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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Swedish word of the day: häxa

As Halloween approaches, we're taking a look at some spooky Swedish words, how to use them, and the history behind them.

Published: 28 October 2019 14:53 CET
Swedish word of the day: häxa
Our Word of the Day column this week has a spooky theme... Image: nito103/Depositphotos

Häxa is translated in English as 'witch', and the plural is häxor (witches). 

It refers to women with magical powers, and is much more common than trollpacka and trollkvinna, which are the female forms of trollkarl (wizard).

There are plenty of compound words built using häxa. Häxkonst and häxeri both mean 'witchcraft', and häxa has a male form, häxmästare, which could be translated as 'enchanter', but this is uncommon.

As in English, a häxjakt (witch hunt) can refer both to the persecution of women due to their supposed magical powers and to the persecution more generally of any innocent person, simply for the sake of having someone to demonize. Two more related words are häxprocess (witch trial) and häxbränning (witch burning), which are only used to refer to the historical witch hunts.

Witch purges took place in Sweden around the 17th century, including the country's largest witch trial in Torsåker, northern Sweden, where 65 women and six men were beheaded and burned.

The word häxa entered the Swedish language around the same time as these trials were taking place, coming from hex in Low German. It was actually first used as a legal term in these trials before it became part of the general lexicon. These words actually share a root with the English term 'hag'. Before the 17th century, trollpacka (or trollbacka as it was originally written) was the usual term in Swedish.

One more important thing to know: häxa is sometimes used as a derogatory term for women, including in words like rymdhäxa (literally 'space witch', used as an insult aimed at female flight attendants) and batikhäxa (batik witch, a rude term used about politically engaged women).

Examples

Många barn klär ut sig till häxor på Halloween

Lots of children dress up as witches on Halloween

Alla trodde att hon var en riktig häxa

Everyone thought she was a real witch (Note: depending on context and tone, this could either mean people genuinely thought the woman in question had supernatural powers, or it could be a derogatory insult)

Do you have a favourite Swedish word you would like to nominate for our word of the day series? Get in touch by email or if you are a Member of The Local, log in to comment below.

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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: nyckelpiga

These little red and black insects are starting to pop up in gardens and fields all across Sweden. But where does their name come from?

Published: 14 May 2024 09:18 CEST
Swedish word of the day: nyckelpiga

Nyckelpiga, or nyckelpigor in the plural, is the Swedish word for the red and black spotted insects known in English as ladybirds or ladybugs.

Their name is made up of two words in Swedish, nyckel, which is the word for key, and piga, meaning a maid or other female servant, so it could be literally translated as a “keymaiden”.

In many European languages, these insects have names which relate to the Virgin Mary. 

In English, legend has it that farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary asking her to protect their crops, and when ladybirds appeared to eat aphids (a common garden pest), they called them “Our Lady’s birds”, which over time was simplified to ladybirds.

They’re known as mariquita in Spanish and marieta in Catalan, while in Danish and Norwegian they’re called mariehøner or marihøner (literally: Mary hens), and in German they’re called Marienkäfer (Mary beetles).

The Swedish term has a less obvious relationship to the Virgin Mary, and dates back to Sweden’s Catholic past.

Mary is believed in Catholicism to have seven sorrows, which are all events in her life often depicted in art by seven swords piercing her heart. The most common ladybird in Sweden has seven spots, which were seen as representing these seven sorrows.

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Seven was also considered to be a holy number in general, and it was believed therefore that ladybirds held the keys to heaven on behalf of Mary. According to an old Swedish folk tale, anyone who releases a captured ladybird would be let through the gates of heaven, and in many countries they are believed to be able to reveal when someone will marry.

In Sweden, it was said that if one landed on your hand and walked along your fingers, it was measuring new gloves for you, which meant that you were either going to attend a wedding or a funeral, and in France, a woman could put a ladybird on her finger and count out loud until it flew away, with the number reached representing how many years would pass before she would marry.

Another word for ladybird in Swedish is gullhöna (yellow hen), which most likely refers to the less common yellow ladybirds with black spots.

These ladybirds were believed to be able to predict the weather in some parts of Sweden. In Bohuslän, ladybirds meant good weather, and if you saw one, you were supposed to say gullhöna, gullhöna, flyg, flyg, flyg, så blir det sommar och gott, gott väder (ladybird, ladybird, fly, fly, fly, then it will be summer and good, good weather). In Värmland, however, seeing a ladybird meant the opposite: bad weather and rain.

Example sentences:

Tycker du inte att det har varit ovanligt många nyckelpigor i år?

Don’t you think there has been an unusually large number of ladybirds this year?

Nyckelpigor är ett bra nyttodjur att ha i trädgården då de äter bladlöss.

Ladybirds are a good beneficial insect to have in the garden, as they eat aphids.

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

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