The Anglo-Saxon Period & Middle Ages (449-1485)

Question 0

What percent of the British population were affected by the Bubonic Plague outbreak in 1349?

Answer 0

Approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the population.

Question 1

Define the concept of Wergild?

Answer 1

To avoid revenge from a slain man’s kin, one could pay them wergild, or “man price”, a sum of money that reflected the deceased’s importance.

Question 2

Name the three tribes that made up the Anglo-Saxons?

Answer 2

The Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes.

Question 3

What was the predominant theology in Britain before Christianity?

Answer 3

Pagan.

Question 4

What pagan idea is a reoccurring theme used in most literature during this time?

Answer 4

The idea of fate.

Question 5

Name the 3 divisions of the social scale as defined by the Feudal System in order of importance?

Answer 5

The lords (or barons), knights, and serfs (or peasants).

Question 6

Define pilgrimage?

Answer 6

A pilgrimage is a journey taken to prove religious devotion.

Question 7

Explain the literary structure of most epics?

Answer 7

Poetic lines with rhyme and meter with formal and exaggerated language.

Question 8

Epics sometimes begin with this Latin phrase meaning “In the middle of things”?

Answer 8

In medias res.

Question 9

What action often done by epic heroes in the Middle Ages was expected but now is deemed unaccptable?

Answer 9

Boasting about their personal feats.

Question 10

Define archetype?

Answer 10

An archetype is a symbol, theme or character type that appears in many stories across all cultures.

Question 11

Who authored “Beowulf”?

Answer 11

The author is unknown.

Question 12

When was “Beowulf” written?

Answer 12

Approximately the 5th or 6th century AD.

Question 13

What is the setting (time) of “Beowulf”?

Answer 13

5th or 6th century.

Question 14

What symbol is used in “The Seafarer” literally to establish the setting and figuratively to describe the narrators constantly changing emotions?

Answer 14

The sea.

Question 15

What is the mood in the first part of “The Seafarer”?

Answer 15

Dark, sad, and lonely.

Question 16

What is the mood in the second part of “The Seafarer”?

Answer 16

Accepting, somewhat hopefull.

Question 17

What is the setting (place) of “Beowulf”?

Answer 17

Geatland and Denmark (or Scandinavia).

Question 18

Name the 3 foes that Beowulf battles in chronological order?

Answer 18

Grendel, Grendel’s mother, the dragon.

Question 19

What is the literary device used frequently to set the mood in “The Seafarer”?

Answer 19

Imagery.

Question 20

Who authored “The Ecclesiastical History of the English People”?

Answer 20

The Venerable Bede.

Question 21

Define ecclesiastical?

Answer 21

Related to the church.

Question 22

Name the king in “The Ecclesiastical History of the English People” that was to be convinced to convert to Christianity?

Answer 22

King Edwin.

Question 23

Who was the king’s spiritual advisor in “The Ecclesiastical History of the English People”?

Answer 23

Paulinus.

Question 24

Who was the chief of priests in "The Ecclesiastical History of the English People"?

Answer 24

Coifi.

Question 25

What did the king order to be destroyed after he decided to convert the land to Christianity?

Answer 25

All of the statues and shrines.

Question 26

What percent of words in the Oxford English Dictionary are from Old English?

Answer 26

Less than 1%.

Question 27

How many letters were in the Old English Alphabet?

Answer 27

24.

Question 28

What percent of word in the English language are derived from Latin & French?

Answer 28

50%.

Question 29

For what is attributed to the dramatic shift in tone in line 64 of "The Seafarer"?

Answer 29

Historians believe that some time after the story was written, a monk added onto the story.