Baldur's bane mistletoe The kenning derives from the story in wh

ich all plants and creatures swore never to harm Baldur, save the mistletoe
which was overlooked and which Loki used to bring about Baldur's death by tricki
ng Hodur.
battle-sweat blood One reference for this kenning comes fro
m the epic poem, Beowulf.
As Beowulf is in fierce combat with Gren
del's Mother, he makes mention of
shedding much battle-sweat.
slaughter-dew blood
wound sea blood
mead of battle blood
sword-water blood
sword s dew blood
battle-icicle blood
battle-serpent arrow
battle-shower flight of arrows
corpse-dragon spear
ash-wood spear
blood-ember axe
blood-worm sword
Onion of war Sword
icicle of blood sword
wound-hoe sword
leaving of hammer sword
wolf of wounds sword
light of battle sword
headland of swords shield
Viking s moon shield
breaker of rings King/chieftain Alludes to a ruler breaking the golden r
ings upon his arm and using them to reward his followers.
Feed the eagle kill enemies Killing enemies left food for the eagles
weather of weapons war
feeder of ravens warrior Ravens feed on dead bodies left after a
battle.
destroyers of
eagles hunger Warrior
battle-wolf warrior
sword s tree warrior
flame-farewelled death Implicitly honourable death
sleep of the sword death
spear-din battle
thunder-fire battle
battle-dance battle
battle-sport battle
sword-trouble battle
swan of blood raven
shadows of war raven
Mind's worth Honour
glory-of-elves sun: Alfrodull
sky candle sun
sky-jewel sun
world-candle sun
gods beacon sun
candle of the sky sun
gem of heaven sun
bane of wood fire
sun of the houses fire
Grímnir's lip-streams poetry Grímnir is one of the names of Odin
Gunn's horse wolf Gunn is a valkyrie
Hanged god Odin Odin hung on the Tree of Knowledge for n
ine days in order to gain wisdom.
Lord of the gallows Odin
slayer of giants Thor
basher of trolls Thor
wolf's father Loki an allusion to Loki's fathering of Fenri
r
father of the sea thread Loki, the father of Jörmungandr, the Midgard serpent
Hrugnir's slayer Mjollnir
brow-stars eyes
bone-chamber body
bone-house body
Mountain of the hawk arm in falconeering, the hawk rests on the a
rm of its master
wolf's-joint wrist An allusion to Tyr's loss of his hand wh
en fettering the wolf Fenrir
falcon s field wrist
raven harvest corpse battle-field corpses
twilight-spoiler dragon
joy of a bird feather
death chamber grave
heath-stepper horse
feeding-wolves men
peace-weaver woman
dwelling-ornament woman
earth-walker traveler
ring-giver prince
sea-garmet sail
sea-steed Ship
steed of the billows ship
foamy-necked floater ship
horse of the sea ship
wave-skimmer ship
ocean-stallion ship
Freyja's tears gold,amber Derived from the story of when Freyja co
uld not find Óðr, her husband, the tears she shed were gold, and the trees
which her tears fell upon were transmuted into amber.
Kraki's seed gold Hrólf Kraki spread gold on the Fyris Wol
ds to distract the men of the Swedish king. Can also be used to imply
generosity; q.v. Hrólf Kraki
seeds of the Fyris Wolds gold Hrólf Kraki spread gold on the Fyris Wol
ds to distract the men of the Swedish king
serpent's lair gold Serpents (and dragons) were reputed to l
ie upon gold in their nests
Sif's hair gold Derived from the story of when Loki cut
off Sif's hair. In order to amend his crime, Loki had the dwarf Dvalin make
new hair for Sif, a wig of gold that grew like normal hair.
ice silver
valley-trout serpent
bait-gallows hook
ymir's skull sky
sun-table sky
gods chair sky
gods curtain sky
road of the gods sky
whale-road sea
whale's way sea
sea monster s home sea
home of the winds sea
gannet s bath sea
swan-road sea
breaker of trees wind
Ægir's daughters waves Ægir had nine daughters called billow ma
idens who were personifications
of the waves.
felli fjörnets goða flugstalla (source: Thorsdrapa), is a compound kenning. Lite
rally feller of the life webs (fjörnets) of the gods of the flight-edges, i.e. s
layer of giants, life webs (fjörnets) is a kenning in its own right since it ref
ers directly to the operations of the Norns in severing lives, flight-edges (flu
gstalla) being the high and dangerous places inhabited by eagles and hawks, i.e.
the icy mountains of Jotunheim.
COMPOUND KENNINGS
(1) \Dispenser of the flames of the falcon s field."
Overall meaning: \a generous king".
(2) \Provider to the swans of the mead of battle."
Overall meaning: \warrior".
(3) \The dweller of the top of the beast yoked to the wavers."
Overall meaning: \captain".
(4) \The killer of the giant s offspring
broke the strong bison of the gull s meadow.
So the gods, while the keeper of the bell despaired,
destroyed the seashore s hawk.
The horse that rides the reefs
found no help in the King of the Greeks."
|Njal s Saga
Meaning: \Thor
broke the ship.
So the gods, while the Christian priest despaired,
destroyed the ship.
The ship
found no help in Jesus."