KENNING

concise compound or figurative phrase replacing a common noun, especially in Old Germanic, Old Norse, and Old English poetry. A kenning is commonly a simple stock compound such as whale-path or swan road for sea, God's beacon for sun, or ring-giver for king. Many kennings are allusions that become unintelligible to later generations. A non-Germanic analogue is the Homeric epithete.g., rosy-fingered dawn. See also skaldic poetry. The term is a derivative of the Old Norse kenna, to perceive, to know, or to name.