Kennings

One of my favorite parts of Old English is the use of pithy metaphors known as "kennings."  "Kenning" is itself a loan word from Old Norse and is (as I understand) found very often in Scandinavian literature as well as in Anglo-Saxon.  Kennings are most often found (in Old English) in poetic pieces of literature and serve a variety of functions.  However, the most interesting result of a kenning is giving a word picture which represents a certain idea better than the common, non-poetic word.  One of my favorite examples of this is in the poem "The Wanderer."  The poet opens with a somewhat vague phrase describing a destitute and lonely soul who can only await the favor of God in his travails.  At line six, the reader/hearer gets these interesting lines:

"Swa cwæð eardstapa,         earfeþa gemyndig, 

wraþra wælsleahta,         winemæga hryre..." 

"So speaks the earth-strider, mindful of hardships,

of the wretched remains of slaughter, of the deaths of kinsmen ..."

(for that last phrase I used the suggested translation from the Mitchell and Robinson grammar, since "hryre" is a really puzzling word)

There are actually a few words here that might be taken as kennings, but the most interesting one to me at least is "eardstapa."  The word literally means earth walker or stomper or strider, but the general meaning the poet is trying to convey is the man's wandering nature.  So, instead of just saying "wandering" or "traveling without an end" he takes two words and puts them together to convey his idea in a roundabout way.  The result is a compound word that expresses the the idea in a uniquely beautiful way.  It has also been suggested that this particular kenning was Tolkien's inspiration for Aragorn's derisive nickname in Bree, Strider.

One more kenning, since I like these so much.  Speaking about the legendary ancestor of King Hrothgar, the Beowulf poet says the following:

"oðþæt him æghwylc þ[æra] ymbsittendra

ofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning!"

"Until each one of the neighboring peoples

over the whale-road  should obey him,

to pay tribute. That was a good king!"

The kenning here is "ofer hronrade."  The idea being expressed is "over the seas" or "over the water way," but the literal meaning is "over the whale-road."  That is such an inventive way to express the concept.  I love it.  It makes me feel cold and want to listen to Sigur Ros.