Töres dotter i Wänge

"Töres dotter i Wänge" ("Töre's daughter in Vänge"), "Per Tyrssons döttrar i Vänge" ("Per Tyrsson's daughters in Vänge"), etc., is a medieval Swedish ballad on which Ingmar Bergman's "The Virgin Spring" is based. [http://193.10.144.135/(S(kvalqj55s20o3o30yjrmuv55))/faktablad.aspx?Id=4608 "Jungfrukällan"] in the database of the Swedish film institute.]

The location Vänge is in Malmskogen in Östergötland, Sweden. In the early 19th century, Erik Gustaf Geijer noted that people in the surrounding area still told numerous legends about the tragic events related in the ballad. A manuscript from 1673 reported the existence of the well of Vänge ("Vänge brunn"), which appeared at the spot where the young maidens in the story lost their heads. An old forest smithy in the vicinity was held to be still haunted at midnight by the apparitions of the young girls. [http://books.google.se/books?id=7Y8rAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA194&lpg=PA194&dq=%22kaller+var+deras+skog%22&source=web&ots=-9btA3MwMG&sig=vWFzZo7xxYKP2bt-LkJGj56PoQo&hl=sv#PPA193,M1 Geijer, E. G. (1816). "Svenska folk-visor från forntiden" p. 193ff.] ]

Ballad

The ballad as recorded by Geijer:

Notes and references