Editing Kenning (section)

==Old English and other kennings==
{{Citation style|date=May 2018}}

The practice of forming kennings has traditionally been seen as a common Germanic inheritance, but this has been disputed since, among the early Germanic languages, their use is largely restricted to Old Norse and Old English poetry.<ref name="Heusler 1941, p. 137" /><ref>Gardner (1969), pp. 109–117.</ref> A possible early kenning for {{gloss|gold}} ({{lang|mis|walha-kurna}} "Roman/Gallic grain") is attested in the [[Proto-Norse language|Proto-Norse]] runic inscription on the [[Tjurkö bracteates|Tjurkö (I)-C bracteate]].<ref>Krause (1971), p. 63. Cited by Hultin (1974), p. 864.</ref><ref>Looijenga (1997), pp. 24, 60, 205; Looijenga (2003), p. 42, 109, 218.</ref> Kennings are virtually absent from the surviving corpus of continental West Germanic verse; the [[Old Saxon]] [[Heliand]] contains only one example: {{lang|osx|lîk-hamo}} {{gloss|body-raiment}} = {{gloss|body}} (Heliand 3453 b),<ref>Gardner (1969), pp. 110–111.</ref> a compound which, in any case, is normal in [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] and [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]] prose ([[Old English]] {{lang|ang|līchama}}, [[Old High German]] {{lang|goh|lîchamo}}, {{lang|goh|lîchinamo}}, [[Dutch language|Dutch]] {{lang|nl|lichaam}}, [[Old Norse|Old Icelandic]] {{lang|non-latn|líkamr}}, {{lang|non-latn|líkami}}, [[Old Norse|Old Swedish]] {{lang|non-latn|līkhamber}}, [[Swedish language|Swedish]] {{lang|sv|lekamen}}, [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Bokmål|Norwegian Bokmål]] {{lang|nb|legeme}}, [[Nynorsk|Norwegian Nynorsk]] {{lang|nn|lekam}}).

Old English kennings are all of the simple type, possessing just two elements. Examples for {{gloss|sea}}: {{lang|ang|seġl-rād}} {{gloss|sail-road}} ([[Beowulf]] 1429 b), {{lang|ang|swan-rād}} {{gloss|swan-road}} (Beowulf 200 a), {{lang|ang|bæð-weġ}} {{gloss|bath-way}} (Andreas 513 a), {{lang|ang|hron-rād}} {{gloss|whale-road}} (Beowulf 10), {{lang|ang|hwæl-weġ}} {{gloss|whale-way}} ([[The Seafarer (poem)|The Seafarer]] 63 a). Most Old English examples take the form of compound words in which the first element is uninflected: {{lang|ang|heofon-candel}} {{gloss|sky-candle}} = {{gloss|the sun}} (Exodus 115 b). Kennings consisting of a genitive phrase occur too, but rarely: {{lang|ang|heofones ġim}} {{gloss|heaven's gem}} = {{gloss|the sun}} (The Phoenix 183).

Old English poets often place a series of synonyms in apposition, and these may include kennings (loosely or strictly defined) as well as the literal referent: {{lang|ang|Hrōðgar maþelode, helm Scyldinga}} ... {{gloss|[[Hrothgar]], helm (=protector, lord) of the [[Scylding]]s, said ...}} (Beowulf 456).

[[Old Frisian]] also had kennings, though they were relatively rare. In legal documents regarding the protection of children and pregnant women, the term {{lang|ofs|bēnenaburcht}} ('fortress of the bones') is used for 'womb'.{{sfn|Bremmer|2009|pp=130–133}}

Although the word ''kenning'' is not often used for non-Germanic languages, a similar form can be found in [[Biblical poetry]] in its use of [[Parallelism (rhetoric)|parallelism]]. Some examples include Genesis 49:11, in which "blood of grapes" is used as a kenning for {{gloss|wine}},<ref>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|49:11|HE}}</ref> and Job 15:14, where "born of woman" is a parallel for {{gloss|man}}.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|15:14|HE}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Alter |first=Robert |title=The Art of Biblical Poetry |date=2011 |url=https://www.academia.edu/40370735 |page=16 |edition=New and revised |place=New York |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-02256-4 |access-date=12 October 2016}}</ref>