Extra penis ‘found’ on iconic Bayeux Tapestry by expert – but is all as it seems?
TWO scholars are arguing the toss over the number of penises shown on the Bayeux Tapestry.
Oxford academic Prof George Garnett claims he identified 93 todgers in the depiction of William the Conqueror’s victory at the 1066 Battle of Hastings.
But Anglo-Saxon nudity expert Dr Christopher Monk insists there are actually 94 — saying his rival missed the pecker of a running man in the border of the 230ft tapestry.
Dr Monk told the History Extra Podcast: “I’m in no doubt that the appendage is a depiction of male genitalia — the missed penis, shall we say?”
“The detail is surprisingly anatomically fulsome.”
But Professor Garnett remains firm in his belief it is a sword or scabbard dangling beneath the man’s legs — because on the end it has a yellow blob not seen in the other penises.
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The tapestry records the events leading to the Norman Conquest of Harold II’s England by William, Duke of Normandy.
In Prof Garnett’s 2018 tallywhacker tally, he found five on men and 88 on horses.
Most were in a state of arousal, while the whopper on William’s steed was seen as a symbol of his great virility.
On the podcast, he said his work was serious as it gave insights into the mind of the tapestry designers.
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He added: “Medieval people were not unsophisticated, dim-witted individuals. Quite the opposite.”
