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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. Who is Leif?

2. What nickname is Leif given upon his return to Greenland?

3. According to the prophecy, where will Gudrid go on pilgrimage?

4. In what way does Freydis first break her word?

5. What do Thorvald and Eirik do because "of some killings" in Jaederen?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Thorstein and his crew when they set sail for Vinland? Where do they end up spending the winter?

2. What happens between the natives and Thorvald and his crew? Describe the encounter.

3. Describe the circumstances of Bjarni's discovery of new lands to the west.

4. Describe what happens as Leif and his crew try to approach the shore of the mainland.

5. Explain what happened to Aud's husband and son.

6. Describe the events surrounding Thorstein's death.

7. What does the saga of Gudrid's Ancestry tell us about Aud's faith and what she does to practice it?

8. What do we know about the emigration from Iceland to Greenland?

9. Explain who Aud brings to Iceland with her, who they were, and what happened once they arrived in Iceland.

10. What kind of person is Freydis? Give examples.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Eirik the Red and his sons explored a considerable amount of new land. Write an essay about the family that may have been the first Europeans to discover America.

Part 1. What lands were Eirik the Red and his sons the first Europeans to discover and explore?

Part 2. Each of the four of the explorers had a different motivation for their exploration. What was the motivation of each and how did they differ from one another?

Part 3. There are descriptions of Eirik, Leif, Thorvald, and Thorstein in the sagas. What were they like? Is there evidence to suggest how they get along together?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay on the runic alphabets.

Part 1. When were the runic alphabets used?

Part 2. What different runic alphabets are there? How do they differ from each other?

Part 3. What runic alphabet did the Vikings use? Give particulars of this alphabet.

Part 4. Give an example of how to translate something into runes.

Essay Topic 3

Newfoundland is quite possibly the site of the Viking Vinland. Write an essay about Newfoundland.

Part 1. Where is Newfoundland? What are the land and geography like?

Part 2. Who lived in Newfoundland during the time of the Vikings? What were they like?

Part 3. How does the information about Newfoundland mesh with the accounts from the Vinland sagas? Give examples to support your statement.

(see the answer keys)

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