Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield
Encyclopedia
Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield (original title: Le bouclier arverne) is the eleventh volume in the Asterix
comic book series, written by René Goscinny
and drawn by Albert Uderzo
. It was originally published as a serial in Pilote
issues 399-421 in 1967.
The book is inspired by the battle of Alesia
, where the Gaul
ish warrior chief Vercingetorix
surrendered to Julius Caesar
. However, only the very end of the actual battle appears in the book - the main plot concerns what happened after the battle.
This episode, like Asterix and the Cauldron
, is plotted like a detective novel, with a mystery to be solved at the very end.
conceding his defeat to Julius Caesar
. He throws his weapons at Caesar's feet — or rather, on Caesar's feet. In pain, Caesar hops away to the infirmary while Vercingetorix is arrested. The weapons remain where they were thrown, for several hours, until a curious, somewhat greedy Roman legionary
sees that no one's looking, and steals Vercingetorix's famous shield
. He then loses the shield in a game of dice
to another legionary, who is himself out of camp without a pass. He is spotted by a drunken centurion
, who confiscates the shield. The centurion himself uses the shield to pay for a jar of wine
at a nearby Gaulish inn
; later on the shield is given by the innkeeper to a survivor of the Battle of Alesia
, who wanders off into the night...
Then begins the actual story. Chief Vitalstatistix is horribly ill with a sore liver (to the point that any contact with his liver causes him to scream in agony). The druid
Getafix diagnoses that this is the result of too much roast wild boar, greasy, spicy sauces and beer
, Liver trouble. Other Gauls repeatedly poke the Chief's chest, causing him intense pain. As Getafix's magic potions cannot cure weight problems (although it soothes the Chief's liver briefly), he sends Vitalstatistix off to a health spa
in Arverne to be cured. Asterix and Obelix (with Dogmatix) go as his escort. At first, Vitalstatistix proposes having a banquet before they leave, but Impedimenta goes off in a rage, forcing him and his escort to make a hasty departure. On the way, they stop at various inns to have the banquet the chief wanted, only to bring back his liver trouble, pain is caused merely by a leaf landing on his stomach.
When they arrive, Obelix is mistaken for a patient by a Druid, who punches his stomach. At first all the Gauls stay there together, but because Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix are perfectly healthy and in no need of special diets, they feast on wild boar and beer while everyone else's diets are boiled vegetables daily. This, and other incidents, seriously annoy Vitalstatistix and the other patients, putting pressure on the management, some people break down at this, and the Chef is attacked. One man even tries to steal food from Dogmatix, but is stopped by Obelix. Vitalstatistix advises his men to tour the countryside of Arverne, visiting such beautiful places as Gergovia. Asterix asks about Alesia
, but Vitalstatistix angrily shouts that he does not know where Alesia is. (The exact location of Alesia was unknown for centuries, including when this book was published. It also seems to be a sore point for people like Winesandspirix and Vitalstatistix who were there.)
Along the way, the Gauls are met by special Roman envoy
, Noxius Vapus. A fight ensues, with obvious results: the Romans are left beaten up, with their weapons broken, while the Gauls proceed merrily on their way. In the aftermath Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix meet an old Gaul called Winesandspirix, who has set up shop as a wine
and charcoal
salesman in Gergovia. Winesandspirix takes the Gauls to his home as his friends. Asterix asks if Wine and Charcoal shops next to each other causes competition, but Winesandspirix says they buy Wine and Charcoal from each other. His wife then cooks vegetable soup which Obelix loves. Followed by a party, where the neighbouring wine charcoal owners gather to talk. Someone who brought sausages opens and slammed the door quite loudly. Asterix then asks why Winesanspirix about this and says, " We Arvenians are very fond of bangers". Obelix, grabbing three sausages, tasted them and realised that it was actually Wild Boar sausages when Winesanspirix tells him.
Meanwhile, when Noxius Vapus makes his report to Caesar in Rome. Caesar decides that the Gauls must be taught a lesson. He plans a triumph
on Vercingetorix's shield, only there's one small problem — he does not have the shield any more. Caesar orders Vapus to send search parties to Arverne, looking for it.
Soon the Roman search parties arrive at Winesandspirix's shop. They find nothing, but Asterix's curiosity is piqued. The Romans send a spy, Legionary Pusillanimus, a drunk to find out more but, on drinking too much wine at Winesandspirix's tavern, he accidentally discloses the plan. In order to thwart it, Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix set off in search of the shield themselves. Pusillanimus actually knows about the legionary who originally took the shield as he was at the Battle of Alesia himself, but he fails to inform his superiors and only tells the Gauls while drunk.
They follow the shield's trail, meeting those who possessed it before it disappeared- the first legionary, Lucius Circumbendibus who now owns a wheel manufacturing business, the second legionary, Marcus Carniverus who worked at a health resort before going on to open a restaurant called The Boar in Wine (Much to Obelix's annoyance when they learn that they have spent days at the resort for nothing), and the drunken Centurion Crapulus who is still in the army-, and fighting the Roman search parties who are following the same trail. It eventually leads them back to Winesandspirix, for he was the tavern keeper the Roman centurion originally gave the shield to.
Winesandspirix confesses that he does not have the shield any more, as he gave it as a comfort to a Gaulish warrior who was trying to drown his sorrows in wine after having witnessed Vercingetorix's defeat. Right after Winesandspirix explains how he originally ran away from home after Asterix and Obelix left and just came back to confess, the Gaulish warrior appears. This Gaulish warrior actually turns out to be chief Vitalstatistix- who returns to the group now significantly thinner than before-, who, as it turns out, has had the shield with him all along!
Asterix, Obelix, Dogmatix, Vitalstatistix and Winesandspirix organise a Gaulish (instead of Roman) triumph on Vercingetorix's shield, much to the surprise of Vapus and his troops. As a further twist of fate, Caesar himself arrives to check on Vapus's progress, and seeing the results (They get black because of being covered in charcoal dust as they always the charcoal cellar in Winesanspirix's tavern), he punishes Vapus by sending him and his troops to Numidia
. As an added measure, Caesar promotes Centurion Crapulus to Officer commanding the garrison of Gergovia, Legionary Pusillanimus to Centurion and to keep the whole incident a secret. The Gauls return to their village (Vitalstatistix regaining his original weight from having banquets at the inns they visited earlier in the story) and have their traditional, huge feast — without Vitalstatistix this time, however, for his wife has something to say about his intention to eat well again and put the shield to an offensive rather than defensive use!
Asterix
Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...
comic book series, written by René Goscinny
René Goscinny
René Goscinny was a French comics editor and writer, who is best known for the comic book Astérix, which he created with illustrator Albert Uderzo, and for his work on the comic series Lucky Luke with Morris and Iznogoud with Jean Tabary.-Early life:Goscinny was born in Paris in 1926, to a family...
and drawn by Albert Uderzo
Albert Uderzo
Albert Uderzo is a French comic book artist, and scriptwriter. He is best known for his work on the Astérix series, but also drew other comics such as Oumpah-pah, also in collaboration with René Goscinny.-Early life:...
. It was originally published as a serial in Pilote
Pilote
thumb|Cover of the first Pilote teaser issue, #0.Pilote was a French comics periodical published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as Astérix le Gaulois, Blueberry, Achille Talon, and Valérian et...
issues 399-421 in 1967.
The book is inspired by the battle of Alesia
Battle of Alesia
The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia took place in September, 52 BC around the Gallic oppidum of Alesia, a major town centre and hill fort of the Mandubii tribe...
, where the Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
ish warrior chief Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe, who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars....
surrendered to Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. However, only the very end of the actual battle appears in the book - the main plot concerns what happened after the battle.
This episode, like Asterix and the Cauldron
Asterix and the Cauldron
Asterix and the Cauldron is the thirteenth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo...
, is plotted like a detective novel, with a mystery to be solved at the very end.
Plot summary
The book begins with VercingetorixVercingetorix
Vercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe, who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars....
conceding his defeat to Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. He throws his weapons at Caesar's feet — or rather, on Caesar's feet. In pain, Caesar hops away to the infirmary while Vercingetorix is arrested. The weapons remain where they were thrown, for several hours, until a curious, somewhat greedy Roman legionary
Legionary
The Roman legionary was a professional soldier of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Legionaries had to be Roman citizens under the age of 45. They enlisted in a legion for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign...
sees that no one's looking, and steals Vercingetorix's famous shield
Shield
A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace or battle axe to the side of the shield-bearer....
. He then loses the shield in a game of dice
Dice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
to another legionary, who is himself out of camp without a pass. He is spotted by a drunken centurion
Centurion
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
, who confiscates the shield. The centurion himself uses the shield to pay for a jar of wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
at a nearby Gaulish inn
INN
InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
; later on the shield is given by the innkeeper to a survivor of the Battle of Alesia
Battle of Alesia
The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia took place in September, 52 BC around the Gallic oppidum of Alesia, a major town centre and hill fort of the Mandubii tribe...
, who wanders off into the night...
Then begins the actual story. Chief Vitalstatistix is horribly ill with a sore liver (to the point that any contact with his liver causes him to scream in agony). The druid
Druid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
Getafix diagnoses that this is the result of too much roast wild boar, greasy, spicy sauces and beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, Liver trouble. Other Gauls repeatedly poke the Chief's chest, causing him intense pain. As Getafix's magic potions cannot cure weight problems (although it soothes the Chief's liver briefly), he sends Vitalstatistix off to a health spa
Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy, involves the use of water for pain-relief and treating illness. The term hydrotherapy itself is synonymous with the term water cure as it was originally marketed by practitioners and promoters in the 19th century...
in Arverne to be cured. Asterix and Obelix (with Dogmatix) go as his escort. At first, Vitalstatistix proposes having a banquet before they leave, but Impedimenta goes off in a rage, forcing him and his escort to make a hasty departure. On the way, they stop at various inns to have the banquet the chief wanted, only to bring back his liver trouble, pain is caused merely by a leaf landing on his stomach.
When they arrive, Obelix is mistaken for a patient by a Druid, who punches his stomach. At first all the Gauls stay there together, but because Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix are perfectly healthy and in no need of special diets, they feast on wild boar and beer while everyone else's diets are boiled vegetables daily. This, and other incidents, seriously annoy Vitalstatistix and the other patients, putting pressure on the management, some people break down at this, and the Chef is attacked. One man even tries to steal food from Dogmatix, but is stopped by Obelix. Vitalstatistix advises his men to tour the countryside of Arverne, visiting such beautiful places as Gergovia. Asterix asks about Alesia
Alesia (city)
thumb|200px|Vercingetorix Memorial in Alesia thumb|200px|right|The [[fortification]]s built by Caesar in AlesiaInset: cross shows location of Alesia in Gaul...
, but Vitalstatistix angrily shouts that he does not know where Alesia is. (The exact location of Alesia was unknown for centuries, including when this book was published. It also seems to be a sore point for people like Winesandspirix and Vitalstatistix who were there.)
Along the way, the Gauls are met by special Roman envoy
Envoy (title)
In diplomacy, an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary is, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident....
, Noxius Vapus. A fight ensues, with obvious results: the Romans are left beaten up, with their weapons broken, while the Gauls proceed merrily on their way. In the aftermath Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix meet an old Gaul called Winesandspirix, who has set up shop as a wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
and charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
salesman in Gergovia. Winesandspirix takes the Gauls to his home as his friends. Asterix asks if Wine and Charcoal shops next to each other causes competition, but Winesandspirix says they buy Wine and Charcoal from each other. His wife then cooks vegetable soup which Obelix loves. Followed by a party, where the neighbouring wine charcoal owners gather to talk. Someone who brought sausages opens and slammed the door quite loudly. Asterix then asks why Winesanspirix about this and says, " We Arvenians are very fond of bangers". Obelix, grabbing three sausages, tasted them and realised that it was actually Wild Boar sausages when Winesanspirix tells him.
Meanwhile, when Noxius Vapus makes his report to Caesar in Rome. Caesar decides that the Gauls must be taught a lesson. He plans a triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
on Vercingetorix's shield, only there's one small problem — he does not have the shield any more. Caesar orders Vapus to send search parties to Arverne, looking for it.
Soon the Roman search parties arrive at Winesandspirix's shop. They find nothing, but Asterix's curiosity is piqued. The Romans send a spy, Legionary Pusillanimus, a drunk to find out more but, on drinking too much wine at Winesandspirix's tavern, he accidentally discloses the plan. In order to thwart it, Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix set off in search of the shield themselves. Pusillanimus actually knows about the legionary who originally took the shield as he was at the Battle of Alesia himself, but he fails to inform his superiors and only tells the Gauls while drunk.
They follow the shield's trail, meeting those who possessed it before it disappeared- the first legionary, Lucius Circumbendibus who now owns a wheel manufacturing business, the second legionary, Marcus Carniverus who worked at a health resort before going on to open a restaurant called The Boar in Wine (Much to Obelix's annoyance when they learn that they have spent days at the resort for nothing), and the drunken Centurion Crapulus who is still in the army-, and fighting the Roman search parties who are following the same trail. It eventually leads them back to Winesandspirix, for he was the tavern keeper the Roman centurion originally gave the shield to.
Winesandspirix confesses that he does not have the shield any more, as he gave it as a comfort to a Gaulish warrior who was trying to drown his sorrows in wine after having witnessed Vercingetorix's defeat. Right after Winesandspirix explains how he originally ran away from home after Asterix and Obelix left and just came back to confess, the Gaulish warrior appears. This Gaulish warrior actually turns out to be chief Vitalstatistix- who returns to the group now significantly thinner than before-, who, as it turns out, has had the shield with him all along!
Asterix, Obelix, Dogmatix, Vitalstatistix and Winesandspirix organise a Gaulish (instead of Roman) triumph on Vercingetorix's shield, much to the surprise of Vapus and his troops. As a further twist of fate, Caesar himself arrives to check on Vapus's progress, and seeing the results (They get black because of being covered in charcoal dust as they always the charcoal cellar in Winesanspirix's tavern), he punishes Vapus by sending him and his troops to Numidia
Numidia
Numidia was an ancient Berber kingdom in part of present-day Eastern Algeria and Western Tunisia in North Africa. It is known today as the Chawi-land, the land of the Chawi people , the direct descendants of the historical Numidians or the Massyles The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later...
. As an added measure, Caesar promotes Centurion Crapulus to Officer commanding the garrison of Gergovia, Legionary Pusillanimus to Centurion and to keep the whole incident a secret. The Gauls return to their village (Vitalstatistix regaining his original weight from having banquets at the inns they visited earlier in the story) and have their traditional, huge feast — without Vitalstatistix this time, however, for his wife has something to say about his intention to eat well again and put the shield to an offensive rather than defensive use!
In other languages
- ArabicArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: أستريكس والترس المختفى - Bengali: Dhaler Khonje Asterix
- Catalan: L'escut arvern
- Czech: Asterix a Slavný štít
- Dutch: Het ijzeren schild
- Finnish: Asterix ja kadonnut kilpi ("Asterix and the Missing Shield")
- German: Asterix und der Arvernerschild
- Greek: Η ασπίδα της Αρβέρνης
- Hungarian: Asterix és az auvergne-i pajzs ("Asterix and the Shield of Auvergne")
- Italian: Asterix e lo scudo degli Arverni
- Norwegian: Asterix og Obelix, Romernes skrekk! ("Asterix and Obelix, The Scare of the Romans") No traditional "Asterix"
- Polish: Tarcza Arwernów
- Portuguese: O Escudo de Arverne
- Serbian: Галски штит / Galski štit
- Spanish: El escudo arverno
- Swedish: Romarnas skräck ("The Scare of the Romans")
- Turkish: Asteriks Galya Kalkanı