Gautreks saga (Gautrek's Saga) is a Scandinavian legendary saga put to text towards the end of the 13th century which survives only in much later manuscripts. It seems to have been intended as a compilation of traditional stories, often humorous, about a legendary King Gautrek of West Geatland, to serve as a kind of prequel to the already existing Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar (Saga of Hrólf son of Gautrek). See also king of the Geats.
Summary
As it stands, the saga seems incomplete, for a promise is made that the tale will return to King Gautrek of Götaland and his sons, to "the same story as told in Sweden", and that promise is not kept. Indeed, other than the reference to Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar, no sons are mentioned. But it seems that Gautrek was noted in many tales for his generosity and bravery, but not for deep thinking, according to a passage near the end. It is probable there were more amusing anecdotes to that effect that the author planned to include.
There are actually two main versions of Gautreks saga: a shorter, apparently older, version; and a longer, apparently more recent, one.
Shorter version
The shorter version begins by relating how Gautrekr's father-to-be, King Gauti of West Götaland, becomes lost while hunting, and spends the night in an isolated homestead of strange, arguably insane, backwoods bumpkins: a stingy farmer named Skafnörtungr ('Skinflint'), his equally stingy wife Tötra ('Tatters'), and their three sons and three daughters. That night Gauti fathers Gautrekr on Snotra, the eldest of the farmer's daughters and supposedly the most intelligent of the family. The account bristles with grisly humor as it relates how one by one the members of the family go on to kill themselves over the most trivial losses, believing that they will go to Óðinn in Valhöll, until at last only Snotra and her child Gautrekr remain. At that point Snotra takes Gautrekr to Gauti's court; years later, on his deathbed, King Gauti makes Gautrekr his heir. This section is sometimes referred to as Dalafífla þáttr ("The Tale of the Fools in the Valley").
The saga then shifts to a folk-tale-like account of how Refr, the lazy son of a farmer, forces his father's stupendous ox as gift upon the stingy but extraordinarily intelligent Jarl Neri and requests only Neri's advice in return. Jarl Neri normally never accepts gifts because he is too stingy to repay them. But he takes the ox and gives Ref a whetstone in return, telling him how to employ it as a gift to King Gautrekr to get greater wealth. The saga has mentioned Gautrek's marriage to Álfhildr, daughter of King Haraldr of Wendland, and Álfhildr's subsequent death by illness years later, which has driven the grieving Gautrekr somewhat out of his mind: ignoring all matters of state, Gautrekr spends all his time on Álfhildr's burial mound, flying his hawk. On Neri's advice, Refr gives the whetstone to Gautrekr at the moment that the king needs something to throw at his hawk; Gautrekr promptly gives Refr a gold ring. Refr goes on to visit king after king, in each case giving part or all of that which he received from the previous king, and getting in return a greater gift, since none of the kings want to be outdone by Gautrekr, who "gives gold in exchange for pebbles." At last, through Neri's advice and trickery, Refr gains the hand of Gautrekr's daughter Helga and an earldom that Neri held from King Gautrekr. This is often known as Gjafa-Refs þáttr ('the story of Gift-Refr').
The shorter version of the saga ends with an account of King Gautrekr's remarriage to the fair Ingibjörg, daughter of a powerful hersir in the Sogn region of Norway. Ingibjörg chooses Gautrekr for his fame and generosity, despite his age, over the young prince Óláfr who has also asked for her hand. Gautrekr fights off an attack by the rejected and disappointed Óláfr, marries Ingibjörg, and fathers two sons named Keti'l and Hrólfr with her.