Are tanru really metaphors?

[Ronald Hale-Evans <rwhe@APOCALYPSE.ORG>]

Lojbanistani--

Perhaps this issue has been discussed before in detail. I have only
recently rejoined Lojban-List and have not gone through the archives. If
so, please forgive me. If someone can point me to a detailed discussion of
this topic, I will go away.

I am using an encoded Lojban as the core language for a "Glass Bead Game"
(in the sense of the Hermann Hesse novel of the same name; see URL in my
signature for details). One of the central aspects of my gameform
Kennexions, which preceded the use of Lojban (and may survive it if I can't
work this problem out!) is the use of kennings.

A *kenning* is a form of metaphor from Old Norse skaldic poetry which
greatly resembles tanru (one major reason I chose Lojban as the game
language). For example, "flame of battle" or "battle-flame" is a standard
kenning for "sword" (the skalds had hundreds of stock kennings). Kennings
can be expanded, so that if "din of spears" or "spear-din" means "battle"
and "flame of battle" means "sword", then "flame of the din of spears"
means "sword". OK?

Now all was proceeding apace in Kennexions until I reread one of the early
chapters in the refgram (Ch. 2, I think) where John Cowan gives the example
of the tanru "jikca toldi" for "social butterly". John says a "jikca toldi"
is ALWAYS a type of insect, never a type of person. (A kind of butterfly
that lives in a hive, I guess.)

HELP! I overlooked this caveat before. "Flame of the din of spears" in
Lojban is always going to be "a type of fire associated with the noise that
spears make", not a _sword_ at all. This is absolutely NOT what I wanted.

(1) If figurative use of tanru is precluded, in what sense are tanru
metaphors?

(2) And FAR more importantly, what can I do to use real metaphors and
figurative language in Lojban without resorting to "((spear din) flame)
sword" sorts of periphrasis? "(Spear din) flame)" is fine by itself, but
qualifying the tanru as a type of sword totally gives the game away.

Egad.

Ron Hale-Evans

p.s. I'm CCing this message to KENNEX, the mailing list for the group
working on Kennexions.

Ron Hale-Evans...The Not Ready For Apocalypse Players...rwhe@apocalypse.org
I CHING MAILING LIST = http://www.apocalypse.org/~rwhe/hex8.html
"KENNEXIONS" GLASS BEAD GAME = http://www.apocalypse.org/~rwhe/gbg.html
RON'S INFO-CLOSET = http://www.apocalypse.org/~rwhe/