65 Years Of Asterix And Obelix: How The Duo Conquered Over A Hundred Languages

The brainchild of writer René Goscinny and artist Albert Uderzo, Asterix has been delighting generations of young French learners for decades. Here at Babbel, we’re such big fans of the French comic book series that we’ve even picked it among the eight best books for learning French.

If you were ever a child trying to learn French, there’s no way you could have escaped this storyline:

Nous sommes en 50 avant Jésus-Christ. Toute la Gaule est occupée par les romains… Toute? Non! Un village peuplé d’irréductibles gaulois résiste encore et toujours à l’envahisseur…

Translation: The year is 50 BC. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely… One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders…

The story follows the adventures of a Gaulish village which stubbornly manages, despite all odds, to resist Roman invasion and Julius Caesar in particular… all thanks to a secret weapon! A magic potion brewed by the village’s Druid that temporarily gives inhabitants superhuman strength.

And there lies the success of it all… The very first series of Asterix and Obelix appeared in the Franco-Belgian comic magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959. Forty official albums, 400 million copies and over 100 translated languages later, the indomitable duo and their plucky sidekicks continue to reign supreme in the hearts and minds of French culture lovers and language learners all around the world.

A Year Full Of Asterix Events And Exhibitions

This year, Asterix and Obelix celebrate their 65th birthday with a series of special album releases, exhibitions, and events. In honor of this year’s Paris Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, the publishing house Hachette reissued Asterix aux Jeux Olympiques (“Asterix at the Olympic Games”).

October promises to be particularly juicy in terms of events. From October 18 onwards, Atelier des Lumières in Paris will host an immersive son-et-lumière (sound and light) experience dedicated to the iconic series, and on October 23, the famous wax museum Musée Grevin will unveil the new wax statues of Astérix, Obélix and Idéfix (Dogmatix). Parc Asterix, which this year marks 35 years since inauguration, has launched its first Gaul musical and on October 30, a limited-edition art book will also go on sale. The celebrations don’t end here though. Next year, you’ll be able to catch a new animated series on Netflix — an adaptation from the cult volume Le Combat des chefs (“Asterix and the Big Fight”). 

Translating Asterix & Obelix Into Other Languages

With Asterix achieving such cult status, it quickly became apparent that it would be too selfish of France to keep it all in French. Translators the world over donned their thinking caps and embarked on the seemingly impossible task of translating the Asterix universe into their language. While the availability of the comics differs by language, there have been at least 115 translations of the work, making it one of the most translated literary works in history.

One of the biggest challenges translators had to face was the translation of character names. Almost all names in French are jokes (puns on their roles or personalities) with a specific, recognizable suffix.

• -ix / -ine or -a (fem.) for the Gauls, like Chief Abraracourcix from the French à bras raccourcis which literally means “with shortened arms”, like a boxer, with arms ready to attack. It’s translated as Vitalstatistix or Macroeconomix in English, Heroïx in Dutch, Majestix in German and Swedish and Abrazopartidix in some older Spanish translations.
• -us / -a (fem.) for the Romans, like the muscly Claudius Cornedurus. His name comes from the French corne dure which means “hard horn,” and it’s translated as Gluteus Maximus into English, making him literally the butt of a joke. It’s also Claudius Musculus into German, and Tullius Torsus into Dutch. 
• -af for the Normans, like Batdaf from the French bat d’ Af, an acronym for the Battalions of Light Infantry of Africa. It’s translated as Nescaf in English, Dompfaf into German, and Soldaf into Spanish.
• -is for the Egyptians, like the scribe Misenplis from the French mise en plis, meaning “a shampoo and set.” It’s translated as Exlibris in English, and Sekretaris in German.
• -ic for the Goths, like Téléféric from the French téléphérique, which means funicular and is translated as Metric in English, Cholerik in German, and Poliklinik in Dutch.

While Asterix (from “asterisk”) and Obelix (from “obelisk”) have been largely kept the same across all languages, Icelandic translators have been particularly creative with Ástríkur (rich of love) and Steinríkur (rich in stone) due to Obelix’s fascination with menhirs. 

Idéfix, Obelix’s pet dog from the French idée fixe (“fixed idea”) has been given the genius English translation of Dogmatix (from “dogmatic” and “dog”), and he has also been known as Snupix in Croatia, a reference to Snoopy, the dog from Peanuts. 

And the druid Panoramix from the Greek word panorama (“the all-seeing”) is Getafix in English, an ideal name for a peddler of magic potions. In German and the Nordic languages, on the other hand, he is known as Miraculix.

Tips And Tricks To Learn French With Asterix

You may have already tried various resources to learn French, but have you tried comic books? If not, Asterix may be exactly what you’re looking for. 

Bandes dessinées or BDs (“comic books”) are written by and for native speakers, so they are excellent resources for colloquial phrases. At the same time, they have less text than a regular book and have lots of visual elements to help you guess what’s happening without feeling the need to reach for the dictionary all the time. They’re fun and reading them doesn’t feel like homework — that’s particularly great if you’re a visual learner. 

• Start by choosing your favorite Asterix comic book — there are 40 to choose from, so you have plenty of options. 
• If you want, you can also look for the same issue in your native language for comparison purposes and a vocabulary check.
• Familiarize yourself a bit first with the Asterix universe, as it will help you understand the story better: every story includes magic, adventures, humor and a bit of history. 
• Keep a notebook with you for any new words and phrases, especially words you may use regularly.
• Pay particular attention to keywords and phrases that are being repeated throughout the story. 
• Watch how each new word and sentence is illustrated, then try to use these words in a new context by creating your own story or dialogue. 
• Extra cool tip: photocopy a couple of pages, cut them out frame by frame and try to piece the story again together.
• Reinforce what you’ve learned by watching the book’s TV series or film in French, (preferably with French subtitles), if you can find it online.