Kennings are Anglo-Saxon poetic metaphors created by linking two words, following the metrical requirements, to create a new word, such as "whale-road" or "swan-road" for "ocean." Another example is the Christian "life-master" for "lord," though as used in Beowulf, it means the lord of a comitatus.
Francis P. Magoun, Jr., "The Oral-Formulaic Character of Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry," An Anthology of Beowulf Criticism, 198-200.
