If the Vikings reached the Americas around 1000 CE, why didn't other European powers attempt to colonize the Americas before the "age of exploration" roughly 500 years later?

by HybridHerald

This series of maps in /r/imaginarymaps by u/stonewalljacksons got me wondering why European powers didn't colonize the Americas earlier, if the Norse had reached many parts of North America around 1000 CE.

(I've tried searching this sub for related answers, and have found other questions like this one.)

pizzapicante27

Which European powers? and for what porpouse?

just_the_mann

Different question, same theme: I always thought the Viking "discovery" of the Americas was conjecture at best...did they actually reach the North American mainland?