[seanmcdirmid]

The vikings landed there, not Denmark, who were Norse, Erik the Red was from Norway (But was considered by then an Icelander exile?). Before Danish control Greenland was a Norwegian colony, this was the colony that died out.

[nephihaha]

Norse colonisation tended to reflect their origin e.g. the Norwegians colonised the north west of Scotland and Iceland, which were more similar to Norway; Danes went to England and Normandy which were more southerly, flatter and more fertile, much like Denmark; the Swedes with their long Baltic coastline turned their attentions eastward.

Denmark got the North Atlantic islands through the union with Norway, and retained them after Norway became independent.

[seanmcdirmid]

after the Norwegian colony died out, another attempt was made when Denmark and Norway were in a union.

[nephihaha]

I know, but that was much later and had a very different dynamic, due to climatic changes etc.

The earlier Norse colonisation of Greenland seemed to consist of farmers and independent settlers, mostly via Iceland. In some areas, they never interacted with Inuit, or rarely.

The later effort seems more focussed on Christian missions to the natives, and commercial whaling and sealing.