Editing Kenning (section)

==Structure==
Old Norse kennings take the form of a genitive phrase ({{Lang|non-latn|báru fákr}} {{gloss|wave's horse}} = {{gloss|ship}} ([[Þorbjörn Hornklofi]]: [[Glymdrápa]] 3)) or a [[compound word]] ({{lang|non-latn|gjálfr-marr}} {{gloss|sea-steed}} = {{gloss|ship}} (Anon.: ''[[Hervararkviða]]'' 27)). The simplest kennings consist of a base-word (Icelandic {{lang|is|stofnorð}}, German {{lang|de|Grundwort}}) and a determinant (Icelandic {{lang|is|kenniorð}}, German {{lang|de|Bestimmung}}) which qualifies, or modifies, the meaning of the base-word. The determinant may be a noun used uninflected as the first element in a compound word, with the base-word constituting the second element of the compound word. Alternatively the determinant may be a noun in the genitive case placed before or after the base-word, either directly or separated from the base-word by intervening words.<ref name="skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au">{{cite journal|url=https://skaldic.abdn.ac.uk/m.php?p=doc&i=303 |title=Verse-forms and Diction of Christian Skaldic Verse |first=Margaret Clunies |last=Ross |date=2007|journal= Poetry on Christian Subjects. |series=Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. |volume=7 |publisher=Turnhout: Brepols |via=Skaldic Project |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427105428/https://skaldic.abdn.ac.uk/m.php?p=doc&i=303 |archive-date= Apr 27, 2021 }} </ref>

Thus the base-words in these examples are {{lang|non-latn|fákr}} {{gloss|horse}} and {{lang|non-latn|marr}} {{gloss|steed}}, the determinants {{lang|non-latn|báru}} {{gloss|waves}} and {{lang|non-latn|gjálfr}} {{gloss|sea}}. The unstated noun which the kenning refers to is called its referent, in this case: {{lang|non-latn|skip}} {{gloss|ship}}.

The base-word of the kenning {{lang|non-latn|íss rauðra randa}} ({{gloss|icicle of red shields}} [SWORD], [[Einarr Skúlason]]: ''Øxarflokkr'' 9) is {{lang|non-latn|íss}} ({{gloss|ice, icicle}}) and the determinant is {{lang|non-latn|rǫnd}} ({{gloss|rim, shield-rim, shield}}). The referent is {{gloss|sword}}.

In Old Norse poetry, either component of a kenning (base-word, determinant or both) could consist of an ordinary noun or a ''[[heiti]]'' "poetic synonym". In the above examples, {{lang|non-latn|fákr}} and {{lang|non-latn|marr}} are distinctively poetic [[lexeme]]s; the normal word for {{gloss|horse}} in Old Norse [[prose]] is {{lang|non-latn|hestr}}.

===Complex kennings===
The [[skald]]s also employed complex kennings in which the determinant, or sometimes the base-word, is itself made up of a further kenning: {{lang|non-latn|grennir gunn-más}} {{gloss|feeder of war-gull}} = {{gloss|feeder of [[raven]]}} = {{gloss|warrior}} ([[Þorbjörn Hornklofi]]: ''[[Glymdrápa]]'' 6); {{lang|non-latn|eyðendr arnar hungrs}} {{gloss|destroyers of eagle's hunger}} = {{gloss|feeders of eagle}} = {{gloss|warrior}} (Þorbjörn Þakkaskáld: Erlingsdrápa 1) (referring to [[carrion]] birds [[scavenging]] after a battle). Where one kenning is embedded in another like this, the whole figure is said to be {{lang|is|tvíkent}} {{gloss|doubly determined, twice modified}}.<ref name="Faulkes 1999, p. 5/12">Faulkes (1999), p. 5/12.</ref>

Frequently, where the determinant is itself a kenning, the base-word of the kenning that makes up the determinant is attached uninflected to the front of the base-word of the whole kenning to form a compound word: {{lang|non-latn|mög-fellandi mellu}} {{gloss|son-slayer of giantess}} = {{gloss|slayer of sons of giantess}} = {{gloss|slayer of giants}} = {{gloss|the god [[Thor]]}} ([[Steinunn Refsdóttir]]: [[Lausavísa]] 2).

If the figure comprises more than three elements, it is said to be {{lang|is|rekit}} "extended".<ref name="Faulkes 1999, p. 5/12"/> Kennings of up to seven elements are recorded in skaldic verse.<ref>{{Citation |title=FJËRKENNT |date=Apr 14, 2001 |url=http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/kennings/4kennt.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010414021805/http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/kennings/4kennt.html |access-date=May 6, 2020|archive-date=2001-04-14 }}</ref> Snorri himself characterises five-element kennings as an acceptable license but cautions against more extreme constructions: {{lang|non-latn|Níunda er þat at reka til hinnar fimtu kenningar, er ór ættum er ef lengra er rekit; en þótt þat finnisk í fornskálda verka, þá látum vér þat nú ónýtt.}} "The ninth [license] is extending a kenning to the fifth determinant, but it is out of proportion if it is extended further. Even if it can be found in the works of ancient poets, we no longer tolerate it."<ref>Faulkes 1991, 8:29–31; Faulkes 1987, 172.</ref> The longest kenning found in skaldic poetry occurs in ''[[Hafgerðingadrápa]]'' by [[Þórðr Sjáreksson]] and reads {{lang|non-latn|nausta blakks hlé-mána gífrs drífu gim-slöngvir}} {{gloss|fire-brandisher of blizzard of ogress of protection-moon of steed of boat-shed}}, which simply means {{gloss|warrior}}.

===Word order and comprehension===
[[Word order]] in Old Norse was generally much freer than in Modern English because Old Norse and [[Old English]] are [[synthetic language]]s, where added prefixes and suffixes to the root word (the core noun, verb, adjective or adverb) carry grammatical meanings, whereas Middle English and Modern English use word order to carry grammatical information, as [[analytic language]]s. This freedom is exploited to the full in skaldic verse and taken to extremes far beyond what would be natural in prose. Other words can intervene between a base-word and its genitive determinant, and occasionally between the elements of a compound word ([[tmesis]]). Kennings, and even whole clauses, can be interwoven. Ambiguity is usually less than it would be if an English text were subjected to the same contortions, thanks to the more elaborate [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] of Old Norse.

Another factor aiding comprehension is that Old Norse kennings tend to be highly conventional. Most refer to the same small set of topics, and do so using a relatively small set of traditional metaphors. Thus a leader or important man will be characterised as generous, according to one common convention, and called an "enemy of gold", "attacker of treasure", "destroyer of [[Arm ring|arm-rings]]", etc. and a friend of his people. Nevertheless, there are many instances of ambiguity in the corpus, some of which may be intentional,<ref>Faulkes (1997), pp. 11–17,</ref> and some evidence that, rather than merely accepting it from expediency, skalds favoured contorted word order for its own sake.<ref>Faulkes (1997), p. 15.</ref>

===Semantics===
Kennings could be developed into extended, and sometimes vivid, metaphors: {{lang|non-latn|tröddusk törgur fyr [...] hjalta harðfótum}} {{gloss|shields were trodden under the hard feet of the hilt (sword blades)}} ([[Eyvindr Skáldaspillir]]: [[Hákonarmál]] 6); {{lang|non-latn|svarraði sárgymir á sverða nesi}} {{gloss|wound-sea (=blood) sprayed on headland of swords (=shield)}} (Eyvindr Skáldaspillir: Hákonarmál 7).<ref>Faulkes (1997), p. 24.</ref> Snorri calls such examples {{lang|non-latn|nýgervingar}} and exemplifies them in verse 6 of his Háttatal. The effect here seems to depend on an interplay of more or less naturalistic imagery and jarring artifice. But the skalds were not averse either to arbitrary, purely decorative, use of kennings: "That is, a ruler will be a distributor of gold even when he is fighting a battle and gold will be called the fire of the sea even when it is in the form of a man's [[Arm ring|arm-ring]] on his arm. If the man wearing a gold ring is fighting a battle on land the mention of the sea will have no relevance to his situation at all and does not contribute to the picture of the battle being described" (Faulkes (1997), pp.&nbsp;8–9).

Snorri draws the line at mixed metaphor, which he terms {{lang|non-latn|nykrat}} {{gloss|made monstrous}} (Snorri Sturluson: Háttatal 6), and his nephew called the practice {{lang|non-latn|löstr}} {{gloss|a fault}} ([[Óláfr Þórðarson|Óláfr hvítaskáld]]: Third Grammatical Treatise 80).<ref>Faulkes (1997), pp. 24–25.</ref> In spite of this, it seems that "many poets did not object to and some must have preferred baroque juxtapositions of unlike kennings and neutral or incongruous verbs in their verses" (Foote & Wilson (1970), p.&nbsp;332). E.g. {{lang|non-latn|heyr jarl Kvasis dreyra}} {{gloss|listen, earl, to [[Kvasir]]'s blood (=poetry)}} ([[Einarr skálaglamm]]: Vellekla 1).

Sometimes there is a kind of redundancy whereby the referent of the whole kenning, or a kenning for it, is embedded: {{lang|non-latn|barmi dólg-svölu}} {{gloss|brother of hostility-swallow}} = {{gloss|brother of raven}} = {{gloss|raven}} (Oddr breiðfirðingr: Illugadrápa 1); {{lang|non-latn|blik-meiðendr bauga láðs}} {{gloss|gleam-harmers of the land of rings}} = {{gloss|harmers of gleam of arm}} = {{gloss|harmers of ring}} = {{gloss|leaders, nobles, men of social standing (conceived of as generously destroying gold, i.e. giving it away freely)}} (Anon.: Líknarbraut 42).

While some Old Norse kennings are relatively transparent, many depend on a knowledge of specific [[Norse mythology|myths]] or legends. Thus the sky might be called naturalistically {{lang|non-latn|él-ker}} {{gloss|squall-vat}} (Markús Skeggjason: Eiríksdrápa 3) or described in mythical terms as {{lang|non-latn|Ymis haus}} {{gloss|[[Ymir]]'s skull}} ([[Arnórr jarlaskáld]]: Magnúsdrápa 19), referring to the idea that the sky was made out of the skull of the primeval giant Ymir. Still others name mythical entities according to certain conventions without reference to a specific story: {{lang|non-latn|rimmu Yggr}} {{gloss|[[Odin]] of battle}} = {{gloss|warrior}} (Arnórr jarlaskáld: Magnúsdrápa 5).

Poets in medieval Iceland even treated Christian themes using the traditional repertoire of kennings complete with allusions to [[Norse mythology|heathen myths]] and aristocratic epithets for saints: {{lang|non-latn|Þrúðr falda}} {{gloss|goddess of headdresses}} = '[[Catherine of Alexandria|Saint Catherine]]' (Kálfr Hallsson: Kátrínardrápa 4).<ref name="skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au" />

Kennings of the type AB, where B routinely has the characteristic A and thus this AB is tautological, tend to mean "like B in that it has the characteristic A", e.g. {{gloss|shield-[[Njörðr]]}}, tautological because the god Njörðr by nature has his own shield, means {{gloss|like Njörðr in that he has a shield}}, i.e. {{gloss|warrior}}. A modern English example is "[[Jezebel#Cultural symbol|painted Jezebel]]" as a disapproving expression for a woman too fond of using cosmetics.

Kennings may include proper names. A modern example of this is an [[ad hoc]] usage by a [[helicopter ambulance]] pilot: "the [[London Heathrow Airport|Heathrow]] of [[hang glider]]s" for the hills behind [[Hawes]] in Yorkshire in England, when he found the air over the emergency site crowded with hang-gliders.<ref>the [[Really (TV channel)]] television program ''[[Helicopter Heroes]]''</ref>

Sometimes a name given to one well-known member of a species is used to mean any member of that species. For example, Old Norse {{lang|non-latn|valr}} means {{gloss|[[falcon]]}}, but Old Norse mythology mentions a horse named Valr, and thus in Old Norse poetry {{lang|non-latn|valr}} is sometimes used to mean {{gloss|horse}}.

===Ellipsis===
A term may be omitted from a well-known kenning: {{lang|non-latn|val-teigs Hildr}} {{gloss|hawk-ground's [[valkyrie]]/goddess}} ([[Harald Hardrada|Haraldr Harðráði]]: Lausavísa 19). The full expression implied here is {{gloss|goddess of gleam/fire/adornment of ground/land/seat/perch of hawk}} = {{gloss|goddess of gleam of arm}} = {{gloss|goddess of gold}} = {{gloss|lady}} (characterised according to convention as wearing golden jewellery, the arm-kenning being a reference to [[falconry]]). The poet relies on listeners' familiarity with such conventions to carry the meaning.<ref>[[E. V. Gordon|Gordon]] (1956), p. 250.</ref>