King Ottokar's Sceptre

A stolen sceptre, a race against time, and a plot to overthrow a king.

King Ottokar's Sceptre (French: Le Sceptre d'Ottokar) is the eighth volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle for its children's supplement Le Petit Vingtième, it was serialised weekly from August 1938 to August 1939. Hergé intended the story as a satirical criticism of the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, in particular the annexation of Austria in March 1938 (the Anschluss). The story tells of young Belgian reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy, who travel to the fictional Balkan nation of Syldavia, where they combat a plot to overthrow the monarchy of King Muskar XII.

Quick Facts

Publisher: Casterman
Date: 1939 (black and white); 1947 (colour)
Series: The Adventures of Tintin
Creator: Hergé
Original language: French
Translator: Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper; Michael Turner

Lore & Background

The story introduces the recurring character Bianca Castafiore, and introduced the fictional countries of Syldavia and Borduria, both of which reappear in later stories. Hergé designed Borduria as a satirical depiction of Nazi Germany. Hergé named the pro-Bordurian agitator 'Müsstler' from the surnames of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Italy's National Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Müsstler's group was named after the Iron Guard, a Romanian fascist group.

The Bordurian officers wore uniforms based on those of the German SS, while the Bordurian planes are German in design; in the original version Tintin escapes in a Heinkel He 112, while in the revised version this is replaced by a Messerschmitt Bf 109. Syldavia's depiction was influenced by the costumes and cultures of Romania and the neighboring Balkan region. The name Syldavia may be a composite of Transylvania and Moldavia, two regions with historical ties to Romania.

The Syldavian language used in the book had French syntax but with Marollien vocabulary, a joke understood by the original Brussels-based readership.

Reader's Guide

The story begins when Tintin returns a lost briefcase to Professor Hector Alembick, a sigillographer, and discovers a plot involving an imposter replacing the professor. Tintin travels to Syldavia, where he uncovers a conspiracy to steal the sceptre of King Ottokar IV from King Muskar XII before St. Vladimir's Day, forcing the king to abdicate. Tintin survives multiple assassination attempts, including a bomb intercepted by Thomson and Thompson, an ambush in the woods, and a plane ejection.

He is aided by Bianca Castafiore, the opera singer, and eventually warns the king, but the sceptre is already stolen. With Thomson and Thompson, Tintin pursues the thieves across the mountains, preventing the sceptre from being carried into Borduria. He discovers the plot is orchestrated by Müsstler, who runs the Syldavian Iron Guard and the Zyldav Zentral Revolutzionär Komitzät (ZZRK), intending Borduria to invade Syldavia. Tintin commandeers a fighter plane in Borduria, is shot down by Syldavian military, and returns the sceptre to the king on St. Vladimir's Day.

The king makes Tintin a Knight of the Order of the Golden Pelican, the first foreigner to receive the honour. The imposter is revealed to be Alembick's twin brother, and Müsstler is arrested.

Did You Know?

King Ottokar's Sceptre was not the first volume of The Adventures of Tintin to be translated into English; that honor belongs to Tintin in the Land of the Soviets or The Crab with the Golden Claws.
In 1947, Hergé coloured and redrew King Ottokar's Sceptre in his distinctive ligne-claire style with the aid of Edgar P. Jacobs for Casterman's republication.