Big Ole the Viking
211 Broadway St, Alexandria, MN
Alexandria, MN
A twenty-eight-foot Viking with a spear and shield standing guard over Broadway, a proud roadside monument to a legend Minnesota has argued about for more than a century.
Big Ole is a twenty-eight-foot fiberglass Viking who has guarded downtown Alexandria since the 1960s, spear in one hand and shield in the other, the shield reading Alexandria: Birthplace of America. He was built for the 1965 World's Fair in New York to promote Minnesota's claim, drawn from the Kensington Runestone, that Norse explorers reached this region long before Columbus. When the fair ended, Big Ole came home to stand at the top of Broadway.
Whether or not the runestone is genuine, and scholars have argued about it for well over a century, Big Ole has become a beloved piece of roadside Americana and the unofficial mascot of Alexandria. He is a monument not just to a legend but to a town's stubborn pride in it, the kind of oversized fiberglass giant that once drew families off the highway all across the Upper Midwest.
What Guests Love
- A classic photo stop with one of the largest Viking statues in the country
- The tie to the Kensington Runestone story right next door
- An easy walkable spot at the top of a friendly small-town main street
- Lake country in every direction for boating, fishing, and swimming
Worth Knowing
- Big Ole stands on a public plaza and is free to visit and photograph any time
- The Kensington Runestone Museum next door tells the fuller story and is worth pairing with the statue
- Parking is on the surrounding downtown streets, so plan a short walk
- There is little shade at the plaza, so bring water on hot summer days
Details
Alexandria, MN
Learn about Big Ole the Viking
The runestone that built a giant
Big Ole owes his existence to a slab of stone. In 1898 a farmer named Olof Ohman said he dug up a carved stone tangled in the roots of a tree near Kensington, a short drive from Alexandria. Its runic inscription seemed to tell of a party of Norse explorers who reached the interior of North America in the year 1362, more than a hundred years before Columbus sailed.
The Kensington Runestone set off a debate that has never fully settled. Many scholars judge it a clever late-nineteenth-century hoax, pointing to the language and lettering, while defenders argue for its authenticity. Alexandria embraced the story wholeheartedly, styling itself the Birthplace of America, and when the town wanted a symbol for the 1965 World's Fair, a giant Viking was the natural choice.
A roadside giant comes home
Big Ole was built to make an impression, and he does, standing more than two stories tall with a horned helmet, a bushy beard, and a spear held high. After his turn at the World's Fair he was trucked back to Minnesota and set up at the head of Broadway, where he has watched over the runestone museum and the town's main street ever since.
Like many oversized roadside figures of his era, Big Ole has weathered his share of adventures, including a lightning strike and more than one restoration over the decades. Each time the town has patched him up and stood him back on his feet, because a place that names itself the birthplace of America is not about to let its Viking fall.
This is Dakota and Ojibwe country
Long before any Norse legend, this lake country was and remains the homeland of Native peoples. The Dakota and the Ojibwe, or Anishinaabe, both lived and traveled across central Minnesota, fishing its lakes, gathering wild rice, and moving through the country with the seasons. The state name itself comes from the Dakota words Mni Sota Makoce.
It is worth holding the runestone story alongside that older, living history. The claim of a fourteenth-century Norse visit is disputed and celebrated in equal measure, but there is no dispute that Dakota and Ojibwe communities have called this region home for many generations, and their descendants remain part of Minnesota today.
Alexandria and its lakes
Alexandria sits in the heart of Minnesota's central lake country, ringed by dozens of clear glacial lakes that have drawn vacationing families for generations. In summer the town fills with boaters, anglers, and cabin-goers, and the resorts and public accesses around Lake Carlos, Lake Le Homme Dieu, and their neighbors stay busy.
The town itself is an easy, friendly place to wander, with Big Ole and the runestone museum anchoring a walkable Broadway of shops and cafes. Fall brings color to the wooded shorelines and quieter roads, and winter turns the lakes into a landscape of ice houses and snowmobile trails.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Alexandria
Kensington Runestone Museum
Steps away
The museum next to Big Ole that displays the famous carved stone and tells the long, disputed story of a supposed Norse expedition to Minnesota.
Lake Carlos State Park
About 10 miles north
A wooded park on a deep, clear lake, with swimming, fishing, and trails through hardwood forest at the edge of the prairie.
Alexandria lakes country
Surrounding the town
A ring of glacial lakes lined with resorts, docks, and public accesses, long a favorite summer destination in central Minnesota.