Kennings Poem

[Meraai vannie Baai]

Ons het so lanklaas 'n nuwe gedigstruktuur probeer. Ken jy die 'kennings-struktuur'?  Dit lyk na die ideale 'Metaforiese Vorm' om die draak te steek met die narre van 'n sirkusparlement in Suid Afrika 

*Dit kan ook 'n uitstekende kreatiewe skryfoefening word. Sien derde plasing vir voorbeelde asseblief. Ek lief, lief, lief! 

Kom ons loer na die betekenis en agtergrond rakende hierdie kreatiewe skryfstyl.

The word ‘kenning’ comes from the Old Norse verb að kenna, which means ‘to describe’ or ‘to understand’. When we think about the nature of poetry, part of its purpose is to explore new ways of describing and understanding the world around us. This is exactly what kennings do: they force us to look at things differently, to question the habitual way we think.

Kennings are a means of referring to people or objects without naming them directly. They are little riddles in a very compact form – the audience may often have to work hard to find the solution, particularly if they are unfamiliar with the conventions of kennings. In this sense, kennings may seem an exclusive, even secretive way of talking about things. They can also be surreal, creative and rather unexpected.

Bron: http://www.youngpoetsnetwork.org.uk/2012/12/10/land-of-the-ocean-noise-create-your-own-kennings/

What is a Kennings Poem?

A Kenning is a two word phrase describing an object often using a metaphor. A Kennings poem is a riddle made up of several lines of kennings to describe something or someone.

What is the structure of a Kennings poem?

A Kennings poem consists of several stanzas of two describing words. It can be made up of any number of Kennings.

An example of a Kennings Poem

My Sister

Dummy-sucker
Teddy-thrower
Anything-chewer
Kiss-giver
Slave-employer
Dolly-hugger
Calm-destroyer

Milk-drinker
Nappy-leaker
Peace-breaker
Scream-shrieker

Unlike any other
My sister

Bron: https://www.youngwriters.co.uk/types-kennings

En dan is daar voorbeelde waar die twee-woord beskrywende metafore net hier en daar voorkom in die gedig:

May I for my own self song’s truth reckon,
Journey’s jargon, how I in harsh days
Hardship endured oft.
Bitter breast-cares have I abided,
Known on my keel many a care’s hold,
And dire sea-surge, and there I oft spent.

That he on dry land loveliest liveth,
List how I, care-wretched, on ice-cold sea,
Deprived of my kinsmen;
Over the whale’s acre, would wander wide
Eager and ready, the crying lone-flyer,
Whets for the whale-path the heart irresistibly.

(The Seafarer by Ezra Pound)

The Seafarer is one of the best examples of kenning poems. The poet has used a lot of kenning. Here, “whale-path”, “whale-road” and “whale’s acre” referred to the ocean. “Breast-hoard” refers to the heart.
Bron: http://literarydevices.net/kenning/

[Meraai vannie Baai]

A kenning is a figurative expression that replaces a name or a noun. Often it is a compound of two words and the words are hyphenated.

Kennings are usually associated with Old Norse, Icelandic, and Anglo Saxon poetry.

Kennings have been used, and are still used, as a form of verbal shorthand.

Modern Examples of Kennings
Ankle-biter = a very young child
Bean counter = a CPA or accountant
Bookworm = someone who reads a lot
Brown noser = person who does anything to gain approval
Fender bender = slight car accident
First Lady - wife of the president
Four-eyes = someone who wears glasses
Head twister = owl
Hot potato = something no one wants
Mind-reader = A person who knows what you are thinking
Motor mouth = person who talks a lot and/or fast
Pencil pusher = person with a clerical job
Pig-skin = a football
Postman chaser = dog
Rug rat = toddler or crawling baby
Show-stopper = performance receiving long applause
Tree hugger = an environmentalist
Tree swinger = monkey
Tummy slider = penguin

Kennings Related to Weather
Boreas’s burning = snow blindness
Elf-glory = the sun
Feather’s fall = falling snow
Frozen road = ice-covered river
Northern kiss = cold wind
Ship of night = the moon
Sky-candle = sun
Sky’s black cloak = nightfall
Thor’s laughter = thunder
Weather of wolves = harsh winter
White death = killed by an avalanche
Winter’s blade = cold wind
Winter’s blanket = snow
Winter spear = icicle

Miscellaneous Kennings
Balder’s gift = mistletoe
Bane of wood = fire
Branches of fjord = ship
Dragon’s bile = poison
Draught of giants = sudden realization
Forseti’s failure = unjust decisions
Frigg’s lapse = mistletoe
Lindworm claws = skates
Mimir’s warning = prophecy of doom
Mind's worth = honor
Odin’s furrows = runes
Ribs of Ull = skis
Ring-rich = a generous person
Serpent's lair = gold
Sindri’s gift = wealth
Strong brew = mistletoe as an ingredient
Uncut thread = destiny to be fulfilled
Wind racers = horses
Wolf’s joint = wrist
Ancestor’s watch = a stone circle
Green clearing = shaman’s gathering place
Swan-road = the sea
Valley-trout = serpent
Wave-swine = ship
Whale-road = the ocean
Whale-way = the sea

Read more at http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-kenning.html#tgWvKryL3vyj6FyF.99

[Meraai vannie Baai]

In die woordsandput met die skep van jou eie...



1. Think of an object or element of the natural world you’d like to work with. This could be anything – moon, house, clock, car, tree, shoe, mobile phone, rain, mouth etc.

Now make a list of things which could represent or act as metaphors for your object in some way. These will be the ‘base words’ of your kennings. Think about the way your object looks, feels, moves, smells, sounds and tastes when considering what you might compare it to. I’ve come up with the following lists of things to represent fork and snow:

FORK
spear
spade
comb
pen
tree
pen
snake

SNOW
blossom
dust
foam
tears
pearls
petals
lace

2. Make another list which includes things that describe your chosen object, and other objects which are associated with your object in some way. This list will be the ‘determinants’ of your kennings, the clues which help your audience find the solutions to your kenning puzzles. Here are my lists for fork and snow:

FORK
knife
plate
food
breakfast
silver
plastic
sharp
pronged

SNOW
icy
sky
clouds
winter
cold
white
arctic
penguin

3. Now for the exciting part: you are ready to start constructing your kennings. You can do this by selecting words from your second list (the determinants) to pair up with words from your first list (the base words). You may choose to connect the words with a hyphen as in whale-road. Alternatively, you could use ‘of’ or ‘’s’ to connect them in a phrase, such as road of the whale or whale’s road. Play around with them and make a decision in each individual case in terms of the way it sounds.  Here are some of my examples:

FORK
sprout-spear
carrot-comb
fanged snake of the plate
the knife’s husband
the silver supper-pen

SNOW
winter-dust
cloud-blossom
icy lace
pearls of the sky
arctic foam

Write a poem about an object or element of the natural word using kennings. If you’ve done the exercise, you should have a nice set of kennings to use as a starting point. The poem could take the form of a list of kennings or the kennings could be part of a larger poem as in the following example:

Moon-Pearls
The curdled milk of the sky
deposits its cold blanket
over the soil’s silver follicles
gaunt shrubs glut
on the snow-plough’s harvest
clouds wilt their winter-blossom
churning the air with the slap
of boreal breakers
the eskimo’s pale vowels
sound above still attics
painting their polar frieze
on dark windows
I pack my palm
with precious moon-pearls
and name them snow

Here, all the kennings are little riddles which mean ‘snow’.

Bron: http://forum.afrikaanseforum.co.za/index.php?action=post;topic=3920.0;last_msg=25392

Vir die kleurvolle woordvrate onder ons:
http://koboldpress.com/archives/7831

[Fransi]

So interessant! Baie dankie.

[Meraai vannie Baai]

Vir my is dit een van die beste kreatiewe skryfoefeninge Fransi. Dankie vir inloer en woordspoor gelaat. Bly jy het ook geniet 

[PM]

Hoe pas 'n ou dit nou toe in Afrikaans.  Ek het 'n laatnag gehad.   

[Meraai vannie Baai]

Ek het laaaank gelede iets soortsgelyk in Afrikaans gedoen as kreatiewe skryfstyl.

*Nog 'n manier om kreatief te skep is met die 'kruis en dwars' metode. Die skrywer neem 'n klompie woorde, plaas dit in twee kolomme teenoor- of ondermekaar. Verbind nou die twee kolomme sonder om ag te slaan op die woorde. Hieruit kan nou nuwe woorde/begrippe of humoristiese verbindings verkry word. Ek het as voorbeeld veertien woorde uit ons Eksosentriese Komposita (die kruiemiddel waarmee daar  kleur en geur aan die alledaagse spreektaal gegee word) gebruik.

A  kwaggakaiing: koeksuster
B  krabbelpoot: slordige handskrif
C  bokverdriet: onplesierige dik mistige weer
D  help-my-bykommetjie: hoe hakskoen
E  stoutpootjie: vryer wat nie sy hande kan tuishou nie
F  adamsvurk: met die vingers eet
G  Kalaharibesem: sterk kalahariwind wat alles met sand bedek

1. Hemeltoorts: die son, ook genoem: Janbantam en Janlap
2. Kop-en pootjiesdraai: agterbuurt
3. genade water: flou koffie
4. Kekkelbessie: benaming vir hoendereier
5. blikperd: trapfiets
6. knordonkie: bromponie
7. goggabangmaak: skreeulelike persoon of ding

Uit hierdie twee groepe het ek die volgende woordverbindings gekry:

A7: Kwaggakaiing/goggabangmaak
B6: Krabbelpoot/knordonkie
C5: Bokverdriet/blikperd
D4: Help-my-bykommetjie/kekkelbessie
E3: Stoutpootjie/genade water
F2: Adamsvurk/kop-en pootjiesdraai
G1: Kalaharibesem/kwaggakaiing

Jy kan ook die twee groepe blindelings verbind. Eindelose woordpret wanneer hierdie verbindings in versvorm ingespan word!

Gedigte geskep uit hierdie tegniek:

Daarbo by kop-en pootjiesdraai
waar die kekkelbessies nesskrop
langs 'n papwielblikperd;

speel Janbantam stille toeskouer
as bokverdriet nie sy sluiers gooi nie.

Op die trappie langs die malvas,
sit ou Sagrys Stoutpootjie.

Met adamsvurk eet hy Kalahariprawns
en sluk dan af - met genade water

Om die hoek kom Kalaharibesem
sy vaaljas gooi, oor mens en dier.

©Meraai vannie baai

[PM]

Ek onthou, jy het dit meesterlik gedoen en ons het dit almal baie geniet.  Dankie vir 'n nog-'n-keer-saamspeel.