In medieval Iceland writers and poets were expected to make use of a (relatively limited) set of stockphrases which were deemed to be literary. The phrase battle sweat, for instance, was code for “blood”. The sun was often refered to as the glory of elves (álf röðull) and every warrior was a feeder of ravens. These well-known metaphors were called kennings and, back in Viking times, they were considered elegant. I fear these days we expect a little bit more from our writers. As a matter of fact, no self-respecting editor would tolerate a text fraught with what we would invariably perceive as lazy cliches.
Writers are supposed
to come up with novel ways of describing people, objects, feelings and thoughts
but you, my dear students, should not get ahead of yourselves. You are like
those brave Viking poets of yore: you are expected to handle predictable
metaphors and dictionary similes.
Before you ever dare
say that you feel like an ant stranded on
a water lily (I just came up with that one) you may want to make sure you
know your obvious comparisons: free as a
bird, easy as pie, drunk as a lord (in the UK) or as a skunk (in the US) and the typical
textbook metaphors: many women have managed to break through the glass ceiling. The
difference between metaphors and similes, by the way, often lies in the use of
a humble word: like. Check it all out
in the video below, which was edited for young students but can be equally
enjoyed by sophisticated adults as yourselves.
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