A penguin called Nils has waddled into the history books when he was knighted by a visiting royal Norwegian regiment in Scotland.

The king penguin - full name Nils Olav - became the first black-and-white pint-sized Norwegian Sir with wings after inspecting the Norwegian King's Guard, which is visiting Edinburgh for the annual Military Tattoo.

"We have a long-standing history with the Norwegian King's Guard and it is something we are extremely proud of," said David Windmill, head of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the owners of Edinburgh Zoo where Nils lives.

The bird first became an honorary member of the Norwegian regiment in the 1970s, when a lieutenant called Nils Egelien visited the Scottish Zoo. Norway's head of state was then King Olav V.

The Norwegian guardsmen visit Nils every few years when they come for the Scottish military jamboree, and over the years he has risen through the ranks, finally becoming the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief. The original Nils died about 20 years ago, and the name has been transferred to one of his penguin peers.

On Friday he was granted the highest honour yet, when a guardsman dubbed a sword on each side of his head - where his shoulders should be - to confirm his regimental knighthood.

"Nils always recognises the Norwegian Guardsmen when they come to visit him," said Darren McGarry of Edinburgh Zoo. "He loves the attention he receives at the ceremony and takes his time inspecting the troops."

Nils himself was on his best behaviour throughout the ceremony - apart from shortly before the sword ceremony, when - perhaps suffering a bout of pre-knighthood nerves - he deposited a discrete white puddle on the ground.

Drawing a polite veil over that, Mr McGarry said afterwards: "It went extremely well and we are delighted that the Norwegian Guard honoured Nils Olav with a knighthood.

"We all enjoyed the occasion and Nils was a perfect penguin throughout."

Norwegian King's guardsman Captain Rune Wiik added "We are extremely proud of Nils Olav and pleased that an enduring part of the Royal Guard is resident in Scotland helping to further strengthen ties between our two countries."

- AFP