Bósa saga ok Herrauðs

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The Bósa saga ok Herrauds or Saga of Bósi and Herraud is a prehistoric saga that was written around 1300 and has been preserved in three manuscripts from the 15th century. She tells of the adventures of the companions Herrauðr (Herraud) and Bósi .

Protagonists

The story begins with Hring king of Östergötland , which is said that he was the son of King Gauti , the king's son Odin the King of Sweden, and half-brother Gautrekr that the Generous in Gautreks saga King of Vastergotland is. Hring's wife was Sylgja, daughter of Jarls Sæfara ('sailor') from Småland . Sæfara also had two sons named Dagfari ("day driver") and Náttfari ("night driver") who were in the service of King Harald. In terms of time, the story is set in such a way that Hring appears as a contemporary of Harald Kriegszahn , King of Denmark and Sweden.

Herraud, the main character in the saga, was the son of Hring and his wife Sylgja. But Hring also had a son with a Kebse , Sjód ( Sjóðr ), who served Hring as treasurer and tax collector ; and from its name, according to the saga, the word sjödr ("purse") is derived. Hring preferred the Sjód to the Herraud.

Herraud's best friend was Bósi, the younger son of a previous Viking named Thvari , also Bryn-Thvari ( Brünnen -Thvari), and his wife, a former shieldmaiden and daughter of King Agnar of Nóatún. Thvari had partially crippled Brynhild in a previous duel, which is why this was known under the name Bögu-Brynhild ("Stunt-Brynhild"); she never fully recovered from this injury. After Thvari Brynhild married, she gave birth to two sons, Smid ( Smiðr ) and Bósi. Smid learned some magical arts from her foster mother Busla , who was a powerful sorceress. Bósi was sometimes called "Bögu-Bósi" after his mother.

Bósi was a bully who may have been ostracized for injuring and rendering permanent physical disabilities to several others in a ball game. The dissatisfied Herraud received - contrary to the advice of Sjód - from his father Hring the permission to go with five ships on Viking. He was presumably accompanied by the outlawed Bósi and they successfully armied for five years. Meanwhile, Herraud's half-brother Sjód forced Bosi's father Thvari to pay compensation for the men who had injured Bosi in the ball game in Östergötland . It then happened that Bosis was driven into Wendland , where Sjód was on a punitive expedition for King Hring. The two quarreled over what had happened and Bosi killed the Sjód.

Herraud then returned to his father's court and offered compensation for the death of Sjód. King Hring, however, rejected all offers. A civil war broke out between father and son. Hring managed to capture Herraud and Bósi and prepared for their execution. But that night Busla, Bosi's foster mother, appeared in Hring's bedchamber by means of her magical arts and threatened him with curses and treated him with feminine charm, whereupon the helpless king consented to make his peace with Herraud and Bösi and she took her place to send the execution on a dangerous journey.

The Bjarmaland ride

The following day Hring banished Herraud as well as Bósi; the former for life; the second until he could bring back a vulture egg with gold inscription.

The two left Östergötland with the aim Bjarmaland and had many adventures. For example, there is an erotic encounter between Bósis and a farmer's daughter in the form of an explicit puzzle dialogue.

The two companions manage to kill a vulture guarding the temple of Jomali in Bjarmaland , to obtain its egg. They kill the priestess Kolfrosta , the mother of King Harek of Bjarmaland, and free Hleid ( Hleið ), the sister of King Godmund ( Godmundr ) of Glæsisvellir , who had been brought there by magic to transform her into the new priestess. Herraud took Hleid to his wife and returned with her and Bosi to Östergötland , where Hring was reconciled with them after receiving the bowl of the egg.

More adventures

Herraud and Bósi then leave to assist King Harald in the Battle of Bråvalla and later are among the few survivors.

Meanwhile, King Godmund of Glæsisvellir , who doesn't know what happened to his sister Hleid , promises Siggeir , son of King Harek of Bjarmaland, that Siggeir can take pity on his wife if he can find her. Siggeir and his brother Hrærek learn of Hleid's kidnapping from Bjarmaland and the destruction of the Temple of Jomali and move to Götaland. There they attack King Hring, who can do little to counter them, as he had sent most of his men to Bråvalla. Hring dies in battle and Hleid is kidnapped.

After their return from Bråvalla, Herraud and Bósi, accompanied by Bósi's brother Smid and Bósi's foster mother Busla, set out to get Hleid back. They reach their destination after many more adventures (including those between Bosi and two maiden with erotic content). Herraud receives Heid back and Bosi receives King Harek's daughter Edda. Smid and Busla show their magical skills. When King Harek attacks in the form of a huge boar, Busla meets him; both fall into the sea and have never been seen again.

outlook

Herraud succeeds his father as king of Östergötland , while Bósi becomes king of Bjarmaland due to his marriage to Edda. Due to one of his other erotic adventures, Bosi becomes the father of Svidi the Bold, the father of Vilmund the absent-minded.

Herraud and Hleid become parents of a daughter, the Þóra Borgarhjörtr , who kept a snake in their room and who could only be freed by whoever could kill the snake. The snake killer and husband was probably Ragnar Lódbrok . At the end of the saga, the origin of the snake is explained by the fact that it hatched from the egg that Herraud and Bosi had brought with them.

Other mentions

The story of Ragnar and the snake also appears in the Ragnars saga loðbrókar and in Þáttr af Ragnars sonum . Herraud appears there as Jarl Herrud ( Herruðr ) von Götaland . A variant with two snakes in place of one is found in Saxo Grammaticus ' Gesta Danorum , where Herraud appears as Herathus, King of Sweden.

Alternative forms of name

  • Herraud : Herrauðr ; Herrud ( Herruðr ); Herothus, anglicized in Heroth, Herodd.
  • Bósi : anglicized in Bosi.

Literature and web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Saxo Grammaticus: Explanations of the first nine books of the Danish history of Saxo Grammaticus , Part One, Book 9, p. 407 f Translation by Paul Herrmann , Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, 1901; Digital full-text output in Wikisource , URL: http://de.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Seite:Erl%C3%A4uterungen_zu_den_ersten_neun_B%C3%BCchern_der_D%C3%A4nischen_Geschichte_des_Saxo_Grammaticus2 .417.jj