Vikings were Raiders from the 8th to 11th century
They made the lives of medieval Europe even worse by plundering the undefended villages
Stealing and killing everyone who got in their way Vikings were certainly brutal don't get me wrong
But we see today that the Vikings were far more than just the barbarians they were made out to be
If there was one thing a Viking was first and foremost. He was a sailor
They're fantastically crafted ships allowed the Scandinavians to explore new lands either
Peacefully or not the Viking Age
yes was an age of pillaging and bloodshed, but it was also an age of colonization and
Exploration even sailed to a mysterious land known as Vinland a land told in the oral tradition of Icelandic stories
one with enough bountiful berries to make wine and
Populated by screeching people which fought back the newcomers. What was Vinland? Well today, we know it by simply
Newfoundland Canada, yep. By the time Columbus discovered America
The new world had been talked about in Viking legend for generations
The colony of Vinland failed in the span of a few years there was just too much going against it to be successful
but the idea of
Scandinavians somehow living in the new world
500 years before Columbus is far too interesting to just not talk about so let's imagine what if in an alternate timeline
The Vikings stayed in America that failed colony of Vinland somehow stays alive
Just like Iceland before I get into that question. I want to answer this one
Why did Vinland fail in the first place?
First are the natives themselves
Or are Scraeling as the Vikings called them the Vikings and natives did not get along the very first confrontation
Involved the Vikings killing two natives while the natives then chased them off
second was the population of Scandinavia itself the Vikings were far outnumbered the Scandinavian population was
minuscule a huge Viking population in Canada
Not likely. Third was navigation and technology even for the Vikings the journey was tough
so don't imagine the regular trips that future societies easily could do to the new world Vikings were best on the shore and
Not really in the open ocean. The point I'm making is I know Vinland surviving is practically impossible
This is more or less for fun
Taking all those factors into account so onto the scenario if you're imagining North America in this alternate timeline having some
Hybrid culture between Vikings and natives well. I'm sorry to crush your dreams Vikings
Never wanted to intermingle with the natives and even if somehow they did there were too few
Vikings to create some hybrid culture the colony would simply become less Scandinavian over time and
disappear what I qualify as
Colonisation and success is Vinland simply surviving to create a lasting
Scandinavian presence in
Canada be enough of a success that word comes out
More Vikings actually show up to sustain the colony in North America. The first thing that needs to change is the relationship between
Viking and native. In this alternate timeline peace somehow is maintained between the two for a while
How long? Long enough. Low population meant any conflict would kill Vinland
But if peace lasted just enough for Vikings to be enticed to sail to the land of wine then the cycle could be
Reinforced a good defense means more colonist, which means a better defense if war breaks out later fine
But it can only break out once the Vikings have enough of a foothold in America
So Vinland by now has a reputation a far-off land with strange natives
But full of grapes to make wine from naming of lands for Vikings meant everything
Why do you think this notably notgreen place is named, Greenland?
they needed people to go there so the colony wouldn't die, and
died that colony would and our timeline Greenland became a
Pitiful struggling colony and bad winters forced the Vikings off and back to Iceland
However in this alternate timeline if Vinland still survived, then those Greenland refugees could easily flee to Canada instead
Bolstering the colony's population as the centuries went on in the Viking Age would end the settlement would grow
Becoming a stopping point for eventually the Danish or Norwegians or Swedish to trade supplies with and maybe
explore further south because of that reliance on the constant trade with Europe, Europe would slowly begin to realize just
Where Vinland actually was as the Viking Age ended and European empires begin
Vinland would change hands between Norway and Denmark
numerous times rumours would always be abound primarily in
Scandinavian circles about land south of Vinland with vast forests and warm weather
It wouldn't be until the Renaissance when those rumours were actually mapped would it be Columbus who would sail across the ocean blue in
1492
no, the only reason nobody sailed the ocean before Columbus was because everybody thought they would just die Columbus was an
idiot who thought the earth was shaped like a pear so they just let him go. But in an alternate world where the
Scandinavians have been using this path across the Atlantic for centuries
Everyone would know something be it Asia or another land was across that ocean
There is much less risk when people have been sailing that route since the 10th century so explorers might map out the coasts
centuries before our own timeline
Finland would be an established European
Colony to get supplies from in sail further south it wouldn't be the spanish or the portuguese to have the first major
Empire in the americas it would be the swedish. Sweden in our timeline tried their own little colonial effort in delaware
It didn't go anywhere(see the rhyme?)
However if the Scandinavians had Finland then they would have the first
Opportunity to colonize the new land while I said there wouldn't be a Viking empire,
I never said their descendants wouldn't. Vinland replaces Quebec in this alternate timeline the
Norwegian and Swedish have first picked on the land and claimed it before the English and French ever reach
It could they hold it well who knows instead of Spain and Portugal kick-starting the Age of Exploration
It would be the Scandinavians. Perhaps launching them into having an empire
Just like the British French and Spanish of our own timeline. What happens after that well
I feel there are multiple possibilities in general the Americas would be something Europe would have known about for centuries before
Actually reaching it. It'd always be a rumor and the first people to really take advantage of it would be the Viking descendants
Themselves this however is simply one scenario out of the countless that could happen
We'll never truly know what would happen at Vikings colonized America, but it's fun to theorize
This is Cody of Alternate History Hub
Subtitles: Thomas Martinez(huge fan of your channel!!)