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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Wihtred's law 9, how much money is a servant to pay if he is found guilty of working between Saturday evening and Sunday evening?
(a) 50 sceattas.
(b) 25 sceattas.
(c) 80 sceattas.
(d) 100 sceattas.

2. What is the name of Hrothgar's queen?
(a) Halga.
(b) Wealhtheow.
(c) Hygd.
(d) Ecgtheow.

3. How was the history and legends of the Anglo-Saxons transmitted?
(a) Word of mouth.
(b) Written anthologies.
(c) They were not discovered until late in the 14th century and then written down.
(d) Canons.

4. What is the name of the person that "was a crucial member of a tribe or a society" and existed as "a living memory"?
(a) The jester.
(b) The clergy.
(c) The knave.
(d) The scop.

5. Where does the author state that the emotional center of "Deor" lies (which lines)?
(a) The first eight.
(b) The center stanza.
(c) The first four lines.
(d) The last eight.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whose translation of "The Wanderer" is best known?

2. What century was it when pagan Germanic tribesman "swarmed" into England?

3. Who helped Beowulf fight the dragon?

4. Besides "The Wife's Lament," what is the only other Anglo-Saxon poem written by a woman?

5. Where is Hrothgar's kingdom?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Beowulf do right after killing Grendel's mother?

2. Why does the author of the introduction to "The Elegies" state that "The Ruin" is "an antiquarian's delight"?

3. What two things is "The Battle of Maldon" concerned with in regard to theme?

4. Why does Unferth challenge Beowulf's fame?

5. According to the author of the introduction to "Heroic Poems," what purpose do/did the heroic poems serve historically?

6. What was the purpose of the "Easter Tables"?

7. Explain the procedure of lawsuits for Anglo-Saxons.

8. Why did Caedmon state that he left the feast and went to the stables?

9. What were some of the earliest codes found to survive from the kingdom of Kent (690-725)?

10. What is the topic of the six "so-called Elegies"?

(see the answer keys)

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