ättestupa

Swedish
A 1693 depiction of an ättestupa.

Alternative forms
  • ättestörta (dated))

Etymology

Compound of ätt (“kin, clan”) +‎ stupa (“precipice”). Possibly folk etymology of Old Norse Ætternisstapi (“The Dynasty Precipice”), a fictional cliffside in Gautreks saga. First time used in 1664 as a translation for Ætternisstapi.

Noun

ättestupa c

  1. (folklore) a high steep inland cliff from which the elderly in Nordic antiquity were said to have thrown themselves, or been thrown, to their deaths in order not to be a burden to their relatives
    Coordinate term: ätteklubba
    • 1829, Otto Sebastian von Unge, Vandring genom Dalarne, jemte Författarens Resa söderut‎:
      Det är betydligt högt och på ena sidan lodrätt som en ättestupa.
      It is considerably high and on one side vertical as an ättestupa.
  2. (figuratively) inadequate social safety net for pensioners
    • 2022 January 13, “Digitaliseringen – vår nya ättestupa”, in Katrineholms-Kuriren‎:
      Med återkommande pandemier, digitaliseringshysteri, ensamhet med utfrysningen från samhällets sida blir dessa tre punkter sammantaget vår nya ättestupa.
      With recurring pandemics, digitalisation hysteria, loneliness with the expulsion from society, these three points together become our new ättestupa.

See also

References
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