Children of the internet age should innately understand the concept of deeply referential allusions and “kennings” known only to the in-group. That’s just “meme” culture, where unless you know the references, many statements or images are just baffling nonsense.
Someone should write a work like Skáldskaparmál "the language of poetry" for the age of the internet, whose job it is to explain all memes in one single poem.
TV Tropes is perhaps the greatest repository of these today. For me, it was Tuesday when I jumped the shark trying to pull off a Xanatos gambit but instead it was a curb-stomp battle.
Tolkien HATED whale-road to a point that I find a little funny. I do see his point about rād though — although it is the ancestor of modern "road," it's also the ancestor of modern "raid" (through Scots) as well as the noun form of the verb "rīdan" (to ride), which "riding" or "ride" brings out a bit better. (Forgive me if I'm telling you things you already know! It may also be interesting to other readers) Now the real deep cut is whether hran should be translated as whale or some other animal...
Oh, good point! I don't know the potential alternatives for 'hran'. There's a book on whales (or sea-creatures generally?) as represented in OE lit that would probably be a fun one here.
Interesting to compare with Homer's conventional epithets, eg the wine-dark sea. It was thought in my day that they helped the reciters to memorise these long epic poems and others like them - all orally transmitted of course.
They certainly have something in common! Both involve substitution of one thing for another — but in Cockney rhyming slang the thing substituted is related based on its sound (e.g. "stairs" is replaced with "apples and pairs", shortened to "apples"), while in a kenning the thing substituted (the head of the kenning) is related based on its meaning. And then in a kenning, you get the help of the determinant to figure out the meaning of the head — in rhyming slang you often remove the element that would help you, as in "apples and pears" (for stairs) being shortened to "apples."
I really enjoyed this, and like Jack Barbeau I am so glad that "trash panda" was included.
I remember reading about "Baldr's bane" as a kenning for "mistletoe," having to do (Norse-lit plot spoiler ahead) with a convoluted story of Baldr being killed with some kind of weapon made from mistletoe, which was one of the few substances that could hurt him. I haven't encountered the kenning directly and am not sure if it's genuine or not, but I do hope so, not least because it makes Christmas more interesting.
This took me down a rabbit hole! Baldrs bani (Baldr's bane/killer) is mentioned in Skáldskaparmál as a way of referring to Hǫðr, the god who kills Baldr with the mistletoe — not to the mistletoe itself. And since Hǫðr literally is the killer of Baldr, this isn't a kenning per se.
There are lots of sources online which refer to "Baldr's bane" as a kenning for mistletoe but none cites a source in Old Norse texts. (If anyone who has been longer steeped in the Old Norse literature than I have wants to weigh in, I'd be happy to hear from them!)
Thanks so much for your excellent response. Hǫðr makes more sense than the mistletoe, and the whole story--or set of related stories--is extremely odd in the way that myths often are. (I once found this kind of storytelling frustrating but have grown to appreciate it; I was won over in part by Tom Shippey's explanation of some of the stories about Froda/Fróði in one of his books on Tolkien.) Your newsletter has helped keep me in touch with a literary and mythic tradition that I don't have much expertise in but that has enriched my life.
Thank you, Colin. I’ve sprinkled a few kennings into my prose over the years. Your description of kenning structure will improve my future attempts. And my alliterations will become more fun to write. Again, thanks.
To me, a possible modern day kenning, one that makes me smile, is the song "Bluuryface'," composed and sung by the alternative rock band Twenty-One Pilots.
Children of the internet age should innately understand the concept of deeply referential allusions and “kennings” known only to the in-group. That’s just “meme” culture, where unless you know the references, many statements or images are just baffling nonsense.
Someone should write a work like Skáldskaparmál "the language of poetry" for the age of the internet, whose job it is to explain all memes in one single poem.
TV Tropes is perhaps the greatest repository of these today. For me, it was Tuesday when I jumped the shark trying to pull off a Xanatos gambit but instead it was a curb-stomp battle.
Is a kenning beyond my ken? I reckon so, my cunning claps closed…
Can a kenning ever be uncouth to kith and kin? I know not.
Kennings concerning cetaceans could create confusion for our kin, ‘cause they’re “ekki skáldlegr”…
tee-hee!
The revelation that ‘trash panda’ is a kenning was great.
I've also heard "nope rope" for a snake.
I thought 'whale-road' was just fine until I read somewhere that Tolkien complained it sounded too much like 'railroad'.
Thanks a lot, Tolkien!
Tolkien HATED whale-road to a point that I find a little funny. I do see his point about rād though — although it is the ancestor of modern "road," it's also the ancestor of modern "raid" (through Scots) as well as the noun form of the verb "rīdan" (to ride), which "riding" or "ride" brings out a bit better. (Forgive me if I'm telling you things you already know! It may also be interesting to other readers) Now the real deep cut is whether hran should be translated as whale or some other animal...
Oh, good point! I don't know the potential alternatives for 'hran'. There's a book on whales (or sea-creatures generally?) as represented in OE lit that would probably be a fun one here.
*The Vikings: From Odin to Christ* brushes on this and mentions that there were Christian kennings, but a lot fewer, and distinctly less cryptic.
A great reference for these is the Skaldic Project website: https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=kennings
Interesting to compare with Homer's conventional epithets, eg the wine-dark sea. It was thought in my day that they helped the reciters to memorise these long epic poems and others like them - all orally transmitted of course.
I don't doubt it! All of this would have developed in the context of orally transmitted poetry, likely for centuries before ever being written down.
> If you didn’t know the story of Odin’s theft of the mead, you’d have no way of guessing that Odin’s mead referred to poetry.
Reminds me of 成語, there's no way to know 邯鄲學步 means to imitate others and lose your individuality without knowing the story behind it.
That's a perfect analogy!
I wonder if Cockney rhyming slang counts as kenning?
They certainly have something in common! Both involve substitution of one thing for another — but in Cockney rhyming slang the thing substituted is related based on its sound (e.g. "stairs" is replaced with "apples and pairs", shortened to "apples"), while in a kenning the thing substituted (the head of the kenning) is related based on its meaning. And then in a kenning, you get the help of the determinant to figure out the meaning of the head — in rhyming slang you often remove the element that would help you, as in "apples and pears" (for stairs) being shortened to "apples."
I really enjoyed this, and like Jack Barbeau I am so glad that "trash panda" was included.
I remember reading about "Baldr's bane" as a kenning for "mistletoe," having to do (Norse-lit plot spoiler ahead) with a convoluted story of Baldr being killed with some kind of weapon made from mistletoe, which was one of the few substances that could hurt him. I haven't encountered the kenning directly and am not sure if it's genuine or not, but I do hope so, not least because it makes Christmas more interesting.
This took me down a rabbit hole! Baldrs bani (Baldr's bane/killer) is mentioned in Skáldskaparmál as a way of referring to Hǫðr, the god who kills Baldr with the mistletoe — not to the mistletoe itself. And since Hǫðr literally is the killer of Baldr, this isn't a kenning per se.
There are lots of sources online which refer to "Baldr's bane" as a kenning for mistletoe but none cites a source in Old Norse texts. (If anyone who has been longer steeped in the Old Norse literature than I have wants to weigh in, I'd be happy to hear from them!)
Thanks so much for your excellent response. Hǫðr makes more sense than the mistletoe, and the whole story--or set of related stories--is extremely odd in the way that myths often are. (I once found this kind of storytelling frustrating but have grown to appreciate it; I was won over in part by Tom Shippey's explanation of some of the stories about Froda/Fróði in one of his books on Tolkien.) Your newsletter has helped keep me in touch with a literary and mythic tradition that I don't have much expertise in but that has enriched my life.
I will check out the Skáldskaparmál!
What a delicious essay. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Betsy! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed reading it!
Thank you, Colin. I’ve sprinkled a few kennings into my prose over the years. Your description of kenning structure will improve my future attempts. And my alliterations will become more fun to write. Again, thanks.
To me, a possible modern day kenning, one that makes me smile, is the song "Bluuryface'," composed and sung by the alternative rock band Twenty-One Pilots.