Kenningar in den metrischen Runeninschriften der Wikingerzeit und des Mittelalters

Abstract There are several reasons why it is of great importance to include the kennings of the metrical runic inscriptions in thorough investigations of kennings, albeit their number is not particularly high. One reason for this is that there are Viking-Age metrical inscriptions with kennings attested from Eastern Scandinavia, and mostly in eddic metres. Further, some of these kennings belong to the oldest kennings we know at all from Scandinavia, e. g. the kennings of the Theoderic-stanza on the Swedish Rök stone are older than the work of Bragi Boddason. To make it easier for further research to include these kennings, this article gives a short overview of this material. It is worth considering the kennings of the metrical runic inscriptions, for they show a great variety and they are highly developed. Beside the use of tvíkennt and rekit kennings, they testify the knowledge of half-kennings and the poetic device of ofljóst in medieval Norway.