We report on a 3600 s spectrum of GRB 021004 obtained with the Nordic Optical Telecope on La Palma 10.71 hours after the burst .
We identify absorption lines from five systems at redshifts 1.3806 , 1.6039 , 2.2983 , 2.3230 , and 2.3292 .
In addition we find an emission line which , if due to Ly \alpha from the host galaxy , gives a redshift of 2.3351 .
The nearest absorber is blueshifted by 530 km s ^ { -1 } with respect to this line , consistent with shifts seen in Damped Ly \alpha and Lyman-Break galaxies at similar redshifts .
The emission line flux is 2.46 \pm 0.50 \times 10 ^ { -16 } erg s ^ { -1 } cm ^ { -2 } .
Some of the absorption systems are “ line-locked ” , an effect often seen in QSO absorption systems believed to originate close to the QSO central engine .