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Astérix et Obélix (Asterix and Obelix), or Astérix le Gaulois (Asterix of Gaul), was originally written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. Taking France by storm in 1961, it continued past Goscinny’s death in 1977 and expanded into a theme park, multiple movies, and the status of a veritable franchise. Its story is well-recognized across the francophone world: during the time of Caesar (~1st century BCE), the Roman conquest has overtaken all of France, except for a very peculiar Gallic village. In it reside Astérix and his fellow villagers, each with their caricaturic personalities, and a druid whose “special potion” makes them indestructible in fending off the Romans at every turn. The series, a historical satire – often making up events and locations with only some true historical backing – coupled slapstick humor, which carried the major aspects of the plot, with intelligent references and dialogue, bringing to readers an original, clever type of graphic novel. Wildly popular and widely recognized, the resulting unique charm helped cement Astérix’s legacy. Translating it, however, ignores a very key part of its humor.
Now, the ouverture of every Astérix book begins the same way, and French-speaking readers know well:
Nous sommes en 50 avant Jésus-Christ. Toute la Gaule est occupée par les Romains... Toute? Non! Un petit village d'irréductibles Gaulois résiste encore et toujours à l'envahisseur. Et la vie n'est pas facile pour les garnisons de légionnaires Romains des camps retranchés de Babaorum, Aquarium, Laudanum et Petitbonum.
Translators will have an easier time rewriting the first couple of sentences. Irréductible literally means “incapable of being reduced”, but serves the same purpose as “indestructible”. But Babaorum? Aquarium? Laudanum? Petitbonum? How do we begin to translate proper-noun neologisms such as these? Why do French speakers laugh upon seeing them? Here we begin to understand the value of the vocabulary that Goscinny had imagined for this Gallic world.
In essence, Goscinny’s humor begins and ends with caricatures. His imagining of Astérix, the titular character, for example, is the opposite of a strong Gallic warrior (short but witty) while his companion, Obélix, seems to embody the stereotype to the point of mockery (rotund, incredibly powerful, but very dim). Goscinny then does something remarkable: he begins to parody language. He understands that languages all have their unique attributes which identify them even to someone who might not be fluent: Spanish, for example, can be recognized by it rolling r’s /ɾ/; French, for its guttural r-sounds /ʁ/; alternatively, English might be distinguished by its warbling r’s /r/. Latin, to Goscinny, was a collection of simple conjunctions, like ad or ab, and “-um”-ending words, and a phrase could imitate the language if only it implemented more of those sounds. For instance, take the phrase “Let us send troops to the hard war”. If you take the last part, “…to the hard war”, in French, you would obtain “…à la guerre difficile”, and Goscinny would then “translate” it to Latin by molding it into “…ad guerrum difficilum”. The actual Latin, however, is “…ad bellum durum”. French speakers can immediately discern the meaning of the text, and to those having even lightly studied Latin, “guerrum difficilum” sounds a little funny – and that’s precisely Goscinny’s intent. He applies this idea not only to the phrases and “Roman-speak” in the comics, but to locations and names as well.
Arguably the most famous Gallic warrior in history was named Vercingétorix, a chieftain who was defeated by Caesar in the 52 BC Battle of Alesia; despite his later execution in 46 BC, he is still revered and taught in France for his bravery. Goscinny, understanding this, gave every fictional male Gallic character an “-ix”-ending name, regardless of – or, more appropriately here, despite – historical accuracy. Adhering to his previously-set grammatical rules, he also gave almost every Roman personage a name which ended in “-um” or “-us”. The joke doesn’t end there.
For names, Goscinny additionally used a play-on-words for practically every character he created, making sure to complete it with an -ix or -um suffix to truly “authenticate” it. His puns are similar to the popular style of joke “M. et Mme. ont un fils”, which is similar to a knock-knock joke, here translated in English:
Person 1: “Mr. and Mrs. [second half of a word] have a son. What’s his name?”
Person 2: “I don’t know, what is his name?”
Person 1: “[first half of the word, which could also be someone’s first name]
An example (with English facilitations) is written below:
Person 1: “Mr. and Mrs. Terrieur have twin sons. What are their names?”
Person 2: “I don’t know, what are their names?”
Person 2: “Alain and Alex!” [Alex+Terrieur = à l’éxterieur, or outside]; [Alain+Terrieur = à l’interieur, or inside]
In other words, Goscinny’s names are pun-based homophones, perhaps when spoken quickly or read carefully, for little jokes or phrases. He excluded no character in Astérix’s little Gallic village from this linguistic tyranny:
Name & Role
Astérix
The protagonist; tiny, witty, and powerful.
Obélix
The sidekick: strong and known for it. Fell in the “invincibility potion” when he was young, and so is perpetually indestructible. Always carries around obelisk-shaped boulders.
Idéfix
Obélix’s dog!
Abraracourcix
(Fictional) Cousin of Vercingétorix, the chieftain of the village, and always on a shield – refuses to touch the ground.
Panoramix
The druid of the village, maker of the “invincibility potion”.
Assurancetourix
The (terrible) bard of the village. You can count every book to close with a big feast for the villagers, and Assurancetourix gagged to prevent his singing it away. When he’s encouraged to “display his musical prowess”, it’s as a weapon against the invading Romans.
Hidden Pun
Astérix is a slight homophone for Astérisque, in English: asterisk, the (*), which itself is “tiny, but powerful”. Can you see the similarities?
Obélix is a slight homophone for Obélisque, in English: obelisk, the pyramid-like stone edifices, representing the character’s favorite accessory.
Idéfix sounds like Idée fixe, or an immutable idea, which can relate to the dog’s never-ending willingness to follow Obélix & Astérix everywhere.
Abraracourcix is a play-on-words for à bras raccourcis, literally “with short arms” (which in some expressions can also mean “violently”) but here has a double – triple? – entendre: Abraracourcix, perched on and always falling from his shield, is both high-tempered and unable to effectively fight from his height.
Panoramique, like panoramic, is what Panoramix reminds a reader of; there isn’t an evident correlation (perhaps connecting to his all-seeing wisdom), but it’s funny to think of that name.
Assurancetourix is a slight homophone for assurance (à) tous risques, literally meaning “an insurance for all risks”, or an all-encompassing insurance. Again, no immediate correlation can be seen – but why not have a type of car insurance be the name of a traditional bard from 1st century Gaul?
Agecanonix
An extremely old villager with a very young wife, often seen beating other villagers with his cane.
Ordralfabétix
The fisherman of the village, almost always fighting with Cétautomatix (“it’s automatic”), the butcher.
Iélosubmarine
The wife of Ordralfabétix, always fighting with Mme. Cétautomatix or Mme. Agecanonix.
Bonemine
The wife of Abraracourcix, she’s the real leader of the village. If there’s anything the chief fears (and loves), it’s her.
Stradivarius
Roman senator in Astérix & Obélix: La Zinanie.
Babaorum, Aquarium, Laudanum & Petitbonum
Roman cities, according to Goscinny, which conveniently aren’t found in historical records.
Agecanonix reminds the reader of âge canonique, or the age determined by the Catholic Church. Here it’s used to paint the old character as even older… which he is.
“Ordralfabétix” might cross the line for how obvious Goscinny can make these pun-names. Close to ordre alphabétique, or “alphabetical order”, it has nothing to do with the character except to make the reader giggle.
Included here because it is (subjectively) one of the best of Goscinny’s names, Iélosubmarine doesn’t have a French homophone; it sounds exactly like the English “yellow submarine”. It also has nothing to do with the character herself.
Bonemine is a homophone for bonne mine, or “(of) good tint” – what someone might say to describe you after a good night’s rest. It means you’re healthy and happy; Bonemine, however, is almost exclusively in a fit of rage.
To include a Roman to this list, whose name is the string-instrument company.
Babaorum = baba au rhum, the French delicacy.
Aquarium = self-explanatory.
Laudanum = opium that was very common for household prescriptions in the 20th century.
Petitbonum = petit bonhomme, or “good little fellow” – what you might call a quaint boy politely asking you for directions.
How do these names compare across different languages? Some fare better than others, but no meaning is truly kept. For example, Idéfix becomes Dogmatix in English, and a dogma is similar to an idée fixe. However, Cacofonix is the English name of the bard, not Assurancetourix; cacophony has more to do with the nature of the bard’s music, but the original pun is completely abandoned. Unhygienix and Bacteria are Ordralfabétix and Iélosubmarine, and there the same issue takes place. However, Spanish, closer linguistically to French than English, stays more true to the original puns: the couple is named Ordenalfabétix and Yelosubmarín, holding the same meaning as their French counterparts. Goscinny’s humor wasn’t necessarily aimed at making character names apply to the characters themselves, but to appear outrageous in their historical context. Comedy that involves manipulations of the language will always be more difficult to translate, given that translators must rework the fabric into which these jokes are weaved; this is especially the case if the humor contains cultural references, like Babaorum. Re-invention should stay as faithful as possible to the source text, especially if it maintains the authenticity of the joke. Giving credit where it’s due, however, the names do stay punny.
[1] Astérix & Obélix
[2] Recommended Reading: “French and Frisky: The Man Behind Astérix” } https://www.tcj.com/french-and-frisky-the-man-behind-asterix/
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