# Swedish: satmara



## Tappahannock

Is _satmara_ a succubus in Swedish?

The way Stieg Larsson used it near the end of chapter 26 in Män som hatar kvinnor (to describe Martin's mother Isabella) it would appear to be, but I'm only finding less specific translations online.  And it's such a specialized word in English that many writing the translations might not know it, anyway.  And it's not in Wiktionary.

<Please remember to include the language in the thread title.>


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## cocuyo

The word is used as an invective, more or less corresponding to popular usage of "bitch" in English. I don't think anyone would relate usage of "satmara" to demons as succubi.


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## Renaissance man

I second cocuyo's opinion -- furthermore, a succubus has a strong sexual aspect which _satmara _lacks.


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## cocuyo

The word is used particularly about a woman that is constantly nagging about just any matter and has a generally negative attitude; one from whom you would expect vengeance for anything, even if you never meant any harm to her; one that would make you suffer. Like one that when you give her a flower, she thinks you do it to compensate for some harm you could have done her. Or it could be one that might try to do you harm for no obvious reason. There is absolutely no sexual connotation, it is said about an evil person.

Often it is used about a troublesome mother in law.


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## AutumnOwl

cocuyo said:


> The word is used as an invective, more or less corresponding to popular usage of "bitch" in English.


An other alternative for "satmara" is "shrew".


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## Tappahannock

Any idea where it comes from?  For that matter, what is the mar- in mardröm?

I didn't recognize satmara per se (the only word in all 500-some pages that I didn't, surprisingly, as I haven't done anything active in Swedish for about 25 years) but I associated mara with mardröm and guessed that the sat- was an abbreviation of satan.  So my provisional interpretation was she-devil, and succubus only popped into my mind somewhat later.

In American English, a rare and highly literate person might use succubus when bitch just isn't sufficient to the occasion, particularly as nobody believes in literal succubi any longer.

But I understand from the above that satmara comes to mean bitch/shrew/harridan by some other route, is that correct?


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## Cerb

The word "mardröm", and indeed "nightmare" as well, has to do with the typically female supernatural being which according to folklore was believed to sit on a person chest while sleeping and be the cause nightmares or sleep paralysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis). 

In other words some sort of of harmful female demon or spirit which I imagine would fit well here. I really have no idea about "sat" however. It's hard to find anything on it.


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## Renaissance man

_Sat- _is indeed a prefix stemming from _satan. _You'll find it in words like _sattyg _(mischief, devilry), _satunge _(mischievous child) etc.


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## Tappahannock

Cerb said:


> The word "mardröm", and indeed "nightmare" as well, has to do with the typically female supernatural being which according to folklore was believed to sit on a person chest while sleeping and be the cause nightmares or sleep paralysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis).
> 
> In other words some sort of of harmful female demon or spirit which I imagine would fit well here. I really have no idea about "sat" however. It's hard to find anything on it.



The creature you describe is indeed a succubus, so maybe the association of mara to such a thing is closer to the surface in the Norwegian consciousness while Swedish has borrowed the root but largely dropped its original meaning.

And thanks, Renaissance Man, for reminding me of sattyg and satunge.   Although I know them well enough to recognize them right off and appreciate their color, they didn't bubble up while I was pondering satmara.  I see now that the sat- is amplifying a word that, in Norwegian at least, already by itself means succubus, though that meaning doesn't appear to persist in Swedish to this day.

I suppose the usage of succubus in American English today is mostly limited to something like "'über-bitch who just won't let go," or maybe "vampire bitch."  None of these is common but any of the three could occur.


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