In life, Pall Arason was an attention-seeker. In death, the 95-year-old Icelander's pickled penis will be the main attraction at one of the world's most bizarre museums.
Sigurdur Hjartarson, a retired school teacher who runs the Phallological Museum in the tiny Icelandic fishing town of Husavik, says Arason's organ will help complete his extensive collection of whale, seal, bear, and other mammalian members.
The museum has been open since 1997 but Hjartarson has long waited for a human specimen to round out his display.
Hjartarson says that Arason, a friend, agreed to help by having his penis donated after his death. It should be noted that the museum also has legally-certified gift tokens for three more specimens belonging to Homo Sapiens.
The medical director of Akureyri Hospital said that the removal operation was carried out in January under the supervision of a doctor at a local morgue.
From the museum website, www.phallus.is:
The Icelandic Phallological Museum contains a collection of two hundred and nine penises and penile parts belonging to almost all the land and sea mammals that can be found in Iceland. Visitors to the museum will encounter fifty five specimens belonging to sixteen different kinds of whale, one specimen taken from a rogue polar bear, thirty-six specimens belonging to seven different kinds of seal and walrus, and one hundred and fifteen specimens originating from twenty different kinds of land mammal: all in all, a total of two hundred and nine specimens belonging to forty six different kinds of mammal. In addition, there are some twenty-three folklore specimens and forty foreign ones. Altogether the collection contains 272 specimens from 92 different species of animals.
In addition to the biological section of the museum, visitors can view the collection of about three hundred artistic oddments and other practical utensils related to the museum’s chosen theme.
If you would care to make a donation, you could become one of the museum’s almost 200 Honorary Members.
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