WI: permanent Norse settlement in New Foundland?

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I'm not going to lock it, this is a commonly discussed topic, but so what? Please link your favorite threads on the topic and talk about common misconceptions.
 
They will need to get more people there, and then probably establish a string of trading posts south towards the Chesapeake. It's going to suck for a while when Greenland goes down.
Earlier population collapse in North America due to accidental disease introduction. The St Lawrence to the Hudson will probably be pretty sparse.

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Maybe:
Harald Hardrada flees Britain, but then is driven out of Norway by Sweyn II of Denmark. Harald and his followers journey to Vinland and set up a stronger town there.
 
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What if the Vikings established a permenant trading settlement in North America?

The first thing you need to know then, is that Vikings aren't a people, Viking is a job. What if the Norse established a permanent settlement in North America? That's an interesting question, honestly. We know they did it and failed several hundred years before a certain Geonese man got famous for it.

The question you need to ask first is, do the Norse have a sustainable population, or, if not, how long do they need to convince people to move from Iceland, Greenland, and Norway. After that, do they have enough food, are they isolated enough to not run into immediate possibly hostile contact with peoples such as the Abenaki. It's not that the Norse can't fight, in fact they're quite good at it, it's that any loss or injury is a mark against long or short term survival of the settlement, at least until the population is at a sustainable level. Once you've ascertained those things, you can start worrying about the more minute things, such as aforementioned contacts, the transference of disease, however accidental or deliberate, the affects of that etc.
 
i think people over estimate the long term stability of Vinland and just assume that a parliamentary multi racial democracy will end up dominating North America, I doubt that it will stay religiously unified enough for that and any European power will probably try to exploit those divisions
 
i think people over estimate the long term stability of Vinland and just assume that a parliamentary multi racial democracy will end up dominating North America, I doubt that it will stay religiously unified enough for that and any European power will probably try to exploit those divisions

What? I never said anything like that.
 
i think people over estimate the long term stability of Vinland and just assume that a parliamentary multi racial democracy will end up dominating North America, I doubt that it will stay religiously unified enough for that and any European power will probably try to exploit those divisions
There will definitely be lean times for a long time.
 
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