Did you know that Harald Fairhair had 24 sons and a baby polar bear? That Greenland got its name to trick people into moving there? Or that Trøndelag county actually had a dog as its chief at one point?

The Vikings have been the subject of hundreds of non-fiction books. Most of them have tiny text, virtually no pictures, and a whole lot of boring content. That’s why Martin Aas created the opposite: an easy-to-read book of facts that’s chock-full of illustrations and that only focuses on the coolest parts of the Viking Age. The Vikings explored vast regions of the world on the silk trade in Turkey and raids from Ireland to Ibiza. They were the first Europeans to visit America. Along the rivers in Eastern Europe, they created the Viking country of Gardarike, the foundation for the largest country in the world: Russia. There’s a reason why the Viking Age is called “Scandinavia’s contribution to world history.”

Through riveting comic strips, you get to meet powerful people like Harald Bluetooth, Gunnhild Mother of Kings, Olav Tryggvason, and Einar Thambarskelfir and take part in famous battles where these powerhouses fought to be king of “Nordveien” – the coast of what would someday become Norway.