Asterix and the Normans

Infobox Asterix
Title=Asterix and the Normans


Frenchtitle=Astérix et les Normands
Story=Rene Goscinny
Illustrations=Albert Uderzo
FrenchDate=1966
EnglishDate=1978
Preceded="Asterix in Britain"
Followed="Asterix the Legionary"|

"Asterix and the Normans" is the ninth book in the Asterix comic book series, written by René Goscinny and drawn by Albert Uderzo. It was first published in serial form in "Pilote" magazine, issues 340-361, in 1966. It depicts a meeting between Asterix's Gaulish village and a shipload of Normans (Vikings).

Plot summary

The story begins with Vitalstatistix receiving a missive from his brother Doublehelix in Lutetia (modern-age Paris) who wants his aid in making a man of his teenage son, Justforkix.

Justforkix arrives in a sports car-like chariot, and comes across as a happy-go-lucky so-and-so with an air of superiority about him. Conflict soon emerges between the city boy and the country folk. The village holds a dance in honour of his arrival but he is unimpressed by the simple traditional way of dancing, snatches Cacofonix's lyre and sings and plays in the manner of Elvix Preslix (the Rolling Menhirs in the English version). Some of the younger villagers soon catch on and dance to this new form. Outraged by this usurpation, Cacofonix tries to show off his own skills, but this of course leads to the break-up of the dance and a knock-out blow from Fulliautomatix. Justforkix on the other hand is impressed and suggests that Cacofonix's talents would be better appreciated in Lutetia. On the whole, though, Justforkix is quickly bored with the village. This changes, however, when a Norman ship arrives.

The Normans have decided to come to Gaul not for plunder, but for learning: they are fearless to the point of not even understanding the concept of fear, which causes many problems for them. These include the contempt of children for parental discipline and the inability to cure hiccups — which can be cured by giving the person a fright. The main reason for this expedition however is that they have heard of people "flying in fear", which they interpret too literally, thinking this mysterious "fear" will grant them the ability to fly. Unfortunately, the local Gauls fear nothing (except the sky falling on their heads), and they actually welcome the prospect of a fight with the Normans. However, Justforkix is horrified and fearfully decides to flee for his life.

Viewing Justforkix as an expert in fear, the Normans kidnap him on his flight home so he can teach them the meaning of the concept. Their chief, the fierce Timandahaf, roars at Justforkix to make them feel fear, though paradoxically it is Justforkix who fears them. The youngster's situation is hopeless until Asterix and Obelix come to the rescue. A fight breaks out in which the Normans show no fear whatsoever in spite of the beating they get from the magic-powered Gauls, in contrast to some Romans who reluctantly get involved.

Timandahaf brings an end to the battle and explains to the Gauls the reasons he and his men have come and kidnapped Justforkix. In order to teach the Normans fear, Asterix sends Obelix to fetch Cacofonix. But Cacofonix turns out to be missing — encouraged by Justforkix's comments and annoyed by the villagers' treatment of him, he has decided to go to Lutetia. Obelix manages to track him down, however, and to persuade him to come back to save his first real fan.

Meanwhile, the Norman chief's patience runs out and he tries to force Justforkix to teach them flying by tossing him off a cliff. Just before this can be carried out, Asterix engages the Norman warriors in battle and, seeing him pressed by the Normans, Justforkix suddenly gains the courage to fight as well (though to no visible effect).

Just in time, Obelix and Cacofonix turn up to stop the slugfest, and after some scepticism the Normans learn that Cacofonix does indeed have the ability to teach one the meaning of fear: his loud and ear-splitting singing has them scared out of their wits. After having experienced this new emotion, the Normans find out that it does not give them wings but rather shows them the true meaning of courage, something they had always taken for granted. Justforkix himself has learned the meaning of courage thoroughly, making him the pride of his uncle.

The story ends with the traditional banquet, but with Cacofonix as guest of honour and Fulliautomatix tied up with rope, his ears filled with parsley. For once their roles are reversed.

Historical background

In France, Normans are the descendants of Norsemen who invaded northern France in the late 9th century and gave their name to Normandy. The book's encounter between Romans, Gauls and Normans during the age of Caesar is thus an anachronism; indeed, the Norman chief tells the Gauls that they don't want to invade their country, but their descendants will do some centuries later. In the book, the Normans' heavy use of cream in recipes is a reference to stereotypes of the cuisine in Normandy.

Puns

In the original French version, Justforkix is called "Goudurix" ("a taste for risks"), a name he lives up to only towards the end.

In Finnish, the story is called "Asterix ja normannien maihinnousu" ("Asterix and the Landing of the Normans"). This is a reference to the "Normandian maihinnousu", the standard Finnish history-book term for the Normandy Landings of 1944.

Other themes

In this story, we see Dogmatix's distress over the uprooting of trees for the first time.

This is the first album in the series since "Asterix the Gaul" where Cacofonix is not tied up for the story-ending banquet.

Fulliautomatix the blacksmith had previously appeared in both "Asterix the Gaul" and "Asterix and the Banquet", but he differed somewhat from the appearance he now took in "Asterix and the Normans", and he would remain essentially unchanged for the rest of the series.

In contrast to Justforkix, there is the, at first, over-eager Roman rookie Legionary Oleaginus, whose hair is cut short in the manner of modern-day soldiers. Whereas Justforkix learns courage, Oleaginus learns to fear the Gauls and the Normans and also the means of getting out of confronting them, such as wasting time on making three copies of the same report (i.e. red tape).

Adaptations

The basic storyline of this graphic novel have been adapted into the animated full-length feature "Asterix and the Vikings". Justforkix was the star of a series of Asterix gamebooks, popular in the 1980s.

*Rolling menhirs is a reference to famous pop group the Rolling Stones.

In other languages

*Bengali: "Asterix o Norman dal"
*Catalan: "Astèrix i els normands"
*Dutch: "Asterix en de Noormannen"
*Finnish: "Asterix ja normannien maihinnousu"
*German: "Asterix und die Normannen"
*Greek: "Ο Αστερίξ και οι Νορμανδοί"
*Italian: "Asterix e i Normanni"
*Norwegian: "Asterix og vikingene"
*Polish: "Asteriks i Normanowie"
*Portuguese: "Astérix e os Normandos"
*Spanish: "Astérix y los normandos"
*Swedish: "Asterix och vikingarna"
*Serbian: "Астерикс и Нормани"