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Concept
Papar
Summary
The Papar (ˈphaːpar̥; from Latin papa, via Old Irish, meaning "father" or "pope") were, according to early Icelandic sagas, Irish monks who took eremitic residence in parts of what is now Iceland before that island's habitation by the Norsemen of Scandinavia, as evidenced by the sagas and recent archaeological findings.
The first Norsemen began settling in Iceland in 874 CE. 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 isle 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 and Shetland.
Several Icelandic toponyms have been linked to the Papar, including the island of Papey and the Vestmannaeyjar ("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 (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 crosiers, 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.
Official source
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