Kenning
Definition:
Kenning - a compound expression in Old English and Old Norse poetry with metaphorical meaning
Example - Beowulf:
"Across the whale's way" (Beowulf, 10).
Whale's way = Ocean
"No battle-blade could do it damage" (Beowulf, 1149).
Battle-blade = Sword
"Break open her bone-chamber" (Beowulf, 1216).
Bone-chamber = Skin
Function:
Kennings are a type of metaphor and are used often throughout Beowulf. They describe something using characteristics or qualities. Kennings can be used to invoke thought in the reader or to give something a new name. It can provide a new or different meaning for a common word. These kennings are seen throughout Beowulf and they work to create imagery. As a person is reading Beowulf, when he/she comes upon these things, it can cause them to pause for a moment and think about what the author is really saying. Instead of just saying "ocean" and imagining the vast blue water, maybe now a person sees the water as well as the fish and other creatures (such as the whales) that live in it.
Another Example:
There is a singer everyone has heard,
Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird,
Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.
He says that leaves are old and that for flowers
Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.
He says the early petal-fall is past
When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers
On sunny days a moment overcast...
The Oven Bird by Robert Frost
Original Mnemonic:
Keep
Every
Noun
Noticed (by)
Indirectly
Needing (a)
General description