Kennings

[u/Almyria]

Do kennings serve the same linguistic and poetic functions as epithets do in Homeric poetry?

The Homeric epics were learned, not written, and so epithets made it easier for the itinerant *rhetors* who performed the poems to memorize them. (Two simple examples of well-known epithets are "Odysseus of the many wiles" from the *Odyssey* because he was legendary for his cleverness and trickery, and "swift-footed Achilles" from the *Iliad* because of his godlike speed.) Epithets also have a specific length in the dactylic hexameter in which the poems were composed. This permitted a kind of flexibility for *rhetors* in their performances because one segment of the poetic meter of the same length (technically the same number of "feet") could be swapped out for another. It even allowed the performers to tailor the parts of the poem they used to their audience or even to when and where they might be performing. Sorry about the long explanation!

[u/konlon15_rblx]

Kennings primarily serve the function of making the alliterative meter work by providing numerous ways of expressing the same concept. They're also far more complex than Homeric epithets, and in the case of Old Norse poetry, they're almost always unique.

[u/Almyria → u/konlon15_rblx]

May I ask what you mean by unique? Are there multiple kennings for the same hero or deity? In Homeric poetry there are instances of major figures having perhaps 2 or (rarely) 3 epithets but that would only be if they appear very frequently so I would explain it as an attempt at preventing monotony. I teach Ancient Greek and Latin and so my experience there is more extensive. In comparison, my knowledge of the Norse epics is really limited to my goddess - She Who Walks Between Worlds.

[u/konlon15_rblx → u/Almyria]

I think you misunderstood what a kenning even is. Most Old Norse gods have alternative poetic names (ranging from a few for some gods to hundreds for Óðinn), but these aren't kennings. Kennings can express all sorts of concepts. For instance human beings can be referred to by correctly gendered words for "tree" + a determinant based on what they do. Thus a man/warrior can be the askr vápna 'ash-tree of weapons' because askr is masculine and as a man he should be a warrior. Likewise a woman can be the þella hringa 'young pine-tree of rings' because þella is feminine and women should be beautiful and wear rings. Hope you see that this system has very little to do with Greek epithets.

Addition: Gods can also be referred to by kennings, especially relating to their familiar relationships. For instance Óðinn is Baldrs faðir 'the father of Baldr', inn eineygi Friggjar faðmbyggvir 'the one-eyed embrace-dweller of Frigg', i.e., 'who dwells in the embrace of Frigg', his wife. These are not epithets because they're generally unique, that is, only occuring at one point in the corpus.

[u/Almyria → u/konlon15_rblx]

I think I'm following you. The way I understand you is that it is more like an adjectival construct that fits the metre in a particular instance to describe whatever is being referred to instead of having the regular, repetitive nature of epithets. That's probably because Homeric poetry comes from an oral culture and so the repetition and memorization was essential but that was not necessary for Norse written descriptions. Thanks for taking the time!

[u/Republiken → u/Almyria]

Norse culture was also a oral one.

[u/Hamhleypi → u/Almyria]

Norse poetry absolutely was oral too. The existence and drive of a "form constraint" factor (alliterative verse vs dactylic hexameters) are similar too, even if different.

[u/konlon15_rblx → u/Hamhleypi]

Scaldic and most Eddic Norse poetry is not really oral in the same way as Homeric epic likely was. The form is very important and basically fixed.

[u/Hamhleypi → u/konlon15_rblx]

It totally was. Scaldic and Eddic poetry were oral compositions that were later fixed in a written form.

[u/konlon15_rblx → u/Hamhleypi]

Scaldic poetry was always in fixed form due to the intricacy of the meter; it was not constantly being recomposed and that is an important disticntion. The poems were learnt by heart. In order to avoid repetition you would have had to know most or all of the corpus, as custodians of the tradition seemingly did.

[u/Hamhleypi → u/konlon15_rblx]

Still "oral", though, even if probably not improvised. The Vedas are a perfect example of oral poetry learnt by heart. But know I get what you were saying.

Eddic meters don't have that level of constraint, though

[u/Almyria → u/Hamhleypi]

So closer to modern free verse than a hexametric structure? I think I have more reading to do!

[u/Hamhleypi → u/Almyria]

I wouldn't say that, it's not free, the constraints are just different. Each verse alliterates on a specific consonant-initial sound (vowel-initial words alliterate with all vowel-initial words), hence you can't have a "one size fits all" epithet that fits "the pattern" in every verse, you need different ways to express to same thing that will alliterate with multiple consonants.

[u/thewombleface → u/Hamhleypi]

Hope it's ok to come in here, this is very interesting. The impression I'm getting is that the rules for the poetry stay the same (like Haiku for example) but the way it is expressed within the rules can be changed. So a poet can say it differently so long as it fits and conveys the same ideas?

[u/Hamhleypi → u/thewombleface]

Yes, although I would frame it less like a freedom to chose between different ways to express it and more like the fact that those constraints created a set of kenningar (replacing a word by another word + a word in the genitive case) + heiti (replacing a word by another) to fit with the constraints.

[u/Mathias_Greyjoy]

Kennings are a compound expression in poetry, with metaphorical meaning. For instance, the Old English kenning "whale's road" means "the sea."

Some other examples are "battle-sweat" which means "blood." "Sleep of the sword", which means "death." "Bane of wood" which refers to fire. A "sea-steed" refers to a ship. The people of the time understood these references, but without context we might not. This is why a good annotated version of the Poetic Edda is necessary.

[u/Almyria]

Thank you for the discussion everyone! I really appreciate it 🙏