm – the fakir
• Orinjade – the princess
• Hoodunnit – the scheming Grand Vizier
• Owzat – Hoodunnit’s fakir henchman
• Howdoo – the elephant man

Notes

• An audiobook of Asterix and the Magic Carpet adapted by Anthea Bell and narrated by Willie Rushton was released on EMI Records Listen for Pleasure label in 1988.
• This is the first reference to India in an Asterix book. Although some things are depicted in historical fashion (the Rigvedic deities, for example), many of the architectural details and styles of clothing are distinctly Islamic, as is the concept of a fakir. Islam was not brought to India until the late 11th century CE.
• In the original French version the princess is called Rahàzade. The title of the comic is thus; “Astérix chez Rahàzade” (“Asterix meets Rahàzade”) a pun on the famous storyteller Scheherazade who told the 1001 Arabian nights stories.
• The gag that Cacofonix’ singing induces rain was used for the first time in this book. The gag appears later on in Asterix and the Secret Weapon.
• When Cacofonix sings in Vitalstatistix’ hut, it begins to rain inside (causing an angry Impedimenta to chase them outside). However, when he first sings in his own hut, it rains all over the village.
• At one point Cacofonix (page 18) starts singing a song “confused with another comic strip”, according to the accompanying text. The song is indeed Bianca Castafiore’s famous aria from Charles Gounod’s Faust, which she sings often in the Belgian comic strip The Adventures of Tintin.
• On page 23 the princess starts asking her handmaiden if she sees anything arriving (they are awaiting Asterix and Obelix’ arrival). This a reference to the fairy tale of Bluebeard where Bluebeard’s wife asks the same thing of her sister, while waiting for her brothers to rescue her.
• On page 29 Asterix, Obelix and Cacofonix eat caviar, just a meal for “poor people”, according to the cooks. This is of course a reference to the fact that nowadays only rich people eat it.
• When Cacofonix sings in his own hut, causing Watziznehm to fall from his carpet due to the racket, the song is Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head by B.J. Thomas.
• Whodunnit makes a reference to another Goscinny character, Iznogoud, as his cousin and borrows his catchphrase by declaring that he will be Rajah instead of the Rajah. (page 43)
• Upon recovering his voice, Cacofonix sings Singin’ in the Rain by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown.
• Orinjade is one of the few to express a liking for Cacofonix’s music, the others being Justforkix of Asterix and the Normans and Pepe of Asterix in Spain. Then again it might just be out of gratitude for saving her life.
• When Owzat stops Watziznehm from passing, Obelix says “Not out”, a reference to the sport of cricket where bowlers appeal to the umpire. Cricket is extremely popular in India.
• When Orinjade is taken to be executed, the public call out the countdown, and Asterix and co. rescue the princess just in time — when the count reaches zero. A reference to the numeral zero discovered in ancient India.

In other languages

• Ancient Greek: Αστερίκιος παρά Σακχαραζάδι
• Catalan: Astèrix a l’Índia
• Czech: Asterix a Rahazáda
• Dutch: Asterix in Indus-land
• Spanish: Astérix en la India
• Finnish: Asterix Intiassa – Tuhannen ja yhden tunnin matka (Asterix in India – The Thousand-and-One-Hour Journey)
• German: Asterix im Morgenland
• Greek: Ο Αστερίξ και η Χαλαλίμα
• Italian: Le mille e un’ora di Asterix
• Norwegian: Asterix og det flygende teppet
• Portuguese: As 1001 horas de Astérix
• Polish: Asteriks u Reszehezady
• Serbian: Астерикс и летећи ћилим
• Swedish: Asterix i Indien

Plot summary

In this story, a baby boy inexplicably appears at the porch of Asterix’s house one morning. While taking care of him – a horrifying task for two single men – Asterix, along with Obelix and Dogmatix, sets out to discover who left the baby there and whose parents it belongs to, following a lead left with the baby’s sheets. Curiously, they find that the Romans seem to be very inquisitive in the child, too – and all in the interests of Marcus Junius Brutus, Caesar’s adopted son.

While in the village, the baby twice drinks a great deal of magic potion, after which he becomes a “terrible little monster” to every door in the neighborhood and every spy sent to capture him, including a legionnary disguised as a peddlar selling rattles and a centurion disguised as a nursemaid. Finally, Brutus takes matters into his own hands, attacking the village with his own legions and burning it to the ground, while he himself goes after the baby. He manages to kidnap him temporarily- with the help of the ever-present pirates- as the last potion taken by the baby has worn off, but soon Asterix and Obelix catch up with him and give him a taste of why they are considered the terror of the Romans.

Just as the Gauls try to make Brutus reveal the truth, the unexpected arrivals by Caesar and Cleopatra themselves resolve the child’s mystery; he is none other than Ptolemy XV Caesarion (born 23 June 47 BC), the son of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII of Egypt. Brutus had been attempting to kill the baby while Caesar was away on campaign so that he could guarantee his ascension to the throne, so Cleopatra had the boy sent to the village to protect him on the grounds that the village was the one place she could guarantee the child’s safety from Brutus’s soldiers.

The story ends with the banquet on Cleopatra’s royal barge where even Caesar joins in, having promised to rebuild the village in thanks for the Gauls’ efforts to protect his son.

Notes

• Brutus and the prefect of Gaul may be caricatures of Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, and the prefect cross-dressing is then a reference to the movie Some Like it Hot, in which they star.
• The final banquet not being set in the Village was extremely criticized[who?], even if it’s nicely symbolic and fits into the story arc.
• This is the only time the Romans successfully attack and destroy the village, but, to reward Asterix for keeping his son safe, Caesar ended up rebuilding it.
• Like Asterix in Switzerland, this album presents a rare dark tone as it touches on the possibility of an innocent’s murder. With the destruction of the village, Impedimenta’s tearful failure at protecting the child, and the apparent upper hand of the Romans, the story swings away from comedy and briefly takes on a refreshing, if uncharacteristic, air of suspense.
• Before Caesar sends Brutus to upper Germania, he says Et tu, Brute?, which were the words he spoke before his death.

In other languages

• French: “Le fils d’Astérix”
• Catalan: El fill d’Astèrix
• Czech: Asterixův syn
• Dutch: De zoon van Asterix
• Finnish: Asterixin poika, also translated to Rauma dialect as Asteriksim boikkane mukul (“Asterix’s boy tot”)
• German: Der Sohn des Asterix
• Greek: Ο γιος του Αστερίξ
• Italian: Il figlio di Asterix
• Norwegian: Asterix & sønn
• Portuguese: O filho de Astérix
• Polish: Syn Asteriksa
• Serbian: Астерикс и син
• Turkish: Asteriks’in Oğlu

The book describes Asterix’s and Obelix’s voyage to the Middle East. It is mainly inspired by two completely different things: James Bond movies and biblical tales.

Plot summary

The book begins with Asterix and Obelix hunting wild boar. The boars, however, are crafty and lead them straight into a Roman patrol. As the boars predict, the Gauls forget them and beat up the patrol instead. In the midst of the battle, the boars escape with their lives. Later in the story Asterix ponders on their constantly finding Roman patrols whenever they go boar-hunting.

Back in Rome, Emperor Julius Caesar hears of this, thinks the Gauls are training wild boars to find Roman patrols, and is humiliated. He orders M. Devius Surreptitius, the head of the Roman Secret Service, to send an agent to infiltrate the Gauls. This agent is a Gaulish-Roman druid known as Dubbelosix, who travels in a folding chariot full of secret devices. Dubbelosix and Surreptitius communicate via a carrier fly.

In the Gaulish village, Getafix is extremely frustrated and depressed, because he has run out of rock oil. Without rock oil, he can’t make any more magic potion and the village will soon fall against the Romans.

The next day, Ekonomikrisis the Phoenician merchant arrives in Gaul. This cheers Getafix up, but he soon finds out that Ekonomikrisis forgot to bring any rock oil. This causes him to have a stroke, and chief Vitalstatistix tells Asterix and Obelix to fetch another druid to treat him. This druid turns out to be Dubbelosix who successfully revives Getafix with an alcoholic tonic.

Asterix decides that the best thing to do would be for himself, Obelix and Dogmatix to go to Mesopotamia and bring back the rock oil. Dubbelosix insists on coming with them and they set off on Ekonomikrisis’ ship. Along the way, they fight pirates and Roman warships, obviously winning each battle. But there’s one thing that they don’t know: Dubbelosix is sending covert messages to the Romans so they can prevent the Gauls from completing their quest.

The Phoenician ship is finally able to land at Judea, where Asterix, Obelix, Dogmatix and Dubbelosix disembark and head for the city of Jerusalem. The Romans form a heavy presence in the city but some sympathising merchants help the Gauls to get in secretly in spite of an attempt by Dubbelosix to alert the city guards.

Leaving the treacherous druid behind, Asterix and Obelix make contact with Ekonomikrisis’ friend, Samson Alius who advises them to go to Babylon since all the rock oil in Jerusalem has been seized and destroyed by the Romans.

The way to Babylon is across a huge desert, but in the middle of the desert, Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix find a source of rock oil in the ground so they fill a waterskin with it and head back home. Since Caesar has all ports sealed off to prevent their escape, the two Gauls simply capture Caesar’s personal galley — along with Surreptitius and Dubbleosix who have been awaiting the developments on board.

Unfortunately, just before landing back in Gaul, Dubbelosix grabs hold of the waterskin of rock oil and, as he tries to force it open, Obelix leaps upon him, causing the waterskin to break open and send the oil into the sea; the first oil spill in recorded history. Asterix has lost all hope, but when they come back to the village, they find the Gauls fighting Romans as merrily as ever. It turns out that Getafix has been able to substitute beetroot juice for rock oil and thus produce more magic potion. Asterix has a stroke when he realises that the journey has been for nothing.

All ends well for the Gauls; at their usual celebratory feast the crafty boars comment that the holidays are over. The Gauls send Dubbelosix and Surreptitius back to Caesar in a gift-wrapped box. Caesar sends them to the Circus Maximus as punishment for failure — with a new show added for a twist…

Notes

• An audiobook of Asterix and the Black Gold adapted by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge and narrated by William Rushton was released on Hodder and Stoughton’s Hodder Children’s Audio.
• The character Dubbelosix is an obvious homage to Sean Connery, star of the early James Bond movies. Uderzo models him of the appearance of Connery at the time the book was being drawn. Dubbelosix uses many ancient times versions of the popular gadgets of the Bond movies. His name is a pun on “006” (i.e. “007”) — the “six” being required for the “-ix” suffix of all Gaulish names in Asterix.
• When attempting to cure Getafix, Dubbelosix administers “a grain spirit called Caledonian”, which is explained as “Ancient Scotch”. This is a double pun in reference to the drink and the people — all the more so since Connery is Scottish himself.
• The secret service run by Surreptius is referred to as M.I.VI. “VI” is 6 in Roman numerals, and MI6 is the name of the British espionage service.
• Surreptitius is a caricature of actor Bernard Blier and bears some resemblance to James Bond’s early bosses M (played in the films by Bernard Lee and Robert Brown)
• The scene where the papyrus bearing instructions self-destructs after being read is a reference to Mission: Impossible where messages destroyed themselves after being received.
• Saul ben Ephishul (So Beneficial), the Jew who escorts Asterix and Obelix from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea is based on Asterix creator and writer René Goscinny (also of Jewish stock), who had died four years earlier.
• Asterix’s and Obelix’s visit to Jerusalem is full of references to the Bible. For example, Economikrisis mentions on page 29 that they have arrived in “the promised land”. Asterix and Obelix spend the night in a stable in Bethlehem , and the Roman procurator — known as “Pontius Pirate” (a reference to Pontius Pilate) — is constantly washing his hands.
• Pontius Pirate resembles French actor Jean Gabin.
• In the desert, Asterix and Obelix run into several warrior groups from historical Mesopotamian cultures — Sumerians, Assyrians, Medes etc. — who each greet them with a hail of arrows because they mistake them for their enemies. Incidentally, the cultures have conquered each other in the reversed order in which they appear in the comic; i.e. the Medes conquered the Assyrians, the Akkadians conquered the Sumerians etc. Their presence is, however, anachronistic, as these cultures no longer existed in Roman times. The entire sequence is a reference to the later 20th century conflicts in the Middle East.
• The Herodian Kingdom of Israel is anachronistically referred to as the Kingdom of Judaea and once as Palestine — these names came into use only in the first and second centuries CE respectively, whereas Asterix is set c. 50 BCE.
• The bird who gets oil over him and angrily shouts: “Oh no, don’t tell me you are starting already!” is a reference to oil spills, most notably the Amoco Cadiz which sank in 1978 in front of the coast of Brittany, where the home village of Asterix is located, according to the series.
• The scene of Jerusalem is taken one on one from the Holyland hotel 2nd temple model as can be seen here in its original location (in a 3d view). This model has been moved to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
• The Jews are all depicted as Yemenite-Jews, with dark skin and black eyes and beards, a tribute to Marc Chagall the famous painter whose painting of King David hangs at the Knesset (Israeli Parliament).
• Uderzo includes several small references to Jewish traditions.
• The Gauls leave Jerusalem through the Lions’ Gate, which, while drawn very accurately, was in fact built more than 1500 years after the timeline of the Asterix comic. The gate is part of Sultan Suleiman’s outer wall, which still stands today.
• Several characters in the story comment on the uselessness and nastiness of rock oil, wondering why anybody would want it; this starkly contrasts the dependency on petroleum which marks our own time.

In other languages

• Catalan: L’odissea d’Astèrix
• Czech: Asterixova odysea
• Dutch: De odyssee van Asterix
• Finnish: Asterixin harharetket
• German: Die Odysee
• Greek: Η οδύσσεια του Αστερίξ
• Hebrew: אסטריקס וירושלים של זהב שחור
• Italian: L’Odissea di Asterix
• Norwegian: Asterix’ Odysse
• Portuguese: A odisseia de Astérix
• Polish: Odyseja Asteriksa
• Serbian: Пустињска одисеја
• Spanish: La odisea de Astérix
• Turkish: Asteriks ve Kara Altın
• Swedish: Asterix på irrvägar

Plot summary

In a village similar to Asterix’s, two rival chiefs, Cleverdix and Majestix, have been elected. Through various incidents, a ditch has been dug through the village dividing it into the party of the left (led by Cleverdix) and the party of the right (ruled by Majestix). Both men contest the leadership of the entire village. The two sides regularly show their dislike for each other.

Histrionix, the son of Cleverdix, and Melodrama, the daughter of Majestix, are the only villagers who do not agree with the fight, and constantly try to get their fathers to stop fighting. To add a twist to the plot, Majestix’s mind is poisoned by his evil advisor Codfix.

After a failed attempt by both chieftains to convince the other side to join them, Codfix comes up with an idea: in exchange for Melodrama’s hand in marriage, he will invite the Roman troops to help Majestix become chief of the whole village (in fact, he plans to overthrow Majestix and become chief himself). However, Melodrama overhears the conversation, and gets her nurse, Angelica, to arrange a meeting with Histrionix.

That night, Melodrama reveals the plan to Histrionix (whom she is in love with and vice-versa), who alerts his father. Cleverdix tells his son to go to the village of Vitalstatistix, who fought alongside him at Alesia, and get help.

Arriving at the village, Histrionix explains the problem to Vitalstatistix, who agrees to send Asterix and Obelix to help. As the Romans have been quiet lately, Getafix decides to go too.

Meanwhile, at the Roman camp near the divided village, the legionaries are tired of doing their own work and want slaves. Codfix arrives, and convinces the centurion to help by telling him his camp can have the defeated villagers as slaves.

When the Romans arrive, however, Majestix refuses to let them take any villager, left or right, as slaves. Enraged, the centurion takes Majestix and his men as slaves.

Asterix, Obelix and Getafix go to the camp and claim to be slaves. A bit of trouble with the guard over the word “fat” leads to the demonstration of another of Getafix’s potions: an amazing cure-all elixir, which restores the subject to full health with the only apparent side-effect being a loss of short-term memory.

Inside the camp, Getafix makes the magic potion in the guise of soup. When the suspicious centurion orders them to test it, they give some to the prisoners, enabling them to escape. Back at the village, Getafix makes more potion, and they decide to keep it on neutral ground – a house specifically in the middle of the village, with the ditch cutting directly between it – with Asterix guarding it.

However, Getafix has left the elixir near the Roman camp. Codfix takes it, and uses it to cure the Romans. That night, he sneaks back into the camp (pretending to want to ask for forgiveness), knocks out Asterix and takes the potion.

The next morning, the Romans take the potion and head to the village. However, as they had taken the potion after the elixir, the mixture of the two first causes them to swell up like balloons, and then shrink. With Dogmatix apparently interested in eating them, they are scared back to their camp after promising to never bother the village again.

When the villagers return to the village, Majestix learns that Codfix has kidnapped Melodrama. Histrionix goes after him, accompanied by Asterix and Obelix.

Codfix is captured by the pirates, who are then attacked by the Gauls. Having taken some magic potion to counter Codfix’s current strength, Histrionix defeats Codfix in armed combat, and knocks him into the Roman camp, where he is made a slave.

Back at the village, the chieftains agree to end the matter once and for all in a fight between them. The last man standing is chief of the whole village. When morning comes, neither has lost, so Asterix tell the villagers to make Histrionix chief, with Melodrama as his wise and beautiful wife.

The villagers divert the course of the river, filling in the ditch. Histrionix and Melodrama are married, and Asterix, Obelix and Getafix return home.

Notes

• An audiobook of Asterix and the Great Divide adapted by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge and narrated by Willie Rushton was released on Hodder and Stoughton’s Hodder Children’s Audio in 1987.
• Histrionix and Melodrama are obviously based on Romeo and Juliet.
• This was the first volume of the series that was designed and written by Albert Uderzo alone, after the death of his long-time collaborator René Goscinny, and published by his own company, “Editions Albert René”. Both stylistically and story-wise it departs relatively strongly from the previous volumes; consequently, it was hailed by some who thought the series had become stale, but reviled by others who thought it was not true to the spirit of the series. The following volumes followed a more balanced line between the style of the earlier volumes and that of Asterix and the Great Divide.
• Codfix is often referred to smell of fish, and is even called a shoal of fish by Histrionix. His pale complexion and scale mail also provide a more physical expression to this image. With his ugly fish-like face, he was the first character in Asterix to be given a slightly anthropomorphic appearance. He is the stereotype of a leader’s right-hand and advisor who appears to be loyal but is really out for his own agenda — in ways similar to the popular view of Louis XIII of France and Cardinal Richelieu; King Théoden and Gríma Wormtongue; or Goscinny’s Caliph Haroun El Poussah and Grand Vizier Iznogoud; or the later Asterix characters Vizier Hoodunnit and Rajah Watzit.
• Histronix and Melodrama greatly resemble Tragicomix and Panacea.
• Uderzo intended The Great Divide to be a metaphor and condemnation of the Berlin Wall.
• The bridge built over the now water-filled ditch is named “Pont de la Concorde” (Concord Bridge, as in good relations) in the French version, a reference to the bridge in Paris of the same name.

In other languages

Apart from common translations, the volume was also translated into Viennese dialect (by Willi Resetarits), as “Da grosse Grobn” and into the Finnish Savo dialect as “Luaksolaesten lempi” (“Love among the valley people”).

• Catalan: La gran rasa
• Czech: Asterix a Velký příkop
• Dutch: De broedertwist
• Finnish: Syvä kuilu
• Frisian: De Grutte Kleau
• German: Der große Graben
• Schwäbisch: Dr große Graba
• Greek: Η μεγάλη τάφρος
• Hebrew: הכפר החצוי
• Italian: Asterix e il grande fossato
• Mirandese: L Galaton
• Norwegian: Borgerkrigen (The civil war)
• Portuguese: O grande Fosso
• Polish: Wielki rów
• Spanish: Asterix y la Gran Zanja
• Serbian: Астерикс и велика подела
• Swedish: Det stora bygrälet