Alexander Skarsgård kept his thong from The Northman as a souvenir: 'It wasn't a choice, it was a gift'

Alexander Skarsgård has revealed the one memento he received after filming The Northman, Robert Eggers' new movie inspired by the Norse Viking tale that inspired William Shakespeare's Hamlet — and it's either exactly what you think, or not at all what you think.

"It wasn't a choice, it was a gift," the Big Little Lies and True Blood actor said before presenting Late Show host Stephen Colbert with a photo of his gift: the thong he wore in the movie's final battle, which is now soaked in blood.

"That's how much they valued my performance, my contribution to this movie," he joked.

Skarsgård then elaborated on the scene in which he sported the accessory. "The end fight takes place on an erupting volcano and we're naked. I mean, where else would it be set? So, that's what I wore for a week, and my character's quite wounded so he's bleeding a lot, profusely, so that was my wrap gift."

So what did his costars receive for presents? Things that were, er, more opulent than a bloody G-string. "Nicole Kidman got a sword, Willem Dafoe got a longship — the whole ship. I might be kidding, but I think that's actually what happened," he told Colbert.

Meanwhile, a certain Icelandic icon walked away with a living, breathing souvenir from the movie. "Björk got three Icelandic horses," said Skarsgård.

Although the thong looks pretty nice mounted on a white backing with The Northman's logo underneath, we're not sure it's something Skarsgård will keep on his living room wall. Then again, it would make an interesting talking point for dinner guests.

In The Northman, Skarsgård stars as a Viking prince out for revenge against the man who destroyed his family. The actor recently told EW that bringing the film to screen was a goal years in the making.

"I was kind of harboring this idea, this dream of one day making an epic Viking movie, but in a truly authentic way that would capture the essence of the old Icelandic sagas and the poetry — that stark, laconic, harsh world and characters and tone," he said. "But it was a distant dream 10 years ago."

The good news is, it's not a dream anymore — and Skarsgård's got the bloody thong to prove it.

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