Gender Feminine
Usage Caucasian Mythology
Scripts Сэтэнай(Western Circassian) Сэтэней(Eastern Circassian)
Other Forms FormsSatana, Setenay, Seteney, Satanei
Meaning & History
Means "mother of one-hundred (sons)" from Persian صد (sad) (through the Iranian root */sata-/) meaning "(one) hundred" combined with the Northwest Caucasian root /na/ meaning "mother" (descended into Kabardian анэ (ānă) and Adyghe ны (nə)) and the Indo-Iranian suffix /-ya/ meaning "the one who is". This refers to Satanaya’s one-hundred giant sons (Narts) in Caucasian mythology.Satanaya Guasha (or Satana) was the matriarch of the Narts (a race of giants) and an important figure in the 'Nart' sagas and Caucasian mythology. To the Ossetians, she was the daughter of the Uastyrdzhi and mother of Soslan. She was also viewed as a deity of fertility similar to the Greek Demeter but was portrayed as a goddess of crafts and women's work in Vainakh (Chechen and Ingush) belief.