List of kennings
A kenning (Old Norse kenning [cʰɛnːiŋɡ], Modern Icelandic [cʰɛnːiŋk]) is a circumlocution (an ambiguous or roundabout figure of speech) used instead of an ordinary noun in Old Norse, Old English and later Icelandic poetry.
This list is not intended to be comprehensive. Kennings for a particular character are listed in that character's article. For example, the Odin article links to a list of names of Odin, which include kennings. Only a few examples of Odin's kennings are given here. For a scholarly list of kennings see Meissner's Die Kenningar der Skalden (1921) or some editions of Snorri Sturluson's Skáldskaparmál
Source language abbreviations
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List of Kennings
| Primary Meaning | Kenning Translated | Original Kenning | Explanation | Source Language | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| axe | blood-ember | N | |||
| battle | spear-din | N | Snorri Sturluson Skaldskaparmal | ||
| blood | life-liquid | N | |||
| blood | battle-sweat | One reference for this kenning comes from the epic poem, Beowulf. As Beowulf is in fierce combat with Grendel's Mother, he makes mention of shedding much battle-sweat. | N | Beowulf | |
| blood | wound-sea | svarraði sárgymir | N | Eyvindr Skáldaspillir Hákonarmál 7. | |
| chieftain or king | breaker of rings | Alludes to a ruler breaking the golden rings upon his arm and using them to reward his followers. | OE | Beowulf | |
| death | sleep of the sword | OE | Beowulf | ||
| death | flame-farewelled | Implicitly honourable death | N | ||
| fire | bane of wood | grand viðar | ON | Snorri Sturluson Skáldskaparmál 36 | |
| wife | girl of the houses | sól húsanna | ON | Snorri Sturluson Skáldskaparmál 36 | |
| gold | seeds of the Fyris Wolds | Fýrisvalla fræ | Hrólf Kraki spread gold on the Fyris Wolds to distract the men of the Swedish king | N | Eyvindr Skáldaspillir Lausavísa 8 |
| gold | serpent's lair | Serpents (and dragons) were reputed to lie upon gold in their nests | N | Skáldskaparmál | |
| gold | Sif's hair | Derived from the story of when Loki cut off Sif's hair. In order to amend his crime, Loki had the dwarf Dvalin make new hair for Sif, a wig of gold that grew like normal hair. | N | Skáldskaparmál | |
| gold | Kraki's seed | Hrólf Kraki spread gold on the Fyris Wolds to distract the men of the Swedish king. Can also be used to imply generosity; q.v. Hrólf Kraki | N | Skáldskaparmál | |
| gold, sometimes amber | Freyja's tears | Derived from the story of when Freyja could not find Óðr, her husband, the tears she shed were gold, and the trees which her tears fell upon were transmuted into amber. | N | ||
| honour | mind's worth | weorðmyndum | OE | Beowulf | |
| hook | bait-gallows | Ic | Flateyjarbok | ||
| kill enemies | Feed the eagle | Killing enemies left food for the eagles | S | Gripsholm Runestone | |
| Loki | wolf's father | an allusion to Loki's fathering of Fenrir | N | Lokasenna | |
| Loki | father of the sea thread | Loki was the father of Jörmungandr, the Midgard serpent | N | Þórsdrápa | |
| mistletoe | Baldur's bane | The kenning derives from the story in which all plants and creatures swore never to harm Baldur save mistletoe, which, when it was overlooked, Loki used to bring about Baldur's death by tricking Hodur. | N | ||
| Mjollnir, Thor's hammer | Hrungnir's slayer | Hrungnir was a giant whose head was smashed by a blow from Mjollnir | N | Lokasenna | |
| Odin | Lord of the gallows | See the separate page List of names of Odin for more Odin kennings | N | ||
| Odin | Hanged god | Odin hung on the Tree of Knowledge for nine days in order to gain wisdom. | N | ||
| poetry | Grímnir's lip-streams | Grímnir is one of the names of Odin | N | Þórsdrápa | |
| raven | swan of blood | ravens ate the dead at battlefields | N | ||
| the sea | whale-road | hron-rād | N,OE | Beowulf 10: "In the end each clan on the outlying coasts beyond the whale-road had to yield to him and begin to pay tribute" | |
| the sea | sail road | seġl-rād | OE | Beowulf 1429 b | |
| the sea | whale's way | hwæl-weġ | N,OE | The Seafarer 63 a; Beowulf | |
| the sea | swan-road | swan-rād | OE | Beowulf 200 a | |
| serpent | valley-trout | N | Skaldskaparmal | ||
| shield | headland of swords | sverða nesi | There is a connection to the word "nesa" meaning subject to public ridicule/failure/shame, i.e. "the failure/shame of swords", not only "where the sword first hits/ headland of swords" Kennings can sometimes be a triple entendre. | N | þorbjörn Hornklofi: Glymdrápa 3 |
| ship | wave-swine | unnsvín | N | ||
| ship | sea-steed | gjálfr-marr | N | Hervararkviða 27; Skáldskaparmál | |
| sky | Ymir's skull | Ymis haus | N | Arnórr jarlaskáld Magnúsdrápa 19 | |
| the sun | sky-candle | heofon-candel | OE | Exodus 115 b | |
| the sun | sky's jewel | heofones ġim | OE | The Phoenix 183 | |
| the sun | glory of elves | álf röðull | álf röðull (alfrodull), meaning "glory-of-elves" refers both to the chariot of the sun goddess Sól and to the rider (the sun herself). | N | Skírnismál Vafþrúðnismál |
| sword | blood-worm | N | |||
| sword | icicle of blood | N | |||
| sword | wound-hoe | ben-grefill | N | Egill Skallagrímsson: Höfuðlausn 8 | |
| sword | leek of battle | ímun-laukr | N | Eyvindr Skáldaspillir Lausavísa 8 | |
| Thor | slayer of giants, basher of trolls | felli fjörnets goða flugstalla | felli fjörnets goða flugstalla is a compound kenning. Literally feller of the life webs (fjörnets) of the gods of the flight-edges, i.e. slayer of giants, life webs (fjörnets) is a kenning in its own right since it refers directly to the operations of the Norns in severing lives, flight-edges (flugstalla) being the high and dangerous places inhabited by eagles and hawks, i.e. the icy mountains of Jotunheim. | N | Þórsdrápa |
| war | weather of weapons | N | Skaldskaparmal | ||
| warrior | feeder of ravens | grennir gunn-más | "feeder of war-gull" = "feeder of raven" = "warrior" Ravens feed on dead bodies left after a battle. | N | Þorbjörn Hornklofi: Glymdrápa |
| warrior | destroyers of eagle's hunger | eyðendr arnar hungrs | "destroyers of eagle's hunger" = "feeders of eagle" = "warrior" Eagles, also, feed on dead bodies left after a battle. | N | Þorbjörn Þakkaskáld: Erlingsdrápa 1 |
| waves | Ægir's daughters | Ægir had nine daughters called billow maidens who were personifications of the waves. | N | ||
| wind | breaker of trees | N | |||
| wolf | Gunnr's horse | Gunnr is a valkyrie | S | Rök Stone | |
| wrist | wolf's-joint | úlfliðr | An allusion to Tyr's loss of his hand when fettering the wolf Fenrir | Ic | Gylfaginning |
References
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