Kennings
OneoftheliterarydevicespopularintheAnglo-SaxonOldEnglishpoetrytraditionisthe
kenning.Readthedefinitionbelowandreadyyourselftotakeastabatthisdelightfully
metaphoricalwayofspeaking,writing,andthinking!
kenning: a literary device in which a noun is renamed in a creative way using
a compound word or union of two separate words to combine ideas.
*Ifyoucall“school”a“scholars-home”thenyouhavecreatedakenning.
*Ifyoucallyourwaterbottlethe“liquid-keeper”thenyouhavecreatedakenning.
Assignment:Considercarefullyhowyoucouldcreativelyrenameeachofthefollowing
throughtheuseofthekenningtechnique:
1. tree__________________________________________________________
2. abusdriver __________________________________________________________
3. afireman
__________________________________________________________
4. television
__________________________________________________________
5. meatloaf
__________________________________________________________
6. poptarts
__________________________________________________________
7. music
__________________________________________________________
8. computer
__________________________________________________________
9. phone
__________________________________________________________
10. dog __________________________________________________________
Nowusekenningsinyourownwriting.Writeapoemorparagraphusingatleast5
kennings.Pleasecircleeachkenningwhenyouaredone.