Character Analysis
Miri's father is a model papa bear, always there to save his little girls. When Marda gets hurt in a quarry accident, he immediately rushes in to save her, and when Miri questions why he doesn't let her work in the quarries, Doter explains that it's because he couldn't bear the possibility of Miri getting hurt. It's not that he doubts her abilities at all; it's just that he wants to keep her safe.
True to form, when the princess academy is held hostage by bandits, Miri's pa rushes through the snow in order to save his little girl. He'll do anything for her:
She saw now that he would do whatever she needed—fight to dying, or lower his mallet, or even believe Peder's strange tale of quarry-speech spoken miles away. He had run through a snowstorm in the middle of the night to save his little girl. (23.4)
That, dear Shmoopsters, is unconditional love if we've ever seen it.