A Viking Azores and Atlantic imperial competition

What if Iceland's Viking society had instead occupied the Azores?

Its strategic location would likely draw conquest and counter-conquest, perhaps leaving Britain with a powerful Atlantic base rather than an isolated Norse state.

Unlike Iceland, the Azores sit astride major Atlantic routes and would be difficult for a small Norse polity to keep outside imperial competition. Portugal could conquer the settlement, Spain might later contest it, and Britain could seize the islands during a wider war. A British Azores would resemble an Atlantic Gibraltar rather than an isolated northern community. Its secure harbor and position would alter basing, convoy protection, and maritime access in both world wars. The counterfactual turns geography into the driver of political absorption and naval value.