INTRODUCTION
Richard Wagner’s `Der Ring des Nibelungen’ is a tetralogy, because it consists of four operas, called by him `the Evening (Der Vorabend), and four `days’ (Erster, Zweiter, Dritter Tag). This does not mean at all that the action takes place within four days. He knew that this would be exacting. But his original idea was that the performances should take place in his Festspielhaus at Bayreuth, expressly built for the Ring (and other Wagner operas). It is almost a pagan cult, to be celebrated annually. The audience would be there on holiday; during the day they could rest, walk along the lanes, and drink tea.
What Wagner wanted was that the Ring should be performed on four successive days. The last time I saw it performed was in the Music Theatre of Amsterdam, in September 2005, under the incomparable direction by Pierre Audi. Here the four days became eight, with two intervals of one day, and one of two days. A concentration on four days – about sixteen hours of opera - would be too exacting, because people have to work in the daytime.
The Ring is a myth, not an ordinary story about human beings and daily events; as it behoves a true myth it is cyclical, for it ends where it begun: in the waters of the Rhine. The spectator must leave everything behind, his ordinary daily life, and enter a mythical world of gods and heroes. Audi impressed this on the audience in this way. When all were seated, all the lights went out (with the exception of the signs `out’). There was total darkness for about a minute; sixteen hundred and thirty-three people sat in complete silence; not a sigh was heard. During this minute the audience crossed the distance between their normal lives and Wagner’s mythical world. Then a little light was seen at the tip of the conductor’s baton, and we heard the first of the more than hundred motives of the Ring, the Rhein- und Wellenmotiv. More lights went on, in the orchestra and on the stage. The audience had then arrived there where Wagner would have it.
The four operas of this cycle show to us the slow decay of the gods, of God. They are the artistic expression of Nietzsche’s mot: ‘God is dead’. From act to act, from opera to opera, Wotan, the ruler of all, gods and men, is on the retreat. In The Rhinegold he is still all-powerful; in the Valkyries his wife Fricka sternly berates him, he is no longer larger than life. In Siegfried he has become nameless, the Wanderer. In The Twilight of the Gods he had no longer a role. Wagner’s vision of history, of the course of the world, is neither linear not optimistic, neither `holistic’ nor a success story. “My poem”, wrote the composer, “shows you the world in unveiled truth with all the oppositions therein.” When, in the closing scene of The Twilight of the Gods, the burning Valhalla sinks into the flooded Rhine, under the thundering tutti of the orchestra, we know that we saw a tale of utter failure, of a fatal course of events ending in a fearful catastrophe.
THE DRAMATIS PERSONAE
The figures appearing on the stage belong to four different planes.
1.The plane of the gods and demigods
a. The gods
b. The demigods
2. The plane of the dwarfs, the giants, and the watersprites
3. The plane of the heroes
4. The plane of the ordinary people
Ordinary people have the most modest role of all in the Ring. They appear only in the last scene of Twilight of the Gods, to witness, speechless, the collapse of the Valhalla.
FAMILY RELATIONS
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Incestuous relationships:
THE LOCATIONS
THE SYMBOLS
THE STORY
DER VORABEND; DAS RHEINGOLD
Scene I
The Rheintöchter are splashing around in the Rhine, singing lustily. Alberich comes near, stumbling over the slippery rocks in the river. What he wants is to have love with the girls. The Rheintöchter know – their father Rhine has told them this – that only one who has renounced love, may find the gold. Love and power do not go hand in hand. Since Alberich lusts after the girls, the gold is unapproachable for him; the girls do what they can to stimulate his desire. Suddenly the sunlight breaks through the clouds; Alberich now sees the gold sparkling on the bottom of the river. Wellgunde tells him that the one who can forge a ring from the gold will inherit the whole world. Woglinde adds that only one who abjures love may have the gold. To Alberich this presents no problem, since he burns with lust, but unexpectedly he curses love. He catches the gold and disappears with it to Nibelheim.
Scene II
The sun rises. We are on a mountain meadow. Higher on the mountain we see the Valhalla, the new palace of the gods, now ready to receive them. Deep down we see the Rhine in the valley. Wotan and Fricka are sleeping on the grass of the meadow. The god is dreaming of eternal power and endless fame. His wife wakes him up, saying: `Come to yourself!’ She does not like this talk of honour and power and fame. But Wotan directs his gaze to the castle, glorifying in it. Fricka, who constantly wants to take her husband a peg or two down, reminds him of the security he has promised to get Valhalla built. The castle has been built by the two giants, Fafner and Fasolt, who have asked for Freija as their wage for their work. He has carved the terms on the agreement on his spear, and there is no going back on it. Fricka reproaches him this; nothing is sacred to men, if they are lusting for power. Wotan retorts that he has sacrificed one of his eyes to win her. She was only prepared to marry him, when he made himself a spear from a branch of the Weltesche. Their union is not one based on love, but on a common interest. But, so he reassures his wife, never for a moment he considered keeping his promise to the giants. Delivering Freia to the giants was an idea of Loge, and he will know a means to dodge the agreement. Wotan obviously does not realize that he makes himself tributary to the fire god; he is not so powerful as he believes himself.
The anguished Freia appears, persecuted by the giants. They ask that she must delivered to them; they have kept their part of the contract by building the castle; now Wotan must keep his promise. But he refuses: “Freia is not for sale”. What, says Fasolt, are the runes on your spear only a plaything for you? Contract is contract! Fasolt and Fafner both have a different motivation for taking the beautiful Freia with them. Fasolt wants love, but Fafner desires to have the golden apples that are growing in Freia’s garden. The gods will enjoy eternal youth as long as they can eat these apples; if not, they will soon become old and weak. This is a major threat: Fafner is aiming at their very existence. And no Loge in sight! Freia’s brothers Donner and Froh try to defend her, ready to use violence, but Wotan forbids this: contract is contract indeed. The desperate girl now believes that Wotan is deserting her.
Unexpectedly Loge turns up, climbing up out of the valley. He suggests that he has no solution for the problem, which makes Freia’s brothers extremely angry. He comes, however. with a message from the Rheintöchter. They told him that Alberich has stolen the Rhinegold; they ask Wotan to help them so that the gold will be returned to where it belongs. You fool, says Wotan, I have my own problems; how can I help others? Yet the wily Loge knows what he is doing. The gold interests all those present. Fafner asks Loge what the value is of the gold, and the firegod answers that the one who can make a ring from it will acquire power over the whole world. This is an idea that also attracts Wotan, while Fricka already thinks of the jewellery that can be made of it. The problem, however is, that Alberich is in possession of the gold and that he is not there. How can I get the gold?, asks Wotan. Well, says Loge, he robbed it, you rob it from him. That the god the ring, once he has it, will give to the giants or return it, with the gold, to the Rheintöchter, becomes increasingly improbable. Then the giants seize Freia and take her with them. They will free her, if they will have the ring and the gold before the evening. If not, she must stay with them. This perspective is horrifying, for without her the gods must do without the apples, that is, lose their youth and beauty.
Scene III
Accompanied by Loge, Wotan descends into the valley, ever deeper down, until he comes to Nibelheim. Loge is at home in both worlds, for he is the son of a god and a Nibelung. Under Alberich’s harsh direction the Nibelungs – a people of dwarfs – are busy quarrying gold in the subterraneous corridors; costly is as it is, nevertheless this gold does not have the exceptional properties of the Rhinegold. From this gold Alberich, who is a smith, has made the ring that will give him power over all the world. He appears drawing his brother Mime, who is also a smith, with him. Mime has made the Tarnhelm, the helmet that makes its wearer invisible. Alberich takes it from him; when invisible, he can spy on the Nibelungs to his heart’s content. As a first test he makes himself invisible and gives his brother a good beating.
Wotan and Loge appear on the scene; they ask Mime what makes his brother so powerful, and he tells them that this is because of the ring. Alberich tells Wotan and Loge about his plans. With the ring he can subject the whole world to his power; he will lead an army of Nibelungs against the gods and triumph over them; he then will satisfy his lusts with the goddesses. From now on Wotan knows that he and the gods are in danger. Loge asks Alberich to give a demonstration with the Tarnhelm. Can he assume any shape he wants? Of course he can, he puts on the helm and changes himself into a big snake. Fine, says Loge, but you also change yourself into a very small animal? Then Alberich changes himself into a toad. Wotan and Loge seize the animal; when Alberich is his normal self, he discovers that he is bound with cords. Taking him with them, Wotan and Loge leave Nibelheim and return to the upper world.
Scene IV
Alberich curses himself that he was stupid enough to do what Loge asked him. Wotan tells him that he will be set free, if he gives much gold – the gold he needs to buy off the giants and to free Freia. Gold is no problem for Alberich; there is enough down there, and as long as he has the ring, he can make the Nibelungs quarry it. By means of the ring he sends a message to Nibelheim, and the dwarfs soon appear with a large quantity of gold. He wants the Tarnhelm back, but Loge makes it clear to him that it is part of the booty. Again no problem, with the help of the ring he can make a new helm. However, Wotan says that the ring too is part of booty. If he does not give the ring, he will not be set free. Take what you will, screams Alberich, take my life, but not the ring. Using violence, Wotan tears it from Alberich’s finger. “Now I have what will make me the most powerful of all powerful lords.” Yet Alberich is not at the end of his tether. He curses the ring; whoever is wearing it will meet death. “I got it through cursing myself; now I lay a curse on it.” He disappears into the valley.
From one side Fasolt and Fafner arrive, bringing Freia with them, from the other Fricka, Donner and Froh. How much gold do you want?, asks Wotan the giants. Just as much as the length of Freia’s shape, is the answer. They plant their staves on both sides of the goddess; Loge and Froh begin heaping op gold around Freia. Fafner repeatedly protests that he still sees a chink; he wants to have the wall of gold perfectly tight. When there is no more gold, there is still a hole; it is, to Wotan’s chagrin, stopped with the Tarnhelm. There is still a small hole, says Fasolt, I can see Freia’s eye. To the dismay of all the gods, Fasolt says that it must be stopped with the ring. Ask what you want, says Wotan, but not the ring. But no ring, no Freia.
At this moment the earth opens and the earthgoddess Erda appears. She admonishes Wotan to cede the ring; it will bring nothing but misery. “All that is will end. A dark day dawns for the gods. I advice you, avoid the ring.” Wotan really gives the ring to the giants, and Freia is freed.
Immediately the giants begin to quarrel over the booty; the one will have more of the gold than the other. And Fasolt puts the ring on his finger. They fight over it; Fafner kills his brother with one stroke. He disappears with the gold, the Tarnhelm and the ring. It has caused its first victim. But Fricka tells him that they all should go to the Valhalla. The dark clouds in which it is enveloped are swept away by Donner’s hammer. A rainbow appears, reaching unto the castle, splendid in the rays of the evening sun. Wotan takes Fricka by the hand; followed by Freia, Donner and Froh, he ascends over the rainbow-bridge to the Valhalla. Loge, however, does not accompany them; he knows that the gods are approaching their end. The voices of the Rheintöchter are heard, deploring the loss of the gold. Angrily Wotan orders Loge to silence them, but the last word is for them: the gold is only good deep down in the waters of the Rhine; everywhere else it will cause misery.
ERSTER TAG, DIE WALKÜRE
Wotan does not stay long in the Valhalla. Still smarting because of the loss of the ring, he knows now how to have his revenge. The problem is that he himself, and the other gods, are bound by the runes of his spear to what he has promised. Yet somebody else may act in his name and in his place. He plans to beget a son with an earthly woman, a young hero; he will give him an invincible weapon with which he will kill Fafner. However, Alberich has exactly the same idea: he too will beget a son with an earthly woman; this son will kill the giant and make away with the ring. Wotan descends into the depths of the earth where he finds Erda, the all-knowing. She has the same sombre message for him. The god forces her to have sex with him, against her wishes; Brünnhilde and the eight Valkyries are their daughters. The Valkyries’ task is to bring the bodies of fallen heroes to Valhalla, where they can fight for Wotan.
From Wotan’s union with an earthly woman he has not only a son, Siegmund, but also a daughter, Sieglinde; they are twins. During his stay on earth the god calls himself Wälse (or Wolfe), so that his children are the Wälsungen. Wotan personally trains his son for the task that is awaiting him. He has, however, many enemies. Once, returning home with his son, he finds his house destroyed, his wife killed and his daughter disappeared. This is the work of the Neidingen, who pursue father and son through the woods; they lose one another from sight, and Siegmund is now alone, in the middle of the woods.
The Neidingen, who abducted Sieglinde, married her to one of their tribe, Hunding, who happens to be Alberich’s son. Wotan, who is unrecognisable then, appears during the marriage festivities. He pushes a large sword into the stem of the ash tree, around which Hunding’s house is built. This sword will be the possession of the one who proves strong enough to draw it from the tree. All the guests try their luck, but not one of them is strong enough.
Act I, Scene I
Siegmund, erring through the woods, has lost his way during a heavy thunderstorm. We see him approach Hunding’s house. He goes in and sits at the hearth. Hunding is not at home, but Sieglinde gives him a drink. Sieglinde tells him how unhappy she is in her marriage with Hunding.
Act I, Scene II
Sieglinde’s husband comes home and is not pleased to find a foreigner at his hearth. Siegmund says that his name is Wehwalt and relates the story of his life to his host. Hunding realizes that the man who is sitting at his hearth is his enemy. He knows, however, that, as the man’s host, he has a duty to him. He allows him to stay the night, but the night morning he will fight a duel with him. He then goes to his sleeping room.
Act I, Scene III
Somewhat later Sieglinde returns and tells Siegmund that a foreigner has pushed his sword into the tree; she now realizes that this foreigner was her father. Both discover how much they resemble one another; soon it is evident to them that they are brother and sister. They are in love form the first moment; she now calls her brother by his proper name. Siegmund draws the sword from the tree and calls it Nothung. Together they flee.
Act II, Scene I
We are transferred to a rock on the slope of which Wotan stands, fully armed, with his spear, ready for battle. Brünnhilde arrives and tells him that Fricka is coming. There she is already, on a wagon drawn by two he-goats. She has heard that Sieglinde has eloped with Siegmund and that they are having an incestuous love-affair. As the goddess of marriage she cannot tolerate this; the couple must be punished. According to Wotan, there is nothing wrong with their love. The couple will give him the hero he needs. Their love may be incestuous, but this transgression of a taboo is made good by the fact that they truly love one another, whereas Sieglinde’s marriage with Hunding was loveless. Fricka is not convinced. This love is upsetting the order of things. She severely berates her husband for his constant infidelity.
Wotan retorts that he has no choice. He needs Siegmund’s and Sieglinde’s offspring to fight Alberich and to recover the ring from Fafner; he cannot do this himself, because he is bound by a treaty with Fafner. Fricka does not give in. She requires from Wotan that Brünnhilde must fight on Hunding’s side in the forthcoming duel; only with her help Hunding will be able to defeat his enemy, who is in the possession of the invincible sword Nothung. She forces her husband to swear that he and his daughter will not assist Siegmund; he must be killed.
Act II, Scene II
Brünnhilde returns and sees how depressed her father is. He confesses to her that the urge to love has since long left him, what he now wants is power. He tells her that he possessed the ring, but only for a short time, because he had to give it to Fafner. He also tells her how much he needs the hero who will be born form Sieglinde; he must prevent Alberich from recovering the ring form Fafner and then defeat the dragon. Wotan laments that he, the supreme godhead, is not free, because he is bound by his treaty with Fafner and also by his promise to his wife. And because he has worn the ring, he is under the spell of Alberich’s curse; he cannot love and can in consequence not protect Siegmund, his own blood. What he wants is the end of all; he knows that Alberich will bring this about.
Wotan then orders to do what Fricka wants, namely, to fight with Hunding against Siegmund. Brünnhilde refuses to do his; she reminds him that Siegmund is his son. But he peremptorily commands her to obey; should she be disobedient, he will be forced to severely punish her. Yet his daughter does not promise this.
Act II, Scene III
The fleeing couple Siegmund/Sieglinde arrive at the rock, where Wotan and Brünnhilde had their discussion. The god has gone, but Brünnhilde is still there. Siegmund will fight Hunding. but Sieglinde wants him to continue to flee. She is extremely fearful and deems herself unworthy of Siegmund’s love, because she has slept with the loveless Hunding. Her lover assures her that his invincible sword Nothung will revenge her on Hunding. She then faints.
Act II, Scene IV
Brünnhilde appears, armed with shield and spear, and leading her horse Grane at the rein. She tells Siegmund that he is going to die and that she will bring him to Valhalla. Sieglinde, however, must stay on earth. Hearing this, Siegmund answers that he will stay with Sieglinde. Brünnhilde warns him that Hunding will kill him. No, says Sigmund, I have the invincible sword Nothung. He realizes that he is lost, when Brünnhilde reveals to him that the first possessor of the sword (Wotan) wants his death.
Brünnhilde is confronted with a dilemma. She has sworn to Wotan that she will not protect Siegmund, but she will also help him. She proposes to him that she will take Sieglinde with her to take care of her, for she is pregnant. Stunned by this news, he decides to kill Sieglinde with Nothung and then himself. Deeply moved, Brünhildre resolves to betray Wotan and to help Siegmund in his fight with Hunding.
Act II, Scene V The sky has become dark; a thunderstorm is coming. Hunding arrives with his men, and Siegmund says a loving farewell to Sieglinde. Siegmund and Hunding fight. Just at the moment that Siegmund is going to kill his opponent with Nothung, Wotan appears, who breaks the sword with his spear. Then Hunding drives his sword into Siegmund’s breast. Brünnhilde lifts Sieglinde on Grane and flees with her. Then Wotan curses Hunding who drops down dead.
Act III, Scene I The Valkyries arrive, who find Brünnhilde and Sieglinde. The woman asks the Valkyries to save her. Brünnhilde advises her to flee eastward through the woods. She does so, taking the pieces of Siegmund’s sword with her. The furious Wotan arrives in a heavy storm, looking for Brünnhilde, who is hiding behind the Valkyries.
Act III, Scene II. The god tells them that Brünnhilde has been disobedient and must be punished. Not wanting to expose the Valkyries to Wotan’s rage, his daughter steps forward and falls down before her father’s feet, after which the terrorized Valkyries mount their horses and disappear.
Act III, Scene III. A long conversation between father and daughter follows. Knowing that Wotan actually wanted to spare Siegmund’s life and that he was acting at Fricka’s orders, she asks him what she did wrong. Did she not do what her father really wanted her to do? Wotan acknowledges that this is true, but also complains that he has to act against his deepest wish, which is to save Siegmund and Sieglinde, and the child Sieglinde has conceived. However, the ring has been in his possession, he is under a curse, through Alberich’s curse: he has become unable to love and to protect those he loves. He must kill those he loves, as he did Siegmund. What he wants is to preserve his power, or rather, he wants his end. Brünnhilde acted out of love, and her father cannot condone this.
Her punishment will be that she will be a prey for every man who finds her. Brünnhilde intervenes by telling him something about the Wälsungs. Sieglinde is safe, with the child in her womb. She has the sword Nothung; she will bear a new hero, who can handle that sword. She gets a concession from her father: not every man will be able to approach and possess her. At her request a wall of fire will be erected around her sleeping body. Only a hero who knows no fear will be able to go through the fire and awake her. Wotan acquiesces in this request. Brünnhilde stretches herself on a rock and is brought in sleep by her father. Then Wotan evokes Loge, and with his help erects a wall of fire around her.
ZWEITER TAG, SIEGFRIED
The pregnant Sieglinde is found by Mime, Alberich’s brother, somewhere in the woods and brought by him to his cave that he uses as his smithy. Sieglinde dies in childbirth. Her child is Siegfried, who remains in the cave and is raised by Mime. Not far from there is another cave, where Fafner lives. With the help of the Tarnhelm he has changed himself into a dragon. Before she died, Sieglinde revealed to Mime who her son is. The dwarf hopes that he once can use him to kill the dragon, so that the ring will be his. The pieces of Nothung also remain in his possession, but he is unable to fit them together.
Act I, Scene I
Siegfried loathes Mime, who pretends to be his father, but he knows that this dwarf cannot be the father of a fine young man like himself. Mime complains about his ingratitude, because he has been father and mother to him. Why does Mime not have he wife, Siegfried asks, who was his mother? When Siegfried threatens to strangle him, he tells him that his mother was the pregnant woman he found in the woods and who died in childbirth. Pressed still more by Siegfried, Mine says that his mother’s name was Sieglinde and that his father has been killed. Then Mime shows him the sword that he has always kept hidden. Siegfried orders him to repair it; when it will be ready, he will take it with him and leave Mime. He disappears into the woods. Mime is in a quandary. He knows he cannot repair the sword, and also that, if Siegfried takes it with him, he will have no chance to kill Fafner and find the ring.
Act I, Scene II The one who comes in is not Siegfried, but Wotan. He has become nameless, for he is now the `Wanderer’. He is also unrecognisable, because his face is almost covered by a very big hat. He knows that Siegfried exists, but he is unable to influence him. Nevertheless, he needs him, because Siegfried can deliver him from the curse, on the condition, that is, that the young man can make himself master of the ring. The Wanderer is not welcome to Mime, who does not want to have competitors. He allows Mime to put three questions to him; if he cannot answer them, Mime may do what he likes with him, even kill him. Wotan, however, can answer Mime’s questions. Mime begins to realize who his guest is, especially when Wotan puts three questions to him, on the same condition: Wotan may kill him if he is unable to answer them. Mime answers the first two questions, but fails with regard to the third: who will be able to repair the sword Nothung? The answer is: someone who does not know what fear is. Although Mime is now in Wotan’s power, the god lets go the desperately afraid dwarf.
Act I, Scene III. Siegfried returns. Mime fears that he will be the one who does not know what fear is; he therefore wants to teach the young man to be afraid. He hopes that Siegfried will accompany him to Fafner’s cave; the sight of this horrifying dragon will doubtless make him afraid. Siegfried, and this is Mime’s fatal error, says that he is ready to confront Fafner, but that he can only fight him with Nothung. Mime believes that Siegfried will not be able to forge the two parts together, but the young man has a better plan. He casts the sword anew on a hot fire. This makes Mime gets deadly afraid; he resolves to kill the young hero by means of a poisoned potion, which he brews while Siegfried is working on the sword. Then it is he who will have the Nibelungen ring, so that he will be the master of the world. .
Act II, Scene I We see Alberich near Fafner’s cave; he hopes he can prevent Siegfried from winning the ring and gives it to Wotan. Then Wotan appears in the shape of the Wanderer, to Alberich’s great dismay. Wotan tells him that he is by no means powerless: with his spear he can subject any Nibelung to his will. The god realizes however that he himself cannot win the ring; he is there to see to it that Siegfried will succeed in this. Alberich then attempts to awaken the dragon, but the monster will not be disturbed. Warned that Siegfried is coming to kill him, he rejoices that he will eat him. Wotan departs in a storm. Alberich hates the gods more than ever.
Act II, Scene II Alberich hides himself, when Siegfried, accompanied by Mime, arrives at the cave. The young man must wait until Fafner leaves his home at midday, when he goes to the well in order to drink. He realizes that the ugly dwarf can impossibly be his father. While he is quietly waiting, he hears a bird singing, a wood bird, the Waldvögelchen. The bird has obviously something to tell him, but he is unable to understand the language of the birds. When he blows his horn, Fafner becomes curious and leaves his cave. He has no chance against Siegfried who promptly stabs him. The dying Fafner reveals that he has killed his brother Fasolt and that he is in the possession of the ring and the treasure.
Siegfried gets some dragon’s blood on his fingers and this enables him to understand the Waldvögelchen. The bird tells him that the ring and the treasure are in the cave; the possession of the ring will make him the world’s master. Siegfried did not know this. He enters the cave and comes out of it with the ring, the treasure and the Tarnhelm. He still does not realize that the ring makes him the master of the world.
Act II, Scene III Once again Siegfried hears the Waldvögelchen who warns him against the treacherous Mime. Alberich and Mime are near; the dwarf presents his potion to Siegfried, for he will be thirsty. Did the dragon make you afraid, he asks? By manner of an answer the young man kills the dwarf with Nothung; He throws the body into the cave. We hear the loud laughing Alberich run away. For the last time Siegfried hears the bird. He asks the bird if he knows a good companion for him, for he is always alone. The bird says that somewhere on a rock a highly desirable women lies sleeping. If he succeeds in crossing the ring of fire that surrounds him, she will be his. Only one who knows no fear can do this. Siegfried, says the bird, will experience a great love, but this love will also cause pain.
Act III, Scene I Wotan evokes the earth-goddess Erda from the depth where she is sleeping; unwillingly she rises halfway up. She tells him that he should ask the Norns, not her, about what is going to happen. But the god wants to know whether his downfall can be prevented, and how. Ask our daughter Brünnhilde, says Erda, she knows. Wotan tells her that Brünnhilde is lying in a deep sleep, because she has been disobedient to him. Erda reacts indignantly. Perhaps Wotan still thinks that he is a god, but this he is no longer. He is powerless. The furious Wotan tells her that her end is also near. He has no fear, for since Alberich has lost the ring, the god is no longer under the curse. Let the end come, he says, I am not afraid. He himself will awaken Brünnhilde, so that she can return the ring to the Rhine. Then Siegfried will take his place. Erda sinks back into the earth.
Act III, Scene II Erring through the woods, Siegfried meets Wotan. He tells him that he has repaired Nothung and killed Fafner and Mime; at the instigation of the Waldvögelchen he is now looking for Brünnhilde. Siegfried does not know that he is speaking with the supreme god. Why does he have only one eye? The god answers that he lost an eye, when he broke of a branch for the world ash, to make his spear from it. Not knowing that Wotan is his grandfather, the young man shows no respect to him, which makes the god angry. This adventurous young hero should not be allowed to awaken Brünnhilde, for if he does, the god loses the last remnants of his power. When Wotan tries to stop him with his spear, Siegfried hacks it into pieces. Now the god has become utterly powerless; the only thing he can do is to return to Valhalla there to await the end.
Act III, Scene III The fearless Siegfried crosses the fire circle around the sleeping Brünnhilde. On the rock he finds a horse and a sleeping person. A man? With his sword he cuts away the armour, and see, Es ist ein Weib!, a woman. And now at last Siegfried becomes afraid. When he kisses her, she awakens from her deep sleep. For a moment he believes that he has found his mother, but Brünnhilde informs her about her past and his past; she already loved him before he was born. Together they sing ecstatically their love.
DRITTER TAG, THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS
Prelude While Siegfried and Brünnhilde lie sleeping on the rock, we see the Norns weaving the thread of life. They tell what has happened and what we do not know yet. When Wotan had cut a branch from the world ash, the tree withered away. This means that the source of wisdom has dried up. After the god’s return to Valhalla he has ordered to cut the dead tree into pieces; the blocks lie piled up against the walls of Valhalla. Wotan will kill Loge, the fire god, and throw his burning corpse on the wood blocks, so that Valhalla will go up in flames. Then the thread breaks; this too is a result of Alberich’s curse. The terrified Norns disappear into the earth; no longer is there wisdom to be had.
When the sun rises, Siegfried and Brünnhilde awake. She makes her lover unvulnerable by means of runic incantations. Yet the fact that she loves the young hero does not remain without consequences: she loses her power to Siegfried and is no longer wise and knowing. He then gives her the ring; in exchange Brünnhilde gives him her horse Grane. While the woman remains on the rock, Siegfried, fully armoured, departs on Grane.
Act I, Scene I We are in the castle of Gibichungen on the shores of the Rhine. Its ancestor Gibich married Grimhilde, with whom he has a son, Gunther, and a daughter, Gutrune. Gunther is a mighty ruler along the Rhine. Gunther has a half-brother, Hagen, who is born from an extra-marital relationship of Grimhilde with Alberich. The Nibelung needs the son to recover the ring for him. Hagen wants indeed to have the ring, but for himself, not for his father. He is jealous of his powerful half-brother. In order to get what he wants to have, he acts as a marriage broker: Gutrune must marry Siegfried and Gunther must marry Brünnhilde. Gunther protests: he does not want to oppose Siegfried; he will not be able to win the ring and the treasure from him. Hagen further reveals his plan. When Siegfried comes, he must go for Brünnhilde and bring her to the castle; then he will be given a potion that make him forget Brünnhilde and fall in love with Gutrune. Gunther and Gutrune agree.
Act I, Scene II When Siegfried arrives in a boat, Hagen receives him in a friendly way and introduces him to his family. Siegfried shows him the Tarnhelm and says that he does not know what it is for; Hagen explains that the thing can help him to assume every shape he wants to have. Then Siegfried tells him that he has given the ring to Brünnhilde. This causes a problem for Hagen: Siegfried and Brünnhilde are obviously in love with one another; Hagen decides that Gunther and Gutrune must not know anything about Siegfried’s past. Quickly he lets the potion come which Gutrune offers to Siegfried. It works immediately. He falls in love with the beautiful Gutrune, who in her turn feels charmed by the young hero. Siegfried offers to go and fetch Brünnhilde from the rock in order to give her to Gunther; the Tarnhelm will help him to pose as Gunther. Gunther and Siegfried conclude blood brotherhood. Hagen is not interested; what he wants is the ring. Gunther and Siegfried depart for the rock.
Act I, Scene III We see Brünnhilde sitting on the rock and admiring the ring. Then Waltraute arrives. She tells her that Wotan has returned to Valhalla, where he sits brooding and speechless; he has sent out his two ravens and hopes that they will return with good news. There can be only one good news: that Brünnhilde has given the ring to the Rheintöchter. Waltraute implores her sister to do this, but she refuses: to her the ring is the pledge of Siegfried’s love. The desperate Waltraute departs. Then a strange figure approaches; it is Siegfried, but, with the help of the Tarnhelm, disguised as Gunther. Brünnhilde is painfully astonished, because she does not understand how somebody else than Siegfried can have crossed the wall of flames. Imitating Gunther’s voice Siegfried tells her that he will take her with him to become his (Gunther’s) bride. Brünnhilde feels that she has been betrayed and reproaches Wotan for this. When Siegfried tries to overpower her, she defends herself with the help of the ring. Siegfried attempts to take it from her finger; when they fight, she sees his eyes and recognizes her lover. He can now lead her to Brünnhilde’s bed, but lays Nothung between them in order not to violate his oath to Hagen. He takes the ring from her finger.
Act II, Scene I Hagen sits waiting for Siegfried’s return but the one who arrives is Alberich. He reminds his son of their common hatred for the gods. They are near the final triumph, Wotan is powerless, and the whole family of the gods will be soon destroyed. Then they, Alberich and Hagen, will be the lords of the world. It will, however, be necessary to eliminate Siegfried. Hagen has not the slightest intention to share the promised power with Alberich. Brünnhilde must be prevented from giving the ring to the Rheintöchter. Alberich departs, not knowing his son’s secret plans.
Act II, Scene II Siegfried arrives. He tells Hagen that his mission has been successful: Brünnhilde will be Gunther’s bride. He asks for Gutrune, who, called by Hagen, immediately comes in. She is upset by the news that Siegfried has spent the night with Brünnhillde, but hearing that Nothung kept them separate, she is satisfied.
Act II. Scene III Hagen summons his retainers, his Mannen, to celebrate with them the double wedding, of Siegfried and Gutrune, and of Brünnhilde and Gunther.
Act II, Scene IV Gunther and Brünnhilde arrive by boat. She is unhappy and disturbed, because she sees Sigfried with another woman at his side; he does not even recognize her and tells her that her husband will be Gunther. Then she sees the ring at his finger and realizes that she has been betrayed. She raises her voice and tells everyone that Siegfried is her husband and that she slept with him. Siegfried denies, but Gunther begins to doubt. The Mannen propose that both Siegfried and Brünnhilde swear on Hagen’s spear that they haven spoken the truth. Because Siegfried has forgot his past, he swears: he did not touch Brünnhilde, which is true. Lightheartedly he leads Gutrune to the hall where the wedding dinner will take place. Brünnhilde and Gunther are both angry; both will have their revenge, but Brünnhilde does not want Hagen to kill Siegfried. Yet she reveals to Hagen that Siegfried has a weak spot in his back, where he can be fatally hit. With some difficulty Gunther is made a party to the plan to kill Siegfried.
Act III, Scene I The next morning Hagen, Gunther and Siegfried ride out for a hunting party. Siegfried loses contact with them and finds himself on the banks of the Rhine, where he finds the Rheintöchter. They deride him because he has so suddenly found another love. Then, becoming serious, they warn him: the ring is cursed, and since he now is wearing it, the curse rests on him. Every possessor of it must die, and Siegfried will be no exception. The hero does not believe them; with Nothung he is strong enough to ward off any danger.
Act III, Scene II Gunther, Hagen and their retinue find Siegfried and offer him food and drinks. While Siegfried sits eating, he boasts about his past: that he has killed Mime and the dragon, and that he could understand what the wood bird sang. Then Hagen reaches him a special potion that will bring back to his memory all he has forgot. He now relates that the wood bird told him about Brünnhilde, that he found her after having crossed the fire wall, and how she became his wife. This is what Hagen wants to hear: Siegfried betrayed Gutrune and Gunther. He plunges his spear into the hero’s back whose last words are for Brünnhilde.
Act III, Scene III When Siegfried’s body is being carried into the hall of the Gibichungen castle, the desperate Gutrune accuses Gunther of the murder, but he says that Hagen is the culprit. When Hagen takes the ring from the dead Siegfried’s finger, his brother Gunther tries to prevent this, whereupon Hagen kills him. At that moment Brünnhilde enters the hall; she gives orders to erect a pyre at the banks of the Rhine, where Siegfried’s body will be burned. She takes the ring from Siegfried’s finger, after which the corpse is laid on the pyre. Wotan’s raven fly above the pyre; Brünnhilde orders them to fly to the still burning rock where she has slept, and tell Loge to go to Valhalla and set it on fire. In this way she will become the instrument of the downfall of the gods. She then takes a torch and alights the pyre. When it has become a great fire, she rides into the flames on her horse and dies. The fire is so vehement that it sets the Gibichungen castle on fire. The waters of the Rhine steadily rise and extinguish the fire. The Rheintöchter appear again. Hagen, fearing that they will take the ring, plunges into the water, because he will have it. He becomes the last victim of the ring: the Rheintöchter draw him into the depth. Ordinary men and women stand among the ruins of the castle; far away they see a red glow that grows in intensity: Loge has done his work, Valhalla is burning. We have a last glimpse of Wotan and his family, before they perish in the flames. The cursed ring has done its work. But who will now rule the world?
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