List of kennings
Primary meaning Kenning translated Explanation Source language Example
axe blood-ember N
battle spear-din N Snorri Sturluson Skaldskaparmal
blood Dead-Slave N
blood battle-sweat One reference for this kenning comes from the epic poem , Beowulf . As Beowulf is in fierce combat with Grendel 's Mother , he makes mention of shedding much battle-sweat N Beowulf
blood wound-sea N Eyvindr Skillir Hákonarmál 7
chieftain or king breaker of rings Alludes to a ruler breaking the golden rings upon his arm and using them to reward his followers OE Beowulf
death sleep of the sword OE Beowulf
death flame-farewelled Implicitly honourable death N
fire bane of wood ON Snorri Sturluson Skáldskaparmál 36
wife girl of the houses ON Snorri Sturluson Skáldskaparmál 36
gold seeds of the Fyris Wolds Hrólf Kraki spread gold on the Fyris Wolds to distract the men of the Swedish king N Eyvindr Skáldaspillir Lausavísa 8
gold serpent 's lair Serpents ( and dragons ) were reputed to lie upon gold in their nests N Skáldskaparmál
gold Sif 's hair Derived from the story of when Loki cut off Sif 's hair . In order to amend his crime , Loki had the dwarf Dvalin make new hair for Sif , a wig of gold that grew like normal hair N Skáldskaparmál
gold Kraki 's seed Hrólf Kraki spread gold on the Fyris Wolds to distract the men of the Swedish king . Can also be used to imply generosity ; q.v . Hrólf Kraki N Skáldskaparmál
gold , sometimes amber Freyja 's tears Derived from the story of when Freyja could not find Óðr , her husband , the tears she shed were gold , and the trees which her tears fell upon were transmuted into amber N
honour mind 's worth OE Beowulf
hook bait-gallows Ic Flateyjarbok
kill enemies Feed the eagle Killing enemies left food for the eagles S Gripsholm Runestone
Loki wolf 's father an allusion to Loki 's fathering of Fenrir N Lokasenna
Loki father of the sea thread Loki was the father of Jörmungandr , the Midgard serpent N Þórsdrápa
List of kennings
A kenning (Old Norse kenning , Modern Icelandic ) 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. Only a few examples of Odin's kennings are given here. For a scholarly list of kennings see Meissner's Die Kenningar der Skalden (1921) or some editions of Snorri Sturluson's Skáldskaparmál.