02/06/2026
The Icelandic Phallological Museum
On my first visit to Iceland in December 2012, this intriguing museum filled a stormy morning when it was located at the top of Laugavegur near Hlemmur.
Since then, the museum has relocated to the Old Harbour and grown ever more popular with every passing year.
So much so that even the BBC’s From Our Own Correspondent podcast featured an unplanned tour from Sandra Kanthal when poor weather detained her in Iceland for longer than expected.
Here’s a transcript of her report, which you can also listen to at the end of the podcast link attached.
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My assignment to Iceland was filled with unexpected events.
First, I was meant to get a tour of one of the Coast Guard's ships at Reykjavik Harbour.
The Coast Guard is Iceland's most trusted institution, so it made sense when they told me the ship had been sent to another part of the island due to avalanche warnings.
Instead, they asked if I'd like to ride along on a helicopter search-and-rescue training flight. My first thought was, of course. My next thought was, I haven't filled out the correct risk assessment forms for that.
The second unplanned event was a severe storm, which cancelled all flights in and out of the country on the day I was meant to travel home.
So what to do in Reykjavik when you can't venture out to enjoy the beautiful Icelandic waterfalls, lagoons and glaciers?
Well, you could head to the city centre, down a flight of stairs in a modern steel and glass building, to visit the Icelandic Phallological Museum.
“We are a p***s museum, but we are a serious p***s museum”, explained Þórður Ólafur Þórðarson, the museum's curator, which is not a job just anyone can apply for.
This is a family business. Þórður is married to the late founder's granddaughter.
He was Sigurður Hjartarson, a former teacher who remains an important presence here. His ashes are in an urn on display near the exhibit's entrance because, according to Þórður, he wanted to be preserved with his p***ses.
Þórður has an easy charm about him, and he seems well-versed in fielding the curiosity the museum attracts, like my first question to him.
Why? According to Þórður, it all began decades ago when Sigurður was given a whale's p***s as a joke.
Rather than being offended, it inspired him, and he decided to collect a ph***ic sample from all the mammals native to Iceland.
When his home collection got too large, his wife rebelled. So Sigurður decided to share his passion with the public, and in 1997, he opened a museum.
Since then, the collection has grown to approximately 400 p***ses from 150 species, only one of which is human, from a deceased 95-year-old local bachelor who claimed to have had a prolific s*x life.
He decided his p***s would be of no use to him when he was dead, so he gifted it to the museum in 2011.
Þórður says it's science, but it's still supposed to be fun, which explains the cast of Jimi Hendrix's p***s, donated by the American artist Cynthia Plastacaster, who found fame in the 1960s and 70s, creating moulds of famous rock stars' anatomy.
This one has pride of place in a glass case, along with a certificate of authenticity.
Most of the exhibits are in plexiglass jars preserved in formaldehyde. Each display has a phallological profile, which lists features like size and width and oddities.
One of Þórður's favourites is a German beechmarten, a type of weasel, with particularly romantic inclinations, because they prefer to mate on bright moonlit nights, often on rooftops.
A young giraffe's p***s, which measures an impressive 18 inches, flaccid, catches the attention.
And in the nearby rodent section is the smallest specimen in the museum, the hamster p***s bone.
Apparently, rodents have this anatomical feature to support quick-fire mating rituals.
In another room, I stood under the p***s of a killer whale, which juts out of a wall. Though Þórður lamented, it lost a lot of girth in the taxidermy process. The museum gets about 120,000 visitors a year who get to sign a guest book.
Some of the more artistic clientele leave doodles behind. The most interesting get framed and hung on the walls alongside some published cartoons, often featuring jokes aimed at the museum's expense.
The venue also hosts the occasional school trip, and sometimes local businesses begin a company night out here, though the museum closes at 7pm.
When you finish your tour, which takes under an hour, and pose for a selfie with a giant sculpture of a yellow phallus adorned with a painted face called Mr Lonely, there's a ph***ic-themed cafe with waffles in a shape you would never get away with in a school cafeteria, and of course, the requisite gift store.
If you are ever in the market for a ph***ic-themed T-shirt, board game, poster, keychain, or the like, I know just the place for you.
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You can listen to the podcast here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/from-our-own-correspondent/id73331209?i=1000770349448
