Poulsbo, WA

Probably the most historically accurate (and thus least-Hollywood heroic) Viking statue in America. King Olaf looks weather-beaten, is ill-suited under a mangy cloak and a pot helmet (with no amusing cartoon Viking horns), and teeters on a flimsy staff.

The bronze statue was dedicated in Poulsbo's waterfront park after a 1975 visit by King Olav V of Norway. Poulsbo was settled by Norwegians, calls itself "Little Norway," is laced with streets named Fjord and Rotten Herring, and decorates its downtown buildings with Norwegian flags and folk art designs.

Perhaps mindful of its sad-but-true Viking, Poulsbo erected a second, far more fantasy satisfying, 12-foot-tall Viking statue in 2012.