Færeyinga Saga, the Saga of faroemen, the tale of faroemen is, in short, 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. The author is unknown and the original manuscript is lost to history. But passages of the original manuscript have been copied in other sagas. Especially in three manuscripts; Ólafs Saga Tryggvasonar , Flateyjarbók and one registered as AM 62 fol .
First settlement of Faroe
The different sagas differ somewhat. And historians have understood from the beginning of Færeyinga Saga in Flateyjarbók that Grímr Kamban settled in Faroe when Harald Hårfagre was king of Norway. This does not correspond with the writings of Dicuil .
The version from Ólafs Saga Tryggvasonar however does correspond with the writings of Dicuil . The opening text is as follows.
There was a man named Grímr Kamban; He first settled in Faroe. But in the days of Harold Fairhair many men fled before the king’s overbearing.
The first man to settle in Faroe is, according to this text, Grimr Kamban . A man with a norse firstname and an irish lastname. This suggests that he might come from settlements to the south in the British isles. He most probably was not norwegian.
The text says that many men fled from Norway when Harald Hårfagre was king there. But it also says that the isles were settled before that. Maybe even hundreds of years, even though most historians do not think so.
Also the nowegians who fled from Harald Hårfagre must have known about the isles before leaving Norway. If Grímr Kamban settled some time before, this could explain the norwegians knowing about Faroe.
According to Dicuil irish monks lived in Faroe before vikings came from Norway. Grímr Kamban may even be one of the very irish monks that or at least an irishman. But this is just guess-work.
References
- Debes, Hans Jacob: Føroya søga 1. Norðurlond og Føroyar. pp. 89-100. Føroya skúlabókagrunnur 1990.
