Frans G. Bengtsson

Frans Gunnar Bengtsson was born on October 4, 1894, in Tossjö, Scania. Studying literature, philosophy, and history at Lund University, he became an acclaimed chess master, brilliant essayist, and monumental biographer of King Charles XII (Karl XII:s levnad, 1935–1936).

Between 1941 and 1945, Bengtsson published his world-famous historical adventure epic, Röde Orm (The Long Ships), recounting the gripping saga of the Scania warrior Red Orm seafaring to Muslim Andalusia, Moorish galleys, the Danegeld court of King Sweyn Forkbeard, and eastward down the Dnieper to Byzantium. Written in exquisite, dryly humorous Icelandic saga-style prose, the book has been translated into dozens of languages and remains an enduring worldwide bestseller.