Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1982, Page 177

180
ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
HEIMILDIR
A new English Dictionary, 1909: Vol. VII, Oxford.
Allen, J.R., 1903: The early christian monuments of Scotland, Part 111, 10—15, Edinburgh.
Baumgartner, A., 1889: Island und die Fáröer, bls. 464 B. Herder Verlag, Freiburg.
Bjarni Sæmundsson, 1936: Fuglarnir 699. Bókaverzlun Sigfúsar Eymundssonar, Reykjavík.
Close-Brooks, J. og Stevenson, R.B.K., 1981: Dark Age Sculpture, 34—35. National Museum
of Antiquities of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Einar Ól. Sveinsson, 1945: Papar, Skírnir 119, 170—203, Reykjavík.
Kálund, P.E., 1879—82: Bidrag til en historisk-topografisk beskrivelse af lsland II. 527,
Gyldendalske Boghandel, Kobenhavn.
Kristján Eldjárn, 1982: Erindi um fornminjarannsóknir í Papey flutt í Norræna húsinu.
Kristján Eldjárn, 1981: Papeyjardýrið. Heiðursrit til Sverri Dahl, Fróðskaparrit 28. og 29.
bók, 16—29, Thorshavn.
Landnáma.
Lockwood, W.B., 1964: Postscript to the Faroese bird names. Fróðskaparrit 13, bók 46—53,
Thorshavn.
Magnús Finnbogason, 1933: Máttur nafnsins í þjóðtrúnni, Skírnir 107, 97—116, Reykjavík.
SUMMARY
No archaeological evidence indicates conclusively the presence of Irish priests or monks in Ice-
land prior to the Norse settlement in 874. The belief that there was an early Irish discovery of Ice-
land comes from literary sources and from the fact that the word papi is found in a few place
names in the country, papi being the word used in Old Norse for religious men in the British Isles.
It is pointed out here that although the word papi may be found in place names in Iceland it
does not necessarily refer to the Scottish or Irish monks but could, just as well, be derived from a
nickname or noa of the puffin, a bird occupying most of the areas bearing the papa names. The
word papi as a noa for the puffin is not found in the literature and at present it is not used as such.
However, it is suggested that this may have been the use of the word in earlier days. This is sup-
ported by the fact that the word pope was used for the puffin in Cornwall, and several other nick-
names for the bird, taken from clerical sources, do exist in other European countries.
In Icelandic, words such as prestur (priest) and prófastur (dean), which are now used as names
for the bird may, with changes in religion, have won over the word papi, and, therefore, it no
longer denotes the bird, nor the ecclesiastics. Puffin, the English word for the bird, may even be
derived from the same source. papi — pope — pophyn — puffin.
Further evidence supporting this theory of a connection between the bird and the monks is
supplied by figures on a cross-slab found at Papil on the lsle of Burra, Scotland where, it is
believed, a monastery was situated. On the stone there is a relief of monks standing on either side
of a cross. At the bottom is a picture of two bird-men facing each other, the latter is not as care-
fully carved as the rest of the figures. They are not shown standing straight and are made by single
incised lines whereas the others are formed by double lines. These lower carvings could have been
a later addition to the figures, and may have been scribbled on the monumental stone by Norse in-
vaders on the island in order to ridicule the monks and point out their resemblance to the birds. It
is suggested here that the bird was named papi after the religious men and that most of the places
bearing the name papa were called after the birds.