The Basques (from Spain) and the Irish were very good seamen and used to catch cod on the Grand Banks for centuries prior to the arrival o f Columbus. The Danes may have made it here for the same reason, possibly after having learned about it from their raids on the Irish. However, none of them appeared to want to settle - they’d catch their fish and go back home, sailing in little tiny hide boats.
It is believed that traces of these people found in North America were probably the survivors of the sinking of these little boats or simply people who had drifted here and couldn’t get back.
” they’d catch their fish and go back home, sailing in little tiny hide boats”
I guess they salted the fish? How else could they keep them in at least a month’s journey back to Europe?