What is whale road?
Noun. whale-road (plural whale-roads) (obsolete, poetic) The sea, the ocean.
What is whale road an example of?
List of kennings
| Primary meaning | Kenning translated | Example |
|---|---|---|
| raven | swan of blood | |
| the sea | whale-road | Beowulf 10: “In the end each clan on the outlying coasts beyond the whale-road had to yield to him and begin to pay tribute” |
| the sea | sail road | Beowulf 1429 b |
| the sea | whale’s way | The Seafarer 63 a; Beowulf |
What is the meaning of whale road in Beowulf?
Examples of kennings in Beowulf include “whale-road” to mean the sea, “light-of-battle” to mean a sword, “battle-sweat” to mean blood, “raven-harvest” to mean a corpse, “ring-giver” to mean a king, and “sky-candle” to mean the sun.
Where is Whale road in Beowulf?
Examples in Beowulf include the very famous “whale-road” in line ten, “hronráde” in Anglo-Saxon. This means the sea, as in a road traversed by whales.
What does ring giver mean?
overlord
During the Anglo-Saxon period, the word “ring-giver” is also labeled as a kenning, which is an extended metaphor. It simply turns ‘ring’ into a metaphorical term. The word “ring-giver” really means the king or overlord. In other words, ring-givers distribute wealth for special purposes.
What does Swan road mean in Beowulf?
There were many names for the sea in Old English poetry. The poet uses the kenning sail-road for sea because it was like a road that ships would sail on. The sea was also called the swan road and the whale road in Old English poetry.
What is sea Road an example of?
Kennings are types of Anglo-Saxon metaphors. They are usually two word poetic renamings, such as “whale’s home” for the sea. Other kenning forms include possessives (the Almighty’s enemy for Grendel), prepositional phrases (shadow of death for Grendel), or hyphenated words (sea-road for ocean current).
What does Swan Road mean?
kenning
A kenning is commonly a simple stock compound such as “whale-path” or “swan road” for “sea,” “God’s beacon” for “sun,” or “ring-giver” for “king.” The term is a derivative of the Old Norse kenna, “to perceive,” “to know,” or “to name.”
Where is Whale road used in Beowulf?
the sea
A kenning is a metaphorical phrase, or compound word used to name a person, place or thing indirectly. Used primarily in Anglo-Saxon poetry, the epic poem “Beowulf” is full of kennings. For example, the words whale-road is used for the sea and “shepherd of evil” is used for Grendel.