List of kennings
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A list of kennings follows.
A key to usage is as follows: AS - Anglo-Saxon N - Norse (generic) Ic - Old Icelandic D - Danish S - Swedish Nor - Norwegian G - Germanic Ce - Celtic X - common across all tongues.
Useful sources and references for further studies of kennings:
- Meissner's "Die Kenningar der Skalden" (1921)
- Snorri Sturluson Skáldskaparmál
[[NB: This is an illustrative list and does not pretend to be comprehensive. Kennings relating to a particular character in the relevant literature are associated with the appropriate article, e.g. the article relating to Odin has a list of kennings with which Odin is associated or by which he is known; only the less obvious ones are given beneath.]]
| Kennings | Primary meaning | Secondary/implied/allusive meaning | Source languages | Documents and sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aegir's daughters | waves | N | ||
| Baldur's bane | mistletoe | The kenning derives from the story in which all plants and creatures swore never to harm Baldur, save the mistletoe which was overlooked and which Loki used to bring about Baldur's death by tricking Hodur. | N | |
| blood-ember | axe | N | Skaldskaparmal | |
| blood-worm | sword | N | ||
| breaker of rings | King or chieftain | Alludes to a ruler breaking the golden rings upon his arm and using them to reward his followers. | AS | Beowulf |
| brow-stars | eyes | IC | Gylfaginning | |
| breaker of trees | wind | N | ||
| father of the sea thread | Loki, the father of Jormagund, the Midgard serpent | N | Thorsdrapa | |
| fallen son | Baldr: Baldur | N | Skaldskaparmal | |
| Feed the eagle | kill enemies | Killing enemies left food for the eagles | S | Gripsholm Runestone |
| feeder of ravens | warrior | N | ||
| flame-farewelled | death | Implicitly honourable death | N | |
| Freya's tears | gold, sometimes amber | Derived from the story of when Freya could not find Odr, her husband, the tears she shed were gold, and the trees which her tears fell upon were transmuted into amber. | N | |
| glory-of-elves | sun: Alfrodull | N | Skirnismal | |
| Grímnir's lip-streams | poetry | Grímnir is one of the names of Odin | N | Thorsdrapa |
| Gunn's horse | wolf | Gunn is a valkyrie | S | Rök Stone |
| Hanged god | Odin | N | ||
| Hrugnir's slayer | Thor's hammer, Mjollnir | N | Lokasenna | |
| ice | silver | N | ||
| Kraki's seed | gold | 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 |
| Lord of the gallows | Odin | N | ||
| Mountain of the hawk | arm | in falconeering, the hawk rests on the arm of its master | N | |
| Onion of war | Sword | N | ||
| raven harvest | corpse | battle-field corpses | N | |
| sea-steeds | Ships | N | Skaldskaparmal | |
| seeds of the Fyris Wolds | gold | Hrólf Kraki spread gold on the Fyris Wolds to distract the men of the Swedish king | N | |
| serpent's lair | gold | Serpents (and dragons) were reputed to lie upon gold in their nests | N | Skaldskaparmal |
| Sif's hair | gold | 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 | |
| slaughter-dew | blood | N | ||
| slayer of giants | Thor | felli fjörnets go<eth>a flugstalla (source: Thorsdrapa), is a compound kenning. Literally feller of the life webs (fjörnets) of the gods of the flight-edges, i.e. slayer of giants, life webs (fjörnets) is a kenning in its own right since it refers directly to the operations of the Norns in severing lives, flight-edges (flugstalla) being the high and dangerous places inhabited by eagles and hawks, i.e. the icy mountains of Jotunheim. | N | Thorsdrapa |
| spear-din | battle | N | Skaldskaparmal | |
| steed of the billows | ship | N | ||
| taming wand | sword | N | Skirnismal | |
| valley-trout | serpent | N | Skaldskaparmal | |
| weather of weapons | war | N | Skaldskaparmal | |
| whale's way | the sea | N,AS | Beowulf | |
| wolf's father | Loki | an allusion to Loki's fathering of Fenrir | N | Lokasenna |
| wolf's-joint | wrist | An allusion to Tyr's loss of his hand when fettering the wolf Fenrir | Ic - úlfli›r | Gylfaginning |
| Beowulf (bee-wolf) | Bear | A very likely kenning for Bödvar Bjarki whose name means "battle bear", and who is the analogue of Beowulf in Scandinavian sources | AS | Beowulf |