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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What two words were used in a trial by ordeal to define the seriousness of the crime?
(a) "Single" and "Threefold".
(b) "MIsendon" and "Candicet".
(c) "Misson" and "Molten".
(d) "Thricen" and "Shrine".

2. Who does Hrothgar know from Beowulf's family?
(a) His grandfather.
(b) His uncle.
(c) His father.
(d) His mother.

3. Who wrote "Letter to the English"?
(a) Wulfstan.
(b) Alfred.
(c) Canute.
(d) Kent.

4. Whose translation of "The Wanderer" is best known?
(a) Shakespeare's.
(b) J.R.R. Tolkien's.
(c) Ezra Pound's.
(d) Socrates'.

5. What is the name of the man that Beowulf challenges to a swimming race?
(a) Brecca.
(b) Unferth.
(c) Wiglaf.
(d) Hrunting.

6. What is the name of the governing assemblies from the Anglo-Saxon period?
(a) Cleric-bards,
(b) Folk-moots.
(c) Soothslayers.
(d) Wyrds.

7. Where is Beowulf from?
(a) Geatland.
(b) Scotland.
(c) Britland.
(d) England.

8. During what century did the first Anglo-Saxon settlers migrate to England?
(a) 7th.
(b) 6th.
(c) 5th.
(d) 8th.

9. What is the oldest surviving poem written in Old English?
(a) The Dream of the Rood.
(b) Wulf.
(c) Hymn.
(d) Beowulf.

10. In "Germania," what is stated as the reason a chief fights?
(a) For family.
(b) For his king.
(c) For his father.
(d) For victory.

11. In "The Wife's Lament," where is the wife forced to live?
(a) In an earth-cave.
(b) In a barn.
(c) In a well.
(d) In a foreign castle.

12. Who does the author of "The Battle of Brunanburh" state is a "man of discretion"?
(a) Grebes.
(b) Constantine.
(c) Byrnth.
(d) Stolkharth.

13. In what year were Wihtred's laws issued?
(a) 695.
(b) 875.
(c) 524.
(d) 1210.

14. On Christmas Day under the rule of Augustine ten thousand people were baptized through what method?
(a) Christening.
(b) Complete immersion.
(c) Baptism of repentance.
(d) Baptism by fire.

15. Who is Grendel a descendant of?
(a) Hrothgar.
(b) Lucifer.
(c) Cain.
(d) God.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who made the weapon with which Beowulf beheads Grendel's mother?

2. How many lines is "The Battle of Maldon" missing at the beginning?

3. Who does the author in the introduction to the Laws section say, "most of us" need to turn to in order to "establish the exact wording of a law"?

4. Other than paying six shillings to his lord for riding "on his own business on that day," what can a servant choose as his punishment?

5. What adjective does the poet of "The Seafarer" use to describe the song that he sings of himself?

(see the answer keys)

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