WI: iceland father south

[Straha]

The geological hot-spot that caused Iceland started 10 or 15 or so
degrees further south than in OTL. Iceland is about its OTL size but
much more fertile and able to support a large population and with
plenty of native wood for shipbuilding. It would still be short of
metal ores.

One effect would be geological: no Tertiary volcanic rocks in
Scotland and Ireland (Cuillin Hills on Skye, Ardnamurchan Head, on
Mull, Fingal's Cave, Giant's Causeway, Antrim plateau basalt); but
what in history and politics? Would it act as an early stepping stone
for contact between Europe and America long before OTL?

[Tyr]

I'd imagine it would become part of some greater Britain norse nation eventually. If the vikings run into it at all, I don't think they went too far south.
If they don't then assuming there is a butterfly net (no Iceland? big deal) I'd imagine the Portugese getting it like with the Azores.

[wkwillis]

With a decent harbor some pirate would use it as a hangout. Later, a colony would spread out from the harbor.

[Fiji]

I don't have a map handy with the mid atlantic ridge on it ... would that put the middle of the island at 55N 35W?

I'm still rooting for the vikings to grab it.

with a fertile Iceland in place, there is no (or at least much less so) bottleneck for colonization of America.
This, more then anything killed the viking settlements in OTL.

So, by the time anyone else gets sufficiently seaworthy ships, the vikings have grabbed much of the eastern seaboard (and have moved inland, at least as far as the great lakes and anywhere where their ships will go ... keep in mind they WILL carry their ships if need be) and are quickly becoming a great power

[wkwillis]

The problem with Vikings conquering Indians is that the last time the Vikings tried that, they got their heads handed to them, twice, once by the Newfoundland Algonquins, once by the Greenland Innuit.
Sure, they have disease resistence. They don't have a good economy to keep disease germs around and able to devestate the Indian population, and they don't have the right technology (projectile) to keep fighting off the Indians, either. They are pastoralists, and pastorlalists and Indians don't mix well. The Indians kept eating the pastoralist's cows. Farms are less interesting to Indians. Even worse, the pastoralists are not dense enough to be able to keep enough troops at the front to make raiding unprofitable. The Europeans never fought off horse barbarians until the invention of gunpowder weapons in 1200 plus. Before that the horse barbarians always won.

[Fiji]

The vikings got their asses kicked because they never landed in large enough numbers.
They never landed in large enough numbers because getting people through Greenland was a bitch ... a logistical nightmare.
Also, as long as the vikings don't take any horses along to the new world ... where are the indians going to get them?