His third book, published in 2018, led to him receiving the Sverre Steen Award and a ten-year stipend from the Arts Council Norway worth NOK 268,222 annually.

[2] He studied at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo,[3] where he graduated with a master's degree in history, basing his thesis on Alv Erlingsson.

[9] It was translated into English by Alison McCollough, his first such book, and was published by Pushkin Press under the title The Wolf Age: The Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Battle for the North Sea Empire.

[10] Leif Ekle of NRK described it as "enthralling" and "well written",[9] and Jonathan McAloon of the Financial Times wrote that its English translation had the "energy of an epic television show".

[11] Following the book's publication, he received a ten-year stipend from the Arts Council Norway worth NOK 268,222 annually, which was granted to him to allow him to focus more heavily on his nonfiction work.