The Saga of Seattle’s Leif Erikson Statue (continued)
Subsequent minutes from the League indicate
differing opinions on whether the statue should portray Leif Erikson as a
savage warrior with weapons or as a peaceful man. They settled on a
version of him as a scout finding a mysterious new land called Vinland.
The ax in his hand was an afterthought.2 Werner had depicted Leif
Erikson in earlier works wearing a winged helmet, but in this case he
explained the wingless helmet, saying “it lends itself to sculpture…it
is lofty and points upward.” A shield was eliminated due to cost and the
mechanics of casting. Werner’s notes conclude: “I propose to model a man
first of all.” The promotional and fundraising material all report that
the statue was to be created in Norway.
Funds were raised in many ways: benefit
bazaars, dinners, dances, donations, the sale of postcards, loans from
both individuals and organizations, gifts in kind, etc. Several committee
members, including Captain Gunnar Olsborg, took out loans on their homes
to come up with the funds.3
The group raised $40,000, although a debt continued on loans until several
years after the statue had been erected.
The first request for permission to give
the statue to the people of Seattle and place it in a public park was made
to Mayor Gordon Clinton on February 19, 1959. The Park Department opposed
the idea, as it would set a precedent for every group that might want a
statue in a park.4
Nakkerud then went to the Seattle Arts Commission. They were not
interested, but he was relentless. They objected that the statue should
not be placed at the new civic center as the League requested, but instead
it should face water in the Viking tradition.
Another reluctance was a “chicken and egg”
dilemma. Should the Commission insist on seeing the finished product and
then consider a site, or could they approve an outdoor sculpture without
knowing the setting? The Commission’s John Detlie explained: “If the
statue is a fine work of art, we should proclaim it to be so to the city,
the nation, and to the world. Such a statue could be installed anywhere,
(even) in the middle of the city.”5 At another meeting, a member
suggested that the Commission should “get off the pedestal and stop
acting like gods in heaven … [for] a sincere effort. We’re not going
to get a Michelangelo or Rodin,” while another member muttered, “No,
but we should try.”6
At the Commission’s request, the League
came up with a 4-foot model, approved at a special League meeting in
August Werner’s studio on Sunday, October 30, 1960. At that meeting,
President Nakkerud also appointed Edvard Mehlum and Professor Werner to
look for a suitable place to have the larger statue made. The Art
Commission was also invited there to see it. After their viewing and the
Seattle Port Commission’s agreement to accept the statue and place the
Viking looking out to the sea, the Art Commission accepted it. Nakkerud’s
persistence and protracted dialogue had paid off.
Final approval from the Port of Seattle was
received on February 25, 1962, three years after the statue was first
formally proposed. According to Seattle Times reporter Lois R.
Guzzo: “As for Ericson [sic], his voyage across the Atlantic was
a pleasure cruise compared to the difficulty he has experienced in finding
his way to Elliott Bay.”7
The League packed up the model for
Berkeley, where the Greek sculptor Spero Anargyros increased Leif’s size
from four to 16 feet. (Some newspaper articles report the height as 17
feet, and some give it as both 16 and 17 feet in the same article.) Franco
Vianello, 24, an artisan from Venice, Italy, then cast Leif in bronze
through the “lost wax” process, a 2,000-year-old method. The casting
cost $10,000, but afterward, Vianello reported that his inexperience with
such a large project kept him from bidding it at the real cost of $15,000.
8 The granite base
was constructed by Askim Stenhuggeri, south of Oslo, for around $2,000,
but was shipped for free. The League reported that the statue cost $42,000
but was worth $72,000 because of the countless hours donated by hundreds
of individuals. 9
August Werner with the 4-foot model for the Leif Erikson statue
to the right, and the full sized plaster model, cast in 1962.
The 4-ton statue left Berkeley on May 10,
1962, and was unveiled on Norway Day, June 17, at the “Century 21”
Seattle World’s Fair. The combined height of the statue and its base was
30 feet. The honor of unveiling it went to Icelandic poetess Jacobina
Johnson. John M. Haydon, a commissioner of the Port of Seattle, accepted
the statue on behalf of the community. Capt. Gunnar Olsborg was Master of
Ceremonies.
Three thousand people watched as numerous
dignitaries spoke, including Paul Koht, Norwegian ambassador to the United
States representing King Olav V and the Norwegian people. Consul Koht
called the memorial “a tribute to a daring and courageous man.” In a
nod to Washington’s Italian governor, Albert Rosellini, Koht added, “We
must acknowledge that another gentleman who came to this country later
than Leif Erikson may have contributed something as well.”10 The Rev. Burton W. Smith,
pastor of Ballard’s First Lutheran Church, said that the impressive
statue was dedicated “in the memory of one who was willing to risk his
life for the unknown and unseen.” He called upon God to let the memorial
stand as a “constant reminder of faith, courage, vision.” Speaking on
“Leif Erikson the Discoverer,” Dr. Sverre Arestad, professor in the
University of Washington’s Scandinavian department, described Erikson as
a symbol of the whole Viking Age, A.D. 800 to 1050.11 Governor Rosellini, Mayor
Gordon Clinton, Icelandic Consul Karl Fredrick, Norwegian Consul Christen
Stang, and others spoke. Professor Werner directed the Norwegian Ladies
and Norwegian Male choruses.
That evening, Ambassador Koht gave Norway’s
highest honor, the Saint Olav award, to Nakkerud and others, including
Paul P. Berg, Frode Frodesen, the Rev. O.L. Haavik, Andrew J. Haug, Edward
T. Mehlum, Henry Ringman, and P.D. Wick, for their duty and service to
Norway.
The Leif Erikson League was not content to
rest on its oars. On May 2, 1968, King Olav V of Norway visited the statue
and paid his respects. Even though the King’s visit was planned for
daytime, the League prepared for it by requesting and receiving extra
lighting on the statue, particularly for the backside so that the plaques
there could be viewed.
The League continued its advocacy on behalf
of Leif Erikson, proposing: a national Leif Erikson Day, proclaimed by
President Johnson on October 9, 1964; a postage stamp issued on October 9,
1968; and a commemorative plate issued on October 9, 1978.
They also got the statue placed on nautical
maps. That effort started with several independent Norwegian ships
saluting the statue by blowing three long whistles, the first within hours
of the unveiling. Nakkerud took up his pen and by mid-1963, Washington
Senator Henry M. Jackson announced that Leif Erikson was on the maritime
charts.12