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BOOK REVIEWS
fSLENZKAR BOKMENNTIR f FORNOLD r. By EINAR 6L. SVE1NSSON.
Almenna B6kajilagio, Reykjavik, 1962. viii, 533 pp.
Dr Einar's work, of which this is the first volume of three,
promises to be the most detailed and authoritative account of
Old Icelandic literature that we possess. The present volume
covers the Eddaic poetry and includes introductory chapters on
the Viking Age, the settlement of Iceland and early social history.
The chapters on metrics, word-usages and kennings are admirably
lucid and informative. They cover not only Eddaic, but also
the main scaldic practices.
The word "kenning" is applied very widely both by medieval
and modern critics. As in an earlier paper,' Dr Einar
distinguishes four types of kennings. The first type are those
which Sigur6ur Nordal'' denotes as sirkenningar and Snorri-'
apparently as viokenningar, albeit in an obscure passage. In
kennings of this type, a man may be distinguished from others by
allusion to his parentage, work, social position, etc., e.g., ] artiar burr
(.P6rr), Sygna rcesir (prince of Sogn-rnen, king of Norway]. Such
expressions have little to do with poetry, and hardly differ from
those of common speech. If I speak of "Jack's father", I cannot
feel that I am using a kenning, for this may be the only way in
which I can designate the man of whom I speak.
In one passage,' while discussing the kenning, Snorri wrote:
... if we name Ooinn or Parr or Tyr, or one or another of the gods or elves,
and to each one that we mention, we add the name of a property of another
god, or allude to some of his deeds, then the latter becomes the owner of the
name, and not the former, whose name was given. Just as when we say
Victory Tyr, or Hanged Men's Tyr, or Cargoes' Tyr, these are names for
Ooinn,
If this designation of the kenning had been followed by Snorri
and his successors, it seems that the pure kenning must fall under
Dr Einar's fourth class. In kennings of this class, the meaning
of the basic word is altered fundamentally by its determinant.
Thus silver may be called "snow of the arm" (arms jQnn), and
gold "fire of the arm" (handar bal). The imagery may be
developed, and silver may become "snow of the falcon's foreland"
(hauka ness drija), and gold "fire from the hawk's shore" (hatlka
strandar hyrr). A further refinement may be achieved by allusion
'Skirnir CXXI (1947), 5 ff.; reprinted in ViiJ uppspretturnar (1956).
2 Snorri Sturluson (1920), 104 fl.
3 Finnur Jonsson, Edda Snorra Sturlusonar (1931), 188.
• ibid. 86.