KENNINGS
From Wikipedia:
In literature, a kenning is a magic poetic phrase, a figure of speech, substituted for the usual name of a person or thing. Kennings work in much the same way as epithets and verbal formulae, and were commonly inserted into Old English poetic lines.
From Answers.com
A figurative, usually compound expression used in place of a name or noun, especially in Old English and Old Norse poetry; for example, storm of swords is a kenning for battle.From: Nancy Steen I have a mixed ability class, and we used this method: In my very rudimentary line drawings I drew pictures of noun/verb compound words that CAN have multiple meanings such as butterfly (stick of butter with wings) Seatbelt (chair with a slug of beer) beltbuckle (belt, breaking from too much weight) eyelash (eye whipping a victim) Ok, then we transferred to the kennings, and using the wikipedia piece as a handout, we read the information together. We tried a few and they were off. Today, we were going to do more, with some of the stuff on runes, we were going to make rune names.Example:
Beowulf Kennings LEXICON OF KENNINGS Activities A Game of Kennings The Kenning Game
From: "Mahaney, Brenda" Subject: Re: [talkies] Kennings? Here is what I have: Four types: Open Kenning (adjective noun format) wakeful sleeper monstrous ogress Hyphenated Kenning (noun-noun format) hell-fiend Possessive Kenning ('s or s' format) hell's captive whale's road Prepositional Kenning (add any preposition) Giver of rings hall of victory Used because the A/S language had less words and it allowed for less repetition and more creativity. We identify kennings in Beowulf and other A/S poems. Then I have them create a kenning to rename themselves. They put it on a piece of blank paper and then decorate. I hold them up and we try to figure out who it is. I do this at the beginning of the year b/c I learn names this way and a little bit about each kid. Do warn them that subtext is not acceptable (i.e. "kicker of balls" for a soccer player is not OK :-) they get a kick out of that!) Hope this helps!
RUNES:
What are Runes? Nowadays the very name conjurs up images of mystery, magic and the occult. The question of whether the Anglo-Saxons held similar views is open to debate, and one to which I hope to return in later articles. For now I will put the straight-forward fact that runes are a peculiarly Germanic writing system originally incised or carved upon materials such as stone, wood or bone.Runes, Alphabet of Mystery Wikipedia entyr Free RUNE Readings The Runic Journey Runes from the Skeptic's Dictionary A GOOGLE Search wil find more.
Other Sites:
Kennings and Other Elements from Carole Ronane Anglo-Saxon Links from Carole Ronane