Footballer Erling Haaland donates Viking Book to Home Town

The book was not bought to be hidden away; it was bought so that people in Norway could enjoy it. That is why Erling Braut Haaland has chosen to give the book to Time Municipality, on the condition that it is displayed and made accessible to the public at the library in the place he comes from. The charitable EH9 Foundation, in cooperation with Time Municipality and its library, will help ensure that the book can be exhibited in secure surroundings for the benefit of both the people of Time and visitors.

“I want the book always to lie open so that people can read about those who came from where I come from, from Bryne and Jæren,” Erling Braut Haaland says in a comment. “It’s easier to feel drawn to reading when you can recognise yourself in the people and places being written about.”

And it is this desire to read that Erling hopes the book will help create. Erling and Alfie, who have both made their living from football all their lives, have given the book to Time Municipality and Bryne Library in order to share the joy of stories, storytelling and reading with far more people than just those who make a living from playing football.

“I’ve been lucky enough to live out my dream through football, and I know not everyone gets that chance,” says Erling. “Books give so many more people the chance to dream big, see new possibilities and find their own path.” 

Mattis Størssøn's version of Snorri's sagas, which will now be given to Time Municipality.

Mattis Størssøn lived from around 1500 to 1569. When he died, he was the lawman of Bergen and a leading figure in the emerging Norwegian scholarly community. Størssøn’s personal history is only partly known; for example, no one knows for certain where he was born. But he was connected to south-western Norway, both through family and property; among other things, he was commander at Utstein. As lawman, Mattis Størssøn played a central role during and after the Reformation. In 1564 he is even said to have taken part in recapturing Steinvikholm Castle north of Trondheim from the Swedes. Later he sailed with warships to northern Norway to secure that region for the Danish king.

Størssøn was one of the first to translate old saga texts from Old Norse into modern Danish or Danish-Norwegian, and was therefore absolutely crucial in making these sources and stories accessible again to people in Norway. He gathered his translations into a manuscript he called The Norwegian Chronicle of the Former Kings, Lords and Princes Who Have Rightfully Ruled and Governed the Kingdom of Norway, Drawn from Old Norwegian into Danish.

The main part of the manuscript is a translation and retelling of Snorri’s royal sagas, together with a translation of Sverri’s saga and Hákon Hákonarson’s saga. Størssøn worked with several Old Norse manuscripts when compiling his version. We also know that he made use of the Latin manuscript of the Danish historian Saxo.

Størssøn’s manuscript was first published as a book in 1594, more than twenty years after the author himself had died. It was read by many in its own time and in the centuries that followed and is regarded as the very first printed history of Norway’s earliest past. The edition that Erling Braut Haaland and Alfie Haaland have given to Time municipality is the only surviving copy of the original edition in private ownership. It is in two volumes and was printed in Copenhagen in 1594. The book was sold for more than one million NOK, which is the highest price ever paid for a Norwegian book. It is a book of central importance in Norwegian history, Norwegian book history and, not least, in the story of Norway as we know it. Together with Time Municipality, the EH9 Foundation has committed to displaying the book in Time so that it once again becomes the property of the people.

Main Image: Stock photo of Erling Braut Haaland and mayor Andreas Vollsund in the mayor's office. Courtesy: Time Municipality