The Papar: Irish Monks in Iceland Before the Vikings

 


Historical evidence indicates that Irish monks reached and inhabited Iceland before the Norse Viking settlement, making them likely the first people to live on the island.

The Documentary Evidence

The primary source for Irish presence in Iceland comes from the Íslendingabók (Book of Icelanders), written around 1125 by the Icelandic historian Ari Þorgilsson. 

He states that when Norse settlers arrived in Iceland around 870 CE, they found Irish Christian hermits already living there. 

These monks, called "papar" (from the Irish/Latin word for "fathers" or priests), reportedly left because they did not wish to live among pagans.

The Landnámabók (Book of Settlements) also mentions the papar and describes finding Irish books, bells, and croziers left behind, confirming their presence.

Dating Their Arrival

While exact dates are uncertain, most scholars estimate the Irish monks arrived in Iceland sometime in the late 8th century, possibly as early as the 790s—making them residents for perhaps 70-80 years before Norse colonization began in earnest.

The Eremitic Tradition

These monks were part of a distinctive Irish Christian tradition of peregrinatio—religious exile and wandering for the sake of God. Irish monks sought remote, isolated locations for contemplative hermitage. They had already established communities on:

  • Scottish islands (Orkney, Shetland, Hebrides)
  • The Faroe Islands (also documented as having papar before Norse arrival)
  • Various isolated Atlantic islands

Iceland represented the furthest extension of this northward island-hopping monasticism.

Evidence of Their Presence

Beyond written accounts, evidence for the papar includes:

  • Icelandic place names containing "papar" elements, such as Papey (Monks' Island) and Papós
  • Descriptions of Irish ecclesiastical objects found by Norse settlers
  • The timing aligns with known Irish monastic expansion into the North Atlantic

Why They Left

According to Icelandic sources, the papar departed voluntarily rather than remain among the pagan Norse settlers (most likely in truth a covert group remained to influenced the Norse). Some may have died out naturally before large-scale settlement began; others likely sailed away, though their ultimate fate remains "unknown".

Historical Significance

The papar represent:

  • The remarkable seafaring capabilities of early medieval Irish monks
  • The extent of Irish Christian influence across the North Atlantic before the Viking Age
  • Iceland's earliest known human inhabitants
  • A brief moment when Christian Irish hermits maintained Europe's most remote outpost

While the Norse Vikings established permanent settlement and gave Iceland its lasting cultural identity, the Irish monks preceded them, making the discovery and first habitation of Iceland an Irish achievement.

 

 

 

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