Iceland: Day 12 - Husavík & the Phallological Museum

July 6, 2004

The Icelandic Phallological Museum. We'd heard about this must-see museum before leaving on our trip and had intended to visit it in Reykjavik... however the museum had recently moved location and was now in Husavík. We had a lovely and informative chat with the owner and took several pictures of the interesting specimens on display. *Evil grin*

Here is an excerpt from an article dated Thursday, August 17, 2000 from Time Europe magazine:

"The Icelandic Phallological Museum houses 99 specimens from all but a few of the country's 40 mammal species, plus eight from other countries in the "foreign section." There are salted, dried penises from whales mounted on wall plaques like hunting trophies, but most specimens are pickled in preserving alcohol or formalin. A sperm whale's massive, trunk-like organ, one of 29 whales' specimens from 12 species, fills a small tank while a tiny jam jar holds the barely visible penis of a German pygmy shrew.
[...]

A tanned bull's penis — a "bull's pizzle" as Falstaff calls it in Shakespeare's "Henry IV" — was once used as a whip on Iceland's farms and hangs beside a tube containing a smoked horse's penis, said to have been a favorite snack of gourmand-glutton Jónas Halldórsson, who lived on Iceland's south coast before he died in 1930. If a blue whale's dried penis, at over a meter long, seems somewhat puny coming from the world's largest creature, Sigurdur Hjartarson, the founder, compiler and owner of the exhibition, explains that this whale was only a young fellow, not yet full-grown, and its thin brown spike represents only part of the organ; as an anatomical drawing pinned beside the exhibit shows, twice as much again is hidden inside the whale. Hjartarson, a 58-year-old grandfather, author of history books, and a teacher of history and Spanish at a Reykjavik high school, started his colleciton in l974 with the bull's pizzle a farmer gave him in the 1950s. "These were pretty common then," he says. "But then in those days, nothing was wasted of an animal — even the bones were used for making toys or for winding wool." Over the years, his collection grew as colleagues who worked summers at a whaling factory brought him specimens. He also has contacts with marine biologists and with fishermen who let him know of any stranded dead whales or other sea mammals whose private parts may be up for grabs.

There is one jar, however, that stands empty on the shelves. Hjartarson is still waiting for a human specimen. But he is not worried. He has two offers in writing, signed, sealed and witnessed. One is from a 41-year-old German photographer, Peter Christmann from Kessel, whose three witnesses are all married women. His photograph, taken beside a phallic-looking stone monument somewhere in Nepal, hangs beside his letter. The other promised packet is from 85-year-old Páll Arason, owner of a farm on the north coast of Iceland, whose letter on the wall testifies that he formally bestows "my reproductive organs 'penis et scrotum'" to the museum. His letter is countersigned by two doctors, one of whom is apparently prepared to do the deed. Arason, who started tourism in Iceland with the first escorted visitors' trips into the interior, is "very far from being modest," says Hjartarson, and is anxious that his organ is exhibited in a fitting way. According to Hjartarson, Arason has asked for it to be removed while his body is still warm so that the blood can be removed before it clots and ruins the chance of having it injected and kept erect. "

The phallological museum in Husavík.

Samples of a bull's "pizzle" - the specimen which started this whole collection.
Also note the foreskin lampshade.

A whale's penis - not fully grown and not the whole specimen since much of the organ is internal to the whale.

Some bigger whale specimens and more foreskin lamps.

A smoked horse penis on the wall along with several other specimens in jars below it.

More specimens and some penis bones along the wall
(the human by the way does not have a bone!)

The human section is still only letters of promised donations along with some lovely artistic photos (hmmmm, these donors are not humble at all!). It is next to the foreign section which includes an elephant specimen. Beside it was the folklore section which included a speciman from the "invisible man" but we couldn't get that one to show on a photograph! *grin*

[ Iceland Vacation Home Page ]