Erling Haaland’s Family Donates Rare £103,000 Viking History Book

The Time library in the southern Norwegian town of Bryne has unveiled the only surviving privately owned edition of Snorre Sturlasons Kongesagaer (Snorre Sturlason’s Royal Sagas), a rare 1594 text donated by the family of superstar striker Erling Haaland.

The book was purchased at auction for 1.3 million Norwegian kroner, or roughly £103,000, marking the most expensive book sale ever recorded in Norway. Erling Haaland’s father, Alf Inge Haaland, who bought the book at auction, told the assembled crowd that he and his son are “a little impulsive” when it comes to making spontaneous purchases.

Alf Inge “Alfie” Haaland, the footballer’s father, revealed the donation to the local library last December, describing the acquisition as a spontaneous decision. Erling Haaland, who could not attend in person, appeared in a video interview to discuss his interest in Vikings from a young age and noted that while he is not a big reader, he does read frequently to his one-year-old son.

The 1594 edition is the first printed version of the sagas in Danish-Norwegian. Because Norway lacked printing presses at the time—the country was under Danish rule between 1536 and 1814—the volume was produced in Copenhagen based on a translation by Mattis Størssøn.

While the National Library of Norway holds three other copies, none are complete. Åse Wetås, the national librarian, described the Bryne donation as a “complete and very beautiful copy” and a “very special gem” in exceptional condition. She added, “It is a very special book for everybody in Norway.”

The sagas themselves, which chronicle the history of Old Norse Viking and medieval Norwegian kings, are considered a vital document of national identity. The text will now be housed in a permanent display case at the Time library, with a fully digitized version available to the public alongside explanatory notes.

The donation arrives amid a period of intense local interest in the striker, whose recent performance leading the 26-year-old Norwegian—born in Leeds where his father played for Leeds United—to the World Cup quarter-finals spurred a surge in tourism to his hometown.

Mayor Andreas Vollsund, who once taught the striker in school, praised the gift as a demonstration of the player’s character. “We now see how good a person Erling is, to do this for his home town,” Vollsund said. “He doesn’t need to do this, he wants to do this.”

Beyond the artifact’s historical value, officials view the donation as a tool to combat contemporary challenges. “I think that’s the most important and long-lasting part of this: promoting reading, knowing your own history, promoting reliable sources,” Wetås noted.

Library director Anne Tjørhom Frick noted that the competition, which measures time spent reading through January, has inspired avid participation, with the library director stating: “We have had people come here all summer saying: ‘Where is the book?’ But now it is finally here.”