ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -A kenning is a special kind of metaphor considered artful in Anglo-Saxon poetry. It is a picturesque metaphoric compound in Old English that stands for a simple noun. You might think of them almost as riddles, which Anglo-Saxon people loved.

Detailed explanation-2: -kennings. A kenning, in literature, is a word or phrase that is a metaphor for something simpler. Calling a ship a “sea-steed, ” for example, is a kenning. You’re most likely to hear the term kenning in a literature class, especially if you happen to be studying Old Norse or Old English poetry.

Detailed explanation-3: -A figurative compound word that takes the place of an ordinary noun. Many kennings rely on myths or legends to make meaning and are found in Old Germanic, Norse, and English poetry, including The Seafarer, in which the ocean is called a “whale-path.” (See Ezra Pound’s translation).

Detailed explanation-4: -A kenning is a figure of speech in which two words are combined in order to form a poetic expression that refers to a person or a thing. For example, “whale-road” is a kenning for the sea. Kennings are most commonly found in Old Norse and Old English poetry.