trädens

Trädens is a form found in Swedish that functions as a genitive or possessive related to the noun träd, meaning tree. It is used to express possession or association by trees and is often translated into English as the trees’ or of the trees. In contemporary Swedish, the more common way to express the possessive plural of trees is trädenas, but trädens appears in older literature, poetic contexts, or certain regional phrases.

The form arises from historical Swedish grammar in which the definite plural noun for trees could take a possessive suffix. As a result, the phrase trädens X can be encountered where X is another noun, indicating that something belongs to or is associated with the trees. Because of its older or literary character, trädens tends to give a specific tone to a sentence, sometimes evoking a sense of tradition or formality.

Examples include trädens skugga (the shade of the trees) and trädens löv (the trees’ leaves). In modern prose, writers more often use trädenas as the standard possessive form for a plural possessor, especially in neutral or everyday writing. Nevertheless, trädens remains part of Swedish usage in historical texts, lyric poetry, and certain fixed expressions where its cadence or register is desired.

See also: Swedish grammar, genitive case, possessive forms, träden, trädet.