For centuries during the Medieval era, the Vikings of Scandinavia ventured far and wide in search of new land and treasures, terrorizing all who felt the got in the way of their mighty warriors.
But how much do you really know about the seafaring Vikings? Let’s find out.
1. Where did the Vikings come from?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) Sweden
- B) Denmark
- C) Norway
- D) All of the above
Answer: All of the above
Source: Wikimedia
2. What does the term Viking refer to?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) A sailor
- B) A warrior
- C) A raider
- D) A farmer
Answer: Raider
Source: Wikimedia
3. Who were known as the Vikings in Scandinavian culture?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) All Scandinavians
- B) The warriors who protected their homeland
- C) Those who took to the sea to acquire wealth by raiding other land
- D) All of the above
Answer: Those who took to the sea to acquire wealth by raiding other land
Source: Wikimedia
4. Which monastery did armed Viking raiders attack in AD 793?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) Monk Bretton Priory in Barnsley
- B) Binham Priory in Norfolk
- C) Calder Abbey in Cumbria
- D) The Priory on Lindisfarne
Answer: The Priory on Lindisfarne
Source: Wikimedia
5. Which island did Viking colonists, led by Ingólfur Arnarson, settle upon in AD 874?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) Ireland
- B) Greenland
- C) Iceland
- D) Britain
Answer: Iceland
Source: Wikimedia
6. Which kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England was the only one to evade Viking occupation?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) East Anglia
- B) Wessex
- C) Northumbria
- D) Mercia
Answer: Wessex
Source: Wikimedia
7. A Viking sunstone made from crystal was discovered in a Tudor shipwreck; what purpose did it initially have?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) It was used as an amulet of protection
- B) It was used to navigate the sea
- C) It was used to prophetize the future
- D) It was used to indicate if a cup of wine had poison within
Answer: It was used to navigate the sea
Source: Wikimedia
8. What caused Harald Bluetooth of Denmark to convert to Christianity?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) He decided it would bring peace to his kingdom
- B) A beautiful missionary convinced him
- C) He got drunk, and someone convinced him Jesus Christ was more powerful than Thor
- D) He never converted to Christianity
Answer: He got drunk, and someone convinced him Jesus Christ was more powerful than Thor
Source: Wikimedia
9. Which Viking is thought by some to have also been the founding father of the royal dynasty of Dublin’s Viking kingdom?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) Ivar the Boneless
- B) Erik the Battle-Ready
- C) Swein Forkbeard
- D) Einar Buttered-Bread
Answer: Ivar the Boneless
Source: Wikimedia
10. Every Viking longed to go to Valhalla after their death. However, if they died in battle but did not go to Valhalla, where was their destination?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) The sky to fly with Odin Ravens
- B) Hel
- C) The sea to sail for eternity
- D) The fields of Freya
Answer: The fields of Freya
Source: Wikimedia
11. What was the most important attribute for a Viking warrior to have?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) To act quickly in war
- B) To show courage
- C) To be remembered for great deeds
- D) To be the best sailor
Answer: To be remembered for great deeds
Source: Freepik
12. Which of these Vikings supposedly discovered the Americas before Columbus
Source: Wikimedia
- A) Erik the Red
- B) Leif Erikson
- C) Harald Hadrada
- D) Eric Bloodaxe
Answer: Leif Erikson
Source: Wikimedia
13. What alphabet did the Vikings use?
Source: Wikimedia
- A) Ogham
- B) Runes
- C) Devanagari
- D) Latin
Answer: Runes
Source: Wikimedia
14. The Vikings were perhaps the earliest culture to use ice skates. What did they make them from?
Source: Freepik
- A) Old swords
- B) Cattle bones
- C) Pottery
- D) All of the above
Answer: Cattle bones
Source: Reddit
15. In what century was the term “Viking” first used by historians?
Source: Freepik
- A) 5th century
- B) 9th century
- C) 15th century
- D) 18th century
Answer: 18th century
Source: Wikimedia
