Surma (Finnish mythology)

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Surma is a character similar to Cerberus in the Finnish mythology of Kalevala. Surma is a terrible beast, embodies sudden, violent death and guards the gates of the Underworld or Tuonela to prevent escape. It is often described as being a large dog with a snake-tail and can turn you into stone (with a stare). An often-used Finnish metaphor is surman suuhun "into Surma's mouth", as if the victim was mauled to death by Surma.

Surma also means kill, or specifically a kill and the verb surmata, to kill or to slay, is derived from it.