The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1886-05-27
manitomoe pilot.
THURSDAY, MAY 81, 1886.
The Statue of Left Erikson.

The conception of the sculptor pre-
sents to us full-grown giant, with a
strong but intellectual and beardless
face, rather Roman than Greek, and dis
tinctly not of recognized barbaric type.
He has Just set foot, in advance of his
companions, upon an unknown shore,
where he stands, sailor-fashion. with his
legs somewhat apart. but firmly poised
upon his left, in the attitude of one ea-
gerly scanning the distance The left
hand shades the eyes; the right, resting
upon his hip, holds a signal horn,
brayely bedecked with Runic device
like drinking-cup of the Skalds. He
is clad in a short, sleeveless jerkin, or
coat of scale armor, closely fitting
around the hips, and adorned with two
round bossed plates upon the breasts.
Beneath it linen tunic descends half
way down the thighs. He wears a dec
GRATED belt and sheathed dagger at
his waist Upon his long, shaggy locks
is set a small, round cap of steel The
powerful arms are bare. and the skin
tight leggings reveal the strong anato-
my of the lower limbs. Upon the feet
are shoes, apparently OF slashed leather,
and the legs are not cross-gartered.
The general expression of the figure is
one of alert and vigorous manhood;
it is modelled on a heroic scale, and
posed like one who pauses for moment
and for definite purpose in the midst
of an active career. Left, however, is
portrayed as man of thought as we'll
as of action; in the whole conception of
him there is not only more of civiliza-
ton than barbarism, but more OF classic
than romantic sentiment.
1t is evident that upon this fundamen-
tai point the sculptor is ready to take
issue with those who conceive that out
of Scandinavia, in the tenth century,
nothing better could issue than manly
virtue of brutal sort, and very saw
age and coarse-fbred energy.
According to the Sagas, Left Erikson
was prince, son of Erik the Red, Jarl
of Norway. 1t may be fairly assumed
that this crude court had received some
reflection, however faint, from the civil
ization of the south. 1t was four or
five centuries before the era of Left
when the hordes from this northern
hive" overran the Roman Empire, and
his own ancestors may have occupied
JIlt didtluc dLlOIg INC cOuQuelOIS.
Fired by the narrative of Bjarne, who
in $50 first visited the coast of North
America, he set out with thirty-ive men
in the year 1000, and discovered Labra-
dor and Vinland. A few years later he
was sent to Greenland to spread Chris
tianity among the Morse settlements.
He is described by the Sagas as "a
great and strong man, grave and well
favored, Herewith sensible and moder-
ate in all things" No act of piracy or
rapine is recorded of him.
Upon the basis of these records, it
would seem that the artist is historical
ly justified in associating a certain de-
gree of intellectual and moral force, if
not of actual refinement, with the pro-
per physical characteristics of her semi
barbaric hero. The burden of proof
lies with those who are disposed to typi-
fly the reputed discoverer of Massachu-
sets Bay and the island of Nantucket
and Martha's Vineyard as a Hun or
Goth of the third century.-Henry Van
Br1t1at IN June atlantic.