Soccer
Erling Haaland donates £100,000 book about Vikings from 1594 to library in Bryne
Manchester City forward Erling Haaland has bought a rare 16th century book about Vikings for 1.3million Norwegian krone (£100,000) and donated it to a library in Bryne.
A week on from Haaland being confirmed as an investor in Norway Chess, the 25-year-old has been revealed as the buyer of Snorre Sturlason’s Royal Sagas from 1594 along with his father Alf-Inge Haaland.
Haaland’s purchase of £100k makes Royal Sagas the most expensive book of all time in Norway, but the prolific scorer will not keep it to himself and instead will allow it to be on display in a library in Bryne, which is where the Man City forward spent his younger years after being born in Leeds.
“I have never been a big reader, but I want the book to always be open, so that you can read about those who came from my area, from Bryne and Jaeren,” Haaland said in a press release, as reported by Norwegian media outlet VG.
The bid by Haaland was reportedly made over the phone in December and the historic book will reside at Municipality of Time, which is in the district of Jaeren.
Sturlason’s book tells the story of medieval Vikings and Queens. It is the only surviving copy.
