Dödens

Dödens is a Swedish genitive form meaning “death’s” or “of death.” It is used to indicate possession or attribution in phrases and compound nouns, typically in literary, religious, or rhetorical contexts. The form is built from the noun or adjective död (death, the state of being dead) with the possessive suffix -ens, producing phrases that attribute something to death.

In modern Swedish, dödens is commonly found in expressions that evoke mortality or fatal power. Examples include dödens skugga (the shadow of death) and dödens rike (the realm of death). The usage is often stylistic, lending a somber or solemn tone to a description, title, or artwork. The possessive construction offers an alternative to the more neutral av döden (of death) or the definite form döden in other syntactic arrangements.

Dödens also occurs in titles and proper names within literature, film, music, and religion, where it serves to foreground themes related to mortality, fate, or danger. It is not a standalone concept but a grammatical form that enables attribution to death across various nouns and phrases.

See also: Döden (Death), Död (dead person or inactive), Dödens skugga (example usage).