The golden sickle

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The golden sickle (French original title: La Serpe d'or ) is a comic from the Asterix series. It was written by René Goscinny and drawn by Albert Uderzo . In it, the two heroes Asterix and Obelix go to Lutetia (Paris) to a new one for the druid Panoramix sickle of gold to buy, making them the machination of a slider gang get on the track. In French, the album was first released in 1962 by Dargaud as a single volume. In 1966 a reprint came out as Volume 2 of the series. La Serpe d'or was reissued by Hachette in 1999. The German translation appeared in 1970 as the fifth volume in the different numbering of the Ehapa- Verlag.

action

Miraculix , the druid of the village of indomitable Gauls, breaks his golden sickle while cutting mistletoe . This is particularly uncomfortable for him because the annual meeting of the druids is coming up in the Karnutenwald and he cannot be seen there without a sickle appropriate to his standing and only the mistletoe cut with a golden sickle can develop magic. Asterix and Obelix agree to buy him a new sickle in Lutetia, now Paris , from a distant cousin of Obelix, the sickle smith Talentix. Already on the way they heard in the inn “To the converted barbarian” that buying a sickle in Lutetia could run into difficulties at the moment. However, they do not question this statement of a traveler, but hike on to Lutetia, where they are confronted with modern problems such as traffic jams and environmental pollution and discover that Talentix has disappeared. In the tavern "Zum Cheerful Arverner " they cause a panic in the landlord by asking about Talentix and as soon as they have left the restaurant, the Arverni goes to a seedy figure named Stupidix and reports about Asterix and Obelix. This stupidix provokes a collision with Asterix and Obelix on the street and leads them into Bossix 'bar. There they are supposed to buy a golden sickle at an exorbitant price, but refuse and begin a fight, the noise of which ultimately lures a Roman patrol . This leads them to their centurion , who is in office in the palace of the prefect of Lutetia, the decadent Gracchus Überdrus. He feels disturbed by a loud exchange of words while eating and asks to see Asterix and Obelix, but waves them back out after a short interrogation.

Now they learn from the centurion that a gang of sickle sliders has settled in Lutetia , which presumably also kidnapped or killed Talentix. As a result, Asterix and Obelix examine Talentix's house and come to the conclusion that he is in the hands of the slider. When they wanted to question the landlord in the “Fröhlichen Arverner” again the next day, they found that the inn had changed hands and is now called “Zur Sonne von Massalia”. The new owner explains to them that Arverni is on his way to Gergovia with his ox wagon . The two Gauls take up the chase and confront the Arverni, who confesses to having been forced into spying by Stupidix. He explains to them where the Stupidix's house can be found. Their search of the house is so noisy that they are picked up again by a Roman patrol and locked up.

In the dungeon they learn of a drunk that Stupidix and Bossix located in a passage grave care to arrange. They then break out of their cell, and their fight with the Romans who are trying to stop them in the prefecture's courtyard causes so much noise that they are again taken to the Prefect Gracchus Überdrus. He forgives them for disturbing their meals and gives them freedom because he is amused by the report of the outbreak. Asterix and Obelix ask a guide about barrows in the vicinity of Lutetia and learn that there is only one. But since it is in a forest that is said to be teeming with wolves and robbers, they refuse to lead them there.

So Asterix and Obelix set off on their own and get lost in a nocturnal thunderstorm in said forest, today's Bois de Boulogne . By chance, however, they stand directly under the barrow they are looking for, which they finally notice in the moonlight. They hide on a tall oak tree and wait. Indeed, at dawn, Stupidix appears. Obelix, who doesn't understand that Asterix only wants to stalk and watch him, triggers an argument in the course of which they lose sight of Stupidix. But his footprints on the forest floor lead them to a trap door that leads into a tunnel system.

Here you will not only find a sickle camp, but also Bossix and his gang. Bossix himself escapes the fight that is breaking out, and they leave Stupidix in the tunnel, which they close with the capstone of the barrow. Then they try to find Bossix in Lutetia. They succeed in doing this in the middle of the market, where he is just about to buy a schnitzel to cool his wounds. Bossix flees without having paid for the schnitzel, which causes such a racket that a Roman patrol is once again alerted. Again they are brought before the centurion and then imprisoned. Asterix ends up in the cell with the drunk, whom he has to ask for help to get his bottle with the magic potion, as this time he was tied up and separated from Obelix. As a reward, the drunk receives the rest of the magic potion. Roaring he leaves the prison with them, which once again calls the centurion to the scene. The prefect also feels disturbed while eating and sends a subordinate to inquire about the cause of the noise. When Asterix and Obelix enter his room, this time they find him not alone, but in Bossix's company. Tired of being the boss of the gold sickle slider gang, as Asterix has already suspected. He acted out of sheer boredom and is looking forward to the change that the punishment will mean for him. He had Talentix captured and locked in the basement.

After Talentix has been freed and the supply of sickles has been brought into his house, he thanks Asterix and Obelix profusely and gives them his most beautiful golden sickle. In return, Obelix can finally hand over his guest present, a menhir that he carried to Lutetia and carried with him for a long time. Then they say goodbye and set off on the return journey, which, like the way there, brings them an encounter with a "presumptuous" band of robbers as well as "daring" barbarians and "careless" wild boars. At home in the Gaulish village they are celebrated at a feast at which Troubadix is ​​not allowed to present his newly composed victory hymn.

Remarks

References to modernity

Asterix and Obelix hike on a Roman road in the direction of Lutetia, which is called "N XII" on a stone at the side of the road - today's Route nationale 12 actually leads from Brittany, the area of ​​the Gaulish village, to Paris.

On the way they complain about a newfangled aqueduct that is spoiling the landscape, and they cross the village of Suindinum, today's Le Mans . There is currently a big ox-cart race taking place there, a reference to the 24 Hours of Le Mans .

Asterix and Obelix receive the advice of a passer-by to walk on Roman road VII in the direction of Gergovia. This is an allusion to the Route nationale 7 or Autoroute A7 , on which you are confronted with modern phenomena such as high traffic volumes, construction sites and razors that are asked to pay by law enforcement officers.

References within the series

Like the Arverner in the later volume Asterix and the Arvernerschild, the landlord in the “Fröhlichen Arverner” speaks every s as sch.

An anachronistic allusion is made to the destruction of Pompeii that only took place in AD 79 . In the later adventure of Asterix in Italy , Obelix throws a stone at the crater of Vesuvius , delaying the eruption by a few decades.

Allusions to people

Among the ox-wagon drivers who sped to their companions at the start is a caricature by Jean Graton , a comic artist who became famous with the Michel Vaillant racing series .

Charles Laughton can be recognized in the figure of the prefect , who played a prominent role as tribune in the film Spartacus , which appeared two years before the album .

The host of the inn "To the Sun of Massalia" is a caricature by Raimu .

The tour guide resides in a caricature of the Moulin Rouge and makes offers that come very close to the modern marketing of Parisian nightlife.

Anachronisms

One of the Romans commented on the devastation in Bossix's pub after the fight with "It looks like Pompeii here " - an anachronism , since the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius did not take place until 79 AD.

Others

Tired of being the boss of the gang, triggers the centurion's seven W-questions that an investigator has to deal with - but in Latin of course: “Quis, quid, ubi, quibus auxiliis, cur, quomodo, quando ? ”However, he only comments on what has happened with“ Acta est fabula ”-“ What happened is a fable ”, which means something like“ over is over ”.

The drunk in prison tries again and again to pronounce the sentence "Long live Vercingetorix " without errors, but every time he stumbles over the name of the Gallic hero and corrupts him in various ways.

publication

The story was published in Pilote issues 42 to 74 from August 11, 1960 . La Serpe d'or was first published by Dargaud in 1962 as volume 2 of the series. In Germany, the golden sickle was first published in the comic magazine Lupo modern , issues 6 to 15, in 1965, but alienated. Asterix and Obelix were the Teutons Siggi and Barbarras here. The non-alienated story first appeared in 1968 in issues 38 to 42 of the MV-Comix magazine . The first German edition of the book was published in 1970 by Delta Verlag . In 2002 this volume was reissued and received a new cover picture.

The volume was published in English, Spanish, Turkish and in Düsseldorf Rhenish and Saarland languages .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See on the material of the sickle Wolfgang Spickermann , Asterix und die Religion , in: Kai Brodersen (ed.), Asterix und seine Zeit. The big world of the little Gaul , Munich ³2008, ISBN 978-3-406-57347-7 , pp. 105–126, here p. 115: “A sickle made of pure gold would be […] much too soft to actually use mistletoe to cut. Gilded bronze or iron sickles were probably used. Since the exciting plot about the gold sickle mafia from Lutetia / Paris could not have been written otherwise, this fact was of course not mentioned in the comics. "
  2. ↑ The annual meeting of the druids, as it was described by Caesar , is parodied in the volume Asterix with the Goths , cf. Spickermann 2008, p. 106 f. Spickermann also points out that Miraculix wears the white druid robe, which is attested by ancient texts, but is complemented by a red cape and blue shoes, so that the colors of the tricolor result. All in all, a certain agnosticism prevails in the Asterix volumes and the druid being is portrayed in a corrupted manner rather than comprehensively according to the ancient sources.
  3. ↑ On the linguistic jokes about this event, cf. Gudrun Penndorf, translate Asterix - or the interplay between image and language , in: Kai Brodersen (ed.), Asterix and his time. The big world of the little Gaul , Munich ³2008, ISBN 978-3-406-57347-7 , pp. 212–230, here 226.
  4. ↑ Spickermann 2008, p. 126, points out that Obelix 'menhirs are "completely and utterly unceltic". Menhirs belonged to the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age as cult objects , but have been associated with the Celts since the 17th century . Spickermann quotes Goscinny here, who has stated that the purpose of the Asterix comics is primarily to entertain the readership and not to be as close as possible to the (religious) historical tradition.
  5. ↑ René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, Die goldene Sichel , Ndr. 2009, ISBN 978-3-7704-0005-8 , p. 9.
  6. ↑ However, the RN 12 does not touch the town of Le Mans, which Asterix and Obelix pass later, but runs further north. See Route nationale française on routes.wikia.com
  7. ↑ The golden sickle. P. 10.
  8. ↑ The golden sickle. P. 23.
  9. ↑ La caricature dans Astérix: Jean Graton , on www.mage.fst.uha.fr
  10. ↑ Laughton, Charles on www.comedix.de
  11. ↑ Raimu on www.comedix.de
  12. ↑ Moulin Rouge on www.comedix.de
  13. ↑ The golden sickle. P. 18.
  14. ↑ Both the translation and its interpretation are offered in The Golden Sickle in this wording, cf. P. 43, second footnote.