I think it’s reasonable to say they knew. They probably didn’t realize how enormous the Americas were. But it was certainly known that some landmass existed west of Greenland. The Norse settled Greenland around year 1000 and allegedly founded colonies in Newfoundland around that time.
I think a lot of people don’t know about the settlements. I’ve never been myself, but I’d love to go someday. I want to go walk around it, and see what they saw.
Norse may have been there, but there was no lasting impact. No permanent settlement, no trade, no records other than logs/journals, no memory, no further exploration …. Compare that with the impact of Columbus’ voyage
We actually don’t know how much the Norse may have explored: we have very few records and I believe only one settlement for a couple years.
They already knew. The Norse found it 500 years before Columbus.
Knew is a strong word
The norse found it but 500 years is a crazy long time, and they didn’t know it wasn’t just a series of arctic islands
I think it’s reasonable to say they knew. They probably didn’t realize how enormous the Americas were. But it was certainly known that some landmass existed west of Greenland. The Norse settled Greenland around year 1000 and allegedly founded colonies in Newfoundland around that time.
It’s more than allegedly. They founded settlements here.
Nice, last I’d heard we were going off of written records. Didn’t know there was physical evidence.
I think a lot of people don’t know about the settlements. I’ve never been myself, but I’d love to go someday. I want to go walk around it, and see what they saw.
Norse may have been there, but there was no lasting impact. No permanent settlement, no trade, no records other than logs/journals, no memory, no further exploration …. Compare that with the impact of Columbus’ voyage
We actually don’t know how much the Norse may have explored: we have very few records and I believe only one settlement for a couple years.
I find this idea fascinating - they could have ….
— https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/norumbega-tower