jungfrukälla

Swedish

Alternative forms

• Jungfrukälla

Etymology

jungfru(“virgin, maiden”)+‎källa(“spring, source”);according to a folk story three men once attacked three sisters in the forest, but rather than letting the men have their way with them, the sisters committed suicide by banging their heads against birch trees, and three springs arose from their blood. The story is associated with several locations in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Faroe Islands. There are local variations to the story.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈjʉŋfrʉːˌɕɛlˌa/

Noun

jungfrukällac

1. (folklore)Aspring,usually one of a group of three, which is believed to have come into existence due to a tragic death of a maiden.
   • 1875,Christoffer Eichhorn, “Äldre svenska folkvisor”, inSvenska fornminnesföreningens tidskrift,volume 2, Stockholm: P.A. Nordstedt & Söner, page78:

     Egendomsherren på Engagården hette fordomdags Truls, och hans maka Signe. De hade sex barn, tre af hvart kön. Sönerne blefvo i ungdomen spådde, att de skulle misshandla sina systrar. För att hindra detta, förde fadren dem långt upp åt landet. Sedan de blifvit vuxna, komma de till hemorten, utan att veta att de der voro födde. Händelsevis mötte de i skogen trenne flickor som skulle gå till ottesången i Norrhveddinge kyrka, och visste ej att de voro deras systrar. De våldtogo flickorna och slogo dem ihjel. På stället der detta hände, uppsprungoJungfrukällorna.

     Long time ago, the owner of Engagården was Truls and his wife was Signe. They had six children, three of each sex. When the sons were young it was forecast that they would violate their sisters. In order to prevent this, the father sent them far away to another part of the country. When they had grown up, they came to their homestead, without knowing that they were born there. They met in the forest three girls who were on their way to Christmas Eve's morning service at the church of Norrhveddinge, and did not know that they were their sisters. They raped the girls and killed them. On the site where this happened sprang up theVirgin Springs.

Usage notes

• Ingmar Bergmanhas directed a filmJungfrukällan( "The Virgin Spring") which is based on this legend.
• This term is not common enough to be recognized in the Swedish Academy's dictionary[1].

Declension

Declension ofjungfrukälla

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	jungfrukälla	jungfrukällas
	definite	jungfrukällan	jungfrukällans
plural	indefinite	jungfrukällor	jungfrukällors
	definite	jungfrukällorna	jungfrukällornas

See also

• källjungfru

Further reading

• jungfrukällainSvensk ordbok.