She looked scared, which is understandable. She makes some hints early on to Karin that her pregnancy was not due to consensual sex. She comments that if the boy Karin likes wanted to have sex with her, she wouldn't be able to stop him. And she just got groped by that old man in the mill, which freaked her out. It's unrealistic to expect to her to go striding in there like Wonder Woman with no weapons against two men and save the other girl, especially when she's, what, six or even eight months pregnant? I mean, jeez, she looks ready to have the baby right there.
As for as whether the father's action was justice or revenge, for that time and place, it's both. Scandinavia was not that long out of paganism by that time and familial/clan law was still important. If someone killed a member of your family, your family had the right and duty to exact revenge. You see this in the Icelandic sagas from around this time.
The boy may be technically innocent, but medieval people tended to think of each other in terms of groups and group association rather than as individuals. As one of three brothers, two of whom raped and murdered a young girl, whether or not he participated, too, is a moot point. The father would have the right to kill or not kill him as he saw fit. And if he didn't, well...the boy wouldn't last in the woods by himself unless someone took him in.
I think what makes him seem so tragic and sympathetic is that we see his guilt.
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