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Environment

Norway’s Beloved ‘Troll Penis’ Rock Is Erect Again

The famed rock formation was vandalized, but quickly reattached thanks to a crowdfunding campaign.
Foto via TORSTEIN BOE/AFP/Getty Images

Scandinavia is a region of Europe that is probably best known for producing pieces of particle board that resemble furniture, as well as rock formations that look like other various things. And on June 24, joggers in the Eigersund municipality of Norway were shocked to find one such national treasure—a geological formation with a name that translates to "troll dick"—flaccid and broken on the ground, apparently at the hands of vandals.

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After the discovery, a contractor named Sverre Garpestad told a local TV station that his company "[had] the Viagra it takes" to reattach the rock via helicopter. In fact, he claimed that it would only take his team about an hour to put what the locals know as Trollpikken back on its cliff. The district of Dalane then set up a crowdfunding page in case anyone wanted to help fund the offer.

"We do not accept vandalism, we will raise our rock again," the Startskudd page read.

In the days that followed, more than 1,200 people pitched in 226,000 kroner—or about $27,000—for the effort. With the funds they needed, crews began working on reattaching the cock rock this week using 33-feet of scaffolding, iron rods, glue, and cement. Although the re-erection ended up taking about 35 times longer than Garpestad suggested, on Friday the 'troll dick' rose again, just weeks after suffering devastating vandalism. (If you have a day-and-a-half to spare, you can watch the world's slowest boner below.)

The one caveat is that the concrete will take at least a week to set before the Trollpikken is restored to its full glory. In the meantime, Scandinavian tourists can visit Trolltunga, or "troll tongue," or another cliff that vaguely looks like a preacher's pulpit and is referred to as Preikestolen.

Authorities are still searching for the people who amputated the troll dick, and according to the Associated Press, they could face a year in prison for environmental crime if caught.

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