But did they colonize??? Answer? No.
It’s Canada. Can you blame them?...............
One of my acquaintances is a Swedish National. He did one of those 23-and-me tests and found out he has a fraction of Native American blood. Apparently the Vikings stayed for a little while.
Apparently, they did little more than stumble across it, and then they told a few people about it who talked about it as lore. Nobody followed them.
What’s up with that?
First is first, but although the Norse came and didn’t colonize, which Columbus really didn’t either... that came later, the Berbers were great sailers trading from Tarshish north to the Britains, south down and atound Africa... and indications are that the Americas were visited as well.
While the development of trade and entities plying their wares, were much less developed 1000years ago and 500 years before Columbus, first is still first EXCEPT studies are showing that the oceans were not an obstacle to early explorers and traders, but is now considered a super-highway.
They tried to, but they got kicked out of Greenland by the combination of double-sized Innuit ‘armies’ and the little ice age.
Vikings were fierce warriors but could be defeated in battle with superior numbers. Their main advantage was their very fast ships, no one could catch them. On land, they were formidable but beatable.
In hindsight, you are right that they did not. However, the number of buildings, 8, indicates that their intent might have been to do so. The Scandinavian Viking settlements in Greenland lasted about 500 years from Eric the Red's first efforts in 980.
But did they bring their Norwegian Forest Cats with them?