The Virgin Spring

Per Töre, a prosperous Christian, sends Karin with candles to the church, a day's journey away. Karin travels with her servant Ingeri, who is pregnant and secretly worships Odin. They begin their journey along the forest road toward the church.

Karin chooses to press on toward the church, leaving Ingeri behind at a stream-side mill. Ingeri remains fearful and unsettled, while Karin moves ahead alone. The separation marks a turning point as the forest closes in around them.

At the mill, Ingeri encounters a one-eyed man who says he has none in these days and hints that he can see and hear what others cannot. He asserts he can grant power if she accepts his gaze, and he makes advances; Ingeri flees in terror. The encounter foreshadows the dangers that lie ahead.

Karin meets three herdsmen two men and a boy in the forest. She invites them to share her midday meal and continues traveling with them. The encounter places Karin in a vulnerable position as she journeys with strangers.

The two older men rape and murder Karin, and Ingeri, who has caught up to the group, witnesses the act from a distance. The violence takes place in the forest as night approaches. The event marks the shattering of Karin's journey.

The younger boy is left with Karin's body and becomes wracked with guilt. He attempts to bury the body by sprinkling dirt but stops midway, and then runs away with the older men. The aftermath leaves him troubled and fearful.

The three herders unknowingly seek shelter at the home of the murdered girl, Karin, where Märeta and Töre's household dwell. Their presence heightens suspicion in the family, though they remain unaware of the full extent of the tragedy. The home becomes a focal point for fear and rumor.

During their stay, one of the goat herders offers to sell Karin's clothes to Märeta, who begins to suspect the worst. The exchange compounds the tension in the household and foreshadows impending confrontation. The family becomes fixated on the mystery surrounding Karin's disappearance.

Ingeri returns and breaks down, confessing to Töre that Karin was raped and murdered. She admits that she secretly wished for Karin's death out of jealousy, revealing her own conflicted feelings. Töre, shaken, listens as the intimate details unfold and plans begin to form.

At dawn, Töre decides to punish the murderers himself, stabbing one of the older men to death with a butcher knife and throwing the other into the fire. The act is swift and brutal, and his wife looks on in horror. The murder marks a descent into violent retribution.

Töre also kills the boy, lifting him and hurling him against the wall, while his wife watches in horror. The brutal punishment completes the purge of Karin's murderers from the scene. The household is left in stunned silence after the violence.

Töre's family and household set out into the countryside to locate Karin's body, with Ingeri leading the way. The search is solemn and grim as they move through the landscape in mourning. The quest underscores the community-wide impact of the tragedy.

Töre breaks down upon seeing Karin's body and calls upon God, vowing to build a church at the site of her death. He grapples with faith, vengeance, and responsibility in the wake of tragedy. The vow signals a transformation in his approach to the community and the tragedy.

As Karin's body is raised from the ground, a spring emerges from the spot where her head rested. Ingeri washes herself with the water while Karin's mother cleans the dirt from her daughter's face. The spring provides a stark symbolic counterpoint to the violence that preceded it.