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> From: [log in to unmask] [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > > What is known about Irish monks in Iceland is that they left, and > that in the early 12th century, when the first icelandic history was > written, all that could be said was that "they left behind their > bells, books, and croziers, and that is how we know that irishmen > were here." the same source explains their departure as being > "because they didn't want to be among heathens" suggesting > that they were peregrini rather than missionaries. > Hmm, at face value, this entry suggests that Irish monks willingly left behind all their ritual paraphernalia and books, but it sounds to me like there may have been a bit of irony in the author's phrasing--and that these particular monks found that they didn't want to be among heathens and made a very hasty exit because the heathens gave them little choice in the matter. > furthermore, Iceland doesn't even appear to have been discovered by > scandinavians until the mid-9th century, 9th c. being the period > asked about. I'm not sure whether > yew trees would grow in Iceland, even assuming the temperature was > warmer then than now. > I was not suggesting that yews were necessarily planted in *Iceland*. I was simply pointing out that Irish monks did tend to travel around so it was possible that missionaries to Denmark came directly from Ireland. And, of course, a number of monasteries in Germanic territories were founded by monks from Irish monasteries who, presumably, continued doing things just as they had when they were trained. Francine Nicholson %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%