# We Icelanders like bizarre things (Phallological Museum) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 16, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506 "2008-05-16T02:04:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/1 "2008-05-16T02:04:08Z")
I’ve known about this place for a few years now, but this is the first time I’ve actually seen an article about the Icelandic Phallological Museum. Yes, folks, Iceland has its very own museum devoted to one of my favorite subjects: the penis. Reuters has it listed [here](http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN1519887520080516?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0), and it describes a little bit of the wonderful things you’ll find there. > [@Reuters Oddly Enough](#): > > Sigurdur Hjartarson is missing a human penis. But he’s not worried: four men have promised to donate theirs to him when they die. > > Hjartarson is founder and owner of the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which offers visitors from around the world a close-up look at the long and the short of the male reproductive organ. > > His collection, which began in 1974 with a single bull’s penis that looked something like a riding crop, now boasts 261 preserved members from 90 species. > > The largest, from a sperm whale, is 70 kg (154 lb) and 1.7 meters (5.58 ft) long. The smallest, a hamster penis bone, is just 2 mm and must be viewed through a magnifying glass. Next time **Acid Lamp** and I go back to Iceland, we’re going to have to check this out. I must admit that a sperm whale penis mounted onto the wall should be worth the effort to drive out to the middle of nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/2 "2008-05-16T02:30:28Z")
Don’t bother. I was in Iceland in 2005. One member of my tour group visited the museum and said it was actually pretty boring. [Previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=393767&highlight=iceland+museum+french) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/3 "2008-05-16T02:37:41Z")
Iceland: sweaters, geothermal power, Sigur Ros, and preserved penises. Hmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/4 "2008-05-16T02:56:14Z")
In Moby Dick, there is a description of how to make a raincoat from a whale penis. Now that’s some styling threads. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/5 "2008-05-16T03:07:04Z")
Nuh uh, don’t blame this on being Icelandic. Blame skata or hangikjot on that, but this is just a case of weird. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/6 "2008-05-16T03:25:18Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] Nuh uh, don’t blame this on being Icelandic. Blame skata or hangikjot on that, but this is just a case of weird. [/QUOTE] I think I’d blame hákarl more readily on us being weird than hángikjöt. But yeah, I guess this is just one weird guy’s obsession. We do, however, have some pretty funny beer commercials that **Acid Lamp** found on YouTube today: [Why Icelandic Women are Prettiest in the World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0241qutwPGo&feature=related) There are others, and they’re also funny. I just happen to like that one best. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/7 "2008-05-16T09:40:47Z")
[QUOTE=nashiitashii] I think I’d blame hákarl more readily on us being weird than hángikjöt. But yeah, I guess this is just one weird guy’s obsession. We do, however, have some pretty funny beer commercials that **Acid Lamp** found on YouTube today: [Why Icelandic Women are Prettiest in the World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0241qutwPGo&feature=related) There are others, and they’re also funny. I just happen to like that one best. 😃 [/QUOTE] I think I’ve been to the pub in that commercial. Is that the upstairs joint that’s owned by the same lady that own Circus? (which is now closed or closing, Circus that is) I was in Iceland in December, but the penis museum was closed in the winter, I think. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/8 "2008-05-16T11:37:45Z")
Besides Penis Museums, there’s also this: > [@](#): > > …One of the most celebrated expressions of…Swedish taste is _gravlax_, literally _buried salmon_. Originally, gravlax was salmon that was cured by being buried in the ground for days or months, an old Scandinavian technique used for preserving herring as well. The longer it is buried, the longer it will keep. But, paradoxically, the longer it has been buried, the more it resembles in smell and texture something rotten. _Older Icelanders still horrify youth with smelly little chunks of **hakarl** , buried Greenland shark._ — **Salt: A World History** Mark Kurlansky, p. 401 ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/9 "2008-05-16T14:53:15Z")
Thank all things good that my Ami and Afi left those traditions where they belong. On an isolated island in the North Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/10 "2008-05-16T15:00:40Z")
[QUOTE=T\_SQUARE] I was in Iceland in December, but the penis museum was closed in the winter, I think. [/QUOTE] Shrinkage? ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/11 "2008-05-16T15:16:44Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] Shrinkage? [/QUOTE] I was TOTALLY going to say this. Damn you. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/12 "2008-05-16T21:16:32Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Besides Penis Museums, there’s also this: — **Salt: A World History** Mark Kurlansky, p. 401 [/QUOTE] Another Kurlansky fan! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/13 "2008-05-17T01:48:24Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Besides Penis Museums, there’s also this: — **Salt: A World History** Mark Kurlansky, p. 401 [/QUOTE] Too bad that book vectors the myth about Roman soldiers getting paid in salt. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/14 "2008-05-17T03:08:18Z")
[QUOTE=Ace309] Another Kurlansky fan! [/QUOTE] Make that a third Kurlansky fan. I happened to really enjoy _Cod_, and there’s a commercial by the same company as the one I posted on YouTube that talks about the Cod Wars. **GingerOfTheNorth** : There are so many other _wonderful_ aspects of Icelandic food. The lamb, the puffins, the ptarmigan, and haddock, and let’s not forget about skýr and cheese and potatoes! The dainty little open faced sandwiches with wee bitty shrimp and cucumber and butter and tomatoes! Om nom nom nom nom… ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/15 "2008-05-17T20:23:05Z")
Lefsa lefsa lefsa venar terta nom nom nom Ptarmigan to me isn’t an Icelandic food, we ate it in the NWT. I guess it makes sense though. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-icelanders-like-bizarre-things-phallological-museum/449506/16 "2008-05-17T20:30:17Z")
Pictures, for those who are interested. [http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&rlz=1B3GGGL\_en\_\_\_\_\_213&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=iceland+phallological+museum&spell=1](http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&rlz=1B3GGGL_en _____ 213&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=iceland+phallological+museum&spell=1)