K is for Kenning poems

By Mary Hill

A Kenning is an old literary device from the times of Vikings and Norsemen, involving the use of two descriptive words to replace a single noun. Bob’s Byway of Poetic Terms gives a fuller definition and some examples like a boat which becomes a wave traveler or a caterpillar which is known as a silk weaver.

Today, people create poetry using kennings. These poems involve two word lines that are created in many stanzas to describe something.

A great resource on how to encourage children to write kennings can be found on Angela’s Poem blog. 

Let’s play a guessing game. Can you tell me what these kenning descriptions stands for?

Furry ambler
Tiny feet
Sniffy nose
and
Scary eyes

Hint: you don’t want to run into one of these at night roaming through your cabinets.  You will need a pied piper to get rid of a bunch of the these.