The Virgin Spring - Themes

Themes

The Virgin Spring contains a variety of themes (many of them focusing on the religious aspects of the film), including Christianity, Paganism, Norse mythology, vengeance, the occult, questioning of religious faith, sexual innocence, justice, and the nature of evil. The film poses many moral questions to its audience, primarily concerning the revenge enacted by the parents of Karin, and whether or not it was justified, or was just plain, savage murder. Threads of nihilism also run within the film, primarily displayed in the lack of human sympathy that is found in the herdsmen, and their unashamed rape, abuse, and ultimate murder of an innocent young girl. The story of The Three Living and the Three Dead, to which the film is indebted, was very common in the Middle Ages, and formed the basis for many texts and images, including the Dance of Death, and Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Pardoner's Tale'.

The film is based on the 13th century Swedish ballad, Töres döttrar i Wänge. In the ballad, it is not one but three daughters that are slain by the herdsmen, and the springs gush as they're beheaded at the very end. The three herdsmen are all adults, and the last one is left alive by the father. "Karin" is the mother's name rather than the daughter's, and Ingeri's character has no dialogue.

The ending of the film focuses on redemption within the story, in which Karin's father, Töre, pleads to God for forgiveness for his vengeful actions, subsequently proclaiming he will build a church on the site of his daughter's murder. He also remarks his confusion toward God for the events that have unfolded over the past day, and asks why God would allow such horrendous things to happen to his people.