Basic Information
Syldavia is a fictional Balkan country created by Belgian cartoonist Hergé which appeared in a number of his Tintin adventures. It originally appeared in the story King Ottokar's Sceptre, in which Tintin becomes involved with a plot to overthrow the Sydavian monarch. The country, and it's neighboring rival Borduria, were also featured in Destination Moon and The Calculus Affair.
Hergé created an extensive history and geography for the country, which he presented to the reader in the form of a tourist brochure Tintin reads en route to Syldavia. He even gave Syldavia its own language, by taking bits of a Flemish dialect and "balkanizing" the spelling and giving the lettering a Cyrilic look.
The events of King Ottokar's Sceptre were inspired by the real-life 1938 Anschluss, in which Adolf Hitler pressured the Chancellor of Austria to step down and then sent his troops into the country to annex it. Tintin was able to save Syldavia from a similar fate at the hands of the fascistic Bordurians. After World War II, the conflict between Syldavia and Borduria took on a Cold War flavor
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Game and Story Use
- Syldavia provides a ready-made model for a fictional mid-20th Century Balkan state and is ideally suited for stories of espionage and intrigue.