Statue of Historic Figure: Leif Erikson - Boston, MA

Leif Erikson
by
Anne Whitney

N 42° 20.945 W 071° 05.311

Short Description: 

A statue of the Viking explorer, Leif Erikson, is located on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall at Charlesgate in the Back Bay of Boston.

Long Description:

Leif Erikson was born in Iceland, the son of Erik the Red. He became a an accomplished sailor and explorer. He sailed to Greenland in 986 AD and establish a Norse colony. Later he became famous in Norse history as the first European to sail across the North Atlantic Ocean to land on the North American continent, in 1000 AD. According Icelandic Sagas, he established a settlement at Vinland, now believed to be at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland, Canada.


A 9' tall bronze statue of Leif Erikson is standing on a gray plinth shaped as a boulder on a 9' high red rock base. Erikson is wearing a tunic with chain mail armor, and carrying a sheathed curved dagger on his left side.  His left hand is raised to shield his eyes and his right hand is holding a horn. Two bronze plaques on the base depict Erikson and his crew landing on a rocky shore and Erikson telling of his discovery.

Erikson and his crew landing on a rocky shore.

Erikson telling of his discovery.

The statue was commissioned by Eben N. Horsford, created by Anne Whitney, and installed  in 1887. The base has the following inscriptions:

LEIF

THE DISCOVERER

SON OF ERIK

WHO SAILED FROM ICELAND

AND LANDED THIS CONTINENT

AD1000