Tintin Forums

Although Tintin has clearly experienced ice (on the deck of the Auroua in the northern Arctic oceans) and snow in Iceland during the events of "The Shooting Star", I would like to know if he has ever actually celebrated Christmas in any of the albums or not?

If not, is it possible to suggest (or indeed speculate) where he would have celebrated Christmas and who with?

He isn't seen celebrating Christmas in any of the albums. I think there's the odd Christmas-themed installment of Quick and Flupke, the non-serialised comic strip that Hergé also drew for the Petit Vingtieme magazine, but presumaeably Hergé didn't want to have to bend the action of any of the Tintin adventures to include Christmas even when it was the Christmas edition of Le Petit Vigtieme or, later, Tintin magazine. I suppose whilst it would have worked OK for the magazine instalment, it might have limited the sales of a subsequent book to the Christmas season (or, once the books had gone international, to countries where Christmas was celebrated.).

Hergé does seem to have been artistically inspired by Christmas, though, drawing and printing an annual Tintin-themed Christmas card, some of which have been reproduced in some books about his work, and some of which are available to buy as Christmas cards now from places like the Tintin shop.

I recall that one of these shows him, Haddock and Calculus (and maybe the Thom[p]sons) walking across the snow to a church (presumably in Marlinspike village). Another shows him reflected in the bauble he's hanging on a Christmas tree. And I think there might be one of him kneeling devoutly at a little crib scene.

So, in answer to your question, yes, from these cards at least, it seems that Tintin does celebrate Christmas, and does so with his friends at Marlinspike.

Examples of which can be found here and here (go to these pages, search for "Objets 2D").

As a kid I in Belgium I remember that at Christmas time the front cover of Tintin Thursday weekly magazines always had a Christmas theme involving Tintin and his friends. I have also seen images of earlier ones like 5th December, 1946 and 24 December 1948 ETC. Herge looked like he was very much in the spirit of Christmas plus as Mtc16 has shown all the postcards.

I'm sure he would have celebrated Christmas if not shown in the books :) Christmas in Marlinspike...must be fun. (EGGNOG!) He also never celebrates his birthday.

Yes he does we have all seen him on the front of Christmas cards.

Unless I missed other examples, the cards shown are actually commercial ones he designed for sale in the forties and fifties; the studio cards were more elaborate, and were not available to the public until after he died.

The Tintin.com Facebook page has just being posting more of these designs on their Wall, including this one, showing Tintin carrying a missal or Bible, apparently on his way to or from church – not definitive proof, but indicative that he’s celebrating Christmas.

Ah, that's interesting. I'd thought all the cards I'd seen, including those being sold commercially now, were originally Hergé's annual personal ones, with some being more elaborate than others. Thanks for the correction.

I think it's in Benoit Peeter's World of Hergé book (out of print, I believe, and a often bit pricey second hand) that I've seen the most examples of his personal Christmas cards, including quite elaborate ones like pastiche ancient nativity friezes.


Well, yes, in that example I guess he might simply be on an investigation, following some clue found in an old Bible, and just happening to be walking near a church. Or he might be surreptitiously skiving church, and planning to use the Bible as a makeshift toboggan. ;)

But of course there are enough examples of him processing more directly towards the village church, and examples of him kneeling at a crib, singing carols, decorating Christmas trees, etc, to be pretty sure that he celebrates Christmas in the usual traditional ways.

It's interesting how religious some of these cards are, when there aren't many direct instances of Tintin being particularly religious in the books. There are plenty of religious references, such as guardian angels, devils, etc, and Tintin's ability to identify the statue of St John as the Eagle suggests a good theological knowledge. But I can't think of any instances of Tintin praying or expressing any personal religious beliefs in the books, even in the early ones when Abbot Wallez seems to have had some influence over what Hergé produced.

Maybe the religious aspects of the Christmas cards would have been so mainstream in pre-1960s Belgium that they wouldn't have stood out as particularly religious at the time. Or maybe it's just that even after Hergé had moved away from the doctrines of organised religion, he still liked the Nativity story and enjoyed a bit of religious stuff (carols, church, etc) at Christmas time. I guess that's true of many of us!

Probley with the capten at Marinspike hall, and before he knew the capten, he probely just celebrated it with Snowy.

Would an example be in Congo where he addresses the teaching priest as Father?
Does this stretch to a point he supports the Catholic faith (pointing to Herge's beliefs) to some degree?
If he had no Catholic faith then is it arguable wouldn't address the priest in this way?

In Flight 714 towards the end he certainly tells Mik (Karntoff?) where to go! Figure of speech I know ;)