CureBubbles

Erling Haaland spent $134,000 on a book he'll never read. Then gave it away. Last December, he and his father quietly bought the 1594 edition of Snorri Sturluson's Kings' Sagas at auction — the most expensive book ever sold in Norwegian history. Only one copy exists on earth. They donated it to the public library in Bryne. The town where Haaland grew up. One condition: it stays open. Anyone can walk in and read it. What actually is this book? Written in 1230, it chronicles Norwegian kings from the age of gods through medieval history — warriors, farmers, kings from the exact coastal region Haaland calls home. The 1594 edition was the first time it was ever printed in Norwegian. Before that it lived in manuscripts, locked away from ordinary people for 350 years. He bought the moment his people's history became something they could hold — and handed it to the next generation. "I want the book always to lie open so people can read about those who came from where I come from." He scored twice for Norway today in his first ever World Cup match. The kings in that book would've approved.