Meet Øystein Morten - Selected Title Author

What is the book about?

The book is about the chieftain Erik the Red, who loses a series of power struggles in Iceland in the 970s. Trying to restore his honor, he explores a mythical land to the west and discovers the world’s largest island: Greenland. Based on new studies of DNA, carbon dating, and isotopes in conjunction with my own research on old Norse original texts, an entirely new story emerges – a story about a desperate man who pushes his way northward and over the ice to discover white gold: ivory.

During his journeys, Erik discovers yet another country further to the west. The book ends with a great expedition that travels down the coast of today’s Canada in the year 1003.

In addition, the book is about the author and historian who travels in and out of the deserted fjords in Greenland in a tiny motorboat until he discovers the remains of a hitherto unknown house built by Erik the Red. With the latest virtual reality tech, he later floats down the coast of Canada until he catches sight of the place where the great Norse expedition to Vinland lost a power struggle against a strange people they call skrælings.

What distinguishes your book from other books in the same genre/theme?

There are no other non-fiction books about Erik the Red. There aren’t any other books where research on Viking Age texts takes place in an office inside a flight simulator in virtual reality. No other books prove the truth of the Vinland Sagas through the isotopes in old bones. No one else uses words like “Wonderstrands”. There aren’t any other books in this genre because no one has ever explored this theme before.

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See all NORLA’s Selected Titles for the spring 2023 here