Statue of Viking Leif Erikson

Duluth, Minnesota

Lucky Leif shields his eyes from the setting sun as he steers his Viking dragon boat west into Duluth harbor, or at least that's our interpretation of this 13-foot-tall statue. Most historians dismiss the idea that Vikings had horns on their helmets, so Leif's hat instead has little wings.

The inscription on the statue's base reads, "Leif Erikson, Discoverer of America, 1000 A.D." It was paid for by the Norwegian American League and unveiled on August 25, 1956.

It was the second Leif Erikson for sculptor John Karl Daniels, a Norwegian immigrant, who had sculpted an entirely different Leif seven years earlier that still stands on the Minnesota state capitol grounds. This one in Duluth is less regal and more vigorous and, perhaps bowing to criticism, has tinier wings on Leif's hat.