The saga of Erik the Red is brief: it tells how he flees from Norway to Iceland after committing murder, marries into a chieftain's family, starts a small war, explores a vast land to the west, and names it Greenland. He establishes a settler colony there before the land is Christianized against his will and his sons explore America. In just fifteen minutes, one gets an overview of everything one needs to know about Erik the Red. Or maybe not? Because behind the compressed narratives of the sagas lies a sea of events and connections that have yet to be uncovered.

In his book, Øystein Morten explores the question of what Erik the Red was really searching for in Greenland and what his journeys further west to Vinland were all about. And the special thing about it: as the author reconstructs this story, we experience him researching. Educational, entertaining, and as thrilling as a crime novel.