Endowments below the belt defined Viking culture

[Fenris]

NOT SO FIERCE: Viking warriors were sexually insecure, consumed with performance angst and troubled by the thought that size really did matter, research suggests

THE GUARDIAN , LONDON
Friday, Oct 15, 2004,Page 6

Being hung like a Norse was key to social hierarchy and being considered a real man in 10th-century Icelandic society, according to a new paper, Size Matters: Penile Problems in Sagas of Icelanders, presented to the International Medieval Congress in Leeds, England, this week.

The comprehensive cultural history of the penis in medieval Iceland was researched by Carl Phelpstead from Cardiff University, Wales, who analyzed contemporaneous accounts of otherwise brave Viking warriors being ridiculed by women and girls for their dainty manhood and sexual timidity.

"For Viking men who suffered impotence or erectile problems, it was not merely a medical problem or an unfortunate constraint on their sex lives, it profoundly affected their identity," Phelpstead said.

<...>

To complicate matters further, Phelpstead found evidence in the stories that it was as unmanly to have an outsized penis as an undersized one. In the 13th-century Njal's Saga, the warrior Hrutr Herjolfsson is cursed by a jealous queen with an erection too big for intercourse with his bride.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/10/15/2003206950

If you haven't read Njal's Saga, you really should. The passage mentioned above is riotously funny.

[GOPisEvil]

1. I guess we know why Hagar is Horrible now.

Maybe why Helga is always pissed, too.

:D

[Fenris]

2. BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!

[Briarius]

3. Huh, never knew I was heir to the Viking throne

:evilgrin:

(come on, you knew someone would say it)

[Spinzonner]

4. My Kingdome is bigger than your Kingdome ?

[barb162]

5. is there a diff between this and men in modern society?

[TreasonousBastard]

6. So, what's changed since then?

[villager]

7. that "Fenris" handle is making more sense now...

n/t

[Boomer]

8. Gotta wonder about this

>> In the ancient stories, penis size determined a man's status in a society that distinguished able-bodied, virile men from all other people. In rare cases, some women were able to gain this position of social status.<<

Yeah, I'd say that was pretty rare. Have to admit that I'm rather curious as to how a woman would manage this particular bit of social climbing....

[XNASA]

9. It all becomes clear.

"Swedish-made Penis Enlargers And Me: This Sort of Thing Is My Bag Baby", by Austin Powers.

I had often wondered why the Swedes were on the cutting edge of Penis Enlarger technology. Now I know.

[TreasonousBastard]

10. You might also want to...

read about Queen Maeve in the Tain and other ancient Celtic tales.

Viking men may have glorified the penis, but Celtic women had their own view of things.