|
In literature, a kenning is a poetic phrase, a figure of speech, substituted for the usual name of a person or thing. Kennings work in much the same way as epithets and verbal formulae, and were commonly inserted into Old English poetic lines. Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ...
This article is about the art form. ...
Look up phrase in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetoric, or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ...
An epithet (Greek - επιθετον and Latin - epitheton; literally meaning imposed) is a descriptive word or phrase. ...
In its simplest form, it comprises two terms, one of which (the 'base word'), is made to relate to the other to convey a meaning neither has alone. For example the sea in Old English could be called seġl-rād 'sail-road', swan-rād 'swan-road', bæþ-weġ 'bath-way' or hwæl-weġ 'whale-way'. In line 10 of the epic Beowulf, the sea is called the hronrāde or 'whale-road'. This article is about the body of water. ...
Old English (also called Anglo-Penis[1], Englisc by its speakers) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ...
This article is about the epic poem. ...
The word is derived from the Old Norse verb kenna við, "to express [one thing] in terms of [another]", and is prevalent throughout Norse, Anglo-Saxon literature and Celtic literature. Kennings are especially associated with the practice of alliterative verse, where they tend to become traditional fixed formulas. The skalds made such extensive use of kennings that these have come to be regarded as an essential nature of 'skaldic verse'. Old Norse or Danish tongue is the Germanic language once spoken by the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (for instance during the Viking Age). ...
A North Germanic language is any of several Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the islands west of Scandinavia. ...
The initial page of the Peterborough Chronicle, likely scribed around 1150, is one of the major sources of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. ...
Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. ...
The Old English epic poem Beowulf is written in alliterative verse. ...
The skald was a member of a group of courtly poets, whose poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry. ...
This article is about the art form. ...
A good knowledge of mythology was necessary in order to understand the kennings, which is one of the reasons why Snorri Sturluson composed the Younger Edda as a work of reference for aspiring poets. Here is an example of how important this knowledge was. It was composed by the Norwegian skald Eyvind Finnson (d. ca 990), and he compares the greed of king Harald Gråfell to the generosity of his predecessor Haakon the Good: A statue of Snorri Sturluson by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland was erected at Reykholt in 1947. ...
This colourful front page of the Prose Edda in an 18th century Icelandic manuscript shows Odin, Heimdallr, Sleipnir and other figures from Norse mythology. ...
The skald was a member of a group of courtly poets, whose poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry. ...
Eyvindr Finnsson Skáldaspillir was a 10th century Norwegian skald. ...
Events Construction of the Al-Hakim Mosque begins in Cairo. ...
Harald II (-976), surnamed Gråfell (Norwegian) / Graafeld (Danish) / Greyhide (English), was the son of Eric Bloodaxe and a grandson of Harald Finehair. ...
Haakon I (ca. ...
- Bárum Ullr, of alla
- ímunlauks, á hauka
- fjöllum Fýrisvalla
- fræ Hákonar ævi;
- nú hefr fólkstríðir Fróða
- fáglýjaðra þýja
- meldr í móður holdi
- mellu dolgs of folginn
Paraphrased, with kennings deciphered, the verse runs: "O warrior, we carried gold on our arms during all of Hakon's life; now the enemy of the people has hidden gold in the earth."
This could be translated more literally as: "Ullr of war-leek! We carried the seed of Fýrisvellir on the mountains of hawks during all of Hakon's life; now the enemy of the people has hidden the flour of Fróði's hapless slaves in the flesh of the mother of the enemy of the giantess." This picture, from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript in the care of the Ãrni Magnússon Institute, shows Ullr on his skis and with his bow. ...
Hrolf Kraki fleeing the Swedish king Adils on the Fýrisvellir Fyrisvellir, Fyris Wolds or Fyrisvallarna was the marshy plain (vellir) south of Gamla Uppsala where travellers had to leave the ships and walk to the Temple at Uppsala and the hall of the Swedish king. ...
Fróði (from Old Norse Fróðr) or Froda (Old English) is the name of a number of legendary Danish kings in various texts including Beowulf, Snorri Sturlusons Prose Edda and his Ynglinga saga, Saxo Grammaticus Gesta Danorum, and the Grottasöngr. ...
War-leek is a kenning for "sword". Ullr of war-leek means "warrior" and refers to king Harald; this kenning follows a convention whereby the name of any god is combined with some male attribute (e.g. war or weaponry) to produce a kenning for "man". The seed of Fýrisvellir means "gold" and refers to a legend retold in Skáldskaparmál and Hrólf Kraki's saga in which King Hrolf and his men scattered gold on the plains (vellir) of the river Fýri south of Gamla Uppsala to delay their pusuers. The mountains of hawks are "arms", a reference to the sport of falconry; this follows a convention in which arms are called the land (or any sort of surface) of the hawk. The flour of Fróði's hapless slaves alludes to the Grottasöng legend and is another kenning for "gold". The flesh of the mother of the enemy of the giantess is the Earth (Jörd), as she was the mother of Thor, the enemy of the Jotuns. Hrolf Kraki fleeing the Swedish king Adils on the Fýrisvellir Fyrisvellir, Fyris Wolds or Fyrisvallarna was the marshy plain (vellir) south of Gamla Uppsala where travellers had to leave the ships and walk to the Temple at Uppsala and the hall of the Swedish king. ...
The second part of the Younger Edda of Snorri Sturluson the Skáldskaparmál or language of poetry is effectively a dialogue between the Norse god of the sea, Ægir and Bragi, the god of poetry, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined. ...
Hrólf Kraki (Old Norse), Rolf Kraki or Rolf Krake was a legendary king at Lejre on the isle of Zealand, Denmark, described in several old sagas and other documents such as the Leire chronicle and Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus. ...
Gamla Uppsala is an area rich in archaeological remains seen from the grave field whose larger mounds (left part) are close to the royal mounds. ...
Grotte redirects here. ...
In Norse mythology, Jord was the goddess of the Earth. ...
For other uses, see Thor (disambiguation). ...
In Norse mythology, Jotuns, Jötunn or Jotnar of Utgard, Jötunnheim were the race of Gods called giants (thurs), separated into categories such as frost giants (rime giants, hrimthurs), fire giants, sea giants and storm giants. ...
A list of kennings may be consulted for reference purposes. A list of kennings follows. ...
A notable peculiarity of kennings is the possibility of constructing complicated kenning strings by means of consecutive substitution. For example, those who are keen in kenning readily know that slaughter dew worm dance is battle, since slaughter dew is blood, blood worm is sword, and sword dance is battle.
Another kind of wordplay is based on the inversion of kennings. For example, if sword dance is battle and spear-din is another kenning for battle, then sword may easily become "spear-din dancer".
The root "ken" is still used in Scandinavian (känna), in German (kennen), in Dutch (kennen) and in Afrikaans (ken), whereas its English use is restricted to Scots and the North of England. In northern Britain it is used in describing what a person knows about something or what they see, especially when seafaring. For instance, if somebody queries the happenings of the North Sea, of a lighthouse resident, the watcher would say he is kenning this or that — "D'ye ken what a kenning is?". The root was applied to the "k" rune, pronounced similarly. The North Germanic languages (also Scandinavian languages or Nordic languages) is a branch of the Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the Faroe Islands and Iceland. ...
Look up Wiktionary:Swadesh lists for Afrikaans and Dutch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Scots refers to the Anglic varieties spoken in parts of Scotland. ...
For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...
The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ...
Eddystone Lighthouse, one of the first wavewashed lighthouses For other uses, see Lighthouse (disambiguation). ...
The k-rune ᚲ (Younger Futhark ᚴ, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc ᚳ) is called Kaun in both the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems, meaning ulcer. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is Kaunan. ...
Rune redirects here. ...
See also A list of kennings follows. ...
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which: a term denoting a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing, or a term denoting a thing (a whole) is used to refer to part of it, or a term denoting a specific class of thing (a species...
In rhetoric, metonymy is the substitution of one word for another word with which it is associated. ...
Heiti is a word used to describe a form of kenning, particularly with reference to a by-name for one of the Norse or Anglo-Saxon deities. ...
The k-rune ᚲ (Younger Futhark ᚴ, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc ᚳ) is called Kaun in both the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems, meaning ulcer. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is Kaunan. ...
External links |
Feeds |
Contact