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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. Guinevere comes close to treason by telling Derfel that Isis determines who sits on ____.

2. ____ is the age of Tristan's witness, Sarlinna.

3. Derfel earns the title Cadarn, which means the ____.

4. The men fight for Ynys Trebes for ____ years against all odds and Lancelot is never seen in battle but the poets sing of his victories.

5. ____ is the name of the person that the monk scribes stories about.

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain how Arthur winds up killing Owain.

2. Explain why Uther holds the first High Council in Britain in sixty years.

3. Do you think that it was right for the babies to be switched before Gundleus arrived?

4. Describe the opening of the novel.

5. Explain the ceremonial process of baby Mordred becoming king.

6. Explain why Arthur does not fight Owain with Excalibur and how Arthur has an advantage in the fight anyway.

7. Explain how Derfel's initiation mirrors modern-day practices.

8. Describe the baby that is born at the start of the novel.

9. Explain the evil acts that Gundelus does involving Norwenna and Nimue.

10. Describe the religious focus of Chapter 2.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nimue is a major character in the story. Answer the following questions about her.

1. What is Nimue's relationship to Derfel?

2. What is Nimue's relationship to Merlin?

3. What are the first two of three wounds/problems that Nimue encounters that she thinks will make her more powerful and when does she acquire them.

4. Do you feel that Nimue is insane at any points in the story? If not, why not? If so, at what point or points? Use examples from the book to back up your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the characters of Lancelot and Galahad. What makes one better than the other at certain things? For example, even though Lancelot is a liar, is he a better fighter than Galahad? Why or why not? Is Galahad automatically a better person than Lancelot, since, presumably, Galahad does not lie or does Galahad have other faults? If so, what are they?

Essay Topic 3

The novel teaches many life lessons. Choose any two lessons that you learned from the novel and explain where in the novel those lessons are taught, as well as what you learned from them or what point you feel the author was trying to get across with them.

(see the answer keys)

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