Mattis

But that clashes with the culture. I mean, they were all about being the first person to do this, the first person to find this. This was an exploratory people. It was a point of pride for them. It was how you cemented your name in the sagas, was by doing something cool. Mm-hmm. I just don't understand how somebody didn't think, let's send an expedition. Let's send a thousand people over there.

But that clashes with the culture. I mean, they were all about being the first person to do this, the first person to find this. This was an exploratory people. It was a point of pride for them. It was how you cemented your name in the sagas, was by doing something cool. Mm-hmm. I just don't understand how somebody didn't think, let's send an expedition. Let's send a thousand people over there.

Couldn't have done that from Greenland. You could have done it from Iceland. You definitely could have done it from Norway, England, Ireland, Sweden. I mean, and that's, if you look at the crossing to Ireland, it took about two weeks to get from Norway to Ireland.

Couldn't have done that from Greenland. You could have done it from Iceland. You definitely could have done it from Norway, England, Ireland, Sweden. I mean, and that's, if you look at the crossing to Ireland, it took about two weeks to get from Norway to Ireland.

When they got to Ireland, they encountered people who had steel weapons, written language, fortified cities, basically everything they had, and they still fought them. If they had gone to North America, yeah, the trip is twice as long, but there is nobody to fight. Because the only people who are there to fight you don't even have armor. Their weapons are made of stone.

When they got to Ireland, they encountered people who had steel weapons, written language, fortified cities, basically everything they had, and they still fought them. If they had gone to North America, yeah, the trip is twice as long, but there is nobody to fight. Because the only people who are there to fight you don't even have armor. Their weapons are made of stone.

As long as you have a few guards standing around wearing chain mail, you're basically invincible. It would have been like knights on steroids. It's like driving an Abrams tank into North Sentinel Island. There's just no competition there. And yet they didn't stay. Unless they did... in which case I, I then point out the tendency they had to assimilate and to assimilate people into their groups.

As long as you have a few guards standing around wearing chain mail, you're basically invincible. It would have been like knights on steroids. It's like driving an Abrams tank into North Sentinel Island. There's just no competition there. And yet they didn't stay. Unless they did... in which case I, I then point out the tendency they had to assimilate and to assimilate people into their groups.

Um, But then there's the caveat that we don't have stories about them. We don't have stories about them from the Abenaki. Listen, the prophecy of the seven fires might have something to do with the Vikings, but it's by no means certain. The Iroquois get up into the Quebec area sometime in the 1400s. They don't talk about any white people. the Mi'kmaq don't talk about any white people.

Um, But then there's the caveat that we don't have stories about them. We don't have stories about them from the Abenaki. Listen, the prophecy of the seven fires might have something to do with the Vikings, but it's by no means certain. The Iroquois get up into the Quebec area sometime in the 1400s. They don't talk about any white people. the Mi'kmaq don't talk about any white people.

Hell, the Inuit barely talk about white people. And they were, like, interacting with them routinely. I don't know. Something about it just doesn't seem right. It doesn't feel... What do the Inuit say? They just have stories about fighting them. They also do have one that's about the...

Hell, the Inuit barely talk about white people. And they were, like, interacting with them routinely. I don't know. Something about it just doesn't seem right. It doesn't feel... What do the Inuit say? They just have stories about fighting them. They also do have one that's about the...

And this is the confusing part is because it's like, is this about the Vikings or is this about the Danes coming back in the 1700s? They have a story about a woman whose father was forcing her to get married, but she didn't want to get married. So she married a dog and she had some kids that were like white skinned and they went east across the sea. And this is a Greenland Inuit tale.

And this is the confusing part is because it's like, is this about the Vikings or is this about the Danes coming back in the 1700s? They have a story about a woman whose father was forcing her to get married, but she didn't want to get married. So she married a dog and she had some kids that were like white skinned and they went east across the sea. And this is a Greenland Inuit tale.

And then they had some that were half dog and they went west into Labrador. Make all the jokes you want about the dog people going to Labrador. But the idea is that the the white skin children eventually came back as the Danes.

And then they had some that were half dog and they went west into Labrador. Make all the jokes you want about the dog people going to Labrador. But the idea is that the the white skin children eventually came back as the Danes.

That's to be fair. We also probably could have learned more stuff if we'd taken a slightly different approach.

That's to be fair. We also probably could have learned more stuff if we'd taken a slightly different approach.

So it really depends.

So it really depends.