History test
Passing this test gives one point towards Drengr promotion.
The test may be taken at any Society event where a RTT-V is present, although it should be pre-booked with the RTT-V so that they bring the relevant documentation to the event. Do not assume that a RTT-V will automatically have history test papers with them.
The test comprises 50 questions all of a simple nature and relevant to general knowledge regarding the Saxons and Vikings between roughly 500 to 1100 AD. The questions will be on both local, national and international topics. Approximately 10% of the answers require dates, the remainder are general knowledge and social history questions. The answers are generally single words or dates ; long answers are not appropriate to the test as presented.
Candidates are advised that the majority of the information required can be found in simple books such as the Osprey history series and/or children's books such as the "History Dudes ; The Vikings". The Ladybird book of the Vikings used to be quoted as an excellent source but it is no longer in print, although you may find copies on eBay. There are a wide selection of decent coffee-table books available that should also give you the info you need, although regional questions will be by their nature less mainstream. YOU DO NOT NEED A DEGREE IN VIKING STUDIES TO PASS THIS TEST ! That said it must be understood that a history test pass provides a drengr point towards promotion so whilst it is not unduly difficult neither is it unduly easy.
Questions may be pulled from areas such as:
- Mythology - main characters and attributes
- Timeline - important dates/battles
- People - Kings and other influential people
- Evidence - archaeological sites, important finds, place-name evidence etc.
- Daily life - clothing, skills, tools and materials that might be used in the V/A-S age
- Language - common words for people, places and things in the original languages (Old Norse/Old English)
A candidate is allowed to choose which geographical regional test they wish to take in order to ‘select’ their local knowledge questions. The regions available are generally based upon the early Saxon kingdoms (e.g. Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex) and geographical areas (e.g. Wales, Scotland, East Anglia and South-East England). Each test has approx. 15 specific topic questions.
Currently available test papers are :-
- North of England
- East Anglia
- Mercia
- Wessex
- Wales
- Scotland
- Rus / Eastern
- North America/Vinland
- Maritime / Nautical
- Italy (see note 1)
The test is normally a written assessment and takes about 30 minutes. The pass mark is 70%.
Anyone who, for whatever reason, has difficulty with written exams can request that the same test be taken as a verbal question and answer session.
As with any training, your group LH officer should be able to arrange History test group training. Your local RTT-V should also be able to assist and you are advised to contact them if you wish to hold this kind of training session.
Please note that all test papers are collected and retained after the test. We do not leave test papers with candidates although we will (time prevailing) go through the paper to explain answers where requested. The reason we do not leave test papers with candidates is that we do not want the test to become an exercise in remembering the answers to 50 specific questions. This is supposed to be a test of your general knowledge of early medieval history and not a memory test. To this end there are also several different versions of each of the different test papers. Any two people taking the test at the same time using the same regional paper will not necessarily be answering the same set of questions.
Note 1 : The Italian history test is in Italian and is usually only available in Italy.