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-smilerStill-standerTwo-hander

Night-friendlyHeart-beaterTime-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……