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Information about Papar

For the Malaysian town, see Papar, Sabah. For the South Indian wafer, please see Papadum


The Papar (from Irish pap, father or pope) were, according to early Icelandic historical sources, a group of Irish monks that inhabited Iceland at the time of the arrival of the Norsemen. However, no archeological proof of their existence has ever been found.

The Scandinavians began settling in Iceland in the 9th Century, but the oldest source which mentions the existence of the Papar was only about 250 years later, in the Íslendingabók ("Book of the Icelanders"), written between 1122 and 1133. They are also referred to in the Landnámabók (the Icelandic Book of Settlements) which mentions that the Norse found Irish priests in Iceland when they arrived, together with bells and crosiers.

An earlier source that could possibly refer to the Papar is the work of Dicuil, an early 9th century Irish monk, which discussed the wandering of "holy men" to the lands of the north. However, it is not known whether Dicuil is speaking about Iceland, as Celtic hermits also settled in other islands of the north such as Orkney and Shetland.

Several Icelandic toponyms (see Toponymy) have been linked to the Papar, including the island of Papey, but no archeological proofs were found that would link the two names.

Another theory is that the two sources were conflated and that Ari Thorgilsson, the author of Íslendingabók also based his history on the writings of Dicuil. The traditional accounts have stated that the papar left when the Norse arrived, but it has been theorised that their influence may have helped Christianity spread in these areas.

Papar in the Faroes

There are also several toponyms relating to the papar in the Faroe islands.

Amongst these are Paparøkur near Vestmanna, and Papurshílsur near Saksun. Vestmanna itself is short for Vestmannahøvn, meaning "harbour of the Westmen" or Irish.

In Skúvoy, a certain churchyard also has tombstones which display a possible Celtic origin, or at least influence.[1]

Some suggest that Grímur Kamban, may have been responsible for driving them out, despite being a probable Norse-Gael himself:

"According to the Faereyinga Saga... the first settler in the Faroe Islands was a man named Grímur Kamban - Hann bygdi fyrstr Færeyar, it may have been the land taking of Grímur and his followers that cauysed the anchorites to leave... the nickname Kamban is probably Gaelic and one interpretation is that the word refers to some physical handicap, another that it may point to his prowess as a sportsman. Probably he came as a young man to the Faroe Islands by way of Viking Ireland, and local tradition has it that he settled at Funningur in Eysturoy."[2]

Papar in the Northern Isles

Joseph Anderson noted that:

"The two Papeys [of Orkney], the great and the little (anciently Papey Meiri and Papey Minni), [are] now Papa Westray and Papa Stronsay... Fordun in his enumeration of the islands, has a 'Papeay tertia' [third Papey], which is not now known. There are three islands in Shetland called Papey, and both in Orkney and in Shetland, there are severeal districts named Paplay or Papplay, doubtless the same as Papyli of Iceland"[3]

Papar in the Shetland Islands

The Shetland Islands have many commemorations of the papar including the islands of Papa (one of the Scalloway Islands, lying north west of Burra and east of Oxna, connected to West Head of Papa), Papa Little and Papa Stour (Great Papa).

Papar in the Orkney Islands

The Orkneys also have many such commemorations:

Papar in the Outer Hebrides

The Outer Hebrides have many examples of the papar, but with the crucial difference that the Norse language died out early in this area, and it is arguable whether Scottish Gaelic ever died out at all. There are at least three islands originally named Papey, now spelt "Pabbay" (Gaelic: Pabaigh) in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland: Pabay, is in the Inner Hebrides, near Skye.

See also

References



References

1. ^ Schei, Liv Kjørsvik & Moberg, Gunnie (2003) The Faroe Islands. Birlinn.
2. ^ Schei, Liv Kjørsvik & Moberg, Gunnie (2003) The Faroe Islands. Birlinn.
3. ^ Anderson, Joseph (Ed.) (1893) "Introduction to Orkneyinga Saga". Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint). ISBN 0-901824-25-9
Papar is a town as well as a district located in West Coast Division of Sabah, east Malaysia. Its population in the district was estimated to be around 105,200 in 2006,[1]
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papad (for alternative names see box) is a thin South Asian wafer, sometimes described as a cracker or flatbread.

An important part of Sindhi cuisine, recipes vary from region to region and family to family, but typically it is made from lentil, chickpea, black gram or rice
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Irish}}} 
Writing system: Latin (Irish variant) 
Official status
Official language of: Republic of Ireland
Northern Ireland
European Union
Regulated by: Foras na Gaeilge
Language codes
ISO 639-1: ga
ISO 639-2: gle
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The Pope (from Latin: papa, father;[1] from Greek πάπας (papas) = father - originally written πάππας (
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Anthem
Lofsöngur

Location of  Iceland

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For other uses, see Saga (disambiguation).
The Simple API for Grid Applications (SAGA), is an open standard defined and maintained by the Open Grid Forum that describes an interface for high-level Grid application programming.
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Irish and Scottish missionaries (Iro-Scottish, Hiberno-Scottish) were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England and the Frankish Empire during the 6th and 7th centuries.
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Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who speak one of the North Germanic languages as their native language. ("Norse", in particular, refers to the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Danish,
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Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centred on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe which includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
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As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was the century that lasted from 801 to 900.

Western European

"Dark Ages" applied later to this period


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Íslendingabók, Libellus Islandorum or The Book of Icelanders is an historical work dealing with early Icelandic history. The author was an Icelandic priest, Ari Şorgilsson, working in the early 12th century.
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Landnámabók (meaning "The Book of Settlement", often shortened to Landnáma) is an old Icelandic manuscript describing in considerable detail the settlement ("landnám") of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th century A.D.
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Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who speak one of the North Germanic languages as their native language. ("Norse", in particular, refers to the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Danish,
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This article is about an object used in Christian worship. For the Crosiers, as in the Crosier Fathers, see Canons Regular of the Holy Cross.

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For the saint of the same name, see Deicolus (Dicuil).


Dicuil was an Irish monk and geographer, born in the second half of the 8th century; date of death unknown.
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As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was the century that lasted from 801 to 900.

Western European

"Dark Ages" applied later to this period


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Orkney
Àrcaibh


Flag of Orkney Coat of arms
Location

Geography

Area Ranked 16th
 - Total 990 km²
 - % Water ?
Admin HQ Kirkwall
GB-ORK
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Shetland Islands
Sealtainn


Flag Coat of arms
Location

Geography

Area Ranked 12th
 - Total 1,466 km²
 - % Water ?
Admin HQ Lerwick
GB-ZET
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Toponymy refers to the scientific study of place-names (toponyms), their origins, meanings, use and typology. The first part of the word is derived from the Greek topos (τόπος), place; followed by ōnoma
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For the similarly named Scottish island, see Papay.


Papey is an island off the south east of Iceland. It mentioned in the Landnámabók and is named after the Papar.
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Ari Şorgilsson (1067-1148 A.D.) was Iceland's most prominent medieval chronicler. He is the author of Íslendingabók, which details the histories of the various families who settled Iceland.
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Anthem
Tú alfagra land mítt
You, my most beauteous land


Capital
(and largest city) Tórshavn

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Vestmanna is a town in the Faroe Islands on the west of the island of Streymoy. It was formerly a ferry port, until an undersea tunnel was built from Vágar to Kvívík and Stykkiğ.

A 'Vestmann' was a "Westman", or Gael in Old Norse.
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Saksun is a picturesque village near the north-west coast of the Faroese island of Streymoy.
  • Population: 34
  • Postal code (Zip): FO 436
  • Location:
  • Municipality: Saksunar

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Skúvoy is an island in central Faroe Islands, located to the south of Sandoy. It is named after the large number of skua present on the island (who have a habit of attacking intruders). There is only one settlement on the island: Skúvoy on the east coast.
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Grímur Kamban was, according to the Færeyinga saga, the first man to set foot in the Faroe Islands. The name was written Grímr in Old Norse and is often referred to as Grim in the English literature.
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The Færeyinga Saga, the Norse saga of Faroemen, is the story of how the Faroes were converted to Christianity and became a part of the Kingdom of Norway. It was written in Iceland shortly after 1200.
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Anthem
Tú alfagra land mítt
You, my most beauteous land


Capital
(and largest city) Tórshavn

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Funningur

Population (December 31, 2002)
 - City 79

Funningur is a town on the Faroe Islands. It is located on the north-west coast of Eysturoy ().
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Eysturoy meanes East island (pronounced ['estroi]) and is the second-largest of the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic, both in size and population. It is separated by a narrow sound from the main island of Streymoy.
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