Editing Kenning (section)

===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}}.