All about kennings
(from the Vikings to the present day)
By the end of the lesson we will be able to:
1. Define what a kenning is
2. Say something about the history of kennings
3. Work out what some kennings refer to
On the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Word of
mouth’ the poet Laurence Sail described
kennings as ‘a way of describing
something indirectly’
They are a kind of ‘mini riddle’ - but one
which is very much aimed at listeners
rather than readers.
At their simplest kennings can just be two
words fused together with a hyphen to
make a new noun.
The two words can be noun/noun (swan-road
= river) or noun/verb (skull-splitter = axe) and
can be used to make a list describing an
object, emotion, quality or animal, in any
combination.
An example of this kind of simple kenning is:
Round-facer
No-smiler
Still-stander
Two-hander
Night-friendly
Heart-beater
Time-keeper
Sudden-shrieker
What am I?
An alarm clock
The word kenning is derived from the Old Norse
phrase kenna eitt við, which means "to express a
thing in terms of another", and is found
throughout Norse, Anglo-Saxon and Celtic
literature.
(The national flag of Norway)
When English books were rare all the "literature" in a
particular part of the country might be all put together
in one book. The great book we know as the "Exeter
Book" was given to the library of Exeter Cathedral by
the first bishop of Exeter, Leofric, who died in 1072.
The Exeter book contains many riddles referring to
things like a ‘thief-guest who was no wiser for
having swallowed words’ (a bookworm)
Now let’s look at some modern versions of
kennings and see if we can work out what
they’re about…..
Ready?
A famous kenning from 1970s
advertising
Lipsmackin' thirstquenchin' acetastin'
motivatin' goodbuzzin' cooltalkin'
highwalkin' fastlivin' evergivin'
coolfizzin'
What is it?
Don’t let this picture fool you! Think hard about this one!
I go through the wood in silence
And come out onto the snow
Where I leave my print although I have no footsteps
Where I speak your heart although I cannot breathe
What am I?
I’m the lead in a pencil!
Let me give you a clue about the next one!
Grab the beast by the horns
Wrestle it down the narrow streets
‘til you break its will to skitter its own way
Subdue it, burden its ribcage
Let your children ride and then let it stray
Who cares?
They’ll send a herdsman to round it up at the end of the day
What is it?
A supermarket
trolley!
So now can you:
1. Define what a kenning is?
2. Say something about the history of
kennings (where could I find a book full
of them?)
3. Try some of the simple ones yourself.
Writing them about animals is a good
place to start
Over to you……