sagas suggest that Grímr, a Norse explorer, may have been responsible for driving them out, despite probably being a Norse–Gael himself: Papar in the Northern Isles The 12th-century Historia Norwegiæ speculatively identifies the native Picts and Papar as those that the Norse discovered when they invaded Orkney in the early ninth century. Ekrem and Mortensen point out "The author of HN does not agree with the earlier work of Ari (Íslendingabók), who writes that they were Christians and Irish. More recent research confirms the Irish Celtic Christian missionaries, principally through Dalriadic Gaels prior to Norwegian rule. Historian Joseph Anderson noted in his Introduction to Orkneyinga Saga several Island toponyms deriving from 'Papar', suggesting their influence upon the region: Papar in the Hebrides The Outer Hebrides have numerous Papar-influenced toponyms, 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 and renamed "Pabbay" () in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland: Pabbay, Barra Isles Pabbay, Harris Pabay, the Inner Hebrides near Skye Pabaigh, Loch Baghasdail, South Uist See also Culdees Gaelic Ireland Great Ireland Christianization of Scandinavia Papa, Scotland References Further reading Barbara E. Crawford (ed.) The Papar in the North Atlantic: Environment and History – The Proceeding of a Day Conference. University of St. Andrews Committee for Dark Age Studies, 2002. External links Axel Kristinsson, Is there any tangible proof that there were Irish monks in Iceland before the time of the Viking settlements? Sandnes, Berit (2010) "Linguistic patterns in the place-names of Norway and the Northern Isles" Northern Lights, Northern Words. Selected Papers from the FRLSU Conference, Kirkwall 2009, edited by Robert McColl Millar. Is Iceland’s language a Norse code – or legacy of Celtic settlers? Christianity in medieval Ireland Christianity in medieval Scotland History of Christianity in Iceland Medieval Iceland