Bjørn Andreas Bull-Hansen’s big breakthrough came with "Jomsviking", his novel of the Viking Age. Now protagonist Torstein Tormodson is sailing west – to Vinland.
And if this second novel in the series proves as good as the first, readers will be in for a treat. The first book about Torstein Tormodson, an orphaned young teenager who sets sail across the ocean in search of his brother, practically reeks of blood, sweat, tears, fire and saltwater. Torstein’s voyage takes him to the Orkney Islands, England, Denmark and Wenland – and then on to Jomsborg, home of the feared order of mercenaries the Jomsvikings.
Torstein is admitted to the order of the Jomsvikings at the age of 14, and over the years that follow takes part in battles and conflicts that change the course of Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish history.
But Jomsviking (not yet published in English) is not the author’s first novel to be set in the Viking Age – Bull-Hansen has also written several other books set in this period.
‘Yes, I’ve been working with the Vikings in a literary context for a long time... Before starting work on the Jomsviking series I wrote the Tyr-trilogy, which is also set in a mythological Norse universe. I’ve been interested in the Viking Age since I was young’, says Bull-Hansen, who is also the author of the six-volume Iron Age fantasy The Tale of the Antlered God (Horngudens tale).
Advanced research
Bull-Hansen expresses his interest in the Viking Age in a number of ways, including via his YouTube channel, where he posts videos on various Viking-related topics. At the time of writing, the channel has over a million views and over 20,000 subscribers. Bull-Hansen’s followers can watch his research in practice – such as how he made a Dane axe using a process that he also describes in detail in his books. He even tests the axe on a head – an artificial one, fortunately.
Bull-Hansen is also a keen sailor, and has sailed several of the routes taken by the Roman heroes alone.
‘Research is important to me,’ he says. ‘If I can, I like to experience what my characters will go through. Reading about it is one thing – to do it oneself is another thing entirely. I try things out, such as building and making things by hand. Crafts. How to light a fire. How difficult would it have been using only the tools they had at the time? Making bows and axes. I’ve made many bows in my time,’ says Bull-Hansen, pointing out that everyday life in the Viking Age was all about survival.
‘If it was an American reality TV show, it would probably be called “Extreme Survival” or something like that,’ he smiles.
“So it was a brutal time?”
‘You could say that – we’re fairly certain that violence was part of society at the time, as it still is in many places in the world today. I’ve tried to describe the era as accurately as possible. And it’s been important to me to describe it from the point of view of an average man, not from the perspective of someone in power. For example, Torstein hasn’t exactly had the best start in life.’
“You say violence was part of society at the time, as it still is in many places in the world today. Have you thought of parallels to any contemporary areas in particular?”
‘Not while I’m writing, but it’s clear that such parallels do exist.’
The new world
“The second book about Torstein will be published this autumn, and if we’re to believe the title, it’ll take us across the seas to the new world – is that right?”
‘Yes, certainly. Much of Vinland is set on the other side of the ocean.’
Bull-Hansen doesn’t want to give away too much of the plot, but press releases indicate that this will be a dramatic novel.
‘After the battle at Svolder at the end of the first book, Torstein has to flee with his girlfriend, Sigrid, brother, Bjørn, and some men from the Jomsviking army. They first travel to Sigrid’s home on the Orkney Islands, then on to Iceland and finally to Greenland, where Torstein meets the family of Erik the Red. And Leif, Erik’s only son, has already set out on a voyage...’
“And then?”
‘I can say that they follow him to Vinland – hence the book’s title. And that they also encounter the local population, the Skraelings, as they call them.’
“But hopefully it doesn’t end for him there? Or will this be the last book about Torstein?”
‘I think there’ll be at least six books in the series’, says Bjørn Andreas Bull-Hansen.
Historical fiction
Bull-Hansen has always known that he’d become a writer – although he’s also skilled in many other areas. His YouTube channel is one thing, but he’s also a former Norwegian national weightlifting champion and devilishly good at archery.
But the dream of being an author was always there. Bull-Hansen published his first novel in 1996 at the age of 23, and says that writing comes to him quite easily.
‘Yes, I write quickly and easily. I always have – and it’s an advantage, of course. I start my working day at four or five in the morning and write about 1,000 words seven days a week. I might be done after three or four hours, but anything that needs to be researched obviously requires more time.’
“Why do you think Jomsviking has been so successful?”
‘I wish I knew! But it happened really fast – overnight, actually. It’s sold to eight countries now,’ says Bjørn Andreas Bull-Hansen.
Jomsviking was published in the Netherlands and Denmark in September 2018, and is due to be published in Russia and Bulgaria later in the autumn. Publication is also scheduled for next year in Sweden, Poland, and Germany – where according to agency Northern Stories, the novel will be Penguin’s Norwegian focus title at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2019.
For more information
Northern Stories Literary Agency: Bjørn Andreas Bull Hansen
Books from Norway: Jomsvik