Sir King Penguin
August 15, 2008 10:12 AM   Subscribe

Nils Olav has been a member of the Norway's King's Guard since 1972. Today, in a grand ceremony, he was knighted, becoming Sir Nils Olav.

He also happens to be a King Penguin.
posted by Alex404 (34 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
I love this: "On August 18, 2005, he was promoted to Colonel-in-Chief. He is the first penguin to hold this rank in the Norwegian army."

I wonder what other career opportunities are available to penguins in the Norwegian military. Do you suppose he'll have to deploy now?
posted by orrnyereg at 10:21 AM on August 15, 2008


It's the "reviewing the troops" that puts it over the top for me, from "aww, cute" to "Totally awesome."
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:23 AM on August 15, 2008


I was thinking: "What a long-lived penguin!" Until I read this: "The original penguin died in the 1980s, but the current incarnation inherited Nils Olav's name and rank."

.
posted by Kattullus at 10:32 AM on August 15, 2008 [1 favorite]


The first Nils Olav, named after King Olav V, Norway's regent at the time, died in the 1980s with a young penguin inheriting his name and rank.

That's ridiculous. It's not even the same fucking penguin!
posted by Meatbomb at 10:35 AM on August 15, 2008 [3 favorites]


He's a 36 year old penguin! God, how long do they live? I know parrots live forever but 36 seems pretty old for a penguin, even in captivity.

But good for him, he does seem pretty awesome.
posted by shoesietart at 10:35 AM on August 15, 2008


I know who I would want to be serving with on the front lines if we were..ummm.. running low on supplies. If you know what I mean. <wink />
posted by blue_beetle at 10:38 AM on August 15, 2008


Hey, it's not the same fucking Dalai Lama, either. A little respect for the knight, if you please!
posted by yhbc at 10:41 AM on August 15, 2008 [14 favorites]


Whoa, that play button in the post is awesome. How did you do that? Everyone should do that from now on.
posted by metastability at 10:41 AM on August 15, 2008


oh, i see it's been done before. still...
posted by metastability at 10:45 AM on August 15, 2008


metastability: You have to edit your preferences to "Display YouTube Video inline" to see the play button to which you refer. Your comment, however, prompted to finally do just that, so thank you. It is neat!
posted by yhbc at 10:52 AM on August 15, 2008 [1 favorite]


I heard that there was a bunch of really bad behavior that was swept under the rug on his path to promotion. Simple indiscretions like skinny-dipping in public, but also more disturbing stuff like feeding his children vomit...
posted by mullingitover at 10:58 AM on August 15, 2008 [2 favorites]


That's certainly not something you see everyday.
posted by The Straightener at 11:02 AM on August 15, 2008


Penguins are cool. And cute. This made my day.
posted by davidmsc at 11:20 AM on August 15, 2008


It's not even the same fucking penguin!

To be fair, 36 years is a long time to be fucking the same penguin.
posted by backseatpilot at 11:28 AM on August 15, 2008 [2 favorites]


I imagine that, at parties, when members of the upper classes have the audacity to elicit snickering by remarking offhand that Nils Olav isn't the first Nils Olav, and that the first Nils Olav died in the 1980's, Sir Nils Olav, Colonel-in-Chief, points out that the first Nils Olav was never Colonel-in-Chief, much less a fucking knight, and for that matter neither are you, are you?

Thought so.
posted by koeselitz at 11:31 AM on August 15, 2008 [6 favorites]


Il est de trente six ans? lol
posted by jeffburdges at 11:34 AM on August 15, 2008


Smells fishy to me. Dude doesn't even live in Norway. Is the Edinburgh Zoo some kind of tax haven or something?
posted by Quietgal at 11:45 AM on August 15, 2008 [1 favorite]


Classy guy. Got dressed up in a tuxedo and everything.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:45 AM on August 15, 2008


I know there's a Linux joke in there somewhere, but I can't quite grasp it.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:46 AM on August 15, 2008


No doubt, this action will incur the Swedish Official Seal of Disapproval.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:52 AM on August 15, 2008 [3 favorites]


bash-3.00$ ^knight Nils Olav II
bash: :s^knight Nils Olav II: substitution failed

posted by crapmatic at 12:23 PM on August 15, 2008


Sir Nils Olav represents his country with a kind of quiet dignity. While a soldier, he has never had to carry a gun - in fact, he is not capable of holding one. No, people respect him because his listens attentively and says little. When he makes a decision, he pursues it with a single minded intensity that inspires others around him. Indeed, in terms of his never wavering focus on his goals and his steadfast commitment to his routine, he serves as a positive example of diligence for all of us.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:22 PM on August 15, 2008 [2 favorites]


Too bad he has to live in a zoo. I'm sure he's pining for the fjords.
posted by grounded at 2:09 PM on August 15, 2008 [1 favorite]


I heard this on the radio this morning. Absolute classic. The Norwegian sergeant on the radio was so wonderfully matter of fact about the whole thing - "Yes, Nils will come out and inspect our honour guard. He is attracted by the sound of the band playing, you see."

The UK and Norway have strong ties - they send us a Christmas tree every year as a thank you for hosting the Norwegian government in exile during the last war.

The Norwegians adopted Nils when they came across for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which is on every summer. The yearly promotion thing is ace. Not sure where he can go from a knighthood mind you.

I do think I'll pop in and see the little fella next time I'm back home.
posted by Happy Dave at 2:18 PM on August 15, 2008


Oh, and here's the BBC video, complete with Norwegian music and bagpipes.
posted by Happy Dave at 2:20 PM on August 15, 2008


That video is simply one of the greatest things I've ever seen.
posted by Tomorrowful at 3:56 PM on August 15, 2008


this has made my week.
posted by Frasermoo at 4:14 PM on August 15, 2008


if only all royal families could acknowledge their own comical pointlessness by getting up to this kind of oh-my-sides malarkey, rather than, you know, trying to be all relevant and shit
posted by trulyscrumptious at 4:17 PM on August 15, 2008


While a soldier, he has never had to carry a gun - in fact, he is not capable of holding one.

Somewhere, an insane descendant of John Browning is now hard at work, grimy and wild-eyed in his subterranean lab, building a version of the BAR that a penguin can carry and fire.

That'll show those fucking leopard seals. And then it'll show all of us.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:05 PM on August 15, 2008 [2 favorites]


Penguins will start carrying guns as soon as the open-source drivers are ready.
posted by lukemeister at 8:36 PM on August 15, 2008


I bet he'd taste like whooping crane.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:44 PM on August 15, 2008


Not sure where he can go from a knighthood mind you.

Abdication of the current King?
posted by Meatbomb at 1:58 AM on August 16, 2008


It will be a perfect world when the armies of the world have nothing better to do than bestow silly honors on zoo animals.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:21 AM on August 16, 2008 [3 favorites]


I'm confused. Why isn't he Colonel-in-Chief Sir Nils Olav II?
posted by bettafish at 2:51 PM on August 17, 2008


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