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Literature vocabulary · Literary Devices and Figures of Speech

Kenning

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, kenning means: A compact figurative compound used in place of an ordinary name, especially in early Germanic poetry.

In Turkish: kenning, dolaylı birleşik adlandırma

How it is used

Use for compounds such as 'whale-road' for the sea; explain how the parts point to the referent.

Example sentences

  1. The kenning 'whale-road' makes the sea feel like a route through a living world.

    Whales and movement combine to rename the sea imaginatively.

  2. The translator kept the kenning instead of replacing it with the ordinary word for sword.

    Keeping the compound preserves a distinctive poetic way of naming.

Common collocations

  • Old English kenning
  • translate a kenning
  • metaphorA figure of speech that describes one thing as if it were something else, without using 'like' or 'as', to show a hidden similarity.
  • epicA long narrative poem about the heroic deeds of legendary figures, often involving gods, wars and journeys and telling the story of a people.

More terms: Literary Devices and Figures of Speech

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