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Poetry Terms

Information Station Other Poetry Terms Kenning

Kenning

What is a Kenning?

A Kenning is a compressed metaphor or description using two nouns to describe a subject, place or object.

Examples of using a Kenning:

  • Story keeper - Book
  • Word fisher - Poet
  • Web maker - Spider
  • Sky climber - Mountain

A kenning is used in poetry to create different effects. They can be combined to make a poem called a Kennings in which a collection of kenning lines are combined to describe an object.

Why don’t you try writing a Kennings poem and enter it into one of our writing competitions,  we'd love to read your work!