Vikings were used to long voyages and their sagas spanned
generations. So what’s 19 years in the saga of Seattle’s statue of Leif
Erikson and the three replicas it has spawned? It was 1994 when a university
scholar from Trondheim, Professor Rolf Grankvist, was visiting Seattle
and having dinner at the former Windjammer, near the base of Seattle’s
1962 statue. He casually tossed off an idea: “Seattle ought to give
a statue of Leif Erikson to Trondheim to help us celebrate our thousand-year
history as a Viking city.” Just as casually, Seattle native Kristine
Leander, who had studied at the university in Trondheim and was fond
of the city, said, “Sure, we’ll do that.” And the rest, as they say,
is history.
Kristine formed a group that quickly came up with the idea of asking
for donations in the name of immigrants whose names would be inscribed
on plaques near the base. They decided it was expedient to use Seattle’s
statue as a model, and create a 10-foot version of it, rather than seeking
a new sculptor or a new design. Three short but busy years later, a
large group from across America were at Trondheim on July 23, 1997, for the
unveiling. The original sculptor, the late Professor August Werner,
had also formed the Norwegian Ladies Chorus of Seattle, and the chorus
was there to sing at the ceremony.
Professor Grankvist was also there to remind the group that the Icelandic
Sagas mentioned three sites where Icelandic-born Leif visited or lived:
Trondheim, where he sojourned one winter; Brattahlid, Greenland, where
his family settled after leaving Iceland; and Vinland, on the shores
of Newfoundland, Canada. The thousand-year anniversary of Leif’s journey
from Brattahlid to Vinland was three short years away, so the group
reconstituted itself as Leif Erikson International Foundation, or LEIF
for short, and set to work. They provided the largest chunk of funding
for a second replica for Brattahlid, with the governments of Denmark,
Iceland, Norway, and Greenland contributing as well. To raise LEIF’s
part of the funds, more immigrant names were added to the statue in
Trondheim.
The Greenland statue was unveiled in 2000. The installers sent from
Seattle said that they’d never seen a more perfect setting than on the
hillside high above Erik the Red’s farm. Again, the Norwegian Ladies
Chorus of Seattle welcomed the statue with their songs.
One site remained without a statue—Vinland—but the LEIF group decided
that particular dream was a bit out of reach. They turned their attention
instead to Seattle’s statue at Shilshole Bay Marina, badly in need of
a new base and a new setting. With the help of artist Jay Haavik, they
conceived a plaza surrounded with runic-like stones, arranged in the
form of an ancient Viking ship, and bearing, once again, the names of
immigrants. Leifur, as Port of Seattle workers called the statue, was
refurbished and the first set of names, numbering more than 800,
were unveiled on Oct. 7, 2007. Additional names were installed on July 18,
2010, bringing the total to 1,767, but public demand for names
continued. Plans were made for a final stone at the plaza, and in the
wake of the Seattle success, dreams of a third and last replica for
Vinland began taking shape.
Visits were made to L’Anse aux Meadows, and relationships were formed.
The last Leif replica was unveiled on July 28, 2013, and the Chorus
was on hand again to welcome him. And again, the opportunity to place
names near the base was integral to the design and the funding for the
statue. The group requested a tall piece of basalt from Iceland to hold
the plaques, and Seattle’s Icelandic Club funded it.
Is the saga complete? Not quite yet, but nearly so. LEIF still has 88
spaces for immigrant names at the Seattle site, and is also soliciting
names of individuals and clubs, along with donations, to be installed
on two more Icelandic basalt stones at Vinland. The group anticipates
completing both projects in summer 2014. Twenty years later, that conversation
down at the Windjammer has a nice ring to it.
For more information about adding your name or your family members’
names to a monument, e-mail or call 206-778-1081.
By Kristine Leander, Ph.D. Kristine is granddaughter of Swedish immigrants
to Skagit County. Her Ph.D. research was conducted at the University
of Trondheim, Norway. She is currently the president of the Leif Erikson
International Foundation and the Executive Director of the Swedish Club
in Seattle.