English
English Tuesday 23rd February 2021
Tuesday 23rd February 2021
We are going to look at poetry for the next couple of weeks.
This week we are going to explore Kennings.
Kennings are often used in poetry for effect. A kenning is the process of using a two-word phrase in the place of a one-word noun.
Kennings were first used in Anglo-Saxon and Norse poetry.
Body – bone-house
Sword – battle-light
Ship – wave-floater
Sea – whale-road
Kennings are sometimes metaphorical. For example, looking at the kennings above, the body is not really a house, but it does provide a ‘house’ for bones; a sword is not really a ‘light’, but it reflects the light so appears like one; the sea is not really a ‘road’, but it is something that whales need to travel, so acts like a road for them.
Lets have a look at a few Kennings and see if we can work out what they are trying to describe to us.
Kenning 1
Kenning 2
Kenning 3
Answers
Kenning 1 - Mouse
Kenning 2 - Bird
Kenning 3 - Clock
Activity
On Purple Mash you have been set a 2Do called 'Kennings Tuesday'. For this activity you need to identify what the Kennings are trying to describe to you.