Monday, July 23, 2012

Largest Viking in the World - Alexandria, Minnesota



The "Largest Viking in the World" is in Alexandria, Minnesota, "The Birthplace of America." The statue stands 28 feet tall and weighs more than 12,000 pounds. It accompanied the famed Kensington Runestone to the New York World's Fair in 1965 and was then brought to Alexandria. Alexandria calls itself "The Birthplace of America" because it is claimed that the Runestone was brought there by the Vikings in 1362.

On this postcard (published in 1967), the statue is standing at the north end of Main St. and calls attention to the Runestone Museum. The statue was moved to a park nearby in 2002. Over the years, the statue became known as "Big Ole," changed its hair color, and lost its horns. It is now believed that the Vikings did not have helmets with horns.






1 comment:

  1. Out here we have Paul Bunyan. Perhaps these two would like to meet.

    P.S. If you send me your mailing address (to drawthatbridge at gmail.com) I will send you that Tuckahoe Indian sign postcard.

    ReplyDelete