Satanaya

Satanaya (Adyghe: Сэтэнай [satanaːj]; Kabardian: Сэтэней [satanaj]; Ubykh [satanaja]; Ossetian: Сатана Satana) is a mythological figure who appears in many cycles of the Nart sagas of the North Caucasus.

Satanaya is often cast in the light of a "wise woman" or matriarch, which mirrors the relative freedom of women in North Caucasian societies generally.

The Chechen-Ingush version is somewhat different in that the counterpart of Satanaya, Sela-Sata, is primarily a goddess of crafts and women's work rather than a Nartic matriarch.

However, many of her characteristics, including the story of her miraculous birth of a dead Nart mother and her involvement in the birth of chief hero Seska-Solsa (Sosruko), correspond closely to those of Satanaya in the other versions.

[1] A nickname derived from Alanian-Armenian queen Satenik, the name of Vainakh deity Sata, or a syncretic mix of both.