Plausibility Check: Inuit Reaching Iceland?

Would it be at all plausible for the Inuit to reach Iceland from Greenland or is that too much open water for them to cross?
 
They could probably reach it, but would they want to settle there? They didn't settle the once-fertile parts of Greenland, after all. Though the Norse may have preempted them on that.
 
They could probably reach it, but would they want to settle there? They didn't settle the once-fertile parts of Greenland, after all. Though the Norse may have preempted them on that.

I think it is possible if the Inuits had more population.
 
I remember reading a report of strange bodies floating ashore near Bristol England shortly before the Columbus voyage and they were apparently Inuit, so yes I think it is plausible.
 
Would it be possible for them to have a trading relationship with the Icelanders or would the trip be too much?

I am also wondering if the Inuit would be able to figure out how to build, or at least sail, Viking style boats, either from the Icelanders or perhaps a few being left behind in Greenland.
 
They could have but Iceland had already been discovered and colonised by the Vikings. The Vikings actually beat the Inuits to Greenland too (the Vikings discovered and colonised Greenland in the 10th Century, the Inuit arrived in the 13th Century)
 
They could have but Iceland had already been discovered and colonised by the Vikings. The Vikings actually beat the Inuits to Greenland too (the Vikings discovered and colonised Greenland in the 10th Century, the Inuit arrived in the 13th Century)

I didn't want them to beat the Vikings, I wanted them to go after the vikings left Greenland.
 
I didn't want them to beat the Vikings, I wanted them to go after the vikings left Greenland.

What difference would it make by then?

I mean, if the Icelandic people find a few dozen (at most) people in hide canoes showing up on their seashores, it's not like it would be reported as anything but a historical curiosity. Possibly not even that, if the contact was too intermittent and wasn't enough reason for trade between the two peoples.
 
What difference would it make by then?

I mean, if the Icelandic people find a few dozen (at most) people in hide canoes showing up on their seashores, it's not like it would be reported as anything but a historical curiosity. Possibly not even that, if the contact was too intermittent and wasn't enough reason for trade between the two peoples.

Well my question was more if trade could be established. I doubt the Inuit could conquer the Icelanders. Or perhaps if the Icelanders do the shipping in search of the Walrus Ivory?
 
The Official Language of Greenland is an Inuit language....

I know. But think for a moment. Back when there were parts of Greenland that were fertile, back when there was a window of time for the Inuits to settle Iceland. They didn't bother with the parts of Greenland that were similar to Iceland, so why bother with Iceland at all?
 
With their boats, could they have actually made it?

Yes. You can see Greenland from the northwestern part of Iceland and vice-versa. Also kajaks have made it across. But of course it´s not a trip that your regular guy would like to take back then.
 
Didn´t some tribes reach Greenland, perish and then a few hundred years pass.

I´d like a TL where Iceland is settled by inuits before vikings arrive.
 
Didn´t some tribes reach Greenland, perish and then a few hundred years pass.

Yes, there were people before the Norse (the Norse arrived before the Inuit, IIRC). But the Norse were the first to settle the places that were remotely like Iceland. There was just no incentive for these people to settle these more temperate lands, even when they knew about them.
 
another interesting thought to ponder (sorry to sidetrack) would be that if the Inuit had colonized greenland before the norse - would the norse have conquered them or gone directly to vinland? (which was "discovered" at the same time as greenland). all those settlers reaching vinland might have made an interesting alternate history.
 
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