Dicuilus (Gaelic: Dícuil; fl.814–825 A.D.) was an Irish monk, astronomer, geographer and author born during the second half of the 8th century, possibly in the Hebrides. He travelled the Frankia around the turn of the 9th century and was involved with the Carolingian Renaissance under Louis the Pious. He was the author of astronomical and cosmographical treatises during the early 9th century, an example of Hiberno-Latin culture.
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Dicuil in the context of Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands (/ˈfɛəroʊ/ FAIR-oh) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the Hebrides and Shetland isles of Scotland, the islands have a population of 54,885 as of September 2025 and a land area of 1,393 km². The official language is Faroese, which is partially mutually intelligible with Icelandic. The terrain is rugged, dominated by fjords and cliffs with sparse vegetation and few trees. As a result of their proximity to the Arctic Circle, the islands experience perpetual civil twilight during summer nights and very short winter days; nevertheless, they experience a subpolar oceanic climate and mild temperatures year-round due to the Gulf Stream. The capital, Tórshavn, receives the fewest recorded hours of sunshine of any city in the world at only 840 per year.
Færeyinga saga and the writings of Dicuil place initial Norse settlement in the early 9th century, with Grímur Kamban recorded as the first permanent settler. As with the subsequent settlement of Iceland, the islands were mainly settled by Norwegians and Norse-Gaels who also brought thralls (i.e. slaves or serfs) of Gaelic origin. However, new study has found that Viking colonizers of the Faroe Islands and nearby Iceland had different origins.
Dicuil in the context of Viking Age in the Faroe Islands
The Viking Age in the Faroe Islands lasted from Grímur Kamban's conquest of the country around 825 until the death of Tróndur í Gøtu, the last Viking chieftain on the Faroe Islands in 1035, and the rise to power of Leivur Øssursson in the same year. While the Norse settlement in the Faroe Islands can be definitively traced back to sometime between the 9th and 10th centuries, with the first Norsemen on the islands arguably around the late 8th century, accounts from Irish priests such as Dicuil claim monks were there for "nearly a hundred years" (in centum ferme annis) beforehand.
The biggest historical break in this period was the Christianization of the Faroe Islands by Sigmundur Brestisson in 999, which heralded the end of the Viking Age and at the same time the end of the Faroe Islands as a free settler republic.