 Noting that the modifying component in Germanic compound words can take the form of a genitive or a bare root, he points to behavioural similarities between genitive determinants and the modifying element in regular Old Norse compound words, such as the fact that neither can be modified by a free-standing (declined) adjective.According to this view, all kennings are formally compounds, notwithstanding widespread tmesis.Kennings could be developed into extended, and sometimes vivid, metaphors