List of kennings


A kenning 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 Rudolf Meissner's Die Kenningar der Skalden below or some editions of Snorri Sturluson's Skáldskaparmál.

External sources

  • Meissner, Rudolf. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. https://rafhladan.is/bitstream/handle/10802/4985/kenningar.pdf