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Kenning

Rhetorical Devices
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A kenning is a compact figurative compound or phrase that replaces a common noun, such as “whale-road” for the sea. It names things indirectly through striking associations.

Detailed Definition
A kenning is a traditional poetic circumlocution, especially associated with Old English and Old Norse verse. It substitutes an imaginative compound or compressed phrase for an ordinary name: the sea may become a whale-road, blood a battle-sweat, or a sword a wound-stick. Kennings enrich oral and alliterative poetry by offering variation, aiding rhythmic composition, and linking objects to a shared heroic world. Modern poets use them as well to renew familiar language, create mythic resonance, and make readers reconsider an object through an unexpected relationship.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Whale-road” for the sea, following the Old English poetic tradition; “Sky-candle” for the sun; “Battle-sweat” for blood; “Word-hoard” for a poet’s vocabulary or store of language
Additional Notes
Kennings are prominent in Old English and Norse poetry, where compounds such as “bone-house” for body compress metaphor into a name. Invented kennings can enrich modern poems, but should remain intelligible in context.
Other Meanings of “Kenning”
Also Known As
Compound Metaphor Circumlocutory Epithet Norse Periphrasis
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