The song is obviously about the black plague. In medieval times, it was a popular belief that there was someone (a witch) responsible for the plague, and that if she could be found and killed, the plague would be ended. I've always felt that this song is toying with that hypothetical possibility, of there being one person responsible for the entire black plague, wandering around and spreading ruin. The only problem with this interpretation is that the song is sympathetic of her. But the narration contradicts itself, saying that mankind will suffer "if she gets her way."
It actually reminds me of a scene in Ingmar Bergman's movie "The Seventh Seal," in which the main character, a knight who has just returned from the crusades, sympathetically watches a witch being burned alive, and is powerless to help her.
For this reason, I think the narrator is meant to have some irrational love of the woman who is "the dark." Perhaps he's in love with her?
The song is obviously about the black plague. In medieval times, it was a popular belief that there was someone (a witch) responsible for the plague, and that if she could be found and killed, the plague would be ended. I've always felt that this song is toying with that hypothetical possibility, of there being one person responsible for the entire black plague, wandering around and spreading ruin. The only problem with this interpretation is that the song is sympathetic of her. But the narration contradicts itself, saying that mankind will suffer "if she gets her way."
It actually reminds me of a scene in Ingmar Bergman's movie "The Seventh Seal," in which the main character, a knight who has just returned from the crusades, sympathetically watches a witch being burned alive, and is powerless to help her.
For this reason, I think the narrator is meant to have some irrational love of the woman who is "the dark." Perhaps he's in love with her?
Either way, this song is fantastic.