Sacrifice in Virgin Spring

Virgin Spring is a medieval ballad that has been interpreted into a deeper religious context with nuances towards the meaning of sacrifice intertwined with religion. A specific plot device within the Virgin Spring is used to drive the story as well as reinforce Freytag’s pyramid of plot development. The rape and subsequent killing of Karin who represents innocence and purity by the three herdsmen as Ingeri looks on is what drives this story and questions whether Karin represents the sacrifice as used in primitive religions.

            The journey to the church shows the building to the climatic event that this narrative circles around. From this short journey, we gather the naïve innocence of Karin as well as the favoritism showered upon her by her parents and the hateful jealousy of Ingeri. These factors contribute to the event. We see Ingeri wishing harm upon her foster sister and the precautions that Karin did not take in order to protect herself. The journey then is driven by the climatic event of Karin’s rape and death to the falling action of revelation that the herdsmen were the murders and Tore’s revenge.

            The plot device of Karin’s death could be seen as a sacrifice, but it begs the question of whether this truly signifies a sacrifice or an act of criminal activity? In Violence and the Sacred, the author references one definition of sacrifice, “that the ritual victim is an ‘innocent’ creature who pays the debt of the guilty party” (Girard 4). This definition alone describes Karin’s death for she was innocent and paid for the debts of the herdsmen. But, the article also states that religious sacrifice was also used as a means for preventative measures in order to restrict violence and hinder vengeance when no judicial system was in place. The sacrifice of Karin only caused the action of vengeance by her father, Tore, on the three herdsmen. This act of vengeance therefore causes Karin’s death to be considered not a real sacrifice in the eyes of the community. Rather, it perpetuates the cycle of revenge. But, this cycle is not seen for a transcendental force, God, acts as the supreme authority in judgment that the family follows. Though an act of revenge does take place, it is quieted by the fact of the father’s penance and redemption in order to be forgiven by God. The cycle of revenge stopped at Tore’s realization at what he did. This can almost be seen as public vengeance as related in the article where God serves as the judicial system so that escalating vengeance and ensuing chaos is prohibited. Karin’s death would not be a true sacrifice in the means of serving as a constraint on revenge by making her sacrificed innocence sacred through religion rather we see a transcendental force acting as the supreme authority to stop the chaos that revenge causes.