Editing Kenning (section)

==Definitions==
Some scholars take the term kenning broadly to include any noun-substitute consisting of two or more elements, including merely descriptive epithets (such as Old Norse {{lang|non-latn|grand viðar}} {{gloss|bane of wood}} = {{gloss|fire}} (Snorri Sturluson: [[Skáldskaparmál]] 36)),<ref>Meissner (1921), p. 2.</ref> while others would restrict it to [[metaphor]]ical instances (such as Old Norse {{lang|non-latn|sól húsanna}} {{gloss|sun of the houses}} = {{gloss|fire}} (Snorri Sturluson: Skáldskaparmál 36)),<ref name="Heusler 1941, p. 137">Heusler (1941), p. 137.</ref> specifically those where "[t]he base-word identifies the referent with something which it is not, except in a specially conceived relation which the poet imagines between it and the sense of the limiting element'" (Brodeur (1959) pp.&nbsp;248–253). Some even exclude naturalistic metaphors such as Old English {{lang|ang|forstes bend}} {{gloss|bond of frost}} = {{gloss|ice}} or {{lang|ang|winter-ġewǣde}} {{gloss|winter-raiment}} = {{gloss|snow}}: "A metaphor is a kenning only if it contains an incongruity between the referent and the meaning of the base-word; in the kenning the limiting word is essential to the figure because without it the incongruity would make any identification impossible" (Brodeur (1959) pp.&nbsp;248–253). Descriptive epithets are a common literary device in many parts of the world, whereas kennings in this restricted sense are a distinctive feature of Old Norse and, to a lesser extent, Old English poetry.<ref>Gardner (1969), pp. 109–110.</ref>

Snorri's own usage, however, seems to fit the looser sense: "Snorri uses the term 'kenning' to refer to a structural device, whereby a person or object is indicated by a periphrastic description containing two or more terms (which can be a noun with one or more dependent [[genitive]]s or a compound noun or a combination of these two structures)" (Faulkes (1998 a), p. xxxiv). The term is certainly applied to non-metaphorical phrases in [[Skáldskaparmál]]: {{lang|non-latn|En sú kenning er áðr var ritat, at kalla Krist konung manna, þá kenning má eiga hverr konungr.}} {{gloss|And that kenning which was written before, calling Christ the king of men, any king can have that kenning.}}<ref>Faulkes (1998 a), p. 78/17, 22.</ref> Likewise in [[Háttatal]]: {{lang|non-latn|Þat er kenning at kalla fleinbrak orrostu [...]}} {{gloss|It is a kenning to call battle 'spear-crash' [...]}}.<ref name="Faulkes 1999, p. 5/12"/>

Snorri's expression {{lang|non-latn|kend [[heiti]]}} {{gloss|qualified terms}} appears to be synonymous with {{lang|non-latn|kenningar}},<ref>Faulkes (1998 a), p. xxxiv.</ref><ref>Faulkes (1999), p. 5/9.</ref> although Brodeur applies this more specifically to those periphrastic epithets which do not come under his strict definition of kenning.<ref>Brodeur (1959) pp. 248–253.</ref>

Sverdlov approaches the question from a morphological standpoint. Noting that the modifying component in Germanic compound words can take the form of a genitive or a bare root, he points to behavioural similarities between genitive determinants and the modifying element in regular Old Norse compound words, such as the fact that neither can be modified by a free-standing (declined) adjective.<ref>Sverdlov (2006).</ref> According to this view, all kennings are formally compounds, notwithstanding widespread tmesis.