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HE'S the little Gaul with the superhuman powers who has roamed Europe for 54 years battling those pesky Roman invaders.

But never before has Asterix muttered: “Thae Romans is glaikit” as he clobbered a centurion.

And never has his chubby sidekick Obelix been forced to berate him for being a “pure pain in the bahookie”.

Asterix has not only arrived in Scotland for the first time in one of his adventures, he’s arrived in Scots.

Translator Matthew Fitt, 45, from Dundee, has reworked the original French language edition of the comic book hero’s 35th outing.

So while Asterix and the Picts remains on sale across the whole of the English-speaking world, in Scotland it will also be available as Asterix and the Pechts.

Matthew, who has previously translated Roald Dahl children’s classics into Scots, said: “Everything I’ve done before now has really just been preparation for doing Asterix.

“I’ve always wanted to translate it. I’ve been a fan for a very long time.

“Before I got going with any other translations Asterix the Gaul – the very first Asterix book – was on my mind.

“Because this was the character’s first visit to Scotland, the French publishers were really keen to make sure a Scots language version came out.

“But it’s been a strange process for the past few months because I’ve been banned from talking about it.

“I had to sign a secrecy contract saying that I would not reveal the story or any of the details.

“They guard Asterix very jealousy. It’s a bit like the way The Broons or Oor Wullie are treated here.

“It’s just amazing to be involved in it at all.”

Asterix and the Pechts sees the diminutive warrior and his pal travel to Caledonia to sort out a spot of bother between warring clans and some Roman invaders.

They’re introduced to caber tossing, whisky drinking and kilt wearing before heading back home to their village in occupied Gaul (France).

It’s the first Asterix book to be released without the input of original creators, Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, and the publishers have been at pains to make sure it’s as good as all its predecessors.

That meant those writers given the chance to produce a local language version had to satisfy strict criteria before their work was given the stamp of approval.

Matthew said: “I’ve translated much of it straight from French into Scots. The main story was OK but when it came to the French jokes, I needed a bit of help.

“The gags are funny in French but often don’t work when you translate them.

“One joke was about French oysters, for instance, and was all a bit food related. Great in French but not in Scots.

“I had the idea of swapping oysters for oxters – and it worked, even though there’s no mention of armpits in the original.

“The publishers had insisted the new version had to be playful with language, have fun with it. And once I’d jumped through all the hoops to make sure I got it right, I had a huge amount of fun.”

One of the biggest challenges was coming up with Scots equivalents for character names, beloved of every Asterix fan.

So the fishmonger Unhygienix in the English-language books becomes Minginhaddix in the Scots version.

Chief Vitalstatistix gets the new name Heidbummerix while the clever druid, Getafix, becomes Kensawthetrix.

When renaming the village bard Cacofonix, Matthew paid tribute to his Dundee heritage by giving him a title in honour of the man often famed for his awful poetry, William Topaz McGonagall.

He said: “I had a few ideas for him but I wanted to put the idea of a poet who wasn’t very well received so I came up with Magoniglix the bard.

“Renaming the characters was a great honour.

“For the Picts, or Pechts, the French guys wanted me to play around with the prefix ‘Mac’ so I got characters called MacItup, MacMeboak and MacOckaleekie. I had a couple of goes at some of the names and they sent them back with instructions to ‘make them funnier’.

“In my book, the Gauls speak a sort of Glasgwegian Scots and the Picts speak a Doric Aberdonian. I made the Romans Dundonian. My favourite character is a Roman centurion called Ingananeanaus.

“It comes from the famous Dundee saying: ‘Twa bridies, a plen ane an an ingin ane an a’.’ Basically, you are asking for one plain bridie and an onion one as well. I love it that a Roman is named in broad Dundee.”

In the year before the independence referendum, Matthew couldn’t resist inserting a wee bit of political debate into Asterix’s visit to Scotland.

One character, standing for election as the new king, tells the crowd that Pechtland could be free by 43 (BC).

Matthew said: “The French original had a number of contemporary political slogans, particular to France.

“I thought I’d have to put something in. But it’s very balanced. It’s having a go at all the parties. No taking sides.”

Asterix and the Pechts, published by Itchy Coo and Black & White, price £7.99