Bust of Viking explorer unveiled on Isle of Lewis
The Leif Erikson International Foundation says its “final project” is to donate a two-foot high bust to the Uig community and that “this will complete the list of locations where the Sagas say Leif visited or lived”.
According to the Saga of Erik the Red, Leif visited the Hebrides in the year 1000 while en route to Trondheim. The Foundation believe from their researches that “Uig is the most likely place in the Hebrides that Vikings might have inhabited”.
Advertisement
Hide AdThe dedication ceremony will be held this afternoon with a ceilidh in the evening to welcome the visitors. Many of the local placenames are of Norse origin and the visitors will explore the area’s historical connections with the Vikings. Uig is also the location in which the Lewis chessmen were found in 1831.