God’s Will & the Virgin Spring

There is quite possibly not another cinematic masterpiece filled with so many themes as The Virgin Spring. The themes of the film are established early on - religion being the primary underlying current that rides the crest of other the other themes – innocence, nature and good versus evil. The themes that are depicted in The Virgin Spring are closely paralleled in the Eyrbyggja Saga, the Mabinogion, and the Volsung Saga. Each of the themes provides a glimpse into Bergman's observation of religion and the effects it in all aspects of the characters’ lives.

From the very beginning, Bergman exhibits the characters as pious and extremely spiritual. Of course, the contrasts are also present at the onset as well with Ingeri practicing the Norse religion. Evidence of this is shown in her calling out for the god, Odin in the first scene. Further evidence that the film is centered heavily on religion is revealed when the main character, Karin's parents are praying to a statue of Jesus on the cross in their sacred space. The imagery shown here is vivid as Bergman ensures that the viewer of the movie is shown the statute in clear presentation. Moreover, a woman makes significant comments to Ingeri while she is preparing dinner calling her a spitfire, and a heathen foundling. Bergman further provides insight into the contrasting theme of religion as it is assumed that the characters surrounding Ingeri understand her religion and feel as if she should be practicing their religion, Christianity. Each of the texts, more specifically the Eyrbyggja Saga, captures the contrasting elements of Norse mythology and religion and Christian sentiment in the women as they are portrayed as strong-willed individuals. Ingeri, despite the fact that she is decried because of her religious beliefs and pregnancy, is characterized as strong-willed as well.

Perhaps the centerpiece of The Virgin Spring is marked by the character of Karin. She is revealed to pure, holding her womanhood until marriage as an effect of her family's religious beliefs, which she has been raised in. Her father is devout as well, at least on the surface as Bergman indicates that he has raped Ingeri, which is why Ingeri calls for the god, Odin to assist her at the beginning of the film. The characters of Karin and Ingeri are contrasted against religion as well given the clash between Christianity and the Norse religion. Further, their relationship is strained due to the jealousy that Ingeri has in how Karin is looked at favorably not solely by her parents, but in the general consensus of the area in which they live. The area in which they live in a forest, with Bergman offering intensive viewpoints of nature, with the wind blowing, the animal sounds and the house resembling a cabin. The Mabinogion is filled with stories that show the characters in cabins. In Chapter IV of a story in the Mabinogion, it states that " [the characters] found themselves in a fair cabin all hung with silks and tapestries, and in its midst, a table spread with the choices fare" (Anonymous). While the portrayal of the cabin like a home that Karin and her family live in is not draped in the most exquisite fabric, it is nevertheless relative in its structure and how Bergman prominently drives the viewer to not only follow the story but to glance at the setting also.

The dominating scene in The Virgin Spring is Karin's rape and subsequent death. Due to her pure essence and religious innocence, she is shown as naive when two herdsmen, along with a young boy, convince her to invite them to eat lunch with her. The scene starts with Karin's father asking her to take Holy candles to the nearby Church. Ingeri goes along for the trip at the request of Karin's parents.

Bergman's illustration of nature in this scene is to show a combination of trees, plants, water and the rich fullness of the forest while contrasting it with the sickening savagery of what fate is awaiting Karin. Along their journey, Ingeri, at the same time, is observed by a man with one eye, who viewers can predict is Odin, the god she worships. The man invites her in his abode and notes that she should "sit down, it's long since anyone sat here with me [and that] he has the cure for her woes" (Bergman). The sacred space of his worship is a box full of occult items including bones and a statue. Ingeri immediately recognizes the man's spiritual makeup after he starts revealing his items adding that "[he] has sacrificed to Odin" and the man forcefully responds that "[he] knew [Ingeri] by her eyes, mouth and hands" (Bergman) seemingly that she also was a sacrificer to the god, Odin.

Bergman is forcibly showing the dominance of the Norse religion in the movie but also providing another contrast with Ingeri’s fear of the power of the god, Odin. The Volsunga Saga can emphatically be compared to the movie in how it exhibits Odin as the prevailing force similar to the Christian god, with him (Odin) "hearing their prayer" (Gutman 28) and "being minded to go home to Odin, a thing much desired" (29) and that "every chief was priest for his own folk, offered sacrifice, performed ceremonies, and so on" (16). For Bergman, contrasting the similarities of the dogmas and creeds of the Norse religion and the Christian one is the prime mantra of The Virgin Spring.

The rape scene shortly follows and Ingeri witnesses it. Before being beaten by one of the herdsman, Karin, looks to the heavens for guidance, apparently looking for religious guidance from the god whom she worships as to why this even occurred given her innocence and religious beliefs and ways – and due to what is perceived as the sacrificial upbringing that she is continually raised in. Bergman’s showing of good versus evil in this scene with the herdsman being evil and Karin as good, hauntingly leaves a stain on Ingeri; despite the emotionless demonstration that Bergman portrayed her in earlier scenes. It is to be assumed that the herdsman operates on the Norse religion, thereby furthering the comparison of the Volsunga Saga and the movie in that it is full of slayings as sacrifice, honor and what should be the norm. Bergman draws upon similarities in this scene as well between the young boy (with the herdsman) who along with Ingeri witnesses the brutal slaying of Karin. The wind blows powerfully during this scene as the herdsman gathers Karin’s clothes and informs the boy that he is to keep an eye on the goats until they return. Bergman wraps the theme of innocence around the boy as well who had an inner knowing that the two herdsman meant harm to Karin, but grappled with informing her or speaking up.

The next scenes begin to close out the film but draw upon all of the themes. First, the herdsman unknowingly asks for refuge with Karin's family. The young boy is continually wrought with guilt watching the fire. A man approaches and recites almost a poetic and metaphoric comparison between emotions and nature, stating that fear and guilt are like the fire burning with "hands grope for you" "smoke when it gets out in the air [and has] the whole sky swirl about in it, but it doesn't know that" (Bergman). Bergman's point here is to call upon the quivering aspects of nature and its ties to religion because each respective creator is deemed the imagination of nature. Karin's mother prays to god and asks Karin's father, have you "never worried, never been anguished, never cried out to God" (Bergman). She is concerned about Karin not yet back and wants answers. In the Eyrbyggja Saga, prayers are consistently heard in the scene between Theorod and the foster mother, who begins to sing "a voice and a crying that bodeth us blood [...]that the horned beast in fetters is laying thy life" (Anonymous 96). The foster mother is seeking answers at the savagery and why Thorod can speak so straightforwardly about Glossy's eventual slaughtering.

One of the herdsman tries to obtain profit from Karin's mother, for a garment that Karin had on at the time of her demise. She instantly recognizes it and informs Karin's father, who then prepares to inquire as to why the herdsman has the garment. Seeing Ingeri, he desires to know and she confesses her guilt in witnessing the brutality of evil and how she willed it via the god, Odin. Karin's father tells Ingeri to prepare a warm bath and it is perceived that he is cleansing himself before he exacts his revenge on the herdsmen. It is exhibited as a consecration similarly to that in the Eyrbyggja Saga, which adds that consecration is a "custom in mythic times to mark onself" (75). Karin's father is taking matters into his own hands which speaks volumes to the religion that he professes to practice in that Bergman wants viewers to understand that all matters of religion do indeed are not as deeply rooted as often proclaimed.

Additionally, Karin's father prepares a cross-like a place and kills one of the herdsman there. Bergman particularly emphasizes the position of the herdsman as a sacrifice for Karin's death. Karin's father then kills the other herdsman and leave him amidst a burning fire. This is similar to the fire and swords illustrated throughout the Volsunga Saga as both of the herdsman "fall in the fight, borne wounds and toil unto death" (Gutman15). The young boy is also killed as well indicative of the fact that man's revenge knows no limits, in spite of the young boy only witnessing Karin’s death, but not being a participator in it. Karin’s father then asks God to have mercy on him. Bergman draws on the biblical themes of justice and mercy in this scene, seemingly casting it as an eye for an eye – the herdsman for Karin.

In the final scene, Ingeri leads Karin's mother and father, along with a few others to the place where Karin's body lies. Bergman emphasizes a raven as an omen for prophecy, which is a part of both the Christian and Norse religions. Karin's father falls on his knees before his god remarking that god "allowed it" and that he "doesn't understand" god's will, but nonetheless asks for forgiveness and vows to build a church where Karin died. Karin's mother and father pick up Karin and spring begins to flow. Bergman captures all of the themes with this illustration as water is the symbol of purity, innocence and is an element in nature.

The Virgin Spring is a demonstration of the fascination of religion and its imprint on man. Bergman demands and evokes the viewer to identify with each of the themes as devices for further discussion. The core of the film lies the conventional methods of many films on religion, but what makes the Virgin Spring different and distinct is in its association with the contrasts, conflicts, and similarities of the collision between the persistent core intellectual values of Christianity and the Norse religions and ultimately which one binds the themes together more explicitly.

Works Cited

Anonymous. "The Eyrbyggja Saga." Online posting. Search Engine.org, Web. 14 Dec. 2013. <http://www.searchengine.org.uk/ebooks/32/82.pdf>.

Anonymous. The Mabinogion. 16th. London, UK: Penguin Classics, 1976. Print.

Gutman, Robert. Volsunga Saga. First. London, UK: Collier Macmillan Ltd, 1962. Print.

The Virgin Spring. Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Janus Films, 1960. Film.