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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. How does Thorbjorn announce his departure to Greenland?

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

3. Where does Thorstein's ship next put in to land after it leaves Eiriksfjord?

4. Who speaks to Bjarni when Bjarni gets on the life boat?

5. What takes Thorstein Eriksson and Gudrid to Lysufjord?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Freydis drive away the natives giving chase?

2. Describe who Thorbjorg is and what her behavior is like when she arrives at Herjolfsness.

3. What does Eirik the Red do upon departing for Vinland that he suspects causes him to fall off his horse? What does he do to resolve it?

4. What are the first impressions that Karlsefni and Eirik the Red make on each other? How do they do this?

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

6. What interaction do Gudrid and Thorbjorg have together?

7. What does the corpse of Thorstein Eriksson say about the dead? What do the people do after hearing it?

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

9. How does a fight break out between Karlsefni's men and the natives? Describe the sequence of events leading up to Karlsefni and his men fleeing.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did the Vikings compare as shipbuilders, seamen and explorers to their contemporaries?

Part 1. As explorers and sea voyagers, how did the vikings compare to others of their time?

Part 2. What kind of ships did the Vikings use? What were the advantages and disadvantages of these ships? How were they made?

Part 3. What influence did the Viking ships have on other nautical customs of the time? What legacy have they left behind?

Essay Topic 2

There are many characters that make a brief appearance in the sagas that merit more attention, for example, Aud the Deep-Minded. Choose a minor character in the sagas and do some further research about them. If there is little information about the person you choose, then write about two different characters.

Part 1. What character or character did you choose to learn more about? Why?

Part 2. Describe the person or persons and what they did.

Part 3. Why is this significant or meaningful? What impact did they have?

Essay Topic 3

The historical novel "The Thrall's Tale" takes place during the sagas. Read the novel and then analyze the novel's connections to the sagas.

Part 1. Introduce and summarize the novel.

Part 2. During which saga does the action of the novel take place? What events happen in both?

Part 3. Which characters from the novel are also characters from the sagas? Are they consistent with their portrayal in the sagas? Does the fiction created surrounding the characters seem likely or plausible? Why or why not?

Part 4. According to you, how well did the author of "The Thrall's Tale" weave her fiction into the sagas? What did she do well and what could she have done better?

(see the answer keys)

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