Leif Erikson - Reykjavik, Iceland
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member Metro2
N 64° 08.641 W 021° 55.660
27W E 454860 N 7113391
Leif Erikson may have been the first European on North American soil.
Waymark Code: WMP152
Location: Iceland
Date Posted: 06/07/2015
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member lumbricus
Views: 17

This statue of Leif Erikson, located in front of Hallgrímskirkja Cathedral, depicts him larger than life sized, standing heroically at the edge of a mount. He holds an axe with his right hand and wears a sword on his left side. It is set on a rising marble plinth that bears the inscription:

"LEIFR
EIRICSSON
SON OF ICELAND
DISCOVERER OF
VINLAND
THE
UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA TO
THE PEOPLE
OF ICELAND
ON THE ONE
THOUSANDTH
ANNIVERSARY
OF THE ALTHING
A.D. 1930"

The 1930 bronze work is by Stirling Calder.

Wikipedia (visit link) informs us:

"Leif Erikson or Leif Ericson...c. 970 – c. 1020) was an Icelandic[3] explorer (while his father was Norse) considered by some as the first European to land in North America (excluding Greenland), before Christopher Columbus. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern-day Canada.
It is believed that Leif was born in Iceland around the 970s—the son of Icelandic mother Þjóðhildur (anglicized Thjodhild) and Norse father Erik the Red, an explorer and outlaw from Western Norway. Erik founded the first Norse colonies in Greenland, and was based at the family estate Brattahlíð in the Eastern Settlement, where Leif had his upbringing. Leif had two known sons: Thorgils, born to noblewoman Thorgunna in the Hebrides; and Thorkell, who succeeded him as chieftain of the Greenland settlement."
URL of the statue: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
You must have visited the site in person, not online.
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest Statues of Historic Figures
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point
Recent Visits/Logs:
Date Logged Log User Rating  
STL-VS visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 07/02/2024 STL-VS visited it
graphix visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 05/25/2024 graphix visited it
Skyecat visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 08/19/2023 Skyecat visited it
LordSolfernus visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 03/14/2023 LordSolfernus visited it
Cirque Du Freak visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 11/08/2019 Cirque Du Freak visited it
lamiche37 visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 07/08/2019 lamiche37 visited it
qpdbcz visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 10/05/2018 qpdbcz visited it
seapanda visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 08/26/2018 seapanda visited it
Rymyhomie visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 03/04/2018 Rymyhomie visited it
JamesA60 visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 04/25/2017 JamesA60 visited it
suviss visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 02/08/2017 suviss visited it
Keldar5 visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 10/15/2016 Keldar5 visited it
jiggs11 visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 08/02/2016 jiggs11 visited it
chrissyml visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 08/02/2015 chrissyml visited it
Walking Boots visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 05/27/2015 Walking Boots visited it
Metro2 visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 06/21/2014 Metro2 visited it
matefreund visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 08/21/2010 matefreund visited it
Trail Blaisers visited Leif Erikson  -  Reykjavik, Iceland 07/23/2010 Trail Blaisers visited it

View all visits/logs