QI | What Is The Oddest Thing About Iceland?

1 December: On this day in 1918, Iceland became a sovereign state.
Follow QI on Twitter ▶ / qikipedia
Follow QI on Facebook ▶ / officialqi
Follow QI on Instagram ▶ / theqielves
Subscribe on KZbin ▶ / theqielves
For more visit ▶ qi.com
This clip is from QI Series I, Episode 16, 'Ice' with Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Brian Blessed, Sean Lock and Ross Noble.

[@wvvw4036]

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "skinny jeans"

[@Scarletraven87]

The thing is, they're bound to be skinny because your friend can't be a giant with the ankles.

[@frankhottenroth4396]

I was more in the line of "sperm bank".

[@ClarinoI]

@@Scarletraven87 Also they're bound to be skinny, having been made from skin.

[@Dazzletoad]

🤮😷

[@SuperRobotdance]

ClarinoI thanks for that

[@iamisaid2295]

"sean's alive" well always in our hearts Sean. RIP you funny, funny man.

[@leaguesmanoframsgate]

This is why props from outside the BBC come with a "DO NOT LET ALAN TOUCH THIS" label.

[@sincerelyyours6709]

leaguesmanoframsgate is it really?

[@egogeo851]

Some forget the label and then they regret after seeing the show

[@casey6556]

Evidently the Gardening Museum forgot

[@trueaussie9230]

A broken 'oldest Christmas tree' confirms Mr. Fry also should be kept under control and supervision. And there was not even an apology to the owner sitting in the audience at the time.

[@silvermoss1776]

I wonder how long it took props to layer every page. Did they laugh or cry as Alan tore them apart?

[@antoniobacelic8402]

"Pull Brian, pull!" famous last words lol

[@olliemad]

Who is the best man in my life I wanna is the best way in life

[@helphelpimbeingrepressed9347]

@@olliemad What?!?

[@luuketaylor]

Don't let Brian into a midwivery school, he'll pull those babies right out!

[@123Comrade]

Mythbusters used two tanks, Alan used shaky hands!

[@SunnyBear]

That almost rhymes.

[@skullsaintdead]

How on earth does it almost rhyme?

[@SunnyBear]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_rhyme

[@skullsaintdead]

I see. Hmm. Well, thanks for the explanation, but I don't see how something can half-rhyme, it either does or it does not. Odd. Just my two cents though.

[@MrSkinnyWhale]

Your 2 cents Make no sense

[@treyforest2466]

I didn't know how much I needed to see Brian Blessed pull Sean Lock off his chair until now.

[@RB747domme]

Trey Forest it's a good job your keyboard didn't break down towards the end of that sentence. Because if your comment was missing the words '.. his chair until now.' - then it would have an entirely different meaning.. 🤐

[@justinmillard8196]

I didn’t recognise Brian Blessed without the shouting.

[@Orion3741]

3:14 I started dying when Alan went ballistic. An absolutely priceless moment. Excellent.

[@HomoSeal]

At last! Proof that there ARE problems that can be solved by childish, impotent flailing!

[@yorickhunt3371]

Seemed to work for Trump.

[@yorickhunt3371]

Well he's done wonders for Twitter subscriptions. I sometimes wonder if they're paying him commission.

[@Azoria4]

CuprumVampram can’t believe it’s not banter

[@thomthom6268]

@@yorickhunt3371 name one problem T**** solved

[@yorickhunt3371]

@@thomthom6268 you're not the brightest bulb on the tree, are you?

[@MarquessaBuffy]

Alan proved one of the oldest facts: never bet against the persistence of an ADHD mind.

[@sadmac356]

Yep. You never know *what* we'll come up with!

[@Alex-jg2bc]

sadmac356 wait Alan has ADHD

[@sadmac356]

@@Alex-jg2bc wait he does?

[@ReadyMindsetGo]

Unless they get distracted

[@DVXXIII]

@@Alex-jg2bc As someone with ADHD, Alan has it LMAO

[@Whalturk]

It's funny actually; the danish word "pung", has two meanings: scrotum and wallet. Wonder if there's a connection?

[@Amadeus-ms9lt]

Probably.

[@Gilmaris]

"Pung" literally means "pouch".

[@donttalktome2316]

Whalturk well vagina in latin means 'sheath' as in what you put a sword in. Penis means 'tail' lol its all so weird

[@GigaBoost]

Yes, there's a connection etymologically. Pung means 'pouch'.

[@brokenwave6125]

@@donttalktome2316 Penis doesn't mean tail. Tail and Penis both just share a similar root from words meaning something with a long slender shape. That later was ascribed to animal parts...like tails and penises.

[@LPJack02]

RIP Sean Lock (April 22, 1963 - August 16, 2021), aged 58 You will always be remembered as a legend.

[@captaincokecan]

Sandi is doing a good job, but damn do i miss stephen

[@joebrokenstrang3711]

More Chips That bad huh? When they announced Sandi would replace Stephen I worried it would slide, but I think she's done really well.

[@oohdannyboy]

More Chips you're literally, and I mean literally, the first person I've seen complain about her.

[@dabtican4953]

I also do Miss Stephen

[@NoisqueVoaProduction]

@@oohdannyboy i gotta go with more chips and say i dont like her either. I started to see the show on youtube, and stephen makes this very funny riddles and i've seen the new host making it looked like she was just showing off something. Like, it is trivia, let us think for a little while, i... dont like her very much, the amount of time she gives to every guest... i dont know, not quite fond of her

[@cashkromsupernerd1193]

Not sure how the cast feels about the change, but they do occasionally mention differences. In the bit about "Are You There, Moriarty", for example, they say at one point "Uncle Stephen would never let us do this!"

[@sfowler1017]

Aww I got sad when he said "Sean's alive!" 😭

[@cashkromsupernerd1193]

Alan has never been more relatable

[@jessicalee333]

It's true. I made all my money as a necropantser.

[@OHYS]

100th like

[@shaan702]

Bet you made a killing. That’s a better way than waiting for a willing donor.

[@DylanDude]

This is why Iceland doesn't have a student loan problem.

[@Farweasel]

I thought everyone did that Why's it 'newsy'?

[@davidvandrunen3516]

"Come on, pull Brian."

[@IamRobotMonkey]

Needs to be put on a T-shirt.

[@dankirk4186]

Famous last words

[@LongfellowLP]

I like how Brian laughed before he even pulled because he knew what was going to happen

[@JohnJohnson-ok4gf]

A small victory for mankind, a huge one for Alan. :)

[@bigwingedkuriboh]

Stephen’s colors are really good this episode

[@Alpine_Joe]

Icelandic witchcraft is pretty odd ... yeah, because ours is totally normal.

[@davidyoung5114]

Why hasn't Brian Blessed been on another episode of Q.I.? This was one of their best episodes ever!

[@ConstantChaos1]

Because yeti are nomadic creatures

[@danodwyer]

Ah man, RIP Sean Lock.

[@Ryan-ij3ge]

I think the really impressive part was finding phone books in 2016.

[@Tom_McMurtry]

Alan probably damaged a museum artifact

[@trueaussie9230]

Realising that not everyone has access to nor relies upon 'the great god, internet', Australia still has phone books. They're much smaller than they used to be because many businesses don't care about losing customers who don't access the internet.

[@kisbie]

Hate to be that guy, but this was first broadcast in 2011. Ah, the memories...

[@arielcahn7728]

Alan has some real Mulan-level problem-solving skills, huh?

[@kingdavewoody]

3:19 .... I love how Alan shook the phone books with such vigor that he broke the space-time continuum

[@ebony1442]

Let that be a warning to anyone that would go against Brian Blessed!

[@jwvandegronden]

sean the court jester... any opportunity to create mayhem, he took. Damn... Miss him! Best thing is, as a regular on QI he honored BB by letting him shine as the untamable bear... Epic move.

[@CaptHayfever]

Another odd thing about Iceland is its land area: 102,775 sq km.

[@siyarg.4900]

"Pull Brian pull" Brian proceeds to pull Sean out of his chair

[@SceneArtisan]

2:20 "Pull, Brian, PULL!" LOL.. :P

[@javiersds8081]

You gotta love Alan.

[@klystron2010]

Aww, they cut out "nature made a better idiot".

[@YohoyeCommenter]

I'm Icelandic.... I've never in my whole life known about this wtf XD

[@andymcl92]

I think the museum is in the Western Fjords. I visited Iceland a few years ago and drove round Route 1, but didn't have time to head out that way.

[@tigurinntigrason3427]

I'm Icelandic as well and have never heard about this museum nor these 'necro-pants'.

[@Soridan]

Well, did you get rich since?

[@muesli_snipes]

You seem suspiciously defensive. Have you gotten any richer recently?

[@anarchodin]

@@tigurinntigrason3427 Safnið er í Steingrímsfirði, ef ég man rétt.

[@Tjalve70]

Interesting fact: In Norwegian, and possibly also in Icelandic, the word for "pouch" and "scrotum" is the same. So a "money pouch" could be translated as "money scrotum". And that's probably part of the reason why they do this.

[@pathowgate2544]

Tjalve thought you guys said ‘lommebok’ (pocket book) for a wallet??..

[@Tjalve70]

@@pathowgate2544 Yes. You are correct. Wallet is "lommebok" (pocket book). But some older people still say "pengepung" (money pouch). Probably from back in the days before paper money become common.

[@Farweasel]

Strange people. Why can't they just say 'money bags' and 'ball bags' like normal folk?

[@JDrapic]

I love when they just let Alan go absolutely feral

[@lexigrimhaive]

Ross looks so precious in his scarf.

[@Optidorf]

I've been to The Museum of Icelandic Witchcraft and Sorcery last year, but I can't recall seeing this one. Probably because it's too scary.

[@beermatessays5360]

SEANS ALIVE! .... How we wish... :'(

[@TheHutchy01]

I'll be honest I'm surprised Sean didn't see that coming

[@RickRubinesque]

Brian Blessed is a beast of a man!

[@codysmith8782]

Well at least Sean can say Brian blessed pulled him off

[@Farweasel]

Yeahbut ........ he'll need a Ouja Board to do it. What? Too soon? He'd have said it himself if ................ Well anyway.

[@santallum]

The ice cream is in the same isle as the frozen veg

[@BigBuck3ts]

Are you a sorcerer? No I’m a necropantser!

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thanks

[@3DCGdesign]

Showed my daughter this. “One question, Dad.” “OK” “What’s a ‘Phone Book’?”

[@just-tess]

damn I missed all the cool museums when I was in Ísland!

[@youremakingprogress144]

"Sean's alive!" "When that's no longer true, can I have your leg skin?"

[@tubasil8786]

Got to love Brian blessid

[@gumunduringigumundsson9344]

Icelandic man 34yo here. Never heard of this so it must be super rare.. maybe it happened 3 or 4 times in a certain period of oddness where indeed some of Icelands most brilliant stories come from. Witchcraft was popular in some circles but i very very much doubt that horror became much more than a slight occurrance of the most devious and maybe happened only once. Please do not think we wore or wear dead peoples skin Thank you so much.

[@IndieNuzzle]

Guðmundur Ingi Guðmundsson how could I trust an Icelandic witch? You're definitely lying and sitting at your computer in your neighbour's leg skin!!!

[@Katya_Lastochka]

Guðmundur Ingi Guðmundsson Nobody thinks that. Worse things happen in our time every day.

[@tristanridley1601]

It's an example of Icelandic *witchcraft*. It's probably exactly as common as the traditional witchcraft of any other country... not very, but maybe more so once upon a time.

[@siggia]

Speak for yourself! I always wear mine when I go out clubbin'.

[@Doomsterlobster]

There is no documented instance of this ever being done. Those pants in the museum aren't real. It's folklore.

[@steveross2649]

It's pricing structure for crisps.

[@WillievanZyl]

As often happens when practice meets theory: Alan just did the impossible! 🤣

[@davidpomeroy8165]

Alan is priceless! That was some of the best slapstick I have seen in years!

[@joelsephh]

To answer the title of this video: Björk

[@arnorkristjansson9532]

The word Fry pronounces as "nabroke" is spelled "nábrók"; which is more accurately pronounced "nowbroke" The irony…

[@martinhodge3127]

Arnór Kristjánsson Never mind the irony, what about the ironing?

[@jasonzabbidou1389]

It puts the lotion on its skin or else I have to get out the iron again.

[@vincentrosethorn4886]

Don't get me steamed.

[@nathanmcgill7249]

I thought Stephen was going to ask 'What is the oddest thing about Iceland', one of the contestants would say 'Björk' and the klaxon would go off

[@donnythedingo]

Thank God for Alan Davies

[@guidojansen6720]

You know of the German punk rock band Toten Hosen? Their name is literally translated to Dead Trousers/Dead Pants.

[@rlenn6512]

Pre watching I'm going with what is probably the buzzword "it's greener than Greenland"

[@theirishviking9278]

Robert Lenn boy were you wrong

[@rlenn6512]

Ikr?!

[@buttmanY]

Oddest thing in Iceland is Lasagne pies

[@lincthomas7178]

iceland/greenland is becomming a great place to shoot movies!!!

[@Farweasel]

Make your flamin mind up ....... if its singular, which *one* ?

[@lincthomas7178]

@@Farweasel huh??

[@Farweasel]

@@lincthomas7178 I rest my case.

[@lincthomas7178]

@@Farweasel what case? You don't have a case what the fuck are you on about?

[@kingoftadpoles]

Interleaved books also featured on 'bang goes the theory'.

[@Rovarin]

Iceland became a kingdom in 1918 and was totally free of Denmark, when Iceland became a republic in 1944.

[@Rovarin]

That's what I said, you guys became the Kingdom of Iceland in 1918, with the Danish king becoming the king of Iceland as well. As I have understood the history of this development this was part of the agreement made between the Danes and the Icelanders, when the Icelanders refused to be included within the Danish Constitution (at least you guys were asked... the Faroese were included because they were of similar heritage to the Danes, but were too stupid to be heard on the matter).

[@Rovarin]

TL;DR You had a delegation at the Grundlovsgivende Rigsforsamling in 1848, (Oct. 28th). It had been discussed at the Icelandic stænderforsamling (Althing) where the famous words: "Vér mótmælum allir (We all object)" were uttered - in all actuality not all of them objected, but there was enough of a majority. Basically all the old Norse Tings were being abolished in the Dano-Norwegian Realms (Two crowns - Iceland and the Faroe Islands being affiliated with the Norwegian Crown), Greenland was at that time a Norwegian colony (was being administered by a Norwegian trading company based in Copenhagen (post-reformation, mostly everything had been moved to Copenhagen) and had been colonized on Norwegian initiative by mostly Norwegians. The Icelandic Althing was abolished a little before the Napoleonic wars, if memory serves (I may be off by a few years). With the Treaty of Kiel, when the Danes capitulated to the Swedes during the Napoleonic wars, they were forced to cede mainland Norway to Sweden by the British. Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the colony of Greenland then became possessions of the Danish Crown. The Old Faroese Løgting was abolished in 1816 (as the last ting to be abolished). A few years later (1833, I think) the decision was made by the Danish king to establish a Stænderforsamling (basically class-structured advisory boards) in Iceland as this was considered so far away from the mainland that the Icelanders had to have one, this became the re-established Althing (or the beginning of it). Greenland was a colony, so nobody really cared about giving the Greenlandic Inuits a voice. The Faroese were deemed to uncivilized/uncultured/uneducated, even if they were of Norse decent to afford them a voice, but former governors (amtmænd) of the Faroese Amt were given a seat at Roskilde Stænderforsamling. On the 28th of October 1848 at the Grundlovsgivende Rigsforsamling the Icelanders were allowed a delegation, as they had a stænderforsamling, and having deliberated on the issue there (Vér mótmælum allir!), they objected to becoming part of the Danish Constitution. The former Faroese Governor Christian Pløyen fought for Faroese rights (and actually managed to get the Faroese an advisory board (this became the New Faroese Løgting)). The Danish politicians actually tired to lump the Faroese in with the non-Danes living in the Danish colonies, but ultimately decided against this, as the Faroese were descendants of the Norse and therefore a brother-people to the Danes (I believe I came across this wording: Et Nordisk brødrefolk, which is kind of funny as 100 years later with the Danish implementation of Faroese Home-Rule in 1948 (There was a slight majority at a Faroese referendum in 1946 for independence), the Faroese legally reclassified as a community of Danish citizens native to the Faroe Islands, as the Danish Realm is a unitary state and therefore there can only exist one nation in the Danish Realm. The Faroese retain this status to this day, but the Greenland Inuit have been recognized as a people (nation), but the Danish Realm is still apparently a unitary state).

[@Judasiary]

You then have to steal, from a widow, coiiinn. Lost it 😂

[@macsnafu]

Welcome to QI, where everybody's wrong and the points don't matter!

[@Myne1001]

1:14 I bet you 90% of the people watching this don't even get that joke

[@cathiemarvellous]

What strength can't accomplish, madness might.

[@mgg80]

Is no one going to throw in a Toten Hosen joke? Well, guess that means I have to.

[@WalkaCrookedLine]

2:35 "Sean's alive!" Doesn't seem so funny now.

[@rtsharlotte]

The oddest thing about Iceland is that they sell unfrozen food

[@F4R207]

So started the story of the boy with golden pants (pojken med guldbyxorna).

[@williamwyant]

There was no water on the desk before Sean fell, and when he got up there was a glass just sitting there

[@lijuowl]

I'm guessing that was the joke at 2:43 (after they had to reshoot Sean getting up for some reason)

[@zanussidish8144]

Wow, it's almost like it's a television program with editing.

[@Farweasel]

@@zanussidish8144 I thought it was the magic trousers.

[@TheManInTheLongBlackCoat]

Sean Lock seems to have got his look from Maxwell Jacob Friedman.

[@manuelbarros4898]

And that is how Alan become King of the Britons.

[@BambooAcrobatVerte]

Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some televised book-pulling ceremony!

[@DrWhoFanJ]

@@BambooAcrobatVerte r/woooosh

[@BambooAcrobatVerte]

@@DrWhoFanJ I understood the joke. I just added to it.

[@DrWhoFanJ]

@@BambooAcrobatVerte Well, it really didn’t look like it, I must say.

[@Farweasel]

@@DrWhoFanJ........ I liked *both* comments. Just so you know. You were both right on the *same* target.

[@TheDemanoid]

Make sense the name sounds like "Not Broke" 1:46

[@verv5737]

"Sean's alive!" Oh dear...

[@Dasharr]

Is that where the term "money shot" comes from? ;)

[@petejones879]

I so miss Sean lock's dry humour

[@johnmorgan1629]

Brian's pulled, but it's only Sean Lock!

[@JasonWeakley]

It rubs the lotion on it's skin or it gets the ... OMG!!!

[@FaithRox]

Is Brian Blessed legit the most interesting human ever to human?

[@eisaatana96]

What about this video made you say that????

[@captcephalopod2988]

Faith Rox I think it it either Stephen Fry or Brian Blessed. One of the two is the most interesting, the other is the second. To be frank, I'm not quite sure Brian Blessed is human, he has such an otherworldly presence

[@llodoroo]

CaptCephalopod brian Blessed and bill bailey imo

[@dominicpeterson5018]

CaptCephalopod Brian Blessed is god

[@mulgerbill]

Oh, only since he called on Chiswick demanding fresh horse

[@cloudsparrow7729]

Necropants? Weren't they in Wallace and Gromit?

[@DanDownunda8888]

No, they were necrotrousers.

[@c.w_]

Miss sean lock on Qi

[@ibieiniid4240]

You'd think this might be tried once, maybe twice, until the ballsack doesn't fill up with money and everybody realizes it's just a disgusting trick people are trying to play on them.

[@chrisninety1]

For the handful of you that didn't notice, the reason the water wasn't spilled was because it wasn't on the table in the first place. Not sure why the floor is the best place to keep it, but there you go.

[@olliemad]

Spotted this app on the phone and I was just reading the book of a text from the other day

[@TheMoonRover]

It was probably on a shelf under the table. They often seem to keep things under there.

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Alan is Epic.

[@Lord_Skeptic]

Oddest thing about Iceland. It is a volcano.

[@thomthom6268]

So are Sicily and every island in Hawaii.

[@DrWhoFanJ]

@@thomthom6268 Yes, but they aren’t named for the opposite thing!

[@stevevasta]

I thought sure that "Legs" would get the klaxon!

[@norman-de-plume]

What’s the weirdest thing about Iceland? I was expecting there to at least be a klaxon for “Björk”

[@Shamaroth]

Amusingly, "nábrók" is properly pronounced "now-broke"

[@Farweasel]

I was banking on that.

[@SockTaters]

I used my deceased black friend who was quite fond of H.P. Lovecraft, and made some negronecronomiconnecropants

[@olliemad]

Cool I got the sun on it

[@jensibowable]

Nabroek? As in afterpants?

[@trudlezstevenson9558]

Talk about a "sack full of gold...🤣🤣🤣

[@jcortese3300]

Just goes to show if you are stubborn enough and lack any regard for your personal dignity, you can accomplish the impossible. :-)

[@MaskHysteria]

Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his legs.

[@davidjames4521]

I'd guess bjork, but maybe she is an average person there as far as I know.

[@misterprecocious2491]

She's being living in the US for over 20 years.

[@davidjames4521]

@@misterprecocious2491 she's still an Icelandic production.

[@myboatforacar]

The oddest thing about Iceland is the number of letters in it

[@gwafashofa]

Hooray for Alan! Hahaha!

[@L.A.97.]

sean witty af ahaha

[@kurtsudheim825]

Alan did exactly what I thought to do, so in glad he conquered the task. Also I like that you have to wait fit your friend to die, so presumably this is mostly for old people, unless you're going to take your dads/ uncle's etc, most of the people getting them will be old themselves anyway & will unlikely serve its purpose for very long, that's if thry can even be used that much before breaking

[@TheArcher101]

Is that where 'coin purse' and 'pouch' come from?

[@jimstanga6390]

Damn, Brian....

[@dallasl3688]

No, Alan, no!!! 😆