This week, year 4 have been learning about Kennings poetry. This is an ancient form of poetry from the most northern regions of Europe, including Scandinavia, which links to our study of the Vikings this term. Kenning means to describe something ‘in terms of another’, without ever saying what it actually is. Vikings used Kennings phrases to describe their weapons, for example, ‘side- splitter’ or ‘skull-cracker’. The children created their own Kennings phrases about everyday objects, animals or even teachers, before putting them together to create a group poem. They then focused on what they know about the Vikings to generate vocabulary and phrases for a poem to describe them. They even performed their poems in front of the class.
