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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. What does Eirik offer the traders in return for their generosity?

2. Why does Leif deny Thorgunna what she asks of him?

3. What is the nature of the Christmas feast Eirik the Red served Karlsefni and company?

4. What does Leif find in Vinland?

5. What trouble is there with with Sigrid's corpse?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Thorbjorn's trip to Greenland. Include who he is with and what happens.

2. What future does Thorbjorg predict for Gudrid?

3. How and why does Einar pursue Gudrid in marriage?

4. Describe Thorhall and explain why he is on the expedition to Vinland.

5. When food runs scarce, Thorhall disappears for three days. How and where do Karlsefni and Bjarni find him? What does he say he was doing?

6. What happens with the whale? Why do people refuse to eat it?

7. Explain Sigrid's vision, including where she was when she had it and the three individuals in her vision she identifies.

8. Summarize the part Thorhall plays in the expedition to Vinland, including how it ends for both him and Karlsefni.

9. What kind of place to Karlsefni and his men settle in for their stay in Vinland?

10. How do Haki and Hekja come to be on the expedition to Vinland? Where are they from?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gudrid's father, Thorbjorn Vifilsson, is the son of a slave and is a respected well admired man, but is offended with another son of a slave proposes marriage to his daughter. Research and write an essay about the practice of slavery in Viking culture.

Part 1. How was the concept of slavery for the Vikings fundamentally different than the concept for slavery was for the United States? Which other cultures shared this practice?

Part 2. Where did the Vikings get their slaves?

Part 3. What were the likely and possible futures for a slave once taken by the Vikings?

Part 4. What were the social stigmas attached to slavery or having previously been a slave?

Essay Topic 2

What are the Icelandic Sagas?

Part 1. What are the Icelandic Sagas? When were they written and by whom?

Part 2. Why are the Icelandic Sagas important historically? What do we know from them?

Part 3. Summarize and analyze the content of the Vinland sagas.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the Hebrides and the role of the Vikings in their history.

Part 1. Where are the Hebrides? What is their geology like? Give an introduction to the Hebrides.

Part 2. Why might have the Hebrides been so aptly suited to Viking settlements? Explain the safety and accessibility of the Hebrides.

Part 3. When did Vikings first arrive on the Hebrides? How long did they stay? Give examples and cite particulars.

Part 4. What evidence remains, archeological and otherwise, of the Viking occupation of the Hebrides?

(see the answer keys)

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