Bust of Viking explorer is unveiled on island

A bust of the Viking believed to have been the first European to “discover” America is to be unveiled in Uig, Isle of Lewis, today at the instigation of the Seattle-based society which keeps his memory alive.

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”. 0 A bust of Leif Erikson, who is believed to have visited Uig

The 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.