Authors: Snorri Sturluson
âWhat kind of diction is used in poetry?'
âThere are three categories.'
âWhat are those?'
âI'll tell you. One, to name things by their ordinary names. Two, to substitute alternative names. Three, to use what are called kennings. To understand this third type of diction, suppose that in a poem I use the name Odin or Thor or Tyr, or some other name identifying one of the Ãsir or the elves, but add to it a characteristic or attribute that properly belongs to another god or elf. Then it is this other personage that is referenced in the kenning and not the one actually named. For instance, I might say Tyr of victory or Tyr of the hanged man or Tyr of the cargo, and then in each case I am adding a piece of diction that relates to Odin. The phrase as a whole then refers to Odin, not to Tyr. We call that a “name with identifying attribute” [
kent heiti
]. An example is Tyr of the wagon, referring to Odin.'
âHow should Thor be referred to?'
âBy calling him the son of Odin and Earth, the father of Magni, Modi and Thrud, the husband of Sif, the stepfather of Ull, the wielder or possessor of the hammer Mjollnir, of the mighty girdle and of the hall Bilskirnir, the defender of Asgard and Midgard, the foe and killer of giants and troll women, the adversary of Hrungnir, Geirrod and Thrivaldi, the lord of Thjalfi and Roskva, the enemy of the Midgard Serpent and the foster son of Vingnir and Hlora.'
âHow should Baldr be referred to?'
âBy calling him the son of Odin and Frigg, the husband of Nanna, the father of Forseti, the possessor of the ship Hringhorni and the ring Draupnir, the adversary of Hod, the comrade of Hel and the god of laments.'
âHow should Njord be referred to?'
âBy calling him the god of wagons, the descendant of the Vanir, one of the Vanir, the father of Frey and Freyja or the god of gift-giving.'
âHow should Frey be referred to?'
âBy calling him the son of Njord, the brother of Freyja, the
god of the Vanir, the descendant of the Vanir and one of the Vanir, the god of a good year, and the giver of wealth⦠He is called the foe of Beli⦠and the possessor of the boat Skidbladnir and the boar Gullinbursti⦠The boar is also called Slidrugtanni.'
âHow should Heimdall be referred to?'
âHe can be called the son of nine mothers, the watchman of the gods, as stated previously, the white one of the Ãsir, Loki's foe, or the seeker of Freyja's ring. The phrase “Heimdall's head” is a way of referring to a sword. The story goes that Heimdall was struck through by a man's head, and there is a poem about him called
Heimdall's Chant
. As a consequence a head can be referred to as the undoing of Heimdall, just as a sword can be called a man's undoing. Heimdall is the owner of the horse Gulltopp. He is also the voyager to Vagasker and Singastein; it was on that occasion that he and Loki came to blows over the ring of the Brisings. The skald Ulf Uggason devotes a lengthy passage to that story in his poem
Husdrapa
, and it is stated there that Heimdall and Loki took on the shape of seals. Another name for Heimdall is Vindhler. He can also be called son of Odin.'
âHow should Tyr be referred to?'
âBy calling him the one-handed god, the foster-father of the wolf, the god of battles and the son of Odin.'
âHow should Bragi be referred to?'
âBy calling him the husband of Idunn, the first maker of poetry, the son of Odin and the long-bearded god. Hence anyone who sports a big beard is called a bearded Bragi.'
âHow should Vidar be referred to?'
âHe can be called the silent god, the possessor of the iron shoe, the foe and slayer of the wolf Fenrir, the avenger of the gods, the god who lives on his father's house site, the son of Odin, and the brother of the Ãsir.'
âHow should Vali be referred to?'
âBy calling him the son of Odin and Rind, the stepson of Frigg, the brother of the Ãsir, the god who avenged Baldr, the foe and slayer of Hod and the resident on his father's house site.'
âHow should Hod be referred to?'
âBy calling him the blind Ãsir, the killer of Baldr, the shooter of the mistletoe, the son of Odin, the comrade of Hel and the foe of Vali.'
âHow should Ull be referred to?'
âBy calling him the son of Sif, the stepson of Thor, the god with skis, the god with a bow, the hunting god and the god with a shield.'
âHow should Hoenir be referred to?'
âBy calling him the seat mate, comrade, or trusted companion of Odin, the fast-moving god, the long leg or the king of clay.'
âHow should Loki be referred to?'
âBy calling him the son of Farbauti and Laufey or Nal, the brother of Byleist and Helblindi, the father of the spewer of the river Van, who is the wolf Fenrir, the father of Jormungand, who is the Midgard Serpent, the father of Hel and Nari, the kinsman and father's brother of Ali, the comrade and bench mate of Odin and the Ãsir, the guest of Geirrod, the adornment of Geirrod's wooden chest, one who steals from giants, the thief of the goat, of Idunn's apples, and of the ring of the Brisings, the kinsman of Sleipnir, the husband of Sigyn, the foe of the gods, the wrecker of Sif's hair, the author of woes, the sly god, the one who slanders and betrays the gods, the one who engineered Baldr's death, the bound one and the vexing litigant against Heimdall and Skadi.'
âHow should Frigg be referred to?'
âBy calling her the daughter of Fjorgyn, the wife of Odin, the mother of Baldr, the rival paramour of Earth, Rind, Gunnlod and Gerd, the mother-in-law of Nanna, or the queen of the gods and goddesses, of Fulla, of the falcon's feather cloak and of the halls of Fensalir.'
âHow should Freyja be referred to?'
âBy calling her the daughter of Njord, the sister of Frey, the wife of Od, the mother of Hnoss, the possessor of those fallen in battle, of the hall Sessrumnir, of male cats and of the ring of the Brisings, the god of the Vanir, the household deity of the Vanir and the god whose weeping is beautiful. Any goddess
can be referenced in kennings by associating her characteristic possessions, activities or family members with the name of another goddess.'
âHow should Sif be referred to?'
âBy calling her the wife of Thor, the mother of Ull, the goddess with beautiful hair, the rival concubine of Jarnsaxa or the mother of Thrud.'
âHow should Idunn be referred to?'
âCall her the wife of Bragi and the guardian of the apples, these apples being a remedy for old age used by the Ãsir. She is also the plunder taken by the giant Thjazi, since he abducted her from the Ãsir, as previously stated.'
âHow should one refer to the sky?'
âBy calling it Ymir's head and hence the giant's skull, the burden or heavy load on the dwarves, the helmet of the dwarves West, East, South and North, the land of the sun, moon, heavenly bodies, constellations and winds, or the helmet or house of the air, of the earth and of the sun.'
âHow should the earth be referred to?'
âCall it the flesh of Ymir, the mother of Thor, the daughter of Onar, the bride of Odin, the rival concubine of Frigg, Rind and Gunnlod, the mother-in-law of Sif, the floor or footing of the hall of the winds, the sea trodden on by animals, the daughter of Night or the sister of Aud and Day.'
âHow should the sea be referred to?'
âBy calling it the blood of Ymir, the visitor to the gods, the husband of Ran, the father of the daughters of Ãgir whose names are Himinglaeva, Dufa, Blodughadda, Hefring, Udr, Hronn, Bylgja, Bara and Kolga, by calling it the land of Ran, and of the daughters of Ãgir, and of ships or of the names of sea-going vessels, and of the keel, and of the prow, and of planks and seams, and of fish and of ice, and calling it the way and routes taken by sea kings, likewise the ring of the islands, house of sands and seaweed and rocky islets, or the land of fishing gear, sea birds and the following wind.'
âHow should the sun be referred to?'
âBy calling it the daughter of Mundilfoeri, the sister of the Moon, the wife of Glen and the fire of the heavens and the air.'
âHow should the wind be referred to?'
âBy calling it the son of Fornjot, the brother of Ãgir and of fire, the breaker of timber, and the enemy, destroyer, hound, or wolf of timber, of the sail or of rigging for the sail.'
âHow should fire be referred to?'
âBy calling it the brother of the wind and of Ãgir, the ruination and destroyer of timber and of houses, the undoing of Half and the sun of houses.'
âHow should winter be referred to?'
âBy calling it the son of Vindsval, the mortal foe of snakes and the season of blizzards.'
âHow should summer be referred to?'
âBy calling it the son of Svasud, respite for snakes and growing time for men.'
âHow should a man be referred to?'
âHe should be referred to in terms of his work, what he supplies or receives or does. He can also be referred to in terms of his possessions, both those he owns and those he gives away. Likewise in terms of the families he is descended from and those who are descended from him.
âHow should we make up a kenning for him based on these features? It is done by calling him the performer or advancer of his journeys, doings, fights, voyages, hunting expeditions, weapons or ships. Thus he is the prover [
reynir
] of weapons and the maker of war â the word “maker” being equivalent to “performer” [
vidr
]. Now the word
reynir
also means rowan tree and the word
vidr
means timber in general. With these words as a point of departure, poets have called men ash, maple, or grove or used other masculine gender words for types of tree, adding identifying attributes such as those of battles, of ships, or of property. It is also correct to refer to a man by using all the different names of the gods. Giants' names can be used as well, but that is mostly for purposes of mockery or satire. It is considered appropriate to use the names of the elves.
âA woman should be referred to in terms of all the types of female attire, gold and precious stones, and ale, wine and other beverages that she pours or serves; likewise in terms of receptacles for ale and all the things that it is fitting for her to do or provide. It is correct to refer to her by calling her the giver [
selja
] or disposer [
log
] of the thing that she shares. These words,
selja
and
log
, also denote trees, willow [
selja
] and log respectively, from which it follows that a woman can be referred to in kennings with all the feminine gender words for types of tree. The use of words for precious stones and pieces of glass to refer to a woman arises from an item of jewellery women used to wear around their necks called a stone necklace. That has now been taken up in kennings, so that a woman is referred to by using the word stone or all the names of specific types of stone. A woman can also be referred to by using the names of all the goddesses, valkyries, norns and female guardian deities. It is also correct to refer to a woman in terms of all her activities, possessions or family.'
âHow should gold be referred to?'
âIt can be called the fire of Ãgir, the leaf of Glasir, the hair of Sif, the headband of Fulla, the tears of Freyja, the utterance, voice, or words of the giants, the drops of Draupnir, the rain or shower from Draupnir or from Freyja's eyes, recompense for the otter, repayment for the blow struck by the gods, the seed of the plains of Fyri, the covering of Holgi's burial mound or the fire of all expressions for water and hands, also the boulder, rocky islet or lustre of the hands.
âIt has now become customary for gold to be called “fire of the sea”, and all the words for sea, on the basis that Ãgir and Ran's names denote the sea. Hence gold is now called the fire of lakes or rivers and all the specific names of rivers. Indeed, the range of these words has been further extended, just as with other poetic diction and kennings, so that more recent poets have composed their verses by expanding on the instances of
this diction found in the work of their predecessors. They have included words that in their opinions corresponded to diction already in use: for example, lake is similar to sea, river is similar to lake, and creek is similar to river. For this reason we apply the term
nygerving
[new coinage] to all such extensions of a given type of diction. They are regarded favourably when there is a natural and unstrained resemblance between the concepts.'
âWhy is gold called the foliage or leaf of Glasir?'
âIn front of the doors of Valhalla in Asgard is a grove called Glasir, whose foliage consists entirely of red gold. This is the most beautiful woodland known to gods and humans.'
âHow should battle be referred to?'
âBy calling it the wind, tumult and din of weapons, and of shields, and of Odin, and of the Valkyrie and of invading kings.'
âWeapons and armour can be named with reference to battle, to Odin, to valkyries and invading kings. Helmets can be referred to as helm, hat and headdress; mailcoats as shirt or tunic; shields as awning; and shield formations as hall, roof, wall and floor. Shields can also be called sun, moon, leaf, lustre, or fence of the ship, using ship as the other component in the kenning. Another possibility is to call the shield the ship of Ull or to allude to Hrungnir's feet, since he used a shield to stand on. On old shields it was the practice to decorate the rim, which was called the ring, and this ring becomes another way of identifying shields in kennings. Cutting weapons, such as axes and swords, are called the fires of blood or wounds. Swords are referred to as the fires of Odin. In kennings for axes the name of a troll woman is used, combined with an expression for blood, wound, forest or wood. Thrusting weapons can appropriately be referred to as snakes or fish. Thrown weapons are frequently referred to as hail, snowfall or rainstorm. There are numerous variations on all these kenning types because so much poetic composition is in the form of praise poems, which make particularly heavy use of such kennings.'