The ''Papar'' (; from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, via

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

, meaning "father" or "pope") were Irish monks who took

eremitic A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

residence in parts of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

before that island's habitation by the

Norsemen The Norsemen (or Northmen) were a cultural group in the Early Middle Ages, originating among speakers of Old Norse in Scandinavia. During the late eighth century, Scandinavians embarked on a Viking expansion, large-scale expansion in all direc ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

. Their existence is attested by the early

Icelandic sagas The sagas of Icelanders (, ), also known as family sagas, are a subgenre, or text group, of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives primarily based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early elev ...

and recent archaeological findings.

''Papar'' in Iceland

The first

began settling in Iceland in AD 874. The oldest Scandinavian source mentioning the existence of the ''Papar'', however, the '' Íslendingabók'' (Book of the Icelanders) by Icelandic chronicler Ari Þorgilsson, was written between 1122 and 1133, some time after the event. Ari writes of "Christian men", titled the ''Papar'' by the Norsemen, who departed the island because of their dislike of the 'heathen' Norse, pointing to the possibility of the ''Papar'' having arrived before the Norse. An earlier source that could possibly refer to the ''Papar'' is the work of Dicuil, an early 9th-century Irish monk and geographer, which included mention of the wandering of "holy men" to the lands of the north. However, it is not known whether Dicuil is speaking about Iceland, as Gaelic-Irish hermits also settled in other islands of the north such as

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

and

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

. Several Icelandic toponyms have been linked to the ''Papar'', including the island of Papey and the

Vestmannaeyjar Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyja ...

("islands of the Westmen"), but no archaeological evidence in these places has yet confirmed the link. Another theory is that the two sources were conflated and that Þorgilsson based his history on the writings of Dicuil. The ''

Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ov ...

'' (The Icelandic Book of Settlements), possibly dating from the 11th century in its original form, clearly states on page one that Irish monks had been living on Iceland before the arrival of Norse settlers. According to this account, the basis behind this knowledge was monks' leaving behind numerous reminders of their stay, including Irish books, bells and

crosier A crozier or crosier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catho ...

s, helping the Norse to identify their predecessors. According to the ''Landnámabók'', the Irish monks left the island either when the Norse arrived or were no longer living there when the Norse arrived.

''Papar'' in the Faroe Islands

There are also several toponyms relating to the Papar in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

. Among these are Paparøkur near Vestmanna, and Papurshílsur near Saksun. Vestmanna, in fact, is short for ''Vestmannahøvn'', meaning the "harbour of the Westmen" (

Gaels The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celts, Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Goidelic languages, Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising ...

). A churchyard on the island of Skúgvoy also has tombstones which display a possible Gaelic origin or influence.Schei, Liv Kjørsvik & Moberg, Gunnie (2003) ''The Faroe Islands''. Birlinn. Some of the sagas suggest that Grímr, a Norse explorer, may have been responsible for driving them out, despite probably being a Norse–Gael himself:

''Papar'' in the Northern Isles

The 12th-century '' Historia Norwegiæ'' speculatively identifies the native

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

and ''Papar'' as those that the Norse discovered when they invaded

in the early ninth century. Ekrem and Mortensen point out: "The author of HN does not agree with the earlier work of Ari (''Íslendingabók''), who writes that they were Christians and Irish. More recent research confirms the Irish Celtic Christian missionaries, principally through Dalriadic Gaels prior to Norwegian rule. Historian Joseph Anderson noted in his ''Introduction to Orkneyinga Saga'' several Island toponyms deriving from ''Papar'', suggesting their influence upon the region: William Thomson suggests that "perhaps ''Papay Tercia'' was the Holm of Papay – not a separate papar-site but a holm subsidiary to Papa Westray".Thomson, William P.L. " The Orkney Papar-names" in Ballin Smith (2007) p. 517

''Papar'' in the Hebrides

The Outer Hebrides have numerous Papar-influenced toponyms, but with the crucial difference that the Norse language died out early in this area and it is arguable whether

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

ever died out at all. There are at least three islands originally named ''Papey'' and renamed "Pabbay" () in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...

of Scotland: * Pabbay, Barra Isles * Pabbay, Harris * Pabay, the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...

near Skye *Pabaigh, Loch Baghasdail,

South Uist South Uist (, ; ) is the second-largest island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. At the 2011 census, it had a usually resident population of 1,754: a decrease of 64 since 2001. The island, in common with the rest of the Hebrides, is one of the ...

Notes

References

* Ballin Smith, Beverley, Taylor, Simon and Williams, Gareth (eds) (2007) ''West Over Sea: Studies in Scandinavian Sea-borne Expansion and Settlement Before 1300''. Brill.

External links

* Axel Kristinsson
Is there any tangible proof that there were Irish monks in Iceland before the time of the Viking settlements?
* Sandnes, Berit (2010
"Linguistic patterns in the place-names of Norway and the Northern Isles"
''Northern Lights, Northern Words''. Selected Papers from the FRLSU Conference, Kirkwall 2009, edited by Robert McColl Millar.
Is Iceland’s language a Norse code – or legacy of Celtic settlers?
{{Authority control Christianity in medieval Ireland Christianity in medieval Scotland History of Christianity in Iceland Medieval history of Iceland