Bjornstad Logo The Vikings of Bjornstad
Viking Trivia Quiz
The Vikings of Bjornstad put together this set of quizzes to test our knowledge of the Viking Age - its people, events, culture, clothing, weaponry and beliefs.  We thought we'd share it with you.  Each of the quizzes contains 25 questions and is intended to be challenging, fun and educational.  Please pardon the occasional discrepancies in the spelling of names taken from Old Norse; these questions draw upon many sources and they aren't terribly consistent in their spelling.  These quizzes are just questions with a set of answers to select from.  Not automated, unfortunately.  Tell us what you think of the questions, and if you have others to add.  Thanks to Kaleigh DuLac for Part 5.  Thanks also to Henrik Olsgaard, Will Lopez, Rick Mantegani, Ed Berland and Brian Seibert for contributing questions/answers.  It should be noted that our quizzes assume the sagas and legends surrounding the Vikings are established historical fact.  Regardless of your views on the issue, the quizzes just wouldn't be any fun otherwise.

Part 7
The Vikings of Bjornstad's
Viking Trivia Quiz
Part 1 Part 1 with answers Part 1 PDF
Part 2 Part 2 with answers Part 2 PDF
Part 3 Part 3 with answers Part 3 PDF
Part 4 Part 4 with answers Part 4 PDF
Part 5 Part 5 with answers Part 5 PDF
Part 6 Part 6 with answers Part 6 PDF
Part 7 Part 7 with answers Part 7 PDF
Part 8 Part 8 with answers Part 8 PDF
Part 9 Part 9 with answers Part 9 PDF
Part 10 Part 10 with answers Part 10 PDF
Trust no man so well that you trust not yourself better. Many are unfit to be trusted. (Grettir's Saga, c.67)

151. What is NOT true about Lindesfarne on the northeast coast of England?
  1. It is the location of a monastery of St. Cuthbert, who was buried there.
  2. It was raided by Vikings on 8 June 793.
  3. A Viking attack was followed a year later by an attack on the Northumbrian monastery at Jarrow.
  4. It is known as the Holy Island.
  5. It is a tidal island, only accessible at high tide.


152. What significant Viking era event took place in 786 AD?
  1. A Viking fleet first besieged Paris and were paid to leave
  2. Three shiploads of Vikings landed in Northumbria and killed the local reeve
  3. A raiding party of 200 Vikings attacked the monastery of Iona
  4. Vikings raided the royal manor at Darrow, ransoming the Earl


153. Which Viking leader died at Stamford Bridge in 1066 AD?
  1. Harald Hardrada
  2. Kim Siddorn
  3. Olaf Tryggvason
  4. Harald Fairhair


154. The Viking raid on Išbīliya, then part of the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba, took place in 844 AD. By what name is the city now known?
  1. Barcelona
  2. Cartagena
  3. Turin
  4. Seville
  5. Marseilles


155. Who led a large Viking raid into the Mediterranean from 859 to 862?
  1. Rurik of Novgorod
  2. Bjorn Ironside
  3. Ubbe, son of Ragnar Loðbrok
  4. Ragnar Loðbrok


156. Which is TRUE about Bjorn Ironside?
  1. His father was captured by King Ælla and ransomed for 200 pounds of silver.
  2. He raided Francia and the Mediterranean between 859 and 862.
  3. He died at Ribe, Denmark in 872.
  4. He is mentioned in the Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus as the King of Kattegat.
  5. He was the father of Hvitserk and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye.


157. Which of the following was NOT true about Charlemagne?
  1. Eldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, born before their formal marriage
  2. King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774 and Emperor of the Romans from 800
  3. First recognized emperor to rule from western Europe since the fall of the Byzantine Empire
  4. Married at least four times and had three legitimate sons who lived to adulthood
  5. In 782 at the Massacre of Verden, ordered the slaughter of some 4,500 pagan Saxons


158. What does Mammen refer to?
  1. A grain-based biscuit used on long sea voyages
  2. The name of Thor’s belt of strength
  3. A type of two-handed axe, smaller than a Dane axe
  4. A period of Viking art
  5. The name of Duke William’s horse


159. Which of the following is NOT true about Rollo AKA Hrolf AKA Rolf the Ganger?
  1. Practiced piracy, raiding along the lower Seine
  2. In 911 led an attack and siege on Paris
  3. Baptized in 912, later receiving territories around Bayeux by Charles III (the Simple)
  4. Broke his treaty in 925, attacking Amiens, Arras and Noyon
  5. 32nd great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom


160. What was the name of the flagship of Duke William’s fleet invading England in 1066 AD?
  1. Long Serpent
  2. Pevensae
  3. Edith
  4. Mora
  5. Matilda
  6. Inmagno


161. Which of the following is NOT true about Odo (b. ca. 1035)?
  1. Shared a mother, Herleva, with Duke William of Normandy
  2. Was ordained a Christian cleric, and at one time was the Bishop of Bayeux
  3. As a cleric, MAY have been forbidden to shed blood at the Battle of Hastings
  4. May have been the one who commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry
  5. Died in 1097 at Palermo on the way to the First Crusade
    - or –
  6. All of the above are true.


162. Which was NOT true about Tostig Godwinson?
  1. Son of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, the daughter of Danish chieftain Thorgil Sprakling
  2. Brother of Harold Godwinson, crowned king of England in January, 1066
  3. Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northumbria, governing with an unpopular and heavy hand
  4. Outlawed by King Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, at the urging of Harold Godwinson
  5. Persuaded Harald Hardrada to invade England
  6. Killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066


163. Which was NOT true about Harald Hardrada?
  1. Fought in the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030, at 15 years old
  2. Served in the army of Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise in Kievan Rus
  3. Served as the commander of the Byzantine Varangian Guard in Constantinople
  4. Became King of Denmark with the death of his rival and nephew, Magnus, reigning from 1046 to 1066
  5. Invaded Northern England with 10,000 troops and 300 longships in 1066
  6. Killed in the Battle of Hastings, October, 1066


164. Which of the following was TRUE about Uppsala in central Sweden?
  1. Uppsala lies on a plain, far from any mountains.
  2. It was the political and religious center of Svealand (original Swedish homeland).
  3. The king of the Svear (Swedes) presided over the rituals and sacrifices.
  4. The large flat “Thing-mound” may have served a ceremonial purpose.
  5. There are hundreds of grave mounds.
  6. The wooden temple was devoted to Thor, Odin and Freyr.
  7. Adam of Bremen records that nine of all living males were hanged in a sacred grove near the temple every nine years.
    - or -
  8. They are ALL true.


165. Which was NOT true about the Valkyries?
  1. Valkyries rode into battle to carry chosen warriors to Valhalla.
  2. They trained the warriors in Valhalla to join Odin in the battle at Ragnarok.
  3. Valkyries gave warriors a welcoming cup of mead.
  4. Valkyries were sometimes called shield-maidens in the sagas.
  5. The Valkyrie Brynhild was the lover of the hero Sigurd Fafnisbane.
  6. In Njál’s Saga they weave the destiny of men, using intestines for thread.


166. What is/are Winningas?
  1. Hoods for protecting against wind gusts
  2. A Slavic tribe near the source of the Volga
  3. Timbers attached to the lower portion of the sail to enable tacking against the wind
  4. Cards used in tablet weaving
  5. Long strips of wool wrapped around a man’s lower legs


167. Among the staples of Viking food was offal. What was it?
  1. Fermented shark
  2. Whale blubber or ambergris
  3. Heart, liver, lungs
  4. Muscle lining from the stomach of cattle
  5. Cabbages, peas and beans
  6. Spices such as garlic, cumin seeds or juniper berries


168. Who was Edith Swanneck?
  1. The mistress of Alfred the Great while he hid in the marshes
  2. The third wife of Charlemagne, from 783 AD until her death in 794 AD
  3. The queen of Æthelred Unræd, who urged him to slaughter his Viking subjects
  4. The handfast wife of King Harold Godwinson who sought his unidentified body at Hastings
  5. The companion of Harald Hadrada while he served in the Varangian Guards


169. Which was NOT true about Olaf Tryggvason?
  1. Grandson of Harald Fairhair
  2. Defeated Byrhtnoth at the Battle of Maldon, 991
  3. First Norwegian king to issue coins
  4. Became a Christian in 994 and promised Æthelred II never again to invade England
  5. King of Norway 995-1000


170. Which was NOT true about Aud the Deep-Minded?
  1. She was the daughter of Ketil Flatnose, ruler of the Hebrides in the mid-9th century.
  2. She was the wife of Olaf the White, a Norse ruler in Ireland.
  3. Iceland attracted her because she could claim land there and hold it.
  4. She settled in Breiðaföjrður in western Iceland after divorcing her husband.
  5. She was the dominant character in the opening chapters of the Laxdæla Saga.


171. According to The Saga of Erik the Red and The Sagas of the Greenlanders, which of the following was NOT true about Viking encounters with Skraelings?
  1. Thorvald, brother of Leif Eriksson, made the first contact with Skrælings
  2. “They were short in height with threatening features and tangled hair on their heads. Their eyes were large and their cheeks broad.”
  3. Thorfinn Karlsefni permitted his men to trade their spears, but not their swords
  4. The Norsemen were attacked by natives who had been frightened by a bull that broke loose from their encampment.
  5. “I have been wounded under my arm,” Thorvald said. “An arrow flew between the edge of the ship and the shield into my armpit. Here is the arrow, and this wound will cause my death.”
  6. Thorfinn Karlsefni and his men realized that they would be under constant threat of attack from its prior inhabitants.


172. Which was NOT true about the Battle of Clontarf?
  1. The battle was fought in 1014.
  2. It is considered a victory for Brian Boru.
  3. Sigurd the Stout of Orkney led the Viking fighters and was killed.
  4. It is considered the end to the pagan Viking threat to Ireland.
  5. Brian Boru survived the battle, but died two months later from his wounds.


173. Which is NOT true about the Jelling stone?
  1. It was raised by King Harald Bluetooth.
  2. It was raised in Jelling, an ancient Danish royal burial site.
  3. It includes pagan and Christian carvings.
  4. It was originally painted in bright colors.
  5. A Christian church was built next to it seven years later.


174. In a story recorded in the 12th century, King Cnut once commanded the tides to halt and not wet him. The incident was referenced in a 1980 Supreme Court decision by Warren Burger.
  1. True
  2. False


175. Which was PROBABLY NOT true about Viking trading and raiding?
  1. They got wheat from Britain.
  2. They got wine and pottery from France.
  3. They got glass from Germany.
  4. They got jewelry from Russia.
  5. They got spices from the Middle East.
  6. They got coins from Arab countries.
  7. They got silk from India.
  8. They got slaves from Ireland.




    Want to see the test with the answers? Click here.

    Sources (among many others):
    • Dr. Jackson Crawford, YouTube Lecture Series
    • Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology
    • John Grant, An Introduction to Viking Mythology
    • John Haywood, Encyclopaedia of the Viking Age
    • Judith Jesch, Women in the Viking Age
    • lifeinnorway.net/norwegian-trolls
    • Niels Lund,ed., Two Voyagers at the Court of King Alfred -
      The ventures of Ohthere and Wulfstan
      together with the Description of Northern Europe From the Old English Orosius
    • Fiona Macdonald, 100 Facts - Vikings
    • norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/
    • NOVA, multiple episodes
    • Neil Price, Children of Ash and Elm - A History of the Vikings
    • Wikipedia.com
      © For information contact Jack Garrett at info@vikingsofbjornstad.com