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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Rumon leave Alfrida's castle at noon and return to his own lodgings?

2. Why does Merewyn leave home?

3. Why is Gunnar disgusted when he goes to the Abbey?

4. Why does Queen Alfrida lose her status at Court?

5. How long does it take to get to the King's Court from Glastonbury Abbey?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was the thought of Merewyn painful for Rumon as he talked to Dunstan outside his guesthouse rooms at Glastonbury Abbey?

2. What did the monastery behind the small church that is dedicated to St. Petroc look like when Rumon saw it for the first time?

3. Describe Merewyn when she first encounters Rumon.

4. Is Breaca, Merewyn's mother, crazy as Rumon thinks she is when he meets her at the beginning of Chapter 2?

5. When Merewyn arrives at the Great Hall of Lydford Castle, how does she describe it?

6. On the feast of the Assumption, how does Merewyn describe the Abbey's gardens as she sat in them beside Elfled on the well curb?

7. Detail Rumon's vision at Tre-Uther.

8. Describe Brother Finian.

9. How does Dunstan describe the scene that he came upon that led him to take Rumon to Glastonbury Abbey two weeks after the coronation?

10. What was Rumon's nightmare on Christmas night after Alfrida had made time to see him earlier in the day?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Rumon finds Merewyn in Iceland as an accepted member of society and happily married, Rumon may have viewed that as an act of betrayal by Merewyn. Later, Rumon admits to Merewyn that he betrayed his own values and beliefs when he killed two Vikings during a raid not to save the church's treasures in an act of heroism but symbolically killing Merewyn's Viking husband and father for them having taken Merewyn away from him. Analyze the nature of these betrayals and demonstrate how they contributed to the meaning of "Avalon" as a whole.

Essay Topic 2

In "Avalon," many brutal Viking raids are described. Compare and contrast the English views of Vikings or Norsemen to what we see when Merewyn becomes an accepted member of Icelandic society.

Essay Topic 3

Compare England with Great Ireland where Rumon was held captive for 3 years with the Culdees. Explain how the two places differ, what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.

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