Bósa saga ok Herrauðs
Icelandic saga
Bósa saga ok Herrauds or Saga of Bósi and Herraud is a legendary saga, relating the fantastic adventures of the two companions Herraud (Old Norse Herrauðr) and Bósi. It is first attested in three manuscripts from the 15th century, AM 343 a 4to, AM 577 4to, and AM 586 4to.
Summary
This summary recounts the story of the older of the two main recensions of Bósa saga, which is the one that is usually edited and translated.
The setup
The story begins with King Hring (Hringr) of Östergötland, who is said to be son of King Gauti son of King Odin of Sweden and half-brother to King Gautrekr the Generous, who appears as king of Västergötland in Gautreks saga. But chronology is flattened so that Hring is made a contemporary of Harald Wartooth, King of Denmark and Sweden. Hring's wife is Sylgja daughter of Jarl Sæfara ('Seafarer') of Småland. Sæfara also has two sons, named Dagfari ("Dayfarer") and Náttfari ("Nightfarer"), who serve King Harald.
Herraud, the primary hero of the saga, is the son of Hring and his wife Sylgja. But Hring also has an illegitimate son named Sjód (Sjóðr), who serves as Hring's treasurer and tax collector and from whose name, according to the saga, the word sjóðr ("purse") derives. Hring prefers Sjód to Herraud.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Bósa saga ok Herrauðs” is icelandic saga. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bósa, saga and Herrauðs, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “icelandic saga” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1019573. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Bósa saga ok Herrauðs”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Bósa saga ok Herrauðs primary sources, Bósa saga ok Herrauðs archive and Bósa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bósa saga ok Herrauðs”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Bósa saga ok Herrauðs” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.