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The Papar (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈpʰaːpar̥]; from Latin papa, via Old Irish, meaning "father" or "pope") were Irish monks who took eremitic residence in parts of Iceland before that island's habitation by the Norsemen of Scandinavia. Their existence is attested by the early Icelandic sagas and recent archaeological findings. [1] [2]
Connections between Iceland and Ireland began circa 700s or 800s when Irish monks first explored Iceland as mentioned in the books by Irish monk and geographer Dicuil. [1] When Norse explorers arrived to Iceland, many encountered the Irish monks on the island who they called "Papar" for the religious books they would leave behind on the island. [2]
About 795 – Irish monks reach Iceland. It is suggested, that they came from the Faroes after banished by the Vikings . Diucil refers to it 825, but maybe some of the monks stayed in the Faroes.
The Landnámabók ("Book of Settlements"), written in the 1100s, mentions the presence of Irish monks, called the Papar, prior to Norse settlement and states that the monks left behind Irish books, bells, and crosiers, among other things. According to the same account, the Irish monks abandoned the country when the Norse arrived or had left ...
[1] [3] [4] They departed from the island leaving behind "Irish books, bells, croziers, and lots of other things" [5] at the arrival of the new colonists. [1] [4] The first Scandinavians reached Iceland in the middle of the 9th century, but its systematic colonization started in the early 870s. [6]
The earliest text which has been claimed to be a description of the Faroe Islands was written by the Irish monk Dicuil c.825 in his work Liber de Mensura Orbis Terrae (description of the sphere of the earth). [7]
According to this hypothesis, which is based on the account in the book Liber de Mensura Orbis Terræ by the Irish chronicler Dicuil (825), Grímur Kamban entered a land around 825 where there were only the sheep and seabirds left by the monks. The name Kamban itself suggests a Celtic origin.
Irish monks known as Papar are said to have been present in Iceland before its settlement from AD 874 onwards by the Norse. [27] The oldest source mentioning the Papar is the Íslendingabók ("Book of the Icelanders"), between 1122 and 1133. [28]