Boarding the bus again, we headed straight for Fjörugardurinn, and a traditional Viking dinner. The Viking lads and lass came on the bus with us, and tried to lead recalcitrant singers in old American folksongs: My Bonnie, Home on the Range and other chestnuts. The effect was quite amusing as the boys played the accordion and generated enthusiasm for the half hour ride to the restaurant.

Fjörukraín is situated a short distance from Reykjavík, in the fishing town of Hafnarfjördur. A harbor with commercial vessels faces west, The restaurant itself is really two restaurants side by side: the Fjörugardurinn is the traditional Viking Feast restaurant, with decor true to the surroundings and traditions of the heathen chieftains, and the Fjörukraín a lively, folkloric traditional restaurant on the first floor. Carvings, tapestries and other traditional folk art adorn the walls both upstairs and down.

Preparing for the rotten shark and ram's balls

We sat at long tables on wooden benches, and were served an appetizer of various herring and hardfiskur (dried fish) served with seytt rúgbraud (cooked rye bread), ram's testicles (!), and putrefied shark, which is aged underground for three weeks, and is said to increase health and virility. Some of the braver souls ate it all, while others politely declined. A salad followed, with the main course of beef, lamb, chicken, and roasted potatoes being more than a single non-Viking could possibly eat in a single sitting.

Dinner over, the Viking troupe came back and sang several rousing folk songs, accompanied by guitar, accordion and skin drum. An older gentleman performed a shortened version of the saga of Loki and Thor's hammer. Then the Vikings bestowed Larry Harding and his wife Kendra with honorary Viking laurels in a touching ceremony that included sexual favors and a lot of kneeling and clashing of (fake) swords.