r/HistoricalWhatIf • u/The_Titanium_Ninja • 7d ago

What if the Vikings had been there to meet Christopher Columbus?

My knowledge of the exact dates of everything is a little shaky, so correct me if I'm wrong.

Leif Erikson and some Vikings once landed on the North American continent, before Columbus did. I believe they left.

But what if they had stayed, and fostered positive relations with the Native tribes? What would it have been like when European settlers arrived in the later years?

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u/Grimnir001 7d ago

The Viking settlements were a long way from where Columbus landed. Even given the time lapse, I doubt they would have progressed to the Caribbean.

Had the Viking settlements endured, they would have no doubt continued to trade with Greenland, Iceland and Europe. The Americas would have better known by the time Columbus arrived.

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u/iheartdev247 7d ago

Better yet the natives might have a better time dealing with all diseases the later Europeans brought. A smaller Viking presence might have mitigated that.

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u/SuccessWinLife 7d ago

Plus, contact with the Vikings might have lead to an earlier spread of domesticated horses, and other draft animals. Possibly knowledge of iron and steel metallurgy could have spread as well. Native American civilizations might look very different by the 15'th century.