There was once a time when the sight of a Viking "Great Ship" on the horizon would cause mass hysteria, because it generally meant impending doom. But when the Draken Harald Hårfagre arrives in Duluth, Minnesota in August, just in time for the annual Tall Ships Festival, it will be cause for celebration. The world's largest Viking ship took sail on Saturday from its home port of Haugesund, Norway, and will be making its way across the Atlantic, stopping at ports in Iceland, Greenland, Canada, and the United States.

Once in the U.S., the Draken Harald Hårfagre will go through the Great Lakes to Duluth for the festival, and then loop back to New York City and Connecticut. Captain Björn Ahlander is commanding a crew of 32 men and women who will be tracing the approximate route that Leif Erikson--thought to be the first European to land in North America--took roughly 1,000 years ago.