Erling Haaland’s Gift to Bryne Requires a 1594 Saga Manuscript to Stay on View
A small library in southwestern Norway is about to become the permanent home of an extraordinary survivor: a two-volume book printed in 1594 that must, by the terms of its donation, remain on public display.
The Bryne library, in the Jæren district, has received the gift under conditions that the manuscript be “permanently displayed and made accessible” to visitors. The donor is Norwegian football star Erling Haaland, who framed the gesture as a way to make reading feel less abstract and more personal.
“I want the book to always lie open so that people can read about those who came from where I come from, Bryne and Jæren,” Haaland said in a statement. “It’s easier to feel drawn to reading when you can recognise yourself in the people and places being written about.”
The book centers on the legacy of Snorri Sturluson, the 13th-century Icelandic poet and politician whose writings remain foundational to the popular understanding of Norse mythology and Nordic history. Rather than presenting Snorri’s texts in their original medieval language, the newly acquired volume preserves translations by Mattis Størssøn, a 16th-century law official from Norway’s southwest who was among the earliest translators to move Old Norse into a more contemporary vernacular.
Størssøn’s selections extend beyond Snorri’s sagas. Alongside narratives that trace Norwegian history from creation myth through Viking-era power struggles and the reigns of medieval kings, he also included translations of Sverri’s saga and Hákon Hákonarson’s saga. The book was printed in Denmark, 20 years after Størssøn’s death.
Local officials have emphasized the civic dimension of the donation. “We are extremely grateful for this incredibly generous gift,” said Andreas Vollsund, the mayor of Time Municipality, in a statement. “Erling and Alfie are giving us the opportunity to do one of the most important things we can do for our young people: give them the joy of reading.”
As part of the initiative, Time Municipality has launched a reading competition for middle and lower school classes over the coming year. The winning class will be invited to watch the Norwegian national team at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo.
Haaland, who is expected to represent Norway at the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada, and the United States, positioned books as a more widely available engine of ambition than sport. “I’ve been lucky enough to live out my dream through football, and I know not everyone gets that chance,” he said. “Books give so many more people the chance to dream big, see new possibilities, and find their own path.”
In an era when rare books often disappear into private collections, the requirement that this 1594 volume remain open to the public turns a collector’s object into a shared resource — anchoring national myth, local identity, and literacy in a single, quietly radical display case in Bryne.
