STUDIES
1. What events are associated with the following dates: 988 A.D.; 862 A.D.; 1066 A.D.; 1000 A.D.; and 987 A.D.?
2. What was the origin of the geographical names Russia, Greenland, Finland, and Normandy?
3. Mention some of the striking physical contrasts between the Arabian and Scandinavian peninsulas.
4. Why has the Baltic Sea been called a "secondary Mediterranean"?
5. How does it happen that the gulf of Finland is often frozen over in winter, while even the northernmost of the Norse fiords remain open?
6. Why is an acquaintance with Scandinavian mythology, literature, and history especially desirable for English-speaking peoples?
7. What is meant by the "berserker's rage"?
8. What names of our weekdays are derived from the names of Scandinavian deities?
9. Compare the Arab and Scandinavian conceptions of the future state of departed warriors.
10. What is meant by "sea-power"? What people possessed it during the ninth and tenth centuries?
11. Compare the invasions of the Northmen with those of the Germans as to (a) causes, (b) area covered, and (c) results.
12. What was the significance of the fact that the Northmen were not Christians at the time when they began their expeditions?
13. Show how the voyages of the Northmen vastly increased geographical knowledge.
14. Show that the Russian people have received from Constantinople their writing, religion, and art.
15. Mention three conquests of England by foreign peoples before 1066 A.D. Give for each conquest the results and the approximate date.
16. On the map, page 405, trace the boundary line between Alfred's possessions and those of the Danes.
17. Compare Alfred and Charlemagne as civilizing kings.
18. Compare Alfred's cession of the Danelaw with the cession of Normandy to Rollo.
19. Why is Hastings included among "decisive" battles?
20. "We English are not ourselves but somebody else." Comment on this statement.
21. What is meant by the "Norman graft upon the sturdy Saxon tree"?
22. What settlements of the Northmen most influenced European history?
23. Compare the Norman faculty of adaptation with that of the Arabs.