ättestupa
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is a name given to a number of
precipice In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are co ...
s in Sweden. The name supposedly denotes sites where ritual
senicide Senicide, also known as geronticide or gerontocide, is the practice of killing the elderly. This killing of the elderly can be characterized by both active and passive methods as senio-euthanasia or altruistic self-sacrifice. The aim of activ ...
took place during pagan Norse prehistoric times, whereby elderly people threw themselves, or were thrown, to their deaths. According to legend, this was done when old people were unable to support themselves or assist in a household.


History of the term

Senicide Senicide, also known as geronticide or gerontocide, is the practice of killing the elderly. This killing of the elderly can be characterized by both active and passive methods as senio-euthanasia or altruistic self-sacrifice. The aim of activ ...
and suicide precipices are mentioned in several sources from antiquity, such as the Ligurians in ''Paradoxographus Vaticanus'' and
Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...
in his description of the
Heruli The Heruli (also Eluri, Eruli, Herules, Herulians) were one of the smaller Germanic peoples of Late Antiquity, known from records in the third to sixth centuries AD. The best recorded group of Heruli established a kingdom north of the Middle Danu ...
from the 6th century CE.
Solinus __NOTOC__ Gaius Julius Solinus, better known simply as Solinus, was a Latin grammarian, geographer, and compiler who probably flourished in the early 3rd century AD. Historical scholar Theodor Mommsen dates him to the middle of the 3rd century. ...
wrote about the
hyperborean In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans (, ; ) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas" (the God of the north wind). Some scholars prefer a derivati ...
s at the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
, where it is daylight for half a year—between the vernal equinox to the autumnal equinox, and described the climate as being so healthy that the people there did not die, but instead, threw themselves from a precipice into the sea. The term ''ättestupa'' came into use in Sweden in the 17th century, inspired by the
Old Icelandic Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their ...
saga ''
Gautreks saga ''Gautreks saga'' (''Gautrek's Saga'') is a Scandinavian legendary saga put to text towards the end of the 13th century which survives only in much later manuscripts. It seems to have been intended as a compilation of traditional stories, often hu ...
'', which is partly set in the Swedish region of
Götaland Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep wo ...
. The saga contains a comical episode known as ''Dalafíflaþáttr'' ('the story of the fools from the valleys') in which one particular family is so miserly that they prefer to kill themselves than see their wealth spent on hospitality. In this tale, the family members kill themselves by jumping off a cliff which the saga calls the ''Ættarstapi'' or ''Ætternisstapi'' ("dynasty precipice"), a word which occurs in no Old Norse texts other than this saga. ''Gautreks saga'' became known in Sweden in 1664, when an edition and Swedish translation was published by Olaus Verelius. This seems to have inspired Swedish antiquarians from the 17th century through into the 19th to label various cliffs with the name ''ättestupa''. The Swedish linguist
Adolf Noreen Adolf Gotthard Noreen (13 March 1854 in Östra Ämtervik, Sunne Municipality – 13 June 1925 in Uppsala) was a Sweden, Swedish Linguistics, linguist who served as a member of the Swedish Academy from 1919 until his death. Noreen studied at Upps ...
started questioning the myth at the end of the 19th century, and it is now generally accepted among researchers that the practice of suicide precipices never existed. Place-names which ''Gautreks saga'' inspired, however, continue to exist in the Swedish landscape. The term ''ättestupa'' has been used often in modern times, in political contexts, to underline how bad an insufficiently funded
social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
program can be, especially for
retiree A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...
s.


Associated locations

Several places in Sweden are alleged to be former suicide precipices: * Keillers Park in
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
has a precipice called Ättestupan. * A part of the village Åby outside of
Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...
was called Ättetorp, and in the nearby forest there is a precipice called Ättestupan. * Precipices at Vargön and close to the lake Vristulven in
Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Vä ...
* Ättestupeberget at Långared ( Alingsås kommun, Västergötland) (RT 90: X=6431606, Y=1297860)Svenska Ortnamn (CD-skiva utgiven av Sveriges Släktforskarförbund) * Ättestupan in Västra Tunhem ( Vänersborgs kommun, Västergötland) (RT 90: X=6474997, Y=1301199) * Kullberget in
Hällefors Hällefors () is a locality and the seat of Hällefors Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders N ...
( Örebro län) is locally called "ättestupan". * Olofströms kommun between Olofström – Gaslunda, by the lake Orlunden * The western cliff faces of
Omberg Omberg () is a forested mountain in western Östergötland County in Sweden. Administratively it is split between the municipalities of Ödeshög in the south and Vadstena in the north. It lies between Vättern, Lake Vättern and Tåkern, Lake Tå ...
in
Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...
are said to be an ättestupa. * Virsehatt nature reserve in
Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Skåne, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Br ...
is said to be an ättestupa.


In popular culture

In the 1960s, the Swedish comedy radio program '' Mosebacke Monarki'' satirically introduced ättestupa, abbreviated ÄTP, as an alternative to ATP, a state-provided
pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...
. The 2019 horror film '' Midsommar'' by
Ari Aster Ari Aster (born July 15, 1986) is an American filmmaker. After garnering initial recognition for the short film '' The Strange Thing About the Johnsons'' (2011), he became best known for writing and directing the feature films '' Hereditary'' (2 ...
uses the term to describe a fictional tradition in which elderly cult members throw themselves off a high cliff in ritual suicide once they reach the age of 72. In the Sitcom '' Ghosts (American TV series)'', available on Netflix in 2025 (S2, E8 at 08:35 min), the ghost character Trevor suggests "we can do fun stuff, like jumping off the roof.", to which the other ghost character Thorfinn cheers in excitement: "Yes! hucklesLike ättestupa. In Viking society, when old people no longer able to support themselves, we throw them off the cliff. It's very fun."url=https://ghostscbsfans.com/episode-guide/2-08-the-liquor-license/


See also

* '' Ubasute'' *
Euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...
*
Thalaikoothal Thalaikoothal (, lit. showering) is the traditional practice of senicide (killing of the elderly) or involuntary euthanasia, by their own family members, observed in some parts of southern districts of Tamil Nadu state of India. Methods Typical ...


References


External links


''Vad är sant om ättestupor?''
– from the periodical
Populär Historia ''Populär Historia'' () is a monthly history magazine published in Malmö, Sweden. The magazine, which has been in circulation since 1991, is the first history-oriented periodical in the country. History and profile ''Populär Historia'' was st ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Attestupa Scandinavian folklore Senicide Icelandic literature Swedish literature