meaning and examples are credited to the owners

1.  Bookworm
 Skin Head
 Light of the house
 First lady
 Four eyes
 Mind reader
 Rug rat
 Tree swinger
 Risk taker
 Head turner

2. BEOWULF
Is admired for the richness of
its poetry.
ABOUT A THIRD OF THE
WORDS IN BEOWULF ARE
WORDS KNOWN AS
KENNINGS.

3. WHAT IS A
KENNING?

4. KENNING
’ is a way of describing
something indirectly’ the
poet Laurence Sail
described

5. KENNING
They are a kind of ‘mini
riddle’ - but one which is
very much aimed at listeners
rather than readers.

6. KENNING
At their simplest kennings
can just be two words fused
together with a hyphen to
make a new noun.

7. KENNING
The two words can be noun/noun
(swan-road = river) or noun/verb (skull-
splitter = axe) and can be used to make
a list describing an object, emotion,
quality or animal, in any combination.

8. The word was adopted into English in
the nineteenth century [1] from medieval
Icelandic treatises on poetics, in
particular the Prose Edda of Snorri
Sturluson, and derives ultimately from
the Old Norse verb kenna “know,
recognise; perceive, feel; show; teach;

9. The word KENNING is
derived from the Old
Norse phrase kenna eitt
við, which means "to
express a thing in terms of
another", and is found
throughout Norse, Anglo-

10. When English books were rare all
the "literature" in a particular part of
the country might be all put
together in one book. The great
book we know as the "Exeter Book"
was given to the library of Exeter
Cathedral by the first bishop of
Exeter, Leofric, who died in 1072.

11. The Exeter book contains many riddles
referring to things like a ‘thief-guest who
was no wiser for having swallowed words’
(a bookworm)

12. An example of this kind of simple kenning is:
Round-facer
No-smiler
Still-stander
Two-hander
Night-friendly
Heart-beater
Time-keeper
Sudden-shrieker
What am I?
An alarm clock

13. Now let’s look at some modern
versions of kennings and see if we
can work out what they’re about…..
Ready?

14. A famous kenning from
1970s advertising
Lipsmackin' thirstquenchin' acetastin'
motivatin' goodbuzzin' cooltalkin'
highwalkin' fastlivin' evergivin'
coolfizzin'
What is it?

15. What is a Kenning?
 A kenning is a compound figurative or phrase that aims to replace the
noun. It consists of two words that describe the noun. Kennings originate
from the Anglo Saxon.
 Very simply, it is a way of describing something indirectly, like a metaphor
or simile, and making kennings are a great way to introduce children to
figurative speech.
EXAMPLE:
 Squidgy ball
 Dotty skin
 Yellowy red
 Sticky
fingers
 Sweet lips
 Jigsaw
pieces
 What am I?
 Quiet prowler
 Night howler
 Free mealer
 Chicken stealer
 Rusty splasher
 Hunter dasher
 What am I?

16. Early examples
One of the earliest forms of
kenning in literature comes from
the poem Beowulf where:
 “seal’s field” describes the sea
 “skull splitter” describes an axe.

18. Exercise
 Think of any noun – glasses, octopus, tomato. Now gather
together groups of kennings that describe the noun.
 Now put those kennings in a list and try to use alliteration,
rhyme and rhythm to make the list sound poetic. When you
have a list, share them with one another and see if you can
guess what the other is describing.

19. So now can you:
1. Define what a kenning is?
2. Say something about the history of
kennings (where could I find a book
full of them?)
3. Try some of the simple ones yourself.
Writing them about animals is a
good place to start
Over to you……

20. .
sweet- lover
Life- giver
Bone-chewer
Risk taker
MAN’S BESTFRIEND
LIGHT OF THE HOUSE

21. EARLY EXAMPLES
OF KENNINGS

22.  Axe- blood-ember
 Battle- spear-din
 Blood- life-liquid
 blood- battle-sweat
 Blood- wound-sea
 Death- sleep of the
sword
 Fire- bane of wood
 Wife- girl of the houses
 Raven- swan of blood
 the sea- sail road
 the sea- whale's way
 the sea- swan-road
 Shield- headland of
swords
 Ship- sea-steed
 the sun- sky-candle
 the sun- sky's jewel

24. ACTIVITY
ON P. 33