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THE GAELS in ICELAND. by W. A. CRAICIE, M.A., F.S.A. SCOT. It Is

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7 24 THE GAEL ICELANDN I S . III. THE GAELS IN ICELAND. BY W. A. CRAICIE, M.A., F.S.A. SCOT. It is the fashion of the day to trace Celtic influence in every quarter where faintes e therth s ei t probabilit e claith f myo being allowedo T . establis e possiblhth e presenc f Celtio ee th c n e i racebloo th r o ,n i d individual apparentls i , y regarde settlins da e questiongth , thougs ha t i h yet to be shown why the Celtic element should persist and prevail over othed strongean r r characteristics e familiaar e W r . wite Celtith h c clai Englisn mo ho doubt n literature , is , t i onl d yan ; because Icelandic littlo s s ei studied thin i s country tha heae w t r less about Celtic demands . onit Professo r Bugg s endeavoureeha provo dt e d thaol t e mucth f ho Northern mythology is based on Christian and classical legends, a know- ledge of which the Norsemen are supposed to have acquired from the Irish Celts. Others have hinted that even the saga-literature of Iceland is directly due to a Celtic element in the population, in proof of which they point to the existence of similar literary forms in Irish. It is by way of testing the latter theory that I have brought together the follow- factsg in , which will shoslendew who foundatioa r idee nth a rests upon, unless we are true believers in the all-prevailing force of the Celtic element, howeveo start e tb withy r slighma . t i t e timth et A when Iceland first became e knowNorsementh o t n , many of them were in close connection with the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland. From about 800 A.D. many Norse vikings had frequented Irise Scottisd th han h coasts eved an ,n settled amon Gaelie gth c popula- tion. To some extent they became mingled with the natives, but for mose th t part their positio hostils s naturalninsecurewa d wa ean t I , . therefore, when news of the finding of Iceland spread to the Western lands, that man f thesyo e Norse settlers preferre o leavdt e their Gaelic surroundings, and seek a safer and more congenial home among their fellow-countryme e newlth n i ny discovered islandwonderfue Th . l mass of information preserved in the Landndma-bnk, or record of the early settlers of Iceland, enables us to judge how far these men had come 8 24 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY, 189710 TH .Y F O SMA , under Celtic influences o what d t an exten, t their Norse bloos wa d mingled with Gaelic. The sagas of famous Icelanders (Islendinga sogur) also suppl numbeya interestinf o r g details d froan m, these sourcee w s may form a pretty correct idea- of the real nature of the Celtic element in Iceland. Befor Norsemay an e countrye t th foo nse n i t , Irish Culdee found sha d their way to Iceland by way of the Faeroes, seeking for that solitude in which they considered they could best serve their God. This we learn not only from the Irish monk Dicuil, but from express statements in Landndma-bok, Ari'n i d s an Islendinga-bok, authoritn a e greatestth f yo weight. The passages in these two works are as follows:— "At that time" (when Ing61fr went to settle in Iceland) "there were Christians here, whom the Northmen call Papar, but they afterwards went away, because they would not stay here beside heathens, and .they left behind them Irish books and bells and croziers: from "this it might be understood that they were Irish" (Islendinga-bok, . i.)c . t "Bu before Icelan s settledwa d from Norway, there were folk there whom Northmee th n call Papar. They were Christians thoughis d i t an , t that they must have been from wes e seath t , because there were found behind them Irish books, bells, and croziers, and other things besides, which might prove that they were Westmen. These were found eas Papen i t y and Papyli, and it is mentioned in English books that at that time there was voyaging between the countries " (Lctndndma-boJc, Prol.). cleas i t I r from these passage dealingsy thaan f i t s 'took place between the Culdees and the Northmen, they were of the very slightest kind. Besides Papey and Papyli named above, we shall find mention of the Papar in connection with Kirkju-bse, in the South of Iceland, but there indicatioo n s i n that they continue livo dt e sometimes thereha s a , s been e reasupposedth l r presencFo . f Celteo s amon Norse gth e settlere w s must turn to the elaborate lists in Landndma, and it willbe simplest to follow the arrangement of that work. This will lead us right round the coas f Icelando t , beginnin southe th goin d t ga an , g sun-wise. First e ,notice b e discoverer howeverth y f dma o t thae i f , o on st Iceland, Fldki VilgerSarson amond ha , s creghi wHebrideaa n (su^reyskr maftr) named Faxi. " When they sailed west round Keykjaness, and THE GAELS IN ICELAND. 249 the firth opened up before them, so that they saw Sneefellsness, Faxi said, 'This must be a large country that we have found; there are great rivers here.' Tha sincs i t e called Faxa-6ss." alsis o It possible that Nattfari ,secon thralthe GarSardto lwas who , ma visio nt t Iceland havy ma e, bee nCelta . t thero prooit n bu , f s o ei f Gar<5arr, indeedf Swediso s wa , h origin, ans thrall dhi y rathe ma s r have belonged to some Baltic race. Nattfari settled in the North of Iceland. How Gaelic thralls were apt to behave is illustrated by the fate of e earlth Hjdrleif f y o settlers e s nam on originall,s Hi .ewa y Leifr,e th 1 son of Hr65mar: he belonged to Fjalir in Norway, and went a-viking in the west. "He plundered in Ireland, and found a great earth-house there. He went into it, and it was dark, until light shone from a s holdingsworwa n d .thama a Leift r killed that man tood e an ,kth sword (= hjijr) and much treasure from him: after that he was called Hjor-leifr. Hjb'rleifr plundered widely in Ireland, and got much treasure there. There he took ten thralls, whose names were these : Duffakr and GeirroSr, Skjaldbjorn, Hallddrr and Drafdritr; the others t named.ar eimportanno s i t I " o notict t e heree thath f to onle on y thralls has a Gaelic name—DuWithach. This is a common feature in connection with Celtic thralls d suggestan , s thae Norsemeth t n seldom too e troublth k o leart e reae nth l name f theiso r slaves gavd an , e them Norse ones instead. followine th n I g year (874) s Hjorleiffoster-brothehi d an r r Ingolfr sailed to Iceland. The latter landed at Ingolfs-hbfSi, the south-east corner of the island; the former was driven west along the coast, and ran shor waterf o t . " The Irise nth h thralls too plae kkneadinf th n o g together meal and butter, and said that it allayed thirst. They named t i mirfydk,s prepare t whewa bu t i n d there came much rain, which they caugh n theii t r canvas. Whe min]>ake nth bega groo nt w musty, they threw it overboard, and it drove ashore at the place now called Minfaks-eyrr. wore Th evidentls di " y derived from Irish min, mear o l flour, thoug e nature terminatiohth th f eo s doubtfulni . The company landed at Hjorleifs-hofSi, in the extreme South of Ice- n thi1I s articl I ehav e retaine inflexive th d r onle ye wheth e namn i th n s i e nominative, dropping it in the other cases, as in Icelandic. 0 25 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY, 189710 TH .Y F O S MA , land, and remained there for the' winter. In the spring Hjb'rleifr wished to sow: he had only one ox, so he made the thralls drag the plough. Dufpakr then persuade s , fellowariy hi dsa ox d o kile t sth l that a hear had done it, so that they might attack Hjorleif while he searched for the bear. The plot succeeded; the thralls killed Hjorleif ans comradeshi d d n thealli an , n e te womecarrie, th d f an of nd propert islande th o yt s whicsouth-weste th hn i thew ysa . Viftld Karli an e lthrall th , f Ingdlfo s , discovered whad takeha t n place. Ingolfr guessed where the rebels had gone to, came upon them in the islands, and killed some, while others sprang over the cliffs; Dufpakr gave his name to Dufpaks-skor, and the islands were called Vestmanna-eyjar, " because they were Westmen." It is quite likely that Ingolf's thralls may also have been Celts. Whe e tooh n k possessio e south-westh f o n t corne f Icelando r , Karli said, " We did ill to go past good districts, and settle on this out-ness." So Karli ran away, along with a bond-maid, and was afterwards found by Ingulf at Olfus-vatn. Vifill received his freedom, and lived long at Vifils-stea f som o r Vifils-tofts do n e reputema a s a ,.
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