Question

4
select the correct answer.
in the following lines from beowulf, what literary technique has the poet used in the underlined words?
to many it seemed
the wolf-of-the-waves had won his life
a. synecdoche
b. epithet
c. kenning
d. litotes

Explanation:

A kenning is a compound metaphorical phrase in Old English/Old Norse literature, like "wolf - of - the - waves" (referring to a sea creature, likely Grendel or a monster, using a descriptive compound phrase). Synecdoche is part - whole substitution, epithet is a descriptive word/phrase (but kennings are specific compound metaphors in Old English epic), and litotes is understatement. So "wolf - of - the - waves" is a kenning.

Answer:

C. kenning