A kenning (Old English English, Old (ca.450-1100);: kenning in Norse, Old pronounced as /cʰɛnːiŋɡ/, Modern Icelandic in Icelandic pronounced as /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. A few examples of Odin's kennings are given here. For a scholarly list of kennings see Meissner's German: Die Kenningar der Skalden (1921) or some editions of Snorri Sturluson's Norse, Old: [[Skáldskaparmál]].
| Primary meaning | Kenning translated | Original kenning | Explanation | Source language | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| axe | blood-ember | Norse, Old: Blóðeisu | N | Einarr Skúlason, Norse, Old: Øxarflokkr 7 | ||
| battle | spear-din | N | Snorri Sturluson, Norse, Old: [[Skaldskaparmal]] | |||
| blood | dead-slave | N | ||||
| blood | battle-sweat | One reference for this kenning comes from the epic poem, English, Old (ca.450-1100);: [[Beowulf]]. As Beowulf is in fierce combat with Grendel's mother, he makes mention of shedding much battle-sweat. | N | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: [[Beowulf]] | ||
| blood | wound-sea | Norse, Old: svarraði sárgymir | N | Eyvindr Skillir, Norse, Old: [[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 | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: [[Beowulf]] | ||
| death | sleep of the sword | OE | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: [[Beowulf]] | |||
| death | flame-farewelled | An implicitly honorable death. | N | |||
| fire | bane of wood | Norse, Old: grand viðar | ON | Snorri Sturluson, Norse, Old: [[Skáldskaparmál]] 36 | ||
| fire | sun of the houses | Norse, Old: sól húsanna | ON | Snorri Sturluson, Norse, Old: [[Skáldskaparmál]] 36 | ||
| gold | seeds of the Fyris Wolds | Norse, Old: Fýrisvalla fræ | Hrólf Kraki spread gold on the Fyris Wolds to distract the men of the Swedish king. | N | Eyvindr Skáldaspillir, Norse, Old: [[Lausavísa]] 8 | |
| gold | serpent's lair | Serpents (and dragons) were reputed to lie upon gold in their nests. | N | Norse, Old: [[Skáldskaparmál]] | ||
| gold | Sif's hair | Derived from the story of when Loki cut off Sif's hair. In order to make amends for his crime, Loki had the dwarf Dvalin make new hair for Sif, a wig of gold that grew like normal hair. | N | Norse, Old: [[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 | Norse, Old: [[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 | |||
| Harald Fairhair | lord of the northmen | Norse, Old: dróttin Norðmanna | ON | Þorbjörn Hornklofi, Norse, Old: [[Hrafnsmál]] | ||
| honour | mind's worth | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: weorðmyndum | OE | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: [[Beowulf]] | ||
| hook | bait-gallows | Ic | Norse, Old: [[Flateyjarbók]] | |||
| 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 | Norse, Old: [[Lokasenna]] | ||
| Loki | father of the sea thread | Loki was the father of Jörmungandr, the Midgard serpent. | N | Norse, Old: [[Þórsdrápa]] | ||
| mistletoe | Baldr's bane | The kenning derives from the story in which all plants and creatures swore never to harm Baldr save mistletoe, which, when it was overlooked, Loki used to bring about Baldr'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 | Norse, Old: [[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 | |||
| person | voice-bearer | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: reordberend | OE | Norse, Old: [[Dream of the Rood]] | ||
| poetry | Grímnir's lip-streams | Grímnir is one of the names of Odin. | N | Norse, Old: [[Þórsdrápa]] | ||
| raven | swan of blood | Ravens ate the dead at battlefields. | N | |||
| the sea | whale-road | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: hron-rād | N,OE | Norse, Old: [[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 | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: seġl-rād | OE | Norse, Old: [[Beowulf]] 1429 b | ||
| the sea | whale's way | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: hwæl-weġ | N,OE | The Seafarer 63 a; Norse, Old: [[Beowulf]] | ||
| serpent | valley-trout | N | Norse, Old: [[Skaldskaparmal]] | |||
| shield | headland of swords | Norse, Old: sverða nesi | There is a connection to the word Norse, Old: 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, Norse, Old: [[Glymdrápa]] 3 | |
| ship | wave-swine | Norse, Old: unnsvín | N | |||
| ship | sea-steed | Norse, Old: gjálfr-marr | N | Norse, Old: [[Hervararkviða]] 27; Norse, Old: [[Skáldskaparmál]] | ||
| sky | Ymir's skull | Norse, Old: Ymis haus | According to one of the creation accounts, sky was created from the skull of Ymir, the ancestor of all jötnar. | N | Arnórr jarlaskáld, Norse, Old: [[Magnúsdrápa]] 19 | |
| the sun | heaven-candle | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: heofon-candel | OE | Exodus 115 b | ||
| the sun | heaven's jewel | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: heofones ġim | OE | The Phoenix 183 | ||
| the sun | glory of elves | Norse, Old: álf röðull | Norse, Old: álf röðull (Norse, Old: [[alfrodull]]), meaning "glory-of-elves" refers both to the chariot of the sun goddess Sól and to the rider (the sun herself). | N | Norse, Old: [[Skírnismál]], Norse, Old: [[Vafþrúðnismál]] | |
| sword | blood-worm | N | ||||
| sword | icicle of blood | N | ||||
| sword | wound-hoe | Norse, Old: ben-grefill | N | Egill Skallagrímsson, Norse, Old: [[Hǫfuðlausn (Egill)|Höfuðlausn]] 8 | ||
| sword | leek of battle | Norse, Old: ímun-laukr | N | Eyvindr Skáldaspillir, Norse, Old: [[Lausavísa]] 8 | ||
| Thor | slayer of giants | Norse, Old: felli fjörnets goða flugstalla | Norse, Old: felli fjörnets goða flugstalla is a compound kenning. Literally feller of the life webs (Norse, Old: fjörnets) of the gods of the flight-edges, i.e. slayer of giants, life webs (Norse, Old: fjörnets) is a kenning in its own right since it refers directly to the operations of the Norns in severing lives, flight-edges (Norse, Old: flugstalla) being the high and dangerous places inhabited by eagles and hawks, i.e. the icy mountains of Jotunheim. | N | Norse, Old: [[Þórsdrápa]] | |
| war | weather of weapons | N | Norse, Old: [[Skaldskaparmal]] | |||
| warrior | feeder of ravens | Norse, Old: grennir gunn-más | "feeder of war-gull" = "feeder of raven" = "warrior" Ravens feed on dead bodies left after a battle. | N | Þorbjörn Hornklofi, Norse, Old: [[Glymdrápa]] | |
| warrior | destroyers of eagle's hunger | Norse, Old: 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, Norse, Old: [[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 | Norse, Old: úlfliðr | An allusion to Tyr's loss of his hand when fettering the wolf Fenrir | Ic | Norse, Old: [[Gylfaginning]]--> |