BEOWULF AND ANGLOSAXONS

KENNINGS
http://buckenglish.wikifoundry.com/page/Kennings

Significance of Kenning in Literature

Kennings were very popular in a very specific area of the world and time period. Kennings were important in the literature of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, and generally referred to the same set of relatively limited terms. For example, there are many different kennings for ships, such as “wave-floater” and “sea-steed.” Ships were obviously an important element of life for Vikings, and thus poets came up with more elaborate, metaphorical ways of describing them.

Kennings are often examples of metaphor in that they make connections between previously unrelated concepts in an imaginative way. Through abstracting a common noun in the culture, kennings create a more poetic sense to the poetry or prose. Kennings also often employ alliteration and rhyme to make them more memorable. Sometimes the alliteration and rhyme are lost in Modern English translations of kennings, yet in Modern English kennings we can see the same devices at work (“Head-hunter” as an example of alliteration and “tramp-stamp” as an example of rhyme).

A kenning employs figurative language to represent the simpler concept, such as using the phrase “battle-sweat” to refer to blood. Kennings are plentiful in

Old Norse and Old English poetry and prose.

The word kenning comes from the Old Norse verb kenna, which means “to know, recognize, perceive, or feel.” 

§  Couch-potato: someone who is lazy and sits in front of the TV often

§  Four-eyes: someone who wears glasses

§  Gas-guzzler: a vehicle that uses up a lot of gasoline Gum-shoe: a detective

§  Tree-hugger: someone who works to protect the environment

§  Pig-skin: a football

§  Talking-heads: people who give interviews

§  Land-line: a phone that it not a cellular phone

§  Cancer-stick: a cigarette

§  Bookworm: someone who reads a lot

§  Head-hunter: someone who looks for new employees at a high level