Ps-f Mt 100.W25DS9 Richard Wagner's poem the Ring of the Ni 3 1924 021 791 524 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY MUSIC Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021791524 WOTAN'S FAREWELL TO BRUNHILD. \ RICHARD WAGNER'S \^ POEM The Ring of the Nibelung EXPLAINED AND IN PART TRANSLATED GEORGE THEODORE DIPPOLD, Ph.d. AUTHOR OF "the GREAT EPICS OF MEDIiEVAL GERMANY,'' ETC. NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1888 Copyright, 1888, by Henry Holt & Co. PREFACE. One of the noblest heirlooms derived from Teutonic antiquity is the myth of the Nibelungs, that race of supernatural beings who were supposed to dwell in Nibelheim, the abode of mist and gloom. The begin- ning of the myth dates back to the prehistoric era of Teutonic life — to the time when Wotan, Thor, Fricka, and Freyja, together with other gods and goddesses, were worshipped in the primeval forests of Germany. The Nibelung myths and sagas have been transmitted to us in several versions, which differ widely as to the matter and leading ideas of the story. The primitive features of the myth were more or less transformed in the course of time, and certain events of historical character, entirely foreign to the original traditions, were gradually introduced. Out of this great mass of various and often contra- dictory elements Richard Wagner in a certain sense created the Nibelung myth anew, endowed it with a most beautiful and harmonious form, and preserved its spirit true to the earliest traditions. By this work, apart from his other productions, Wagner is entitled to hold a prominent place among German poets. The IV PREFACE. present volume is not written for musicians, and con- sequently does not contain many references to Wagner's music* It has been the principal aim of the author to consider the literary and poetic character of " The Ring of the Nibelung," and to show that Wagner was a great poet as well as composer. Before entering upon the study of Wagner's poem, it is necessary to give some attention to those versions of the Nibelung story which form the source of the poet's inspiration. In this connection the author is obliged to refer to one of his former works, entitled " The Great Epics of Mediaeval Germany, etc.," \ in which the object was to present an historical and critical account of those poems, and an essay on Wagner's drama was then foreign to the purpose. Yet as the Nibelungen Lied, the greatest of mediaeval German poems, was one of the important works considered in that volume, special attention was bestowed on the elucidation of the whole Nibelung story. From the nature of the subject, it will be impossible to avoid here a repetition of a few statements made in the " Great Epics," particularly as to the early Nibelung traditions, since they throw light on Wagner's great drama. On the other hand, some of the ancient sagas which have no immediate bearing on the Nibelungen Lied, and were therefore omitted in the " Great Epics," will be here given because they play a prominent part in Wagner's treatment of the subject. * Whenever it has seemed expedient to allude to the music, Francis Hueffer's words in his worlt on Richard Wagner have been quoted, f Roberts Brothers, Boston, 1882. PREFACE. V Besides an acquaintance with the important versions of the Nibelung story, some knowledge of Teutonic mythology is required to understand and enjoy Wagner's poem. The purpose has not been to give a scientific treatise on this ancient religion, but merely to present such important features of early Teutonic belief as are indispensable to the understanding of the " Ring of the Nibelung." Thus the chapters on Teutonic mythology and on the Nibelung traditions are to be considered as an introduction to Wagner's drama. The greater part of the mythological facts are quoted from Jacob Grimm's " Teutonic Mythology" and R. B. Anderson's " Norse Mythology." The introductory chapters are followed by a running commentary on the four dramas composing the " Ring of the Nibelung." The most beautiful and important passages of Wagner's poem have been translated by the author in the metre of the original. It is hoped that the present volume, aiming at a correct and thorough representation of a very interesting subject, will be found useful by the scholar as well as by the general public. Mass. Institute of Technology, Boston, May i, 1888. CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER I. Teutonic Gods and Goddesses i CHAPTER II. Giants; Dwarfs; Water-sprites; Norns; Valkyrs — Val- HALL — Teutonic Cosmogony, 21 CHAPTER III. Traditions of the Nibelung Myth . 40 CHAPTER IV. The Rheingold, .... ... . ... 76 CHAPTER V. The Walkure, . . . . 115 CHAPTER VI. Siegfried, ... . . ... 147 CHAPTER VII. The Gotterdammerung, .... . , 190 NOTES, 237 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. CHAPTER I. TEUTONIC GODS AND GODDESSES. The gods appearing in the " Ring of the Nibelung " are Wotan, Thor, Fro, and Loki ; the goddesses are Fricka, Freyja, and Erda. The supreme divinity among all Teutonic races was Wotan.* To his worshippers he was the all-pervading creative power, the protector in war and battle, and the dispenser of victory. To him belonged the brave warriors who, having fallen on the battlefield, thence were conducted by his war-maidens, the Valkyrs, to the famous Valhall, their heavenly abode. As Jacob Grimm says in his " Teutonic My- thology," probably it has been the belief of all good men that after death they would be admitted to a closer communion with the deity. Dying is therefore, even according to the Christian view, called going to God, turning home to God.f As Zeus was imagined by the Greeks to sit enthroned on Mount Ida, looking down on the human race, Wotan, accord- ing to old Norse tradition, surveyed the whole world from his lofty seat, named Hlidhskialf. The German sagas contain but few accounts of Wotan's * See page 237, note i. t See page 237, note 2. 2 RtNG OF THE NIBELUNG. outward appearance. In the Norse myths he is one- eyed, this pecuHarity being accounted for in the follow- ing manner: Wotan once came to Mimir's fountain, in which the greatest wisdom lay concealed. He was there compelled to leave one of his eyes in pledge be- fore he could receive a drink.* According to the Yngl. Saga, the Aesir, the chief gods, who dwelt in Asgard, sent Mimir, the wisest of men, to Vanaheim, the abode of the Vanir, originally a race of divinities different from the Aesir. The Vanir cut off Mimir's head and sent it back to the Aesir. Wotan spoke magic words over it, so that it retained the power of speech, and whenever Wotan sought advice, he held conversation with it. In the Norse myths Wotan often wears a broad hat and wide mantle ; he is armed with a powerful and marvellous spear, Gungnir by name. He over whom this spear flies in battle is doomed to perish, while the wielder of it obtains the victory. In the Volsunga Saga Sigmund's sword breaks asunder against Wotan's spear.f As the end of the world approaches, and the long-foretold Gotterdammerung (the twilight or dark- ening of time and gods) draws nigh, Wotan appears clad in the shining coat of mail, with the golden hel- met on his head, and the spear in his hand, to lead his warlike host against the powers of evil and destruction. To Wotan as god of victory belong two ravens % and two wolves. The ravens are named Hiiginn (thought) and Muninn (remembrance). They sit on the shoulders of the god and whisper to him whatever they see and hear. The wolves were named Gcri and Freki, *See pages 36, 47 and 50. f See pages 50 and 139. \ See page 178. TEUTONIC GODS ANB GODDESSES. 3 and to them Wotan gave whatever food was placed before him, since he himself needed none. Wotan rode the eight-footed steed, named Sleipnir, the best of all horses. Jacob Grimm speaks in this connec- tion of a curious custom of the people in Lower Sax- ony at harvest-time. He says: "It is usual to leave a clump of standing corn in a field to Woden for his horse. . . . Sleipnis verdhr (food) is a poetic name for hay. Yngl.Saga, cap. 21. Other sagas speak of a tall white horse, by which the god of victory might be recognized in battles. Christianity has not entirely rooted out the harmless practice for the Norse any more than for the Saxon peasant. In Schonen and Blekingen it continued for a long time to be the cus- tom for reapers to leave on the field a gift for Oden's horses." Again, referring to the usage in Mecklen- burg, Grimm says " that at the squire's mansions, when the rye is all cut, there is Wodelbeer served out to the mowers ; no one weeds fliax on a Wodenstag lest Wo- den s horse should trample the seeds. From Christ- mas to Twelfth-day they will not .spin, nor leave any flax on the distaff ; and to the question why, they answer, Wode is galloping across. We are expressly told this wild hunter, Wode, rides a white horse." A striking and well-known characteristic of nearly all my- thologies is found in the belief that the god or gods descend to the earth to observe the life, deeds, and cus- toms of mortal men. Wotan often appears as wan- derer, in the Edda generally together with Loki and Hoenir. The name of Wotan can still be traced in our Wednesday , Anglo-Saxon Wddenes or Wodnesdaeg ; in the names of certain mountains which formerly were 4 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. sacred to the god, particularly in Lower Germany ; and in the designation of some towns and villages. " Near the holy oak in Hesse, which Boniface brought down, there stood a Wuodenesberg, still so named in a docu- ment of 1 1 54. . . . In Oldenburg there is a Wodensholt, now Godensholt, cited in a land-book of 1428. Ehren- traut Fries, arch. i. 445." When Christianity came to be introduced into Germany, the old faith could not be eradicated at once ; the former gods and goddesses still lived in the memory of the people, and were gener- ally transformed into dark and dreadful powers. Thus Wotan appears riding through the air followed by the furious host, wiitende heer, named after him. The Mecklenburg peasant of this day imagines that in gloomy and tempestuous nights he hears the noise of Wotan's ride, and exclaims, " de Wode tiit !" The god who wields the lightning-flash and hurls the thunderbolt is called Thor. The Old Saxon form was Thunar, the Old High German Donar, the Anglo-Saxon T/tufior, and the Old Norse Tkdr. Next to Wotan, Thor was regarded as the most powerful of the gods. He possessed the marvellous hammer, called Mjolnir, which was forged by dwarfs. The giants feared the mighty god when they saw his hammer flying through the air. Once Thor's hammer had been stolen by a giant named Thrym, and buried eight miles under- ground. The subject of this story forms one of the most beautiful poems of the Elder Edda. Thrym ex- claimed, " None shall again obtain the hammer from me unless he bring to me Freyja as bride." Thor, dis- guised as Freyja, went to the abode of Thrym, recov- ered his hammer, and slew the giant and his race. TEUTONIC GODS AND GODDESSES. $ Thrym, whose name is derived from thruma, thunder, was originally identical with Thor and was an older god of nature, who had held possession of the hammer before the coming of the Aesir, or race of gods to whom Thor belonged. He assumed the power and position of a winter giant, and buried Thor's hammer eight miles un- derground ; that is, during eight winter months he held his sway until Thor awoke, recovered his hammer, and by it freed the earth from the power of winter. Thunder and lightning, storm and rain, were attributed to Thor, as the god of fertility who cleared up the cloudy atmos- phere. Thor's power is chiefly beneficent ; in his con- stant battle with the winter giants, he splits moun- tains and rocks asunder by the mighty force of the thunderbolt, and prepares the barren, stony soil for cultivation. The old Scandinavian sagas represent Thor with a red beard, " of course in allusion to the fiery phenome- non of lightning : when the god is angry, he blows in his red beard, and thunder peals through the clouds. In the Fornm. sog. 2. 182 and 10. 329 he is a tall, hand- some, red-bearded youth. We have seen how, after the overthrow of the Teutonic gods by the introduc- tion and spread of Christianity, Wotan was changed into a demon of evil; the like fate befell Thor. The god's hammer strikes dead, and the curses ' thunder strike you ' and ' hammer strike you ' mean the same thing. So, after the fall of the god Donar, there sprang up in some parts of Lower Germany, especially, a personifica- tion of the word Hamar in the sense of Death or Devil : ' dat die de Hamer ! i vor den Hamer ! de Hamer sla ! ' are phrases still current among the people, in which you 6 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. can exchange Hamer for Duvel, but which, one and all, can only be traced back to the god that strikes with the hammer. . . . Consider also the curses which couple the two names, donncr and terifel, both of which stood for the ancient god." According to the Edda, Thor's thunder-car was drawn by two he-goats, and when he drove, the earth groaned and the mountains trembled. Thor either drove in his chariot or walked ; he was not supposed to have, like Wotan, a horse. As goats were sacred to Thor, common superstition attributed the power of having created them to the evil spirit, who in many ways came to be identified with the ancient thunder- god. The Swiss shepherds believe in the unholy ori- gin of the goat, and her feet are particularly suspected, and not eaten. The name of the god has been retained in the appellations of many mountains in Germany, Scandinavia, and other countries. Well known is the Donnersberg in the Rhine palatinate. In Westphalia, not far from Warburg, is the Thuncresbcrg, " first men- tioned in a document of iioo, Schaten mon. paderb. i, 1649 ; in the Middle Ages it was still the seat of a great popular assize, originally due, no doubt, to the sacredness of the spot. ... In the immediate vicin- ity of this mountain stands the holy oak, just as the robiir Jovis bei Geismar in Hesse is near a Wuotansbcrg. To all appearance the two deities could be worshipped close to one another." In Norwaj' and Sweden man\- statues and temples were sacred to Thor. Traces of his name appear in Thorsborg in Gothland, and Thors- klint in East Gothland. Yet, although in Norway he was worshipped to such an extent that he might be called the national god of the Norwegians, no vestige TEUTONIC GODS AND GODDESSES. / of his name seems to have-survived there in the desig- nations of rocks and mountains. We have above referred to Thor's hammer as the crushing thunderbolt. Although the god hurled it at his foes, it always returned into his hands and was his constant weapon. According to German traditions, he threw wedge-shaped stones (Donnerkeile) from the sky. " In popular belief there darts out of the cloud together with the flash a black wedge, which buries itself in the earth as deep as the highest church-tower is high. But everj' time it thunders again, it begins to rise nearer to the surface, and after seven years you may find it above ground. Any house in which it is preserved is proof against damage by lightning ; when a thunderstorm is coming on it begins to sweat." The name of the god is retained in our Thursday, Anglo-Saxon Thunresdaeg or Thunoresdaeg, in the Swedish Thorsdag, the Danish Torsdag, and the Ger- man Donnerstag. Thor, or Thunar, was one of the greatest gods of the Teutons ; in many of his attributes he bears a close resemblance to the Greek Zeus and the Roman Jupiter, and we might expect him to rank with them as the chief of the gods. It is possible that he once held this supreme position before Wotan came to assume it as the god of the gods. It is certain that by the Swedes and Norwegians Thor was held in higher esteem than Wotan, while the latter seems to have been more fervently wor- shipped by the Gotlanders and Danes, as well as by the Saxons and other German tribes. In the Edda we read : " Wrathful with thee is Odin, wrath- 8 KING OF THE XIBELUXG. ful is the chief of the Aesir : Frey accurses thee." The chief of the Aesir is Thor in this connection, and he is placed in the middle between the two other gods, as the mightiest of the three. Yet in spite of these isolated instances of Thor's position, if we survey the whole field of Teutonic mythology, as transmitted to us by tradition, we find that Wotan was the higher, loftier, and more intellectual divinity, while Thor's attributes pointed more to the exhibition of rude force and material strength. The god Fro is called Frey in Norse mythology. He did not originally belong to the race of gods called Aesir, but to the Vanir gods, who, according to the Elder Edda, were different from the former. The war between the Aesir and the Vanir was ended by a treaty, according to which hostages were exchanged ; Frey and his sister Freyja were given to the Aesir, and Hoenir, Wotan's brother, to the Vanir. Yet there was primitively no essential difTerence in the worship of the Aesir and Vanir, and the latter were received in As- gard, the home of the Aesir, and joined them in their battles against the jQtuns, or giants. Fro, or Frey, was not a warlike god ; he gave away his horse and sword when love of the beautiful Gerda had taken possession of his heart. In the Elder Edda he is at times mentioned next to \Votan and Thor as the third god. He was chiefly invoked for fertility of the soil and for peace. We have but little information in re- gard to the worship of Fro (Frey) in Germany, but this is no reason for assuming that he was not revered by the German tribes as much as by the Scandinavians. The Swedes considered him one of their highest gods, and. TEUTONIC GODS AND GODDESSES. 9 according to tradition, his statue at Upsala stood by tiiose of Wotan and Thor.* Loge, as Wagner calls him in his " Ring of the Nibe- lung," is the Norse Loki, the god of fire. It belongs to the province of mythological science to explain the difference between this Loki, one of the Aesir gods, and Logi, the giant. Yet it may be stated here that the two often very closely resemble each other. Loki's nature was twofold : It appears in his former fellowship with Wotan, and in his good intentions towards all the gods in Asgard, and in his later malicious exploits, by which at last the end of the world, the downfall of the gods, the Gotterdammerung, was accomplished. The two sides of Loki's character are explained by the be- neficent and the destructive power of fire, his element. There are few myths in which the noble part of his na- ture is perfectly evident ; in most accounts his advice and deeds, though eagerly sought for by the gods in their anxiety and misfortune, are at least dubious. It is proper here to give a short outline of the so-called Svadilfari myth, as it contains an incident of great im- portance in the Nibelung story, and shows at the same time Loki's duplicity. " When the gods were construct- ing their dwellings a certain artificer came and offered to build in the space of three half-years a resi- dence so well fortified that they should be perfectly safe from the incursions of the frost giants and the giants of the mountains, even though they should have penetrated within Midgard. But he demanded for his reward the goddess Freyja,f together with the sun and moon. After long deliberations the gods agreed * See page 237. f See Rheingold, page 87. lO RING OF THE NIB EL UNO. to his terms, provided he would do the whole work himself without any assistance, and all within the space of one winter; but if anything remained unfinished on the first day of summer, he should forfeit the rec- ompense agreed on. On being told these terms the artificer stipulated that he should be allowed the use of his horse, called Svadilfari (slippery-farer), and this, by the advice of Loki, was granted him. He accordingly set to work on the first day of winter, and during the night let his horse draw stone for the building. The enormous size of the stones struck the gods with aston- ishment, and they saw clearly that the horse did one half more of the toilsome work than his master. Their bargain, however, had been concluded in the presence of witnesses and confirmed by solemn oaths. As the winter drew to a close, the building was far advanced, and the bulwarks were sufficiently high and massive to render this residence impregnable. When it lacked but three days of summer, the only part that remained to be finished was the gateway. Then the gods in- quired of one another who among them could have advised to give Freyja away or plunge the heavens in darkness by permitting the artificer to carry awa\- the sun and the moon. They all agreed that none but Loki, the author of so many evil deeds, could have given such bad counsel. Then they took I.oki and threatened him with death if he did not contrive to prevent the artificer from completing his task and ob- taining the stipulated reward. Loki promised on oath that, let it cost what it might, he would so manage matters that the man should lose his recompense. That very night, when the artificer went with Svadilfari TEUTONIC GODS AND GODDESSES. 1 1 for building-stone, a mare suddenly ran out of a forest and began to neigh. The horse broke loose and ran after the mare in the forest, which obliged the man also to run after his horse ; and thus between one and the other the whole night was lost, so that at dawn the work had not made the usual progress. The man, see- ing that he had no other means of completing his task, resumed his own gigantic stature, and the gods now clearly perceived that it was in reality a mountain giant who had come amongst them. No longer regard- ing their oaths, they called in Thor, who immediately ran to their assistance, and lifting up his mallet Mjolnir (the crusher), he paid the workman his wages in his own manner. With the first blow he shattered the giant's skull and hurled him headlong into Niflheim. From Loki, in the disguise of the mare, and Svadilfari came the horse with eight legs, which excelled all other horses ever possessed by gods or men. It was called Sleipnir, and became Wotan's battle-horse. The gods, however, had perjured themselves ; and in reference to this, the Elder Edda says : " Then went the rulers there. All gods most holy, To their seats aloft And took counsel together; Who all the winsome air With guile had blended. Or to the giants' race Freyja had given. " Then Thor, who was there, Arose in wrathful mood, For seldom sits he still When such things he hears. 12 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Annulled were now all oaths, And words of promise fair, And faith not long before In council plighted." Loki's pernicious influence is seen in the myth of Balder's death.* Loki was fair in appearance, but sly and treacherous in disposition. He was the slanderer of the gods, the spirit of fraud and deceit. Although himself one of the gods, he was feared and hated by them ; he represented the principle of evil in its entic- ing and outwardly beauteous form. Loki is often seen in the company of the gods, as they needed his skill and strength, especially when their reign after the loss of primitive innocence was endangered by the evils resulting from the curse incurred through the acquisi- tion of gold, the source of all ill. By his wife Sigyn, Loki had a son, named Nari or Narvi, and by the giantess Angrbodha (anguish-boding) three children, the above-mentioned Fenris-wolf, the Midgard- ser- pent called Jormungandr, and a daughter Hel. The gods soon became aware that these monsters were brought up in Jotunheim (the home of the giants), and would bring destruction to Wotan and the other divini- ties. Wotan threw the serpent into the deep ocean by which the earth is surrounded. But the monster grew to such an enormous size that, holding his tail in his mouth, he embraced the whole earth. Wotan cast Hel into Niflheim, and gave her power over nine worlds, among which she distributes those who are sent to her, that is, all who die through sickness or old age. The Fenris- wolf was brought up among the gods ; but when they * See page 239. TEUTONIC GODS AND GODDESSES. 13 saw that every day he increased prodigiously in size, and that forebodings warned them how he would one day become fatal to them, they determined to chain him. After two useless attempts to fetter the wolf in iron chains, Wotan sent Skirnir, the messenger of Frey, to the home of the dark elves, to have certain dwarfs make the magic chain called Gleipner, It was smooth and soft as silk, and yet very strong. With it the gods bound the wolf ; then drawing it through the middle of a large rock which they sunk deep into the earth, they fastened the end to a massive stone which they sunk still deeper. The wolf in vain made the most violent efforts to break loose, and, opening his tre- mendous jaws, endeavored to bite the gods. They thrust a sword into his mouth, whereupon he howled terribly. There the wolf will remain until " Ragnarok," or the downfall of the gods. Loki's wickedness had reached its highest point in the death of Balder, and the hour for the terrible punishment of the deceitful god approached. Accord- ing to the Elder Edda, Aeger, the sea-god, gave a ban- quet, to which the gods were invited. On that occasion Loki abused all the gods and goddesses in the most shameful manner, whereupon Thor entered the hall and threatened Loki with cruel death. Although Loki had been abusive, he yet spoke the truth, and exposed the shortcomings of the gods, which preceded their fall. Peace had fled from them with the death of Balder, and, conscious of the approaching destruction of the world, they were dismayed. Loki fled from the banquet-hall after heaping curses on Aeger, and hid 14 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. himself in the mountains. There he built a dwelling with four doors, so that he could see everything that passed around him. After various stratagems the gods succeeded in capturing him. They dragged him into a cavern wherein they had placed three sharp-pointed rocks, boring a hole through each of them. They bound him on the points of the rocks, and a serpent was sus- pended over him in such a manner that the venom should fall into his face, drop by drop. But Sigyn stood by him, and received the drops, as they fell, in a cup, which she emptied as often as it was filled. While she was emptying the cup some of the poison reached Loki's face, which made him shriek with agony, and twist his body about so violently that the whole earth shook. There Loki had to lie until Rag- narok. Foremost among the goddesses was Fricka, in Norse called Frigg, the wife of Wotan. She knows the fate of men, presides over marriages,* and her aid is in- voked by the childless. It is a mother's love or con- jugal love which is chiefly represented by Fricka, while F"reyja is the love of the youth or maiden. " The forms and even the meanings of the two names border closely on one another. Freyja means the gladsome, gladden- ing, sweet, gracious goddess ; Frigg, the free, beautiful, lovable. To the former attaches the general notion of /rrt« (mistress); to the latter that of yV/ (woman)." Fricka (Frigg) was one of the Aesir ; while Freyja, to- gether with her brother Fro (Frey), were descended from the Vanir. Fricka can be compared to a certain extent with Here or Juno ; Freyja is in many ways not * See Hunding in the "Valkyr," page 129. TEUTONIC GODS AND GODDESSES. I^ unlike Venus. With her, faithful lovers were gathered after death. She was the goddess chiefly worshipped after or along with Fricka. At the same time she was warlike ; to whatever field of battle she rode, she claimed one half of the slain, the other half belonging to Wotan. In the Edda she was the owner of a precious necklace named Brisinga men. When Thor, to re- cover his hammer from the giants, disguised himself in Freyja's raiment, he adorned himself with the match- less treasure. The latter was also known to the author of the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, and there is rea- son to believe that other Teutonic tribes were ac- quainted with it. " But this legend of the goddess's necklace gains yet more in importance when we place it by the side of the Greek myths. Brisinga men is no other than Aphrodite's oppioi (Hymn to Venus, 88), and the chain is her girdle, the Kearoi ipid; noiKikoi which she wears on her bosom, and whose witchery subdues all gods and mortals. How she looses it from about her neck {ano crrridea-cpiv) and lends it to Here to charm Zeus with, is told in a lay that teems with world-old myths (11. 14, 214-18). As the ifia; is worn in turn by Here and by Aphrodite, the Norse fable gives the jewel now to Frigg (Fricka) and now to Freyja." Freyja married Oder, but he forsook her in order to travel in distant countries. She sought him with tears the world over. Her tears were drops of pure gold, and in Norse poetry gold is called Freyja's tears. The most beautiful flowers were named after Freyja's hair, and even animate objects were named from their beauty after this goddess, as for in- stance the butterfly (Icel. Freyjuhoena— Freyja's hen)- l6 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. " In almost all languages the Earth is regarded as female, and (in contrast to the father Sky encircling her) as the breeding, teeming, fruit-bearing mother: Gothic airtha, Old High-German erada, crda, Anglo-Saxon eordhe,0\d'^ox&QJdrdk. . . . The Old Norse-Jordh ap- pears in the flesh, at once wife and daughter of Odhinn, and mother of Thorr. . . , Distinct from her was Rindr, another wife of Odhinn, and mother of Vali, called Rinda in Saxo, and more coarsely painted ; her name is the Old High-German rinta, Anglo-Saxon rind = cortex, hence crusta soli vel terra. . . . But neither in Jordh nor in Rindr has the Edda brought out in clear relief her specially maternal character ; nowhere is this more purely and simply expressed than in the very old- est account we possess of the goddess." This is found in Tacitus (Germ. 40), who ascribes the worship of the goddess Ncrtlius, whom he calls mother earth, to sev- eral German tribes. Upon an island in the ocean there was a sacred grove, in which the car of the goddess was kept. It was concealed from view by a garment, and only the priest was allowed to touch it. When he felt the presence of the goddess in the sanctuarj', he reverently accompanied her in her journeys throughout the land ; the car was drawn by two cows. Then happy days had come, and the people adorned them- selves in festive attire wherever the goddess went. War ceased, weapons were laid aside, all iron gear was put away ; peace and rest reigned in the land until the goddess, satiated with the converse of men, returned to her sanctuary. Then car, garment, and the goddess herself were bathed in a secret lake, which at once swallowed the slaves who had assisted at the bathing." TEUTONIC GODS AND GODDESSES. 1 7 The island of Nerthus has been supposed to be Riigen, in the middle of which there is actually a lake, called the Schwarze See. Legends preserved on the island of Riigen seem to verify the supposition, yet on the whole the Danish islands in the Baltic have as good a claim to the former sanctuary of the goddess. Among other names of the earth-goddess we may mention here that of Hlddliyn. In Old Norse hlodh means a hearth. Thor is called " mogr Hlodhynjar,'' son of the hearth, or son of the earth. The name of the goddess means here protectress of the hearth, the fire-place, the foundation of human dwellings, like the German herd, and corre- sponds to the mother earth. " In Sweden it was Frey, son of Njordh, whose curtained car went round the country in spring, with the people all praying and hold- ing feasts ; but Frey is altogether like his father, and he again like his namesake, the goddess Nerthus." It is natural that the all-nourishing earth, the mother of the human race, should be also the mother of the gods, in the belief of the Teutonic world. In all mythologies heaven is married to earth, as for instance Uranos to Gala. According to Old Norse traditions, Wotan (Odin) enters into marriage relations with Jordh, Frigg (Fricka), and Rind. This is explained by Professor R. B. Anderson* in the following manner : Jordh (Erda, earth) is the original, uninhabited earth, or the earth without reference to man ; Frigg is the inhabited, cul- tivated earth, the abode of man ; and Rind is the earth when it has again become unfruitful, when the white flakes of winter have covered its crust : it is in this lat- ter condition that she long resists the loving embraces * Norse Mythology. 1 8 kmC OF THE N IB E LUNG. of her husband. These three relations are expressed still more clearly by their children. With Jordh, Wo- tan begets Thor ; with Frigg, Balder ; and with Rind, Vale. Jordh is the Greek Gaia, Frigg is Demeter; but the fortunate Greeks had no goddess corresponding to Rind : they knew not the severe Norse winter. In the preceding pages the chief characteristics and attributes of each of the gods and goddesses who take part in Wagner's '' Ring of the Nibelung" have been described as far as necessary for our purpose. In con- clusion of this subject we may call attention to a few general facts concerning the condition of the gods, as imagined by their worshippers. In the background of Greek mythology is fate, the dim foreboding that the day will come when Zeus' reign shall end. Yet in spite of this fact there are but few allusions to the final overthrow of the gods. On the contrary, in the common belief of the people the gods were supposed to be immortal and eternal. This idea is very different from that entertained by the Teutonic race. In the Edda the death of the gods is often mentioned, and their final and inevitable downfall is distinctly stated. Fate was higher than the gods : the former reigns eter- nally ; the gods rule for a limited time, although their term of life far exceeds that of mortal men. The gods have a means of preserving perpetual freshness and youth, and of prolonging their li\es by particular kinds of food and drink. Although it is distinctly- stated that Wotan needs no food, and onlj- drinks wine, the goddess Idhunn has certain apples entrusted to her care, by eating of which the aging gods make them- TEUTONIC GODS AND GODDESSES. 1 9 selves young again.* We are here reminded of the apples of the Hesperides. As to the wine of the gods, it must have been like the nectar of the Greek gods. In spite of the rejuvenating apples, the gods were con- sidered as influenced by the encroachments of age : there are some young and some old gods. Wotan is always represented as an old graybeard, Thor as in the full strength of manhood. Balder as a blooming youth. In like manner Uranos and Kronos appear old ; Zeus (like our Thor or Donar) and Poseidon as middle-aged ; Apollo, Hermes, and Ares as in the bloom of youth. Growth and age, the increase and decline of power, ex- clude the notion of a strictly eternal, immutable, immor- tal being ; and death to gods of such attributes is, how- ever long delayed, inevitable. In the Teutonic and the Greek mythology no mon- strous deformity of many heads, arms, or legs is ascribed to the gods, except in the case of some Greek giants called eKaTOYX^iP^'^A and in that of a four-armed Lace- daemonian Apollo. Yet Wotan is one-eyed, and Hodhr blind. Hel alone has a dreadful shape, black and white ; the rest of the gods and goddesses, not excepting Loki, are to be imagined as of a beautiful and noble figure. The form of the gods and goddesses is like the human, only huger and mightier, and their gait is swifter. Their riding and driving, whether through the air or in the water, is so vehement that the din of the elements is explained by it. The driving of Thor arouses. thunder in the clouds, and the rage and writhing of gods like Loki, who were bound, produces earthquakes and other terrible phenomena. * See the apples of Freyja in the Rheingold, page 88. \ See also page 23, line 26, 20 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. We have now drawn nigh the atmosphere which pervades the mythic Teutonic world. Yet in order to survey and understand the whole ground of events in the " Ring of the Nibelung" we must devote some attention to other mythological facts and per- sons. GIANTS; DWARFS; WATER-SPRITES ; ETC. 21 CHAPTER II. GIANTS; DWARFS; WATER-SPRITES; NORNS ; VALKYRS— VALHALL— TEUTONIC COSMOGONY. In the statements just given concerning the gods and goddesses, frequent mention has necessarily been made of the giants. A brief account of the latter, and of their relation to the gods, men, and dwarfs, will be sufficient in this place. At the outset an impor- tant point may be stated, as it is evident that the idea of the overthrow of the gods was already suggested by the Teutonic conception of the creation of the world. The gods were considered as descended from the giants, that is, from an evil source ; and moreover, that which can be born must also die. An elf or dwarf is as much below the human size as a giant towers above it. Man rejoices in the happy mean, and is able to conquer the giants' rude force and outwit the dwarfs' cunning and slyness. Untamed natural force, which defies gods and men in its consciousness of power, is the characteristic of giants. Hence their intractableness ; and from the latter there is but one easy step to stupidity, by which they are generally, but not always, distinguished. " Yet the Norse lays contain one feature favorable to the giants. They stand as specimens of a fallen or falling race, which with the strength combines also the inno- cence and wisdom of the old world — an intelligence 22 RING OF THE NI BE LUNG. that is objective and imparted at creation rather than self-acquired. This half-regretful view of giants prevails particularly in one of the finest poems of the Edda, the Hymisgvidha. . . . When the verb threya, usually meaning to wish, is employed as characteristic of giants, it seems to imply a dreamy brooding, a half-drunken complacency and immobility. Such a being when at rest is good-humored, but becomes wild, spiteful, and violent when provoked. Norse legend names this rage of giants jotumnddhr , which puts itself in de- fiance against dsmodhr, the rage of the gods. When their wrath is kindled, the giants hurl boulders, rub stones till they catch fire, and squeeze water out of rocks. . . . Their relation to gods and men is by turns friendly and hostile. Jotunheim (the home of the giants) lies far from Asaheim (the home of the gods), yet visits are paid on both sides. It is in this connec- tion that they sometimes leave on us the impression of older nature-gods who had to give, way to a younger and higher race ; it is only natural, therefore, that in certain giants, like Ecke and Fasolt, we should recog- nize a precipitate of deity. At other times a rebellious spirit breaks forth : they make war upon the gods like the heaven-scaling Titans, and the gods hurl them down like devils into hell. Yet there are some gods married to giantesses. . . . Among the Aesir gods the great foe of giants is Thor, who like Jupiter inflicts on them his thunder-wounds; his hammer has crushed many: were it not for Thor, says a Scandinavian proverb, the giants would get the upper hand. . . . The kings Niblung and Schilbung had twelve strong giants for friends (Nib. Lied), or vassals, as the Norse kings GIANTS; DWARFS; WATER-SPRITES; ETC. 23 often had twelve berserks. But like the primal woods and monstrous beasts of the olden time, the giants get gradually extirpated off the face of the earth, and with all heroes giant-fighting alternates with dragon-fight- ing." According to tradition, giants dwelt on rocks and mountains ; stones and rocks were their weapons ; they had no swords, only stone clubs and shields. In later legends they are armed with steel bars and iron clubs. In the Edda wonderful things are related of the giant Skrymir, in the thumb of whose glove the god Thor took a night's lodging. Skrymir goes to sleep under an oak, and snores. When Thor with his hammer strikes him on the head, he wakes up and asks if a leaf had fallen on him. The giant lies down under another oak, and snores so that the forest roars ; Thor hits him a harder blow than before, and the giant, awaking, cries, " Did an acorn fall on my face ?" He falls asleep a third time, and Thor repeats his blow, making a yet deeper dent ; but the giant merely strokes his cheek and remarks, " There must be birds roosting in those boughs ; I fancied, when I awoke, they dropped something on my head." The one eye of the Greek Cyclops is not ascribed to the Teutonic giants ; yet like the Cyclops they are at times represented with many hands and heads. The forging of weapons is attributed to the dwarfs, and in this respect the giants differ also from the Greek Cy- clops. It seems from some traditions that giants, like dwarfs, had reason to dread the daylight, and if sur- prised by the break of day they were turned into stone. " Grotesque, humanlike shapes assumed by stalactite, 24 RING OF THE NIBELUN-G. flint, and flakestone on the small scale, and by basalt and granite rocks on the great, have largely engendered and fed these fancies about petrified giants. . . . Just as the elves found the spread of agriculture and the clear- ing of their forests an abomination which compelled them to move out, so the giants regard the wood as their own property, in which they are by no means dis- posed to let men do as they please. . . . And no less do giants (like dwarfs) hate the ringing of bells, as in the Swedish tale of the old giant in the mountain (Af- zelius, 3. 88) ; therefore they sling rocks at the belfries." The Teutonic giants are not represented as a race of cannibals, like the Greek and Oriental giants: they con- form more to human ideas, and their savagery spends itself chiefly in hurling huge stones, removing moun- tains, and rearing colossal buildings. The elves, or dwarfs, were imagined to be small, some even tiny ; their height is sometimes distinctly stated : now they reach the stature of a four-year-old child, again they appear so diminutive as to be measured by a span or the thumb. The light elves are well-shaped and symmetrical ; the black, ugly and deformed. The elves, or dwarfs, are ruled by a king or queen. The old French fable of Huon of Bordeaux mentions King Oberon, that is, Auberon or Alberon, an alb, or elf. In " Otnit kunec" (king), Alberich (Elberich) plays a prominent part ; in the Nibelungen Lied he is a vassal of the kings Nibelung and Schilbung. Human heroes after conquering the king of the elves obtain supreme power over the race of the defeated ruler. In this sense Siegfried in the Nibelungen Lied, after subduing Alberich, may be considered the chief of the GIANTS; DWARFS; WATER-SPRITES ; ETC. 25 conquered people. As elvish beings, the dwarfs are naturally the collectors and custodians of subterranean treasures. They forge curiously-wrought weapons in their caves, and by slipping into cracks and crevices of the hills suddenly vanish from sight. Entrances into mountains of dwarfs are found as into enchanted re- gions, by gods, heroes, and men. The elves are often considered as good-natured beings, kindly disposed towards men when allowed by them to pursue the even tenor of their way. Indeed, they are helpful to mankind in the way of smith-work, weaving, and baking. In their turn they also need at times the assistance of men, especially in dividing treasure. All elves are irresistibly fond of music and dancing. By night they dance on the moonlit meadows, and at dawn their tracks are seen in the dew. When their sweet singing is heard on summer nights from their hills, one may listen to them, or, as the ballads say, lay his ear to the elf-hill ; but no one should be so cruel as by the slightest word to destroy their hopes of salva- tion, for then the spritely music will be turned into weeping and lamentation. Being intimately acquainted with the secret powers of nature, the elves and dwarfs enjoy remarkable longevity. On the whole, they seem to avoid the company of men, and give the impression of an injured and conquered race, on the point of yielding to new and more powerful invaders. Since the elf requires at times the aid of man, and knows that he is intellectually superior to him, there arises the idea of hostility between the two. Both the black and the white elves have the power of rendering themselves invisible, either by a magic hat or cloak, called some- 26 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. times Nebelkappe or Tarnkappe. This is particularly significant in the Nibelung stories.* From this power of making themselves invisible, and the love of teasing mankind, generally attributed to them, popular belief soon connected them with all sorts of malicious decep- tion and trickery, and, especially in later times, retained only the hateful side of their nature. Like the giants, all dwarfs and elves were considered thievish, and were supposed to steal well-shaped children from the cradle and substitute their own ugly ones, or even themselves. What is related of the doings of elves and dwarfs in mountain-caves as to sunken or concealed treasures is also ascribed to other mythological beings. What the elves make, possess, or obtain in one case, the water- sprites get hold of in the other. In the bosom of the Rhine lie treasure and gold. The Nibelungs' hoard lies sunk in the Rhine. Wise women, valkyrs, appear on the waves as swans, and are merged into prophetic mer- maids.f The water-man is generally pictured as old and with a long beard ; he wears a green hat, and when he grins you can see his green teeth. The nixe, or mermaid, is represented as partially emerging from the waves, and with the upper half of her body of dazzling beauty. She sits in the sun and combs her long hair. The idea of a fish-like tail, as in the case of sirens, seems not to be truly Teutonic ; on the contrary, the female water-sprite, nixe, or mermaid, when she appears on shore, is formed and clad like the daughters of men, being recognized only by her wet skirt. All water- sprites, like the elves, delight in song, music, and danc- * See pages 96, 102, 206 and 219. f See the beginning of the " Rheingold," pages 81 and 82. GIANTS; DWARFS; WATER- SPRITES ; ETC. 2J ing. Well known is the common superstition that they, like the sirens, attract the listeners to themselves and lure them into the deep. According to early Norse tradition, drowned men went to the goddess R4n ; in later times they were believed to belong to the water-sprites. The latter, however, were not sup- posed to kill those who went to the bottom, but to bear them gently to their abode, and harbor their souls. The damsels of the lake, according to the tradition, appear at evening among men, take part in the dance, and visit their lovers. " In Sweden an alluring and en- chanting strain of music was ascribed to the river-sprites. It had eleven variations, but men might dance to only ten of them ; the eleventh belonged to the spirit of the night. When it was played, tables and benches, pots and pans, graybeards and grandmothers, the blind and the lame, even babes in the cradle, began to dance." In the Swedish superstition, the water-sprite requires the sacrifice of a black lamb before it will teach any one to play the harp. " Although Christianity forbids such offerings, and pronounces the old water-sprites diabolic beings, yet the common people retain a certain awe and reverence, and have not quite given up all faith in their power and influence : accursed beings they are, but they may some day become partakers of salvation. This is the drift of the touching account of the strom- karl, or neck (water-sprite), who desires one not only to sacrifice to him in return for musical instruction, but to promise him resurrection and redemption. Two boys were playing by the river-side ; the neck sat there touch- ing his harp, and the children cried to him : ' What do you sit and play here for, neck ? You know you will 28 RING OF THE NI BELONG. never be saved.' The neck began to weep bitterly, threw his harp away, and sank to the bottom. When the boys got home, they told their father what had happened. The father, who was a priest, said : ' You have sinned against the neck ; go back, comfort him, and tell him he may be saved.' When they returned to the river, the neck sat on the bank weeping and wailing. The children said : ' Do not cry so, poor neck ; father says your Redeemer liveth too.' Then the neck joyfully took his harp and played charmingly till after sunset. I do not know that anywhere in our legends it is so pointedly expressed how badly the heathen stand in need of the Christian religion, and how mildly it ought to meet them." From time immemorial the Teutonic nations paid great deference to woman, and the decrees of fate seemed to be more hallowed when heard from her lips. Soothsaying and sorcery were particularly a woman's gift, and amiable or awful half-goddesses mediated be- tween mankind and the deity. Tacitus bears testi- mony to the high respect in which women were held by the Teutonic race. The honor shown to them in the chivalric period of the middle ages is evident from the contents of the Minnelieder. The formula durch aller frouwen ire ("by all women's honor") occurs both in court-poems and folk-songs. The hero in stress of battle thought of his love, uttered her name, and there- by increased his strength. When Drusus with his Roman legions arrived near the river Elbe, a woman of gigantic stature met him in the land of the Cherus- cans, forbade his farther advance, and foretold his early death. GIANTS; DiVASFSj WATER-SPRITES ; ETC. 29 The norns, or goddesses of fate, the weird sisters, were Urd, Verdande and Skuld, corresponding to our Past, Present and Future, or what has been, what is, and what is to be. They ruled the fate of the world, and allotted to every man his term of life. Urdhar- brunnr was the name of the fountain at the sacred ash- tree, named after Urd ; beside it stood the hall of the three norns. They were present at the birth of every child, and pronounced his doom. From the relation of Helgi's birth in the Edda, we see that the norns entered the castle at night, spun for the hero the threads of his fate, and stretched the golden cord in the midst of heaven ; the region between the eastern and west- ern ends of the line fell to the hero's lot. A kind disposition is often ascribed to the first two norns, an evil one to the third. The latter is at times called " the youngest ;" therefore they were of different ages, Urd being the eldest. In the Edda it is distinctly stated that there are good and bad norns ; and although only three are named, there must have been more of them. In the later fairy stories there usually appear three fays, but sometimes seven and even thirteen are mentioned. It is a very common characteristic in these tales that the good luck promised by some norns or fays is partly or altogether neutralized by an offended one. An instance of this fact is found in the Norna- gestsaga. One day the norns came to Nornagest's father ; the babe lay in the cradle, and two tapers were burning over him. When the first two norns had gifted him and assured him of happiness beyond all others of his race, the third or youngest norn, who in 30 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. the crowd had been pushed off her seat and fallen to the ground, rose up in anger and cried, " I decree that the child shall live only till the lighted taper beside him has burnt out." The eldest norn quickly seized the taper, put it out, and gave it to the mother with the warning not to kindle it again till the last day of her son's life. Well known is the story of the Sleeping Beauty (Dornrbschen) and the twelve wise women : the thirteenth had been overlooked, and revenged herself. There is a great number of fairy tales of the same de- scription. In the Norse traditions, Urd, the eldest- norn, seems to be the mightiest ; while in Greek myth- ology, Atropos, the fate of the future, who cuts the thread, appears to be the most powerful. The norns are represented as sitting on chairs or roam- ing through the country among men, fastening their threads. The valkyrs ride to war ; the issue of the bat- tle is decided by them, and they conduct the fallen heroes to Valhall. The name valkyr means chooser of the slain. The Old Norse valr, Anglo-Saxon zvael. Old High German w«/ signifies the slaughter on the battle- field. KUr denotes choosing : siges kur, choosing of the victory ; to own the val, or the slain heroes, to lead them to Wotan's hall, was named kiosan — German kiiren, to choose. But the valkyrs also take charge of heroes while alive, and protect them until death : they are guardian angels and death angels. Wotan is sei-ved in Valhall by these half-divine maidens, and at his com- mand they go forth into every battle to choose the slain. Another name of the valkyrs is, in Old Norse, valmeyjar, or battle-maids ; they are also called sl^iald- GIANTS; DWARFS j WATER-SPRITES; ETC. 3 1 meyjar, or shield-maidens, and hialmmeyjar, or helmet- maidens, since they ride forth armed, under shield and helmet. They are also sometimes termed oskmeyjar, or wish-maidens ; they are in Wotan's service, and Wo- tan is called Oski {Wunsc, wish), the god of wishing, the divine wish. In Valhall the valkyrs handed the drinking-horn to the gods and heroes. They longed for battle, and not only chose the heroes that were to be slain, but decided the victory. Nine valkyrs ride out together; their lances, helmets, and shields glitter. The steeds shake themselves, whereupon dew drips from their manes into the valleys. The valkyrs, like Wotan, are accompanied by eagles and ravens who alight on the battle-field. Most of the valkyrs were supposed to be mortal maidens of kingly race, deified women or descended from the gods. It seems prob- able that the obligation of virginity was imposed on the valkyrs, since Wotan decreed that Brunhild, for disobeying his will, should cease to be a valkyr and should be given in marriage. Yet some of the valkyrs were abducted by men against their will, while others were the lovers of heroes. There was some affinity between norns and valkyrs : Skuld, the youngest of the norns, was also a valkyr. There is, moreover, a tale of three valkyrs who sat on the sea-beach spinning costly flax. Thus valkyrs as well as norns were at times imagined spinning and weaving. Yet the chief ofifice and dis- tinctive feature of the valkyrs was the award of vic- tory, and their greatest pleasure was the excitement of war and the clash of arms. Wotan and Freyja sum- moned to their abode all those who fell in battle. The account of the valkyrs which we have just given 32 HmG OP THE NIBBLVNG. leads us to a consideration of Valhall, the hall of the slain heroes, where they abide after death. When the gods had set in order heaven and earth, they erected for themselves a dwelling in the centre of the universe. It was called Asgard, the home of the gods or, more distinctively, of the Aesir. It contained many man- sions, but none of them was so famous as Valhall. It was covered with shields, and had five hundred and forty doors, each affording passage to eight hundred heroes at once. Wotan has the beautiful name of Valfodhr, Valfather; and the heroes admitted to Val- hall are called einherjar, the only {ein), or great, cham- pions. In the midst of Valhall stood a mighty tree the foliage of which was cropped by a she-goat, whose ud- der yielded a barrelful of mead a day — enough to nour- ish all the einherjes. All heroes aspired to admission to Valhall ; the cowards and evil-doers were excluded from it. It appears, however, that the virtuous, even though they had died a natural death, found an abode in Valhall or in one of the other heavenly mansions. The idea seemed to prevail that virtue, and not valor alone, was entitled to recompense in another life, and that wickedness and vice, although allied with personal bravery, were to be punished. The reception of de- parted heroes in Valhall is vividly pictured in sagas. Valhall may be compared to the Greek Elysium in the far west, in the happy isles of Okeanos. As the whole atmosphere surrounding and pervading Wagner's " Ring of the Nibelung" is entirely mythical, and as, consequently, acquaintance with an outline of Teutonic mythology is necessary for the full com- GIANTS; D WARPS; WATEH-SPklTES ; ETC. 33 prehension of the great drama, we have referred to the gods, goddesses, giants, dwarfs, river-maidens, norns, and valkyrs. The account would be incomplete with- out some statements concerning the views of the an- cient Teutonic race on the creation of the world, or cosmogony. On the other hand, since both in Teuton- ic mythology and in Wagner's poem such an impor- tant part is played by the advent of the Gotterddm- merung, or destruction of the world, it is evident that first an account of its creation should be given. In the beginning there was an immense chasm called ginniinga gap, or chasm of chasms, answering in mean- ing to the Greek chaos. " There were two extremities of the chasm, opposed to one another; far to the north was Niflheim, the nebulous world, and far to the south Muspelheim, the fire-world. From the latter came light and warmth, from Niflheim darkness and deadly cold. In the middle was a fountain out of which flowed twelve rivers. When they got so far from their source that the drop of fire contained in them hardened, like the sparks that fly out of flame, they turned into rigid ice. Touched by the mild air of the south, the ice be- gan to thaw and trickle ; by the power of him who sent the heat, the drops quickened into life, and a man grew out of them, Ymir (called Orgelmir by the Hrim- thurses), a giant and evil of nature. Ymir went to sleep and fell into a sweat ; then under his left hand grew man and wife, and one of his feet engendered with the other a six-headed son ; hence are sprung the families of giants. But the ice dripped on, and a cow arose, Audhumbla, from whose udder flowed four streams of milk, conveying nourishment to Ymir. Then the cow 34 RIl^G OF THE NIBELUNG. licked the salty ice-rocks ; and on the evening of the first day a man's hand came forth, on the second the man's head, and on the third day the whole man emerged. He was beautiful, large, and strong; his name was Buri, and his son's name Borr. Borr took to him Bestla, the giant Bolthorn's daughter, and begat three sons, Odhinn (Wotan), Vili, and Ve ; and by them was the giant Ymir slain." When the giant Ymir fell, there flowed so much blood out of his wounds, that all the race of the frost-giants was drowned in it, save one, who escaped with his wife. From them came a new race of frost-giants. The sons of Borr dragged the dead Ymir's body into the middle of ginnHnga gap, and created out of his blood the sea and water, of his flesh the earth, of his bones the mountains, of his teeth and broken bones the rocks and crags. Then they took his skull and made of it the sky ; and the sparks from Muspelheim, that floated about free, they fixed in the sky so as to give light to all. The earth was round and encircled by a deep sea, on whose shore the giants were to dwell ; but to guard the inland parts of the earth against them, there was built of Ymir's brows a castle, Midgard. The giant's brain was thrown into the air and formed the clouds. When all this was done, the sons of Borr went to the seashore and found two trees, out of which they created two human beings ; the man they called Ask, and the woman Embla. To these Wotan gave soul and life, Vili wit and feeling, Ve countenance, speech, hearing and sight. According to another account the gods were Wotan, Hoenir and Loder. The newly created pair received from the gods Midgard as their GIANTS; DWARFS; WATER-SPRITES; ETC. 35 abode, and from them is descended the whole human family. As to the creation of dwarfs, the traditions do not agree ; according to one account they came forth as worms in the proto-giant's (Ymir's) flesh, and were then endowed by the gods with understanding and human shape ; in earlier myths they were created out of the flesh and bones of another giant. Both accounts refer only to the black elves. According to the Edda, in the order of creation there came, first the giants, next the gods, and then after an intervening deluge, caused by the blood flowing from the wounds of Ymir, men and dwarfs. Only men and dwarfs can therefore be regarded as being really created ; the giants and gods came, as it were, spontaneously out of chaos. " In the dses (Aesir, gods) we see a superior and successful second product in contrast with the first half-bungled giant affair. On the giants an undue portion of inert matter had been expended ; in the dses body and soul attained a perfect equilibrium, and together with infi- nite strength and beauty was evolved an informing and creative mind. To men belongs a less full yet a fair measure of both qualities ; while dwarfs, as the end of creation, form the antithesis to giants, since mind in them outweighs the puny body." One of the finest conceptions of Norse cosmogony is Ygdrasil, the world-tree, of all trees the greatest and holiest. It is an ash-tree, whose branches shoot through all the world and reach beyond heaven. It has three mighty roots; one of them extends to the gods in Asgard, another to the giants, the third stands over Niflheim. From each root gushes a miraculous 36 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. fountain: from the heaven root Urdharbrunnr ; from the giants' root Mimisbrunnr ; from the under-world Hvergeltnir, i.e. the roaring caldron. All these foun- tains or well-springs were considered sacred. At the Urdhar well the gods sat in judgment, and there they and the norns held their councils. The giants' well was guarded by Mimir, and in it wisdom was concealed ; the snake Nidhhoggr lay below Hvergelmir, gnawing at the root of the tree. The norns every day draw water from the Urdhar-fount, and with it and the clay that lies around the fount they sprinkle the ash-tree so that the boughs may continue green and not wither away. So holy is this spring that it imparts to every- thing placed in it the color of the white of an egg. From the tree there trickles a dew, called hundngsfall, fall of honey, and it is the food of bees. In the beginning Allfather (Wotan) appointed rulers, ind bade them judge with him the destinies of man- kind. The gods dwelled in Asgard. There were twelve seats for them beside the throne which was oc- cupied by Allfather. The most renowned deities were Wotan, Thor, Balder, Heimdal, Loki, Frey; Frigg, Freyja and Erda. Njord with his children Frey and Freyja originally belonged to the Vanir, or sea-gods, who were received among the Aesir by virtue of a treaty. There was a golden age of the gods, and it lasted until the arrival of three women from Jotunheim, three so-called giantesses, who brought misfortune with them. The three maidens are regarded as being the daughters of Erda, the earth. Erda at the same time represents that primeval world of waters from which GIANTS; DWARFS; WATER-SPRITES; ETC. 3/ later the earth arose. In this sense the maidens were divinities of the Vanir race ; again they are identified with the norns. The arrival of the norns among the Aesir gods was supposed to denote the end of the golden age. Fate and guilt were considered as insepa- rably connected. The pure gold symbolizes innocence ; in the beginning the gods (Aesir), as well as the Vanir, deemed it merely a thing to play with. From the ad- mission of the Vanir into the company of the Aesir came the source of all evil. The former brought the gold with them from its pure abode at the bottom of the water, and the Aesir desecrated it for selfish pur- poses through the instrumentality of the dwarfs. Hence arose the danger to the gods ; the curse rested on the gold from the time it was taken from its bed in the innocent deep. " The unrighteous acquisition of gold, wealth and power is the cause of guilt and sin, and with its dis- astrous consequences leads to the destruction of the world. The German Gotterdammerung and the Norse Ragnarok have the same meaning : ragna from regin, god, and rok, darkness, i.e. twilight, darkening of time and the gods, and with it final destruction. It was pro- claimed by prophetesses, and was foreshadowed by the death of Balder and by other events. The growing de- pravity and strife in the world announced also its coming. Then the evil beings, long held in check and under spell, break loose and war against the gods. The Fenris-wolf devours the sun, another the moon. The stars are hurled from the heavens, the earth shakes so violently that trees are torn up by the roots, the tottering mountains tumble headlong from their found- 38 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. ations. The monstrous world-snake Jormungandhr, writhing in giant rage, rises out of the waters on to the land, the sea rushes over the earth, the Fenris- wolf is set free. On the waters floats the ship Naglfar (nail-ship), constructed out of dead men's nails. The Fenris-wolf advances and opens his enormous mouth ; the lower jaw reaches to the earth, and the upper one to heaven. Fire flashes from his eyes and nostrils. The Midgard serpent Jormungandhr, placing himself by the side of the Fenris-wolf, vomits forth floods of poison which fill the air and the waters. Amidst these devastations the heavens are rent in twain ; and the sons of Muspel come riding through the opening in brilliant array. Surt rides first, and behind him fol- lows a glittering host ; it is from this flame-world that the gods have most danger to dread. They ride over Rifrost, the rainbow, in such a strength that they break it down. Then they direct their course to the battle-field called Vigrid. Thither repair also the Fenris-wolf and the Midgard serpent, and Loki with all the followers of Hel, and Hrym with all the frost- giants. But the sons of Muspel keep their effulgent bands apart on the battle-field, which is one hundred miles on each side." Meanwhile Heimdal arises, and with all his strength he blows the Gjallarhorn to arouse the gods, who as- semble without delay. Wotan then rides to Mimir's fountain, to consult how he and his warriors are to enter into action. The ash Ygdrasil begins to quiver ; nor is there anything in heaven or on earth that does not fear and tremble in that hour. The gods and all the einherjes of Valhall arm themselves with speed ancj GIANTS J DWARFS; WATER-SPRITES; ETC. 39 sally forth to the field, led on by Wotan with his golden helmet, resplendent cuirass, and spear called Gungner. Wotan pits himself against the Fenris-wolf. Thor stands by his side, but can render him no assist- ance, having himself to combat the Midgard serpent. Frey encounters Surt, and terrible blows are exchanged ere Frey falls ; and he owes his defeat to his not hav- ing the trusty sword which he gave to Skirner. Loki and Heimdal fight and kill each other. The god Tyr is killed by the hugest of all hounds, Garmr. Thor gains great renown for killing the Midgard serpent, but at the same time, retreating nine paces, he falls dead upon the spot, suffocated with the floods of venom which the dy- ing serpent vomits forth upon him. The wolf swallows Wotan ; but at that instant Vidar advances, and setting his foot upon the monster's lower jaw, he seizes the other with his hand, and thus tears and rends him till he dies. At the end Surt flings fire and flame over the world. Smoke wreathes around the all-nourishing tree Ygdrasil, the high flames play against the heavens, and earth, consumed, sinks down beneath the sea. After the world-conflagration a new and happier earth rises out of the sea, with gods rejuvenated. The destruc- tion of the world by water is in all mythologies regard- ed as past ; that by fire is looked forward to as future. 40 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. CHAPTER III. THE TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. As has been stated, there exist several versions in which the Nibelung story has been transmitted to us. Some of them have been preserved in Iceland, others in Germany. During the despotic reign of King Har- old HUrfager (Fair-hair) in Norway, the flower of the Norwegian race began to emigrate to Iceland. They took with them the best of the ancient culture of their home, the spirit of freedom, the love of song and poetry, and all those characteristics which were com- mon to the whole Teutonic race. They religiously preserved the early traditions of their forefathers ; a task which, however, was much easier for them to ac- complish than for the kindred nations. In Iceland, Christianity was introduced at a comparatively late epoch — at the beginning of the eleventh century. It was preached by native priests, who did not desire to eradicate every vestige of the ancient customs; a proceeding very different from the manner in which Christianity was introduced into Germany. Among the Icelandic poems and sagas the following should be mentioned here: (i) The Elder Edda,* or Saemund's Edda. It consists * The Nibelung traditions given in the following pages are mostly taken from the two Eddas, and from the " Story of the Volsungs and Nibelungs," by E. Magnusson and W. Morris. TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. 4I of a series of lays more or less independent of each other. They naturally divide themselves into two sections, a mythic and an heroic — into poems referring to the ancient gods, and poems treating of the heroes of antiquity. The old parchment (Codex regius) of the Elder Edda seems to have been written about the year 1300, and was sent to Denmark in the middle of the seventeenth century as a present from the Ice- landic bishop Brynjolf Sveinsson to King Frederick the Third. Unfortunately there are several pages want- ing in this manuscript ; they contained a very impor- tant part of the life of Siegfried (Sigurd) — that from his first meeting with Brunhild to his death — and their contents can only be inferred from the Volsunga Saga, to be presently described. When we consider the El- der Edda in connection with the poetry of Germany, it appears that the Edda literature in its nature and origin belongs to the whole Teutonic race. The Edda poetry has, on the whole, retained in the north a more original character, while at the same time it has in some in- stances assumed a specifically Norse garb. The Edda poems in the form in which they have been handed down to us belong mostly to the eighth century ; yet they originated in a prehistoric time, when no difference had as yet been developed between Scandinavians and Germans. (2) The Younger Edda, or Snorre's Edda as it is also called, because its authorship has been ascribed to Snorre Sturlason (born 1178, died 1241), is a work com- posed at different times by different persons. It forms a collection of narratives in prose, and has been very appropriately called by Prof. R. B. Anderson* a sort * The Younger Edda, translated by R. B, Anderson. Chicago, 1879. 42 RING OF THE N I BELONG. of commentary on the Elder Edda. In its first part it contains a general synopsis of the ancient faith of the Norse people ; in its second the art of poetry is de- scribed. (3) Among the mytho-heroic sagas the Volsunga Saga is the most important. It is partly a paraphrase in prose of the songs of the Elder Edda, and was prob- ably collected during the twelfth century. " The whole middle portion of the saga is a transposing of the poems which relate to the Volsungs, and the open- ing chapters are also clearly based on very ancient songs which are now lost, while the last chapters are unmistakably a later addition to the original cycle of poems. . . . Viewed as a whole, the transposing is faithfully done, and the impression we get from those parts of which we possess only the prosaic paraphrase is uniformly the same as that which we get from those passages of which the original poems are pre- served. . . . The Volsunga Saga is particularly interest- ing from the fact that it illustrates how the original and ancient nucleus of the saga in the course of time has received various additions, other traditions having be- come united with the Volsung legends. A remarkable example of this is the expansion which the Sigurd (Siegfried) traditions have received by becoming united with the traditions relating to the Viking king, Ragnar Lodbrok, the latter's wife, Aslaug, being represented as a daughter of Sigurd and Brynhild. This is a striking illustration of the tendency quite common among the ancients to connect the most prominent families with kings and heroes of the heroic age."* * History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North, by F. W. Horn, translated by R. B. Anderson (Chicago, 1884), page 64. TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. 43 (4) The Thidrek Saga (of Dietrich von Bern), or Vil- kina Saga, including the Niflunga Saga, collected to- wards the middle of the thirteenth century, was com- posed from the saga-lore of Germany, or was to a great extent at least, as is repeatedly stated by its author. This saga bears the impress of later romantic tales in some of its parts, especially in the account of Siegfried's birth ; while other portions, based on old Saxon songs and tales, agree with the Edda and Volsunga Saga ; others again are derived from later German lays, and agree in many points with the Nibelungen Lied, par- ticularly with its second part. (5) The Nornagestsaga of the fourteenth century is based on the songs of the Elder Edda, and is a curious blending of history and myth. Nornagest * lived three hundred years, and related as an eye-witness Sigurd's (Siegfried's) deeds and death, and other incidents of the Nibelung story, to King Olaf Trygvason. He was then baptized, lighted the taper at the king's com- mand, and died. In addition to the Icelandic poems and sagas, the old Danish folk-lore (from the fourteenth century to the sixteenth) may also be mentioned. It contains songs belonging to the Nibelung subject, either based on the ancient northern traditions, or related to the second part of the Nibelungen Lied. In the lonely isles of Faroe the old saga has so deeply penetrated the heart of the people that the songs of Brunhild resound there even at the present day. Among the Nibelung traditions of Germany the Nibelungen Lied takes the foremost rank. It is the * See page 29. 44 l^I^G OF THE NlBELVNG. greatest poem of mediaeval Germany. Composed during the end of the twelfth century, it is imbued with the spirit of feudalism and Christianity. The idea of the original lays of the Nibelungs appears partly, but not altogether, clouded ; yet despite this fact, the poem is of such beauty and grandeur that its place among the greatest epics of the world is undisputed. As we shall see hereafter, Richard Wagner took the fundamental facts for the literary composition of his " Ring of the Nibelung" mostly from the earlier tradi- tions, and consequently consulted chiefly the poems and sagas of the Nibelungs as transmitted to us by the Scandinavian north. Thus the Nibelungen Lied was not a direct source of his work. Besides, the " Ring of the Nibelung" ends with the death of Siegfried and Brunhild, while in the Nibelungen Lied Brunhild sur- vives Siegfried, sinks after his death into insignificance, and Kriemhild (the northern Gudrun) plays the most prominent part in the epic, especialljy in its second half, which might be called Kriemhild's Revenge. In the sketch of the Nibelung story to be given farther on we shall, therefore, have little occasion to refer to the Nibelungen Lied ; the reader who desires fuller in- formation concerning that marvellous poem may con- sult Auber Forestier's charming prose version, or the author's " Great Epics of Mediaeval Germany." The Lay of Siegfried the Horny-skinned {Das Lied vom Hiirnen Seyfried) belongs, from its versification, to the thirteenth century, and, from its language, to the fifteenth. This work, preserved only in printed editions of the sixteenth century, is an agglomeration of several ancient songs which originally had no rela- TRADITIONS OP THE mBELVNG MYTH. 4S tion to each other, and consequently it contains some contradictions ; still it shows even in its present shape many traces of great antiquity. The works named above are the most important ones in which the Nibelung myths and sagas have been handed down to us. In the following pages, as far as possible only such facts and events will be sketched as form the basis of Wagner's " Ring of the Nibelung." The great poet and composer at times arranged the material of his sources without any great modification of their contents, while now and then they underwent a more striking transformation at his hands. Yet even in the latter case the principal ideas and facts of the myth remained the type, or model, of his creation. As has been said before, the spirit of the myth has been wonderfully grasped by the master, and the idea of its unity brought out in a harmonious form. This fact must be borne in mind so much the more, as there is not a single tradition extant in which the original Nibelung story has been preserved complete and in its entire purity. It is only by comparing the several versions with each other, and submitting each and all of them to a critical examination, that the primitive character of the myth can be fully detected. Among the heroes who had been selected by Wotan to strengthen the power of the gods, to enter Valhall, and as einherjes* to take part with him in the last combat, none were more renowned than those of the race of the Volsungs. According to the Volsunga Saga, Sigi was the son of Wotan. On account of a murder which he had committed he fled, or, in the * See page 32. 46 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. words of the saga, he was considered " a wolf in holy places" — that is, he was banished. Thus at the very beginning of the history of this race a deed is recorded which throws a gloomy shadow on the son of Wotan. " Sigi, by the aid of Wotan, con- quered the land of the Huns, that is, of the giants. Sigi's son was Rerir, a mighty warrior who obtained the land and kingdom of his father. The son of Rerir was Valse ; * he married the daughter of a giant. They had ten sons and one daughter ; and their eldest son was hight Sigmund, and their daughter Signy,f and these two were twins, and in all wise the foremost and fairest of the children of King Valse ; even as has been long told from ancient days, and in tales of long ago, with the greatest fame of all men, how that the Volsungs have been great men, and high-minded, and far above the most of men both in cunning and in prowess. So says the story that King Valse let build a noble hall in such a wise that a big oak-tree stood therein, and that the limbs of the tree blossomed fair out over the roof of the hall, while below stood the trunk within it. " Soon there appeared a suitor for Signy, and, although the maiden had little love for him, she was betrothed to King Siggeir at her father's command. As the men sat by the fires in the evening of the wedding-da}', a certain man came into the hall, unknown of aspect to * In the Volsunga Saga he is called Volsung. This is an error. His proper name is Valse, and that of his son is Valsing (Volsung). In the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf the names Valse and Valsing (17S7 and 1747) are correctly applied. It is evident that the name Volsung cannot refer to the son of Rerir, but only to the son of Valse. \ Sieglinde in Wagner, TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. 47 all men ; he wore a spotted cloak, and he had a sword in his hand as he went up to the tree, and a slouched hat upon his head ; huge he was ; he seemed old and one-eyed. He drew his sword and smote it into the tree-trunk, so that it sank in up to the hilt ; and all held back from greeting the man. Then he said : ' Whosoever draweth this sword from this trunk shall have the same as a gift from me, and shall find it in good sooth that never bare he better sword in hand than is this.' The old man went from the hall, and none knew who he was, or whither he went. All the noblest men tried to pull the sword out of the tree, but none of them could do it. At last there came Sig- mund, the son of Valse ; he seized the sword by its hilt, and drew it from the tree-trunk, even as if it lay loose before him." In vain Siggeir offered for the weapon thrice its weight of gold ; Sigmund kept what the god had be- stowed on him. Siggeir, wrathful at the refusal, left the country with his sorrowing wife, after bidding Valse, his sons and followers, come and see him in his king- dom after three months had passed. There with treacherous intent Siggeir fell on them ; Valse and all his men were slain ; his sons were captured and most cruelly killed, save Sigmund, who by Signy's help escaped. Then Sigmund dwelt in the woods like a wolf among the wolves, while King Siggeir deemed that all the Volsungs were dead. Signy, fearing that the race of the Volsungs might become extinct, changed semblance with a witch-wife, went to Sigmund, and abode with him three nights. Their son, a true Vol- sung, was called Sinfjotli. Sigmund brought him up in 48 Itmc OF THE NiBELUNG. fierce hardihood, so that he might be inured to fatigue, and brave enough to revenge the death of Valse. Father and son roamed through the woods in the guise of wolves, and accomplished many valiant deeds. At last, at Signy's behest, they avenged the death of her father and brothers on King Siggeir by setting fire to the royal hall. They promised great honors to Signy, but she answered to Sigmund : " I went into the woods to thee in a witch-wife's shape, and Sinfjotli is the son of thee and me both ; and therefore has he this great hardihood and fierceness, because he is the son both of Valse's son and Valse's daughter. For naught else have I so wrought that King Siggeir might get his bane at last ; and merrily now will I die with the king, though I was naught merry to wed him." Thereupon she kissed Sigmund and Sinfjotli, went back into the fire, and died with the king and all his men. Sigmund returned to his father's land, took charge of his hereditary realm, and became a king, mighty and far-famed. He married Borghild, and had a son by her named Helgi, who afterwards achieved great renown among the heroes of his time. The two songs of Helgi in the Elder Edda are among the noblest contributions ever made to the literature of ancient Scandinavia. In this place we can only briefly refer to Helgi. He slew Hunding in battle, and was thence called Hundingsbani, the slayer of Hunding. Hunding had been in deadly feud with Sigmund, and probably taken possession of Valse's kingdom after Siggeir's death. The valkyr Sigrun protected in battle Helgi, the son of Sigmund, against her father's wish. She loved and married Helgi, but hated the man whom her father had sought to force on her as her husband. THADITIONS OP THE mSELuNG MYTH. 49 Sinfjotli died of poison given to him by his step- mother Borghild, whom Sigmund therefore drove away ; Helgi fell in strife with Sigrun's brother. Helgi and Sinfjotli, though both great heroic figures, must quit the scene to make way for the grandest of the Vol- sungs, Siegfried (the northern Sigurd). After the close of the second lay of Helgi Hundingsbani in the Elder Edda we read : " But a Httle while lived Sigrun, be- cause of her sorrow and trouble. Bui: in old time folk trowed that men should be born again, though their troth be now deemed but an old wife's doting. And so, as folk say, Helgi and Sigrun were born again, and at that time was he called Helgi, the Scathe of Had- ding, and she Kara, the daughter of Halfdan, and she was a valkyr, even as is said in the lay of Kara." According to mythical ideas and interpretations the heroes and heroines were often represented as " born again." With somewhat changed names and slightly different characteristics and attributes they were thought to be the same. Signy, Borghild (the warrior- maid of the funeral-pyre), Hjordis (the sword-maiden), the third wife of Sigmund and mother of Sigurd (Sieg- fried), were all valkyrs and only variations of the same type, just as Sinfjotli and Helgi were "born again" in Sigurd. Lyngi, a son of Hunding, had wooed Hjordis ; but she preferred Sigmund, who, although well advanced in years, was the more famous hero. The Handings made war on Sigmund and his men. The battle was fierce and fell ; and though Sigmund was old, yet he fought most sturdily, and was ever foremost among his men. Many an arrow and spear whizzed through the 50 JilNG OF THE NIBELUNG. air that day ; and so valiantly did his valkyrs strive for him, that he remained unscathed. When the battle had lasted a while, there appeared a man clad in a blue cloak and with a slouched hat on his head ; one- eyed he was, and in his hand he bore a spear. Ad- vancing upon Sigmund, he hurled his spear at him; Sigmund smote fiercely with the sword, but it struck upon the spear and snapped asunder. Thenceforth Sigmund's luck deserted him, and soon he fell in the thick of the fight, and the greater part of his men with him. That night, after the battle, Hjordis went about among the slain, and arriving where lay King Sig- mund, asked him if he might be healed ; but he an- swered : " Many a man lives after hope has grown dim ; but my luck has left me, nor will I suffer myself to be healed ; nor wills Wotan that I should ever draw sword again, since this my sword and his is broken. Lo, now, I have waged war while it was his will. But thou wilt bring forth a child ; nourish him well and with good heed, and our son shall be the noblest and the most famous of all our kin. And keep well withal the shards of the sword : thereof shall a goodly blade be made, and it shall be called Gram ; and our son shall bear it, and shall do many a great deed therewith, even such as time shall never lessen ; for his name shall abide and flourish as long as the world shall last. But now I grow faint with my wounds, and must away to our kin that have gone before me." Thus Sig- mund died. Hjordis fled, in her flight meeting Alf, the son of Hjalprek, king of the Franks. When he learned who she was, he held her in great honor. TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. SI According to the Volsunga Saga, Hjordis, after the death of Sigmund, gave birth to a child who was named Sigurd and was brought up in the house of King Hjal- prek. Sigurd's foster-father was called Regin,* the son of Hreidmar; he taught Sigurd all manner of arts, the lore of runes, and the speech of many tongues. According to the Nibelungen Lied his parents were Sigmund, king of the Netherlands, and the queen Sieglinde. He was brought up in the arts of chivalry, as was then customary with kings' sons. His father and mother were still living when Siegfried left his home as a knight in quest of adventures. The Nibe- lung versions with which we are most concerned at this stage are the " Lied vom Hiirnen Seyfried " f and the Thidrek Saga.| In the latter, and in the second part of the former version, Siegfried does not know his parents, and is brought up by a smith. In both accounts he appears as the impetuous and unmanage- able youth so well known in the later popular German tales. In the Thidrek Saga the smith was called Mimir (Mime) ; his brother was Regin, who had as- sumed the form of a dragon.§ Since Siegfried did altogether as he pleased, — beat the smith and his men, broke the iron asunder, and struck the anvil into the * Mime in Wagner's dramas. \ See page 44. % See page 43. § The fact tliat the dragon was originally a human being is still re- membered in the Thidrek Saga, as well as in the ' ' Lied vom Hiirnen Seyfried," yet the primitive idea of the Nibelung hoard is not brought out. Thus the transformation into a dragon is not caused here by a desire to retain the treasure, as in the Eddas and the Volsunga Saga. Moreover, Mime and Regin appear here as friends. 52 RING OF THE N IB E LUNG. ground, — the smith sent him into the forest for coal, hoping that he might be killed there by the dragon. But Siegfried slew the dragon and roasted the body over the fire. He dipped his finger into the bubbling blood to see whether the monster was fully roasted. In doing so he burned his finger, and on putting it into his mouth the voice of the birds became intelligible to him. They warned him of Mime's intentions. Then he anointed his whole body with the blood of the dragon, and thus became invulnerable, except at a spot be- tween the shoulders which he could not reach. There- upon he went home to Mime, who, to pacify his wrath, presented him the costliest weapons, among them the sword Gram; seizing which, Siegfried immediately slew the smith. For reasons which will appear from a comparison of the above extract of the Thidrek Saga with Wag- ner's " Siegfried," the second evening of the Ring of the Nibelung, we have had to anticipate in the pre- ceding lines some of the events which belong to a later period of the story. We will now resume our sketch of the Volsungs according to the Volsunga Saga and the Eddas. Regin, the smith, was, as has been said above, the foster-father of Siegfried (Sigurd), and he took it upon himself to rear the youth. He artfully reminded him of his father's wealth which had come into the possession of King Hjalprek's son through the latter's marriage with Hjordis. Through Wotan's aid Siegfried obtained the famous horse Grani, which was descended from Sleipnir.* Then * See page ii. TRADITIONS OF THE N I BELONG MYTH. 53 Regin said to Siegfried : " I can tell thee where there is much wealth for the winning, and great name and honor to be gained in the getting of it." Sigurd asked where that might be, and who had watch and ward over it. Regin answered : " Fafnir is his name, and but a little way hence he lies, on the waste of Gnita-heath ; and when thou arrivest there, thou mayest well say that thou hast never seen more gold heaped together in one place, and that none might desire more treasure, though he were the most ancient and famed of all kings." Regin constantly egged Siegfried on to slay Fafnir, and told him the following tale :* " Hreidmar was my father's name, a mighty man and wealthy ; and his first son was named Fafnir, his second Otter ; and I was the third, and the least of them all both for prowess and good conditions ; but I was cunning to work in iron and silver and gold. My brother Otter had another nature : he was a great fisher, and had the likeness of an otter by day, and dwelt eVer in the river. But Fafnir was by far the greatest and grimmest, and would have all things about called his. Now there was a dwarf, called Andvari, who ever abode in that force which was called Andvari's force, in the likeness of a pike ; my brother Otter was ever wont to enter into the force and bring fish aland. It befell that Odin (Wotan), Loki and Hoenir, as they wandered about on the earth, came to Andvari's force, and Otter had taken a sal- mon, and ate it, slumbering upon the river-bank. Then Loki took a stone and cast it at Otter, so that he met his death thereby. The gods were well content * Also in the " Great Epics," pages 60 and 61. 54 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. with their prey, and flayed off the otter's skin. In the evening they came to Hreidmar's house and besought him to lodge them for the night, adding that they were well supplied with provisions ; whereupon they showed Hreidmar what they had caught. But when Hreid- mar saw the otter, he laid hands on them and doomed them to such ransom as that they should fill the otter- skin with gold and cover it over without with gold. They made a treaty accordingly, confirming it with oaths. The gods thereupon sent Loki (who had been, as often before, the cause of their misfortune) to gather gold together for them. Loki borrowed the net of the sea-goddess Ran, and went to Andvari's force, cast the net before the pike, and the pike ran into the net and was taken. Then said Loki : " ' What fish of all fishes Swims strong in the flood, But hath learnt little wit to beware ? Thine head must thou ransom From abiding in Hel, And find me the wan waters' flame.' * " He answered : '" Folk call me Andvari, Call Oinn my father. Over many a force have I fared ; For a norn of ill-luck Lay upon me this life Through wet ways ever to wade.' " Loki demanded of Andvari all the gold.he had in the * The gold, since according to ancient tradition it was found in the depths of the water. TRADITIONS OF THE NIB E LUNG MYTH. 5$ rock where he dwelt. Andvari produced it,* but Loki observed that he concealed a gold ring, and ordered him to give it up.f Then the dwarf went into a hol- low of the rocks and cried out that that gold ring, yea, and all the gold withal, should be the bane of every man who should own it thereafter. ;{: " The gods went with the treasure to Hreidmar and filled the otter-skin, and set it on its feet, and covered it over with gold ; but when this was done, Hreidmar came forth and beheld yet one of the muzzle-hairs and bade them cover that withal ; then Wotan drew the ring, Andvari's loom, from his hand, and covered up the hair therewith ; then sang Loki : " ' Gold enough, wealth enough, A great weregild, thou hast. That my head in good hap I may hold. But thou and thy son Are naught fated to thrive, The bane shall it be of you both.' "Thereafter Fafnir slew his father and murdered him, nor got I aught of the treasure; and so evil he grew that he fell to lying abroad and begrudged any * It had evidently been the property originally of the spirits of the deep, from whom Andvari had taken it. Giants and dwarfs, bcth equally covetous of wealth, often changed their forms to gain posses- sion of treasures and to retain them. \ The dwarf begged Loki not to take it from him, for by the ring he could renew his treasure. (Younger Edda.) X "The gold shall be the bane of two brothers and the destruction of eight nobles; no one shall rejoice in my wealth.'' (Elder Edda, Si- gurdharkv, 2, 5.) Loki said that this seemed well to him, and that, in order to keep this purpose, he should bring these words to the knowl- edge of him who should possess the gold. (Younger Edda.) 56 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. share in the wealth to any man, and so became the worst of all dragons, and ever now lies brooding upon that treasure ; but for me, I went to the king and be- came his master-smith : and thus is the tale told of how I lost the heritage of my father and the weregild of my brother." So spoke Regin ; and from this myth it is that gold is called Otter-gild or Otter-ransom. As we have seen, the curse was at once fulfilled on the first possessor of the ring. The gold, torn away from its original peace- ful and innocent abode in the water where it was guarded by the spirits of the deep (Rhine daughters*), fell into the hands of the dark elves, the dwarfs, the Nibelungs (Andvari, Alberich) ; from them the gods wrested it and handed it over to the giants (Hreidmar, Fafnir, Fasolt) by a treaty. Siegfried (Sigurd) said to Regin : " Make a sword by thy craft, such a sword as that none can be made like unto it, if thou wouldst have me slay this mighty dragon." So Regin made a sword and gave it into Siegfried's hands. He took the sword and said : " Behold thy smithying, Regin!" and therewith smote it into the anvil, and the sword broke. Then Regin forged another sword and brought it to Siegfried, who broke it even as the first. . Then he said to Regin : " Art thou, may happen, a traitor and a liar like to those former kin of thine?" Then Siegfried brought the shards of the sword Gram, the gift of Wotan, which had belonged to his father Sigmund. He bade Regin make a good sword thereof as he best might. Regin grew wroth, but went into the smithy with the pieces * In Wagner's drama. TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. 57 of the sword. So he made a sword, and as he bore it forth from the forge it seemed as though fire burned along the edges of it. Siegfried smote the sword into the anvil and cleft it down to the stock, and neither burst the sword nor broke it. He praised the sword much, and thereafter went to the river (Rhine*) with a lock of wool, and threw it up against the stream, and it fell asunder when it met the sword. Siegfried, after avenging the death of his father Sigmund on the sons and the whole race of Hunding, went up along the heath that same way where Fafnir was wont to creep when he fared to the water. Regin was sore afraid and stayed behind ; he had treacherously advised Sieg- fried to dig a hole in the ground and from it smite the dragon to the heart, hoping that in this manner Sieg- fried might be stifled in the pit by the blood flowing from the monster's wounds. Siegfried by the advice of Wotan, who came to him in the guise of an old man, dug several pits so that the blood of the dragon might run therein, and he sat in one of them. Now crept the dragon down to his place of watering, and the earth shook all about him, and he snorted forth venom on all the way before him as he went ; but Siegfried neither trembled nor was afraid of his roaring. So when the dragon crept over the pits, Siegfried thrust the sword under his left shoulder, so that it sank in up to the hilt ; then Siegfried leaped up from the pit and drew the sword back again unto him. Now when that mighty dragon was aware that he had his death-wound, he lashed out head and tail, so that all things soever that * From the Sigurdharkv. According to the latter poem and the Younger Edda he cleft the anvil after the trial of the sword in the Rhine. 58 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. were before him were broken to pieces. Then he asked Siegfried : " Who art thou ? and who is thy father ? and what thy kin, that thou wert so hardy as to bear weapons against me ?" Siegfried intended to conceal his name, since in accordance with ancient beHef he feared the words of a dying man, if he should accurse him by name ; so he replied : " Unknown to men is my kin. I am called a noble beast ; neither father have I nor mother, and all alone have I fared hither.'' Fafnir said : " Though thou tellest me not thy name on this my death-bed, yet thou knowest verily that thou liest unto me." Siegfried an- swered : " Siegfried am I called, and my father was Sigmund." Then said Fafnir : " Regin, my brother, has brought about my end, and it gladdens my heart that thine too he bringeth about, for thus will things be ac- cording to his will. A countenance of terror I bore up before all folk, after that I brooded over the heritage of my brother, and on every side did I spout out poison, so that none durst come nigh me. Such counsel I give thee that thou take thy horse and ride away at thy speediest, for often it happens that he who gets a death- wound avenges himself none the less." Siegfried an- swered : " Such as thy redes are I will nowise do after them ; nay, I will ride now to thy lair and take to me that great treasure of thy kin." "Ride there then," said Fafnir, " and thou .shalt find gold enough to suffice thee for all thy life-days ; yet shall that gold be thy bane and the bane of every one soever who owns it." And there- withal Fafnir died. Thereafter Regin came to Siegfried, and after some angry, words bade Siegfried to roast Fafnir's heart for him. Siegfried roasted it on a spit, and when the blood TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. $9 bubbled out he laid his finger thereon to see if it were fully done ; then he put his finger in his mouth, and the heart -blood of the dragon touching his tongue, he was enabled to understand the voice of the birds and hear their warning of Regin's evil designs against him. He followed their advice, drew his sword Gram and struck off Regin's head, ate Fafnir's heart, and drank the blood of both.* Then he heard one of the eagles singing : " Bind thou, Siegfried, The bright red rings ; Not kingly it is To fear many things. A fair maid I know, Fair of all fairest ; If the treasure thou gainest, Thou wilt gird her with gold." Another eagle sang : "A hall there is. High on Hindarfiall, Without all around it Sweeps the red flame aloft." Another: " High on the mount A shield-maiden sleeps ' The lime-trees' foet Is playing about her. The sleep-thorn set Wotan Into the valkyr For her felling in war The one he would guard. * According to ancient sagas wisdom and the gift of understanding the voice of the birds came from the eating of dragons' or serpents' hearts. \ Poetic term for fire. 6o RING OF THE NIBELUNG. " Go, hero, behold The maid under helmet. As from battle she rode On showers tempestuous. By the norns' decree Sigurd ri fa's* sleep Cannot be broken By the hero before." Siegfried leaped on his horse and rode along the trail of the dragon to his abiding-place. He found it open, and the treasure buried deep in the earth. Thence he took the helmet of terror (Aeger's helmet), the golden byrny, and many things fair and good. He placed the gold in two great chests and set them on the horse Grani, but the horse would not stir until Siegfried mounted it. By long stretches Siegfried rode on, till he came at last to Hindarfiall and turned southward to the land of the Franks. There he saw before him on the mountain a great light, as of burning fire, and the flames shone up to the sky. When he had passed the fiame-wall, there stood before him a castle covered with shields,f and on the battlements hung a banner. Sieg- fried went into the castle, and saw one lying there asleep and all armed. He took the helmet from off the sleeper's head, and saw that it was a woman. Her coat of mail was so closely fastened on her that it seemed to have grown to her flesh. So he rent the corselet with his sword Gram downward from her neck and from both arms. Thereupon she awoke and asked : * Siegfried will behold Sigurdrifa (the giver of victory), or Brunhild, as she appeared riding, as one of the valkyrs, through the air. f Like a funeral-pyre for heroes. Siegfried was in the realm of death, whose magic power he was to destrov. TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. 6 1 " What has rent my coat of mail ? What has broken my sleep ? Who has freed me from my baneful bonds ?" Siegfried answered : " Sigmund's son With Siegfried's sword E'en now rent down The raven's tree.* Of the Volsungs' kin is he who has done the deed. But I have heard that thou art daughter of a mighty king, and folk have told us that thou wert lovely and full of lore, and now will I learn the same." Then Brunhild (Brynhild) sang : " Long have I slept. And slumbered long. Many and long are the woes of mankind. By Wotan's might I could not break The spells of my slumber. " Hail to thee, day, come back ; Hail, sons of the daylight ! Hail to thee, daughter of night ! t Look with kindly eyes down On us sitting here lonely. And give us the gain that we long for. " Hail to you, gods ! Hail to the goddesses ! Hail to the fair earth, nourishing all ! Fair words, wise hearts Would we win from you, And healing hands, while life we hold." * The coat of mail; since the raven, eager for prey, alights on it as on a tree. \ Daughter {niece by some translators) of night is the sun. 62 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. She called herself Sigurdrifa (giving victory), and was a valkyr, also named Brynhild, being a warrior- maiden in coat of mail (byrny). She said to Siegfried : " Two kings fought, one of them being Helm Gunnar, an old man, and the greatest of warriors, and Wotan had promised the victory to him ; but his foe was Agnar, and so I smote down Helm Gunnar in the fight ; and Wotan, in vengeance for that deed, stuck the sleep- thorn into me, and said that I never again should have the victory (be Sigurdrifa), but should be given away in marriage. I, however, vowed that I would never wed a man who knew fear. Then Wotan enclosed me with a wall of wavering fire,* so that only a fearless hero should be able to free me from my sleep. Around my hall the destroyer of woodf he summoned, and commanded that through the fire that hero alone should ride who would bring me the gold that lay under Faf- nir." Brunhild taught Siegfried much of her wisdom, the lore of runes, and Siegfried said : " None among the sons of men can be found wiser than thou ; and therefore I swear that thee will I have as mine own, for thou art as my heart desires." Brunhild replied : " Thee would I fainest choose, though I had all men's sons to choose from." And this they pledged to each other by oath. According to the Volsunga Saga, Brunhild went thence to the house of Heimir, where Siegfried met her again. She said to Siegfried : " It is not fated that we should abide together ; I am a shield-maiden and wear helmet on head even as the kings of war, and them full often I help; neither has the battle become loathsome to * See page 144. f The flames. TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. 63 me." Siegfried answered : " What fruit shall be of our life if we live not together? Harder it is to bear this pain than the stroke of the sharp sword." Brunhild replied : " I shall gaze on the host of war-kings, but thou shalt wed Gudrun, the daughter of Giuki (Gibich)." Siegfried said : " What king's daughter lives to beguile me ? I swear by the gods that thee will I have for mine own, or no woman else." And so spoke she. Siegfried gave her the fatal ring of the dwarf Andvari, by which she too became mysteriously involved in the consequences of the curse that rested on the possessor of the hoard. In the Nibelungen Lied the idea of the primitive abode of the gold " in the rolling waves of the Rhine," and of its later acquisition by the dark elves or Nibe- lungs, is not distinctly brought forward, yet the gloomy origin of the treasure is not entirely forgotten. Hagen knows that Nibelung and Schilbung, the sons of old King Nibelung, had quarrelled about their paternal in- heritance, and were slain by Siegfried. To ayenge his masters, Alberich (king of the elves) attacked Siegfried, but the latter overpowered the " strong dwarf " * and thus became the possessor of the hoard, among which were Alberich's famous Tarnkappe, or magic cap of dark- ness, rendering its wearer invisible, and the celebrated wishing-rod. To the Tarnkappe correspond in the northern traditions Siegfried's power of changing sem- blance, and the helmet of terror, Aeger's helmet, made by Regin, taken by Fafnir together with the hoard, and gained by Siegfried after the dragon's death.f The * " Das Starke Gezwerg." \ " Oegis-hialmr (Aeger's helmet) must originally have been Oegi's 64 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. ring of the dwarf Andvari, by which the gold could ever be renewed, is identical with the wishing-rod, in so far as by the latter the treasure could always be replaced. Siegfried left Brunhild and took the hoard* with him. He came to the court of King Giuki (Gibich),t whose realm was in the south on the Rhine.;]; According to the Volsunga Saga his sons were named Gunnar (the German Gunther), Hogni (the same in name as the German Hagen) and Guttorm.§ Their sister was called Gudrun,! and she was the fairest of maidens. Giuki (Gibich) had wedded Grimhild, the wise-wife, a fierce- hearted woman. The days of the Giukings bloomed fair, and chiefly because of those children, so far before the sons of men. According to the Thidrek Saga the kingT^ had three sons, named Gunther, Gemot and own (and Oegi is at times indistinguishable from Odhinn, Wotan), as Aegis is wielded by the two highest deities, Zeus and Athena; after- wards the helmet came into the hands of heroes. Out of the magic helmet sprang helot-helm, grim-helm, tamkappe, wunschmantel (Kin- derm, no. 122), wunschhut, which bestow on dwarfs, heroes, and for- tune's favorites the power to walk unseen, to sail swiftly through the sky. . . . Besides invisibility, this cloak (tamkappe) imparts superior strength, and likewise control over the dwarf nation and their hoard." (Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, vol. ii. pp. 463, 870.) * In the Nibelungen Lied Siegfried had the treasure brought back to the interior of the mountain, from which Schilbungand Nibelung had carried it out. ■j- Gibich is the name of the father of the three kings in the mediaeval German epics with the exception of the Nibelungen Lied, where he is called Dankrat. The children of Gibich are called Gibichungs. % The residence of the kings is Worms in most of the German tradi- tions. § In the Younger Edda and in the Hyndla song Guttorm is the step- brother of the young kings. jl Grimhild (Kriemhild) in the Nibelungen Lied. ^ H e is named Aldrian , and called king of the land of the Nibelungs. TRADITIONS OP THE NISELUNG MVTH. 65 Giselher, and a daughter, called Grimhild (Kriemhild), renowned for her beauty.* Once it befell that the wife of the king lay asleep in her garden, and a man came to her in the likeness of the king. After some time, when the queen was about to give birth to a child, the same man appeared before her as she was alone, and told her that the child was their son. He also said to the queen that he, the child's father, was an elf (Alberich), and " when the child has grown up, reveal to him who is his father, but conceal it from every one else. He will be a mighty man, and whenever he shall find himself in dire distress he shall summon his father to his aid." Thereupon the elf vanished like a shadow. Thereafter the queen gave birth to the child, and he was named Hagen (Hogni), and called the king's son. When Hagen was four years old he was strong, and harsh and evil was his disposition. When he was told that his face was spectral, he waxed wroth at the re- proach. He went to a stream and beheld his likeness therein. He saw that his face was as pale as ashes, and large ; his appearance was fierce and grim. Thereupon he went to his mother and asked her how it happened that his figure was thus. Then the queen told him the truth about his father. When the Nibelung myth in Germany became changed into a hero-saga, it was combined and blended with the saga of the historical Burgundians, whose king Gundicar was slain, with thousands of his followers, by the Huns in the year 437. The " Lex Burgundionum" mentions four kings, whose names are Gibica (Gibich), * The names of the sons and the daughter agree with those in the Nibelungen Lied. 66 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Godomar, Gislahar (Giselher) and Gundahar (Gunther). The combination of myth and saga was brought about by the Franks, which is apparent from the fact that the earhest evidences of the name " Nibelung" as an histor- ical appellation are Prankish. The Burgundian kings are called Franci Nebulones in " Waltharius," and Rhine Franks in " Biterolf " and in the " Lament;" moreover the word " Nibelung" (Nivelongus or Nivelo) occurs as an historical name of Frankish princes in documents of the eighth and ninth centuries. Thus in the German tra- ditions the Gibichungs appear as Burgundian kings, dwelling at Worms on the Rhine, the transformation having been brought about by the influence of historj', the identity of mythical and historical names (Gibich and Gibica; Gundahar, Gundicar and Gunther; Gislahar and Giselher), and other circumstances. Hagen, who did not belong to those historical Burgundians, was re- tained in the saga, and together with his name of a " Frank " he preserved his " more than heroic nature." In " Waltharius" he is no relation of the royal house, and is said to be of Trojan race — a statement which is based on the old tradition of the descent of the Franks from Troy. In all the German poems of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries he is a relative of the kings, and their most powerful, trusty and distinguished vas- sal. In the Eddas and in the Volsunga Saga he is one of the royal brothers. He bears himself nobly, and protests against Siegfried's murder; yet he does not shrink from sharing the responsibility for the deed after it was done. In the north the name of Hogni (Hagen) was associated with lofty deeds, and the assassination of Siegfried devolved on Guttorm, a stepbrother of the TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. 67 kings. The account of Hagen's descent from an elf, a Nibelung, in the Thidrek Saga, as given above, is without doubt an ancient tradition. It was only by the change of the Gibichungs into Burgundian kings that Hagen became a mere relative (mac) of the royal house. Siegfried was well received by Gunther (Gunnar) and the other Gibichungs (Giukings), as he was by far the most renowned of all heroes. According to the Vol- sunga Saga, Grimhild, Gunther's mother, observed how ardently Siegfried loved Brunhild and how often he talked of her. She thought how well it might be were he to abide there and wed her daughter Gudrun, for she saw that none might come anigh to his great- ness, and that he had more wealth withal than any other man. So on a night as they sat drinking, the queen arose and gave him the drinking-horn which con- tained a draught of forgetfulness. Siegfried drank, and from that time all memory of Brunhild departed from him. One night Gudrun poured out the drink and Siegfried beheld how fair she was, and graceful withal. Gunther said : " All things that may be will we do for thee, so thou abidest here long ; both dominion shalt thou have, and our sister freely and unprayed for, whom another man would not get for his prayers." Siegfried answered : " Gladly will I take the same." Therewith they swore brotherhood together and to be even as if they were children of one father and one mother; and a noble feast was holden and endured many days. Now on a time went Grimhild to Gun- ther, her son, and spoke : " Fair blooms the life and fortune of thee, but for one thing only : thou art un- wedded. Go woo Brunhild, and Siegfried will ride with thee." Gunther replied : " Fair is she indeed, 68 RING OF THE NIB E LUNG. and fain would I win her." Then Siegfried and Gun- ther rode towards the hall enclosed with wavering fire. But Brunhild had vowed to wed him only who would ride the horse Grani and pass through the flame-wall, well knowing that none durst do it save Siegfried alone. Gunther spurred his steed against the fire, but the horse shrank back. Thereupon Gunther and Sieg- fried changed semblance, even as Grimhild had taught them, and Siegfried in the likeness of Gunther mounted his horse Grani and leaped into tht fire. A mighty roar arose as the fire burned even madder, and the earth trembled, and the flames went up even unto the heavens. But now the fire sank, and he leaped from his horse and went into the hall, even as the song says : " The flame flared at its maddest, Earth's fields fell a-quaking As the red flame aloft Licked the lowest of heaven. Few had been fain. Of the rulers of folk, To ride through that flame, Or athwart it to tread. " Then Siegfried smote Grani with sword. And the flame was slaked Before the king ; Low lay the flames Before the hero of fame, Bright gleamed the array That Regin erst owned." When Siegfried had passed through the fire, he came to a dwelling, and therein sat Brunhild. He said : " I am Gunther, and thou art awarded to me as my wife, since I have ridden through the wavering fire." While TJiJlDITIOI\/S OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. 69 Siegfried stood on the floor of the hall and leaned on the hilt of his sword, Brunhild, mindful of the true Siegfried and of her valkyrian prowess, answered sor- rowfully, but believed that he had spoken the truth. There Siegfried abode three nights, and they lay on one couch, but he placed his sword Gram between her and him. Afterwards he took from her the ring of the dwarf Andvari and rode back through the flames ; then he and Gunther changed semblance again. Gunther was wedded to Brunhild, and when the wedding-feast was ended, Siegfried remembered all the oaths he had sworn to Brunhild, yet he let all things abide in rest and peace. One day as Brunhild and Gudrun went to the river to bathe, Brunhild waded the farthest out into the river; then Gudrun asked what that might signify. Brunhild said : " Why should I be equal to thee in this matter more than in others ? My husband is greater than thine, and has accomplished many glor- ious deeds. It is he who rode through the flaming fire." Gudrun replied wrathfully : " Thou wouldst be wiser to be silent ; there is none in this world like unto my husband ; he was thy first beloved, and Fafnir he slew, and he rode through thy flaming fire, whereas thou didst deem that he was Gunther the king, and from thy hand he took the ring Andvaranaut (Andva- ri's loom) ; here mayest thou well behold it." Brun- hild saw the ring and knew it, and waxed as wan as a dead woman. In the Elder Edda the quarrel between the queens is not mentioned ; the Younger Edda contains an ac- count of it very much like the one in the Volsunga 70 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Saga, which has just been given. Instead of the wav- ering fire surrounding Brunhild's abode, as related in the Edda and Volsunga Saga, the Nibelungen Lied mentions the games of casting the spear, hurling the stone, and leaping, in which each suitor of Brunhild had to match his skill with hers. The successful com- petitor she was pledged to marry ; all others were doomed to death. Siegfried, rendered invisible by the Tarnkappe, aided Gunther in the combat, and Brunhild was defeated. The quarrel arose through the comparison of the two husbands ; and when Brunhild called Siegfried Gunther's vassal, " To her replied fair Kriemhild : * ' Thou shalt well understand, As thou hast called my Siegfried a liegeman of this land, This day by all the vassals it shall be plainly seen That I'll go to the minster preceding Gunther's queen.'" Kriemhild entered the minster, and as she came out she triumphantly showed Brunhild the ring (and the girdle). According to the Volsunga Saga Siegfried went to Brunhild and said : " Awake, Brunhild, cast off grief from thee and take pleasure !" She answered : " How then hast thou dared to come to me ? in this treason none was worse to me than thou." Siegfried said : " As one under a spell art thou, if thou deemest that there is aught cruel in my heart against thee ; but thou hast him for husband whom thou didst choose." "Ah, nay," she replied ; " never did Gunther ride through the fire, nor did he give me to dower the host of the * Gudrun in the northern traditions. TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. /I slain. I wondered at the man who came into my hall ; for I deemed indeed that I knew thine eyes, but I could not see clearly, or divide the good from the evil, because of the veil that lay heavy on my fortune." Siegfried assured her that a king like Gunther was worthy of her love ; but her rage became greater at his words, as they were spoken by the man whom she loved. She said : " This is the sorest sorrow to me, that the bitter sword is not reddened in thy blood." But afterwards Siegfried exclaimed : "■ I loved thee better than myself, although I fell into the wiles whence our lives may not escape ; for whensoever my own heart and mind availed me, then I sorrowed sore that thou wert not my wife." Brunhild replied : " Too late thou tellest me that my grief grieveth thee. I swore an oath to wed the man who should ride through the flaming fire, and that oath will I hold or die." And she called to mind how they had met, they two, on the mountain, and sworn oath each to each. Siegfried said : " Rather than thou die, I will wed thee, and put away Gudrun." But Brunhild answered : " I will not have thee, nor any other." Thereupon Siegfried left her, as saith the song : " Out then went Siegfried, The great kings' beloved, From the speech and the sorrow, Sore drooping, so grieving, That the corselet about him. Of iron rings woven. From the sides brake asunder Of the brave in the battle." When Gunther came to Brunhild, she spoke : " I will not live, for Siegfried has betrayed me, and thee no 72 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. less ; and this shall be Siegfried's death, or thy death, or my death." Gunther was bound to Siegfried by oath, and this way and that way swung the heart within him ; but at last he said : " Brunhild is better to me than all things else, and the fairest woman of all women ; I will lay down my life rather than lose the love of her." He also thought of the gold that Sieg- fried had wrested from Fafnir. He therefore acceded to Brunhild's demand for Siegfried's death.* Gut- torm, Gunther's stepbrother, who had not sworn the oath of brotherhood with- Siegfried, was urged to com- mit the murder, and great rewards and honors were promised to him. Guttorm, purposely excited by magic drinks, went to Siegfried as he lay on his bed, yet he durst not do aught against him, but shrank back ; and even so he fared a second time, for so bright and eager were the eyes of Siegfried that few durst look upon him. But the third time he went in, and there lay Siegfried asleep. Then Guttorm drew his sword and thrust Siegfried through in such a manner that the sword-point smote into the bed beneath him. Siegfried awoke with the wound, and Guttorm drew back unto the door. Siegfried seized the sword Gram and cast it after him, and it smote him on the back and struck him asunder in the midst, so that his feet fell one way, and his head and hands back into the room. When Brunhild heard Gudrun's loud bewail- ings, she laughed heartily ; but soon after she began to weep over the very deed to which she had urged her husband, and foretold the woe that was to follow Sieg- fried's murder. Then she thrust a sword into her * Hogni (Hagen in the northern epics) protested against the deed. TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. 73 side and sank upon the pillows of her couch, while she asked Gunther as a last boon to have her borne to Siegfried's funeral-pyre, and a drawn sword placed be- tween them, as once in the days of yore. There she was burned by the side of her first and only love. The Younger Edda, the Volsunga Saga, and most of the songs of the Elder Edda relate that Siegfried was murdered while sleeping in his bed ; yet according to the "■ Lay of Brunhild," and to the " Second Lay of Gudrun," in the Elder Edda, he was slain outdoors. At the end of the " Lay of Brunhild " the collector of the poems wrote a few lines in prose, referring to these different tales of Siegfried's death, and also stating that according to German traditions he was murdered in the wood. Whatever may have been the original version of the saga, the most important point is that in all ac- counts Siegfried was treacherously slain — a fact already recognized in the concluding sentence of the prose re- marks after the " Lay of Brynhild ": " But all say with one accord that they betrayed him in their troth and murdered him, as he lay unarrayed and unawares." In the Nibelungen Lied, Hagen, whose stern coun- tenance and grim appearance denoted his descent from the dwarfs, the Nibelungs, the powers of darkness, although he is called a relative of the kings, made a solemn vow that Siegfried should have to atone for Brunhild's sorrow. Gunther's weak nature made him listen to the words of grim Hagen, whose wily tongue depicted to Gunther the danger which he might incur while so great a king as Siegfried lived, who outshone the power and glory of the Burgundian monarch. Kriemhild (Gudrun), struck with fatal blindness, be- 74 RING OF THE NIB E LUNG. lieved Hagen to be a sincere friend of Siegfried, and she confided to the traitor a secret referring to Sieg- fried's former slaying of a dragon by the side of a mountain : " When from the wounded dragon the boiling blood streamed down, Deep in its gore bathed Siegfried, the knight of great renown. There fell between his shoulders a broad-shaped linden-leaf; And there he can be wounded : this gives me heart-felt grief." Gunther ordered a great hunt to take place in the Odenwald, and Siegfried declared himself ready to ac- company the king. The chase began amidst a joyous tumult and the sounds of the bugle, so that hill and dale gave back the loud echoes. After a successful hunt Siegfried sat down with Gunther, Hagen, and the other hunters to enjoy the meal that had been prepared for them. When he called for wine, Hagen told him that the hampers had been sent by mistake to the Spessart forest, but that he knew of a spring of cool and clear water. When Siegfried desired to be directed to the spring, Hagen, in an apparently careless manner, said to Siegfried : " I have been told that no one can surpass thee in running." Siegfried replied to Hagen : " Let us run a race to the spring— King Gunther, you and myself." Gunther and Hagen divested themselves of their armor and heavy garments and ran like two fierce panthers, yet Siegfried, laden with his weapons, arrived first at the spring. Gunther stooped and drank ; and when he had arisen, Siegfried did likewise. Then Hagen stealthily put away Siegfried's sword and bow beyond his reach, took the hero's spear that leaned TRADITIONS OF THE NIBELUNG MYTH. 75 against a linden-tree, and thrust it through the cross which Kriemhild had embroidered on her husband's mantle to show where he could be wounded. Sieg- fried took his shield, and, with the deadly spear be- tween his shoulders, overtook the traitor fleeing in craven flight, and smote him with the shield until it was broken into pieces. Thus Siegfried died. In the Eddas and in the Volsunga Saga it is but natural and in accordance with the lofty character of the valkyr Brunhild that she should slay herself after Siegfried's death. On the other hand, in the Nibelungen Lied, where Brunhild and Siegfried's relations are different, and Brunhild's pride, and not her love of Siegfried, ap- pears to be the main motive of action, there seems to be no reason why she should seek death after her honor had been avenged. In the Nibelungen Lied Hagen has the hoard sunk into the Rhine. This is the natural conclusion of the myth, but not of the saga. The different versions of the latter after Siegfried's death, whether in the Scandinavian or in the German tradi- tions, do not concern us here. We may, however, state briefly that in the Nibelungen Lied Kriemhild wreaks most cruel vengeance on her brothers and on Hagen for the death of Siegfried. In the Eddas and in the Volsunga Saga she (Gudrun) becomes rec- onciled to her brothers and avenges their death on their murderer, her second husband, Atli. As indicated above, the true termination of the whole tragedy after the death of atoning love (Brunhild and Siegfried) is the return of the gold into the depths of the Rhine, whereby the curse of the Nibelung is removed from the "glittering valrings," the rings of strife and de- struction. -j6 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. CHAPTER IV. THE RHEINGOLD. Ever since the year 1845 the powerful tragedy of the Nibelungs had exercised a most potent influence on Richard Wagner's highly poetic nature. As Franz Hueffer states, it was during the composition of " Lohengrin " that the old contest in Wagner's mind between the mythical and historical principles was finally decided. " The representative of the former was Siegfried, the hero of the earliest of Teutonic myths ; that of the latter Frederick the First, the great emperor of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, whose return from his sleep of centuries was for a long time connected by the German people with the revival of the old im- perial glory. The victory remained with Siegfried." * In the domain of history Wagner perceived merely relations or circumstances and not man himself, or man only so far as he was controlled by the power of circumstances ; while in the realm of myth he saw the pure soul of humanity. Desiring to give an artistic form and expression to the inmost wishes of his heart, he devoted himself to the ardent study of Teutonic antiquity, especially of the mediaeval German poems and the old Scandinavian epics and sagas. By strip- ping the Teutonic myth of the various garbs in which it had been clad, and to some extent disfigured, by later * " Richard Wagner," by Franz Hueffer, page 65. THE RHEINGOLD. 77 poetic productions and sagas, it was revealed to him at last in its pure, primitive raiment and chaste beauty ; and with it he found in the myth what he sought — the true man ; that is, what is purely human, freed from all conventionalism — the tragedy of the human soul. The poem of the " Ring of the Nibelung " was printed for circulation among the friends of the composer in the year 1853; it was published in 1863. Although the master deemed music the only language befitting the ideal sphere of the myth, his dramas could not be called operas in the ordinary sense of the word. He named them, therefore, musical dramas, and the " Ring of the Nibelung" is a festival play for three days and a fore-evening. The fore-evening is entitled The " Rheingold ;" the first day. The " Walkiire ;" the sec- ond day, " Siegfried ;" the third day. The " Gotterdam- merung," the dusk or downfall of the gods. As early as 1848 he had written the drama " Siegfried's Death," which later, considerably modified, came to form the fourth and last part of the Ring, the " Gotterdammer- ung." He then wrote " Siegfried," afterwards " Die Walkiire," and last " Das Rheingold." The poem is written in alliterative lines, a form of versification most appropriate to the contents and the whole atmosphere of the drama. Wagner says that at the mythical source where he found the youthful Siegfried he also found the melody of speech, the only one in which such a be- ing could express himself. It is a well-known fact that alliteration {Stabreim, stave-rhyme) is used in the Elder Edda and in all the other earliest remnants of Scandi- navian and German poetry. " The strophe generally contains eight verses or lines, four of which are so 78 RING OP THE NIBELUNG. united that every half of the strophe contains an inde- pendent thought, and each of these halves is again divided into two parts, which form a fourth part of the whole strophe and contain two lines belonging together by alliteration. In these two lines three words occur (in the oldest poems frequently only two) beginning with the same letters, two of which must be in the first, while the third is usually at the beginning of the second line. The third and last of these letters is called the chief letter (hofudhstafr, head-stave), because it is re- garded as ruling over the two others which depend on it and have the name sub-letters {siudlar, supporters). The lines are metrically divided into accented and un- accented syllables. These simple rules of versification govern the lays of the Edda." Still there are excep- tions to this rule in the Edda, some of the poems being written in the so-called Ljddhahattr. This form of versification was often employed in a more or less modified manner in Wagner's Nibelung dramas. It is a strophe of six lines, of which the first and second and the fourth and fifth belong together, while the third and sixth are independently alliterated. The following is an example of Wagner's adaptation of the Lj6dha- hattr. Fricka. Wotan ! Gemahl ! Erwache ! Wotan ! Husband ! Awaken ! IVotan. Der Wonne seliger Saal The hall of hallowed delight Bewachen mir Thiir und Thor ; Is guarded with bolt and bar ; Mannes Ehre, Manhood's honor, Ewige Macht, Infinite might, Ragen zu endlgsem Ruhm ! Gleam with glory unending I* * See page 86. THE RHEINGOLD. 79 The most melodious alliterative rhymes are formed in German by the letters /, w and s, as is evident from the well-known Spring-song of Siegmund in the " Walkiire." * In this connection we may quote Franz Hueffer's remarks on the subject : " The strong accents of the alliterating syllables supply his melody with rhythmical firmness; while on the other hand the un- limited number of low-toned syllables allow full liberty to the most varied nuances of declamatory expression. In order to exemplify the step in advance, I will ask the reader to compare the song of Wolfram in ' Tann- hauser'('Dir Hohe Liebe'), where the iambic metre has been obliterated and the verse constantly cut to pieces by the musical caesura, with the wonderful love- song from the ' Walkiire ' (' Winterstiirme wichen '), where verse and melody seem to glide on together in harmonious rhythms like the soft winds of spring of which they tell." Besides the Spring-song there are many other in- stances of beautiful alliterative versification ; there are necessarily also lines of a different character, though they are just as appropriate to the contents as the lines referred to above. To show the expression of wrath, harshness and contempt, the verses in " Siegfried " on page 169 may serve as an example. The alliterative sound or rhyme is mostly consonantal and rests on the radical or chiefly significant syllable.f These remarks * See page 124. \ If the alliterated words begin with a vowel, the vowels are differ- ent. See the Spring-song in the "Walkiire" "Weit geoffnet, lacht sein Aug'." 8o RING OF THE NIBELUNG. will be sufficient to show in a general way the poetic form in which Wagner's drama is written. As has been indicated above, the gold according to ancient Teutonic traditions was imagined to lie in the waters' depths. It was a common belief that the golden sun descended every evening into the sea to repose there at night, and thus the ocean came to be considered as the abode of all wealth. In northern sagas the gold is often called the fire of Aeger (the sea- god). Later the sea-gold became the river-gold, the Rhinegold, since in old German traditions the gold was thought to be concealed especially in the waters of the Rhine, the national river, hallowed in history, saga and legend. When in the heroic era the dangers and abuses of wealth began to be seen in the increasing power and overbearing might of the kings and chieftains, the ideas of evil, guilt and misfortune were easily connected with the acquisition of riches. Thus the leading thought in the " Rheingold " is this : the gold is ravished from its primitive innocent abode and its original possessors, personified here by the Rhine-daughters, the guardians of the treasure, in order to acquire riches and power. To this conception is added the ethical idea that he only can rob the gold and employ it for that purpose by whom love has been forsworn and accursed ; by him alone can be wrought from the gold the ring, the sym- bol of sensuous splendor and material power. But as soon as the gold has ceased to be what it has been — the playful sport of the spirits of the deep — as soon as it has become the object of acquisition for the sake of wielding infinite power alone, the curse rests upon it, and whoever owns it is doomed to destruction by the THE HHEINGOLD. 8 1 envy of others. It is the curse of the first evil deed that it ever must bring forth new evils. At the opening of the " Rheingold " the scene repre- sents the bottom of the Rhine. "A short instrumental introduction depicts the sound and motion of the deep. It is founded on the chord of E flat, given out at first in long-drawn notes, which soon dissolve them- selves into shorter rhythmical formations, rising and falling alternately from the highest to the lowest octaves, like the murmuring waves of a rapid river. A suave theme is gradually developed, Vi^ith the strains of which the three water-maidens accompany their merry gambols." * A greenish twilight prevails, lighter up- wards, darker downwards. The water appears flowing onward, the turbulent waves tossing from right to left. Towards the bottom the water seems dissolved into a mist, which gradually grows fainter and fainter, so that the space of a man's height from the ground appears to be entirely free from the water, which flows like a suc- cession of clouds over the dark abyss. Everywhere rugged rocky cliffs rise from the bottom and form the boundary of the scene. The whole floor is broken into a wilderness of jagged masses, so that nowhere is it entirely level, and suggests in every direction deeper abysses extending into thickest gloom. In the middle of the scene, round a cliff which with its slender point rises up into the larger and brighter waves, one of the Rhine-daughters, Woglinde, swims about in graceful movement. She is soon joined by another, Wellgunde, who dives down from the flood to the cliff, and they * F. Hueffer, page 85. 82 Hmc OP THE NIBELVNG. try playfully to catch each other. Flosshilde, the third Rhine-daughter, joins them. The three Rhine-maidens now swim away from each other with joyful cries, and, laughing and playing, dart from cliff to cliff. The gold lies still uncoveted at the bottom of the Rhine. But presently, out of a dark chasm from below, appears the wily dwarf Alberich, the treacherous Nibelung, who looks with growing de- light on the frolicsome game of the Rhine-daughters. " His arrival is at once announced in the orchestra by a new theme, the jerky abruptness of which indicates the nature of the mischievous dwarf. The introduc- tion of a surreptitious G flat into the graceful motions of the water-music is a master-stroke of graphic charac- terization." * Alberich exclaims : Aus Nibelheim's Nacht From Nibelheim's gloom Naht' ich euch gern, I'd gladly draw near, Neigtet ihr euch zu mir. Winning welcome to gain. The maidens dive deeper and perceive the hideous form of Alberich. Flosshilde is aware of impending danger ; she swims swiftly upwards and says : Hutet das Gold ! Guard the gold ! Vater vvarnte Father warned us Vor solchem Feind. 'Gainst such a foe. Alberich, dazzled by the beauty of the maidens, begs them to let him join in their play. Flosshilde, seeing * F. Hueffer, page 85. THE RHEINGOLD. 83 that amorous passion has taken possession of the Nibe- lung, says: Nun lach ich der Furcht, Now laugh I at fear, Der Feind is verliebt. The foe is in love. " The scene which ensues, descriptive of the vain en- deavors of the gnome to gain one of the maidens for his desire, is full of the most subtle touches of musical illustration. The amorous rage of Alberich, and the mock tenderness with which the girls, each in her own characteristic way, receive his offers, are rendered in the most humorous way. Flosshilde's answer, for in- stance, in its sweet, almost Italian softness, seems very nearly to resemble the expression of true passion, but for a slight touch of overstrained sentiment, which re- minds us that all is put on, and that poor Alberich is to be jilted mercilessly when he thinks his happiness most secure. The easy grace with which these ele- mentary beings are drawn by Wagner proves his dra- matic vocation no less than the graver notes of passion which are to follow soon." The Rhine-maidens, one after the other, begin to tease Alberich by alternately alluring and repulsing him. They swim away from each other, hither and thither, now higher, now lower, to provoke him to pursue them. In vain are all his efforts to seize one of them ; and at last, foaming with rage, he stretches his clenched fist up towards them. At that moment his attention is suddenly caught by a beautiful spectacle. Through the flood from above a gradually brighter-growing light has penetrated, which now, at a high spot in the middle cliff, kindles into a dazzling and brilliant glare ; a magical golden light 84 RING OF THE NIBELUNG breaks thence through the water. The Rhine-daugh- ters joyfully salute the gold as the rays of the rising sun fall upon it, while Alberich's glance is irresistibly attracted by the light. The maidens give expression to the contempt they feel for the Nibelung, since he had never heard of the Rhinegold before. If it is naught but a plaything for the maidens, Alberich pre- tends to disdain it ; but Wellgunde thoughtlessly says : Der Welt Erbe The realm of the world Gewanne zu eigen, By him shall be won Wer aus dem Rheingold Who from the Rhinegold Schiife den Ring, Hath wrought the ring Der maaslose Macht ihm ver- Imparting measureless power, lieh'. Despite the warning of Flosshilde, the sisters unwit- tingly betray the secret. Woglinde exclaims : Nur wer der Minne Macht ver- Who the delight of Love for- sagt, swears, Nur wer der Liebe Lust ver- He who derides its ravishing jagt, joy, Nur der erzielt sich den Zauber He alone has the magic might Zum Reif zuzwingen das Gold. To mould into ring the gold. Yet the Rhine-daughters deem themselves safe from danger, as all beings are born to love, and Alberich especially appeared to pine away with amorous desires. The Nibelung, however, had his glance fixed on the gold, while he listened to the chatter of the maidens. He forgets their charms and accurses love, since to him it means but sensual enjoyment. THE RHEINGOLD. 85 Albertch. (Aside.) Der Welt Erbe The realm of the world Gewann' ich zu eigen durch By thy might may I ravish and dich? win? Erzwang' ich nicht Liebe, Though Love I relinquish, Doch listig erzwang' ich mir In delight at least I may revel. Lust. (To the Rhine-daughters.) * * * * * * Das Licht losch' ich euch aus ; Your light I quickly quench ; Das Gold entreiss' ich dem The gold from the rock I Riff, wrench, Schmiede den rachenden Ring : And forge the wrathful ring. Denn hor' es die Fluth — To the waves I appeal So verfiuch' ich die Liebe ! To witness how Love I ac- curse He plucks the gold from the cliff and plunges with it into the depths, where he disappears. Dense night breaks suddenly in on every side. The maidens dive after the thief into the waters below. It remains to mention the weird music accompanying the rape of the gold by Alberich, and the lamentations of the water-maidens sounding through the darkness at the end of this scene. The latter are illustrated by the identical strains of their joyful song, but appearing here in a sad C-minor transformation, continued by the orchestra in an interlude which, founded on the melo- dious materials already alluded to, leads gradually into the second scene. In the following scenes of the " Rheingold " appear the gods Wotan, Thor, Fro and Loki ; the goddesses Fricka, Freyja and Erda ; the Nibelungs Alberich and Mime ; and the giants Fasolt and Fafnir. In this con- 86 RING OF THE N I BE LUNG. nection the reader is referred to the sketch of Teutonic mythology in the first two chapters of this volume, especially to the Svadilfari myth on page lo; and also to the myth of Andvari in the Nibelung traditions on P3gs 53- It will be seen how beautifully Wagner combined and blended the two myths. Instead of the otter-skin which in the Andvari myth the gods must cover with gold, it is Freyja, in Wagner's drama, whose beauteous form must be concealed by the Nibe- lung hoard from the eager glances of the giants. In the second scene of the " Rheingold " an open coun- try on mountain heights becomes visible, at first only in a dim light. The breaking day illumes with growing brightness a castle with glittering battlements that stands on a rocky eminence in the background ; be- tween this castle-crowned rock and the foreground of the scene a deep valley is to be imagined, through which the Rhine flows. On the flower-decked bank lies Wotan, with Fricka beside him : both are asleep. Fricka awakes ; her glance falls on the castle ; she is sur- prised and dismayed. She awakes Wotan ; he replies in his dream with the words given on page 78. Fricka retorts : Auf, aus der Traume Up ; from alluring Wonnigem Trug! Delusion of dreams! Erwache, Mann, und erwage ! Awaken, and weigh what's be- fall'n ! Wotan awakes and raises himself slightly ; his eye is immediately caught by the sight of the castle, " the symbol and stronghold of his power. This power of the gods is rendered in the grand melody opening the THE RHEINGOLD. 87 scene, which may be called the Valhall motive, tan exclaims : Wo- Vollendet das ewige Werk : Auf Berges Gipfel Die GStterburg, PrachtvoU prahlt Der prangende Bau. Wie im Traum ich ihn trug, Wie mein Wille ihn wies, Stark und schon Steht er zur Schau : Helirer, herrlicher Bau ! Achieved is the glorious work : On mountain height The hall immortal ; In gorgeous grandeur Glitter its walls. As I drew it in dream. As I marked it in mind, Resplendent and strong It displays its might : Lofty, lordly abode ! Nur Wonne schafft dir, Was mich erschreckt .' Dich freut die Burg, Mirbangt es um Freia. Achtloser, lass dich erinnern Des ausbedungenen Lohns ! Die Burg ist fertig, Verfallen das Pfand : Vergiss'st du, was du vergab'st ? Fricka. In delight thou revel'st. When I am alarmed .'' Thou'rt glad of the fortress. For Freyja I fear. Bethink thee, thou thoughtless god. Of the guerdon now to> be given ! The castle is finished, And forfeit the pledge. Forgettest thou, what is en- gaged .? The golden age of innocence had vanished. Wotan, striving for power, planned to rule the world from his lofty castle, an impregnable fortress. The giants Fa- solt and Fafnir had agreed to build it for the gods. They now demand the promised reward : Freyja, the goddess of youth, love and beauty. Wotan endeavors to calm the anger and apprehensions of Fricka, and tells her that he relies on Loki's help. She reproves him for trusting to the dubious services of the treach- erous god. Wotan replies : 88 RING OF THE NIB E LUNG. Wo freier Muth fromrat, Allein frag' ich nach keinem ; Doch.des Feindes Neid Zum Nutz sich fiigen, Lehrt nur Schlauheit und List, Wie Loge verschlagen sie iibt. Der zum Vertrage mir rieth Versprach Freia zu ISsen : Auf ihn verlass ich mich nun. Where only valor avails, I venture, aided by none. But to fit to my fancy The hatred of foes, I list to the lore of deceit, To Loki's insidious art. Who framed and planned the plot, Is pledged Freyja to ransom : On him alone I rely.* The giants are indignant at Wotan's refusal to de- liver Freyja to them, and wrathfully insist on the ful- filment of the agreement. Fasolt thinks more of Freyja's womanly charms, while Fafnir knows how im- portant it is for the welfare of the gods to keep the goddess of youth among them. He says: Gold'ne Aepfel Wachsen in ihrem Garten, Sie allein Weiss die Aepfel zu pflegen : Der Frucht Genuss Frommt ihren Sippen Zu ewig nie Alteruder Jugend ; Siech und bleich Doch sinkt ihre Bliithe, Alt und schwach Schwinden sie hin, Miissen Freia sie missen : Ihrer Mitte drum sei sie ent- fiihrt ! Golden apples t Grow in her garden ; None but she Knows how to nurse them The delicious fare Confers on her kindred The flower of youth For years sempiternal ; But blanched appears The bloom of their cheeks, Old and weak They wax and wither If Freyja's freedom they miss. From their midst we'll lead her along. * In the Svadilfari myth it is likewise Loki who advised the treaty with the artificer. See page 9. f See pages 18 and 19. THE RHEINGOLD. 89 Wotan is angry at Loki's delay ; the giants press forward towards Freyja; Thor and Fro hurry in to protect her. Thor. Fasolt und Fafner, Fasolt and Fafnir, Fuhltet ihr schon Have ever you felt Meines Hammer's harten My hammer's heavy blow ? Schlag ? Fafnir. Was soil das Droh'n ? What means the threat ? Fasolt. Was dringst du her ? Wherefore the thrust ? Kampf kies'ten wir nicht, War we choose not to wage, Verlangen nur uns'ren Lohn. We claim the guerdon we've gained. Thor. (Den Hammer schwingend.) (Swinging his hammer.) Schon oft zahlt' ich Often I've dealt Riesen den Zoll ; To giants their due ; Schuldig blieb ich Never have rested Schachern nie : In debt of knaves ; Kommt her ! des Lohnes Last Come hither ! the load of re- ward Geb' ich in gutem Gewicht ! I deliver in heaviest weight ! Wotan. (Seinen Speer zwischen den Streiten- (Interposing his spear between the den ausstreckend.) adversaries.) Halt, du Wilder ! Refrain from fury ! Nichts durch Gewalt ! Naught by force ! Vertrage schiitzt The shaft of my spear Meines Speeres Schaft : Shelters my oath ; Spar' deines Hammer's Heft ! Withhold thy hammer's haft! Loki appears and, as was his custom, at first taunts the gods. Unconcerned at their distress, he relates 90 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. how he viewed the castle built by Fasolt and Fafnir, and found it impregnable. Wotan reminds Loki of the solemn promise he had given to rescue Freyja from the giants ; but Loki replies that he only vowed to do everything in his power to attain that end. Yet de- spite all his efforts, he says, he has not succeeded. Fricka. (Zu W^otan.) (To Wotan.) Sieh', welch trugvoUem Lo! what untruthful Schelm du getraut I Rogue thou hast trusted ! FrS. Lege heisst du, Loki thou'rt hight, Doch nenn' ich dich Liige ! But liar I name ihee. Thor. Verfluchte Lohe, Accursed fire, Dich losch' ich aus ! I quench thy flame ! As Thor and Fro are about to attack Loki, Wotan interferes in his behalf. He knows the dilatory habits of the wily god, and is convinced that Loki will at last unfold his plan for saving Freyja. Loki reproves the gods for their ingratitude, and tells them that far and wide in every corner of the world he sought to find a ransom for Freyja, but it became evident that nowhere could sufficient wealth be found to compensate man ■ for the delight the companionship of fair and gentle woman brings. At these words the gods are sur- prised. He found, continues Loki, in the water, on the earth and in the air all beings bent on love, save one — the Nibelung, dark Alberich, who rifled the gold of the Rhine. Loki artfully relates the whole adventure of the Rhinegold and the ring, and arouses the greed THE RHEINGOLD. 9 1 of gain and power both in the gods and the giants. Perceiving the effect of his cunning, and knowing at heart the real designs of Wotan, he asks him with crafty insinuation and feigned frankness, worthy of Mephistopheles, if he will restore the gold to the Rhine-daughters. Wotan stands in silent struggle with himself ; the other gods, in speechless suspense, fix their eyes on him. Gods and giants know what dangers fate has in store for them if the gold remains in the hands of Alberich. Meanwhile Fafnir, aside, has consulted with Fasolt. The giants declare that they will be satisfied with the Nibelungs' ruddy gold as ransom for Freyja. Wotan angrily refuses their de- mand, since he will not encounter the Nibelung for the sake of Fasolt and Fafnir. Fasolt. (Ergreift plotzlich Freia und fuhrt sie (Suddenly seizes Freyja and takes her mit Fafnir zur Seite.) with Fafnir aside.) Hieher, Maid ! Hither, Maid ! In uns're Macht ! Mark our might ! Als Pfand folg'st du jetzt, Till ransom be furnished, Bis wir Losung empfah'n. As pledge thou must follow us now. (Freia schreit laut auf, alle Goiter sind (Freyja shrieks ; all the gods are in in hochster Bestiirtzung.) the greatest consternation.) Fafnir. Fort von hier Away from here Sei sie entfiihrt ! We hasten with her ! Bis Abend, achtet's wohl, Till evening — heed it well — Pflegen wir sie als Pfand : We hold her in pledge ; Wir kehren wieder ; We then shall return ; Doch kommen wir. But if at that time 92 HING OF THE NIBELUNG. Und bereit liegt nicht als Lo- The Rhinegold, ruddy and sung light, Das Rheingold roth und licht— Lie not ready for ransom — Fasolt. Zu End' ist die Frist dann. Then all will be over, Freia verfallen : Freyja be forfeit, — Fiir immer folge sie uns! For e'er she'll follow us hence. Freyja is carried away by the giants ; the gods hear with amazement her cries of distress dying away in the distance. Loki gazes after the giants and describes how clumsily they hurry down the valley across the Rhine to Riesenheim. Then he turns to the gods and sarcastically says : " What means Wotan's wrath ? How fare the heavenly gods ?" All at once a pale mist be- gins to rise and gradually increases in thickness ; in it the gods appear pale and old ; all stand looking with anxiety and expectation at Wotan, who fixes his eyes on the ground in thought. Loki. Triigt mlch ein Nebel .' Deludes me a mist.' Neckt mich ein Traum ? Mocks me a dream ? Wie bang und bleich How sad and wan Verbliiht ihr so bald ! Have you waned so soon . Euch erlischt der Wangen Blanched is the bloom of Licht ; your cheeks ; Der Blick eures Auges ver- The flame of your eyes has blitzt !— fled !— Frisch, mein Froh, Cheer up, ray Fr&, Noch ist's ja friih ! — Yet early it is ! — Deiner Hand, Donner, From thy hand, dear Thor, Entfallt ja der Hammer ! Is dropping the hammer! Was ist's mit Fricka ? How fares it with Fricka.'' THE RHEINGOLD. 93 Freut sie sich wenig Faintly she smiles Ob Wotan's gramlichemGrau, At Wotan's grayness and gloom, Das schier zum Greisen ihn As old in aspect he grows, schafft ? Then Loki tells the gods, in a manner highly satisfac- tory to himself, the cause of their changed aspect. With the disappearance of Freyja, the gods are bereft of youth, beauty and strength. As for himself, Loki adds, he is less concerned about it, since Freyja had ever given him but sparingly of the precious fruit. The golden apples in her garden have begun to wither. Fricka. Wotan, Gemahl, Unsel'ger Mann ! Sieh', wie dein Leichtsinn Lachend uns alien Schimpf und Schmach erschuf ! Wotan, husband ! Behold thy doom . Lo ! how thy lightness Hath laughingly wrought Ruin and wreck for us all ! Wotan. (Mit plotzlichem Entschluss auf- fahrend.) Auf, Loge ! Hinab mit mir! Nach Nibelheim fahren wir nieder ; Gewinnen will ich das Gold. (Starting up with sudden resolution.) Up, Loki ! Follow along ! To Nibelheim's night we must fare ; The glittering gold I will gain. Loki. Die Rheintochter The river-maidens Riefen dich an : Thy might implored : So diirfen ErlSsung sie hofifen ? May they hope to be heard ? 94 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Wotan. (Heftig.) (Impetuously.) Schweige, Schwatzer ! Enough of thy nonsense ! Freia, die gute, Freyja, the goddess, Freia gilt es zu 16sen. Freyja be ransomed and freed. Lokz. Wie du befiehlst, At thy behest Fuhr' ich dich gern , We hasten from here ; Steil hinab In steep descent Steigen wir denn durch den Through the stream of the Rhein ? Rhine shall we stride ? Wotan. Nicht denn durch den Rhein ! Not through the Rhine ! Lokz. So schwingen wir uns Then come ! we'll descend Durch die Schwefelkluft : Through the sulphurouschasm; Dort schlQpfe mit mir hinein ! Slyly we'll slip through the cleft. Loki descends first, and disappears sideways in a cleft, out of which immediately issues a sulphurous mist. Wotan follows. Wotan had made a solemn compact with the giants, and the stability of his realm depends on the sacred- ness of his oath. " As if to remind him of this limit of his power, the orchestra intones a solemn theme, which might be called the law or bond motive. It appears first as the scale descending from B flat to the octave C natural, and occurs again frequently in the course of the piece, being recognizable by its peculiar rhythmical formation. Another important melody of great sweet- ness, which first occurs in this scene, is that which THE RHEINGOLD. 95 marks the entrance of Freyja, the goddess of youth ; to its sounds she implores the assistance of Wotan against her pursuers, whose clumsy footsteps, following the lovely maiden, are characterized by a heavy rhyth- mical phrase in the orchestra. The contrast between the natures here brought in contact is thus expressed by the music with an intensity wholly unattainable by verbal explanation. As to Loki, the chromatic motive expressive of his character resembles the fitful flicker- ing of fire. In Loki's flames the splendor of Valhall is doomed to perish, and it is also by his means that the moral guilt of the gods, which already in the Eddie poems is the cause of their fate, is brought about." The mist that had risen out of the cleft after Loki and Wotan disappeared in it spreads itself over the whole scene and quickly fills it with thick clouds, so that the gods who remained behind have become in- visible. The sulphurous mist darkens until it becomes a dense black cloud which moves from below vpward. This is transformed into a firm dark chasm of rock which is moving upward, so that it seems as if the stage were sinking deeper and deeper into the earth. " A short interlude depicts in broad touches the de- scent of Wotan and Loki to the subterraneous realm of Alberich the Nibelung. A hammering rhythm in the orchestra, enforced by eighteen tuned anvils behind the scenes, tells us that we are approaching the country of the smiths." From different directions in the distance dawns a dark-red glimmer ; a huge subterranean cavern becomes visible, which on all sides seems to issue in narrow clefts. Alberich drags the shrieking Mime* by * As to the work and general character of the dwarfs, see pages 24-26. 96 RING OP THE NIBELUNG. the ear out of a side-passage, and threatens him with dire punishment if he does not at once produce the work which Alberich had imposed upon him. Mime, after some hesitation, says that something is still missing to complete the task ; yet, trembling with fear, he lets fall a piece of metal-work which he held convulsively in his hands. Alberich immediately picks it up and examines it closely. Alberich. Schau, du Schelm ! Alles geschmiedet Und fertig gefUgt, Wie ich's befahl ! So wollte der Tropf Schlau mich betriigen, FiJr sich behalten Das hehre Geschmeid, Das meine List Ihn zu Schmieden gelehrt. Kenn' ich dich duramen Dieb? (Er setzt das Gewirk, als Tarn-helm, auf den Kopf.) Dem Haupt fiigt sicli der Helm : Ob sich der Zauber auch zeigt } — " Nacht und Nebel, Niemand gleich !" — See, thou rogue ! All is wrought And fully finished. Fit to my fancy ! The wily fiend Would fain outwit me, Guard for himself The gorgeous gear He learned to weld By the wiles of my lore. Thy foolish knavery I know ! (He places the piece, as Tarn-helm,* on his head.) The helmet fits my head, Behold if the wonder will work ! — " Night and mist, Alike to none!" — Alberich's figure vanishes ; in its place a pillar of cloud appears. His voice is heard as he threatens Mime with punishment for his thievish designs. Mime screams and writhes under the audible lashes of an in- visible whip. Then Alberich haughtily summons all * See pages 102, 206 and 219. THE kHEINGOLB. 97 the Nibelungs and tells them that henceforth ceaseless toil shall be their fate ; they must serve him, the lord of the Nibelungs, although he be not visible to them. The pillar of cloud recedes towards the background, where it vanishes. Alberich's wrathful tones gradually become fainter and fainter ; howls and cries resound from the lower clefts. The sound by degrees dies away in the further distance. Mime from agony has fallen to the ground ; his groaning and whimpering are heard by Wotan and Loki, who come down by a cleft from above. Loki. Nibelheim hier : Nibelheim here ! Durch bleiche Nebel Through night and gloom Wie blitzen dort feurige Fun- What a glitter of fiery sparks I ken ! Wotan. Hier stohnt as laut : What moans so loud ? Was liegt im Gestein ? What lies on the mound .' Loki recognizes Mime and bids him be cheerful ; he even promises to aid him in his misfortune. Mime. (Sich etwas aufrichtend.) (Raising himself slightly.) Wer halfe mir ? Who bodes me help? Gehorchen muss ich Obey I must Dem leiblichen Bruder, The law of my brother Der raich in Bande gelegt. Who boldly laid me in bonds. Loki. Dich, Mime, zu binden, To bind thee, Mime, Was gab ihm die Macht 1 What gave him the might ? 98 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Mime. Mit arger List Schuf sich Alberich Aus Rheines Gold Einen gelben Reif : Seinem starken Zauber Zittern wir staunend ; Mit ilim zwingt er uns alle, Der Niblungen niichiiges Heer. Sorglose Schmiede Schufen wir sons, ivohl Schmucic unserii Weibern, Wonnig Geschmeid, NIedlichen Niblurigentand : Wir lachten lustig der Miih'. With artful malice Alberich made From the gold of the Rhine A ruddy ring ; At its magic power Amazed, we tremble ; With the ring he bends to his rule The Nibelungs' night-born host. Gleefully once We worked on glittering Gifts for our wives, — Wiiisomest gear, Neatest Niblung toys. We laughed for love of the toil. Then Mime relates how Alberich now compels the dwarfs to work for him alone. By the power of the ring he discovers where the precious metals are hidden in the bowels of the earth. Ceaselessly the Nibelungs must dig up and smelt the ore. Mime also tells Loki about the helmet he made for Alberich, and how, sus- pecting its great magic power, he tried to keep it for himself, so that by this means he might free himself from Alberich's rule, and perhaps even wrest the ring from him. Yet, he continues, too late he divined the secret charm which was connected with the helmet and by which its wearer could render himself invisible. In the mean time Alberich's voice is heard in the distance, and Mime warns Loki and Wotan of his approach. Wotan seats himself on a stone; Loki stands at his side. Alberich, who has taken the Tarn-helm off his head THE RHEINGOLD. 99 and hung it at his girdle, with his whip drives before him a throng of Nibelungs upwards from the lower chasm. They are laden with gold and silver treasure, which under Alberich's constant goading they store in a pile and so heap to a hoard. Alberich severely scolds them, then draws the ring from his finger, kisses it, and with threatening mien shows it to his brother and the other Nibelungs. They disperse, trembling with fear, and escape to the chasms below to bring up more gold. Alberich with a fierce gesture approaches Wotan and Loki. Wotan. Von Nibelheim's nachtigem From Nibelheim's night-born Land land Vernahmen wir neue Mahr': We lately tidings have learned Machtige Wunder Of wonders rare Wirke hier Alberich ; That Alberich wrought. Daran uns zu weiden To behold their splendor Trieb uns Gaste die Gier. Hither we hied as thy guests. Alberich gives vent tc his suspicions of the two strangers, and particularly of Loki, who reveals his identity to him. Yet the powerful dwarf defies the gods, and boasts of his might through the power of the gold ; and as Wotan asks him of what use the hoard could possibly be in joyless Nibelheim, he repHes : Schatze zu schaffen Treasures to raise Und Schatze zu bergen. And treasures to hide, Niitzt mir Nibelheim's Nacht; Avails me Nibelheim's night; Doch mit dem Hort, But with the hoard, In der Hohle gehauft, Upheaved in the hollow, Denk' ich dann Wunder zu wir- Wonders to work I intend ; ken : lOO RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Die ganze Welt Gewinn ich mit eigen. ihm mir zu The realm of the world I'll win, and rule by my wifi. When Wotan sarcastically requests Alberich to tell him how he intends to achieve this benevolent pur- pose. Alberich retorts : Die in linder Liifte Weh'n Da oben ihr lebt, Lacht und liebt ; Mit gold'ner Faust Euch Gottliche fang' ich mir alle! Wie icli der Liebe abgesagt, AUes was lebt Soil ihr entsagen : Mit Golde gekirrt, Nach Gold nur sollt ihr noch gieren. Auf wonnigen Hoh'n In seligem Weben Wiegt ihr euch ; Den Schwarz-Alben Verachtet ihr, ewige Schwel- ger. Habt Acht !— Habt Acht !— Denn dient ihr Manner Erst meiner Macht, Eure schmucken Frau'n — Die mein Freien verschmaht — Sie zwingt zur Lust sich der Zwerg, Lacht Liebe ihm nicht ! — Hahahaha ! Though in breath of tranquil breezes Ye live aloft, Laugh and love ; With the gold in my palm. Ye gods, in my power you fall-' As love I forswore for aye, All that lives Shall forsake its delight ; Allured with gold, For gold alone you shall pine. On winsome heights In hallowed weaving Ye wave above; The dusky elf Ye disdain in your revels un- ending. Have heed ! Have heed ! When first you men Are foiled by my might, With your dainty women — Whom to woo I disdain — The dwarf in delight will dally. Though love dwells in him not! Hahahaha ! THE RHEINGOLD. 10 1 Hort ihr mich recht ? Hear you aright ? Habt Acht ! Have heed ! Habt Acht vor dem nachtli- Have heed of the night-born chen Heer, host, Entsteigt des Niblungen Hort When the Niblung's hoard shall ascend Aus stummer Tiefe zu Tag ! From silent depth into day ! Mime's account of Alberich's cruelty and power is " an exceedingly interesting piece of music. Accom- panied by the anvil rhythm, he sadly recalls his former happy life as a careless smith, working with his com- rades pretty trinkets for their wives. The melody of his song is very simple, and reminds the hearer some- what of the Volkslied, or popular ballad. A fine touch of humorous instrumentation has been pointed out by a German critic. When Mime mentions the Tarn- helmet, and adds how he was in hopes of cheating his brother out of its possession, his vain attempt at cun- ning is charmingly parodied by the semi-quavers of the somewhat clumsy fagotti. The satire is quite as per- spicuous, although not quite as broad, as the celebrated horn by which Mozart supplements Figaro's tale of his imaginary conjugal troubles. The entire scene is con- ceived in a thoroughly humorous spirit. The flagella- tions of the cruel Alberich and the pitiful shrieks of his victims are depicted by the music in the most realistic manner. In the ensuing dialogue between Wotan and the Nibelung the contrast is particularly remarkable between the latter's spasmodic, outbreaks and the lofty though passionate bearing of the higher god. The first notes of Wotan's address betray at once the dignified reserve of the gentleman in his unwilling intercourse I02 KING OF THE NIBELUNG. with the clown. Even Loki's restlessness is vastly dif. ferent from the coarser acents of the dwarf. In the economy of the trilogy the present scene holds a posi- tion analogous to the satyr-drama of the antique tra- gedy." Loki pretends to admire Alberich's cunning and power, but slyly intimates that possibly the ring might be stolen from him at night during his sleep. Albe- rich derides him, and boasts of the power of the Tarn- helm that renders its wearer invisible, while he may be everywhere without being seen by any one. Moreover, he tells Loki that by the might of the magic helmet he can change his semblance at will. Of this information Loki is determined to take advantage ; he pretends to doubt Alberich's word, and assures him that he will only believe the marvel when he sees it with his own eyes. Alberich, scorning Loki's seeming stupidity, puts on the helmet and utters a few words of incantation. He suddenly disappears ; in his place a huge snake is visible, rearing and stretching its open jaws towards Wotan and Loki. The latter pretends to be terror- struck, while Wotan laughs at the appearance of the serpent. The monster disappears, and Alberich be comes again visible in his real form. When he asks Loki if he will now believe him, the wily god replies that he has certainly achieved an unheard-of wonder. Yet Loki insinuates that perhaps it may not be so easy for Alberich to transform himself into a very small creature. The Nibelung again puts on the magic hel- met, and the gods become aware of a toad among the stones, creeping towards them. Wotan puts his foot on the toad ; Loki grasps at its head and holds th^ THE RHEINGOLD. IO3 helmet in his hand. Alberich suddenly appears in his real form, as he writhes under Wotan's foot. Loki takes a rope and binds his arms and legs. Alberich wrathfully struggles to free himself, but he is over- powered by the gods, who drag him with them towards the cliff by which they had come down. We may here again quote Hueffer's remarks : " Al- berich is caught in the snare thus laid for his vanity. The orchestra intones a strange melody, which sounds like some runic formula of conjuration ; and instead of Alberich we see an enormous worm wriggling slowly on the ground. At Loki's bidding the charm is ap- plied a second time, Alberich appearing now as a toad, the hopping of which is like the slow movements of the worm on the first occasion, graphically illustrated by the music. A change of tempo from moderato to presto announces that the gods have torn the helmet from Alberich's head and are dragging the powerless dwarf from the dark recesses of his realm. On passing the smithies we once more hear the monotonous rhythm of the anvils." The scene is gradually transformed back to the open region on mountain heights, as beheld in the second scene. It is, however, still shrouded in a pale mist, as before the second transformation, after Freyja's departure. Wotan and Loki, leading Alberich in bonds, ascend from the cleft. Loki greets the des- perate Nibelung with mocking words, while Alberich's helpless rage grows fiercer and fiercer when Wotan tells him to give up the hoard for his ransom. He up- braids the gods for their greed of gain, yet he needs must agree to deliver the gold. He puts the ring to I04 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. his lips, and at his behest the Nibelungs arise from the cleft, laden with the treasures of the hoard. Alberich. O schandliche Schmach, Dass die scheuen Knechte Geknebelt selbst niich er- schauen ! — Dorthin gefuhrt, Wie ich's befehl'! All zu Hauf Schichtet den Hort ! Helf ich euch Lahmen ? — Hieher nicbt gelugt !— Rasch da ! Rasch ! Dann riihrt euch von hinnen ; Dass ihr mir schafft, Fort in die Schachten ! Weh' euch, find' ich euch faul ! Auf den Fersen folg' ich euch nach. (Aside.) O shameful disgrace. That the groping wretches My rueful grief should behold ! (To the dwarfs.) Heap it up there ! Heed my behest ! Pile up the hoard, And heave it on high ! Linger not lamely, Look not at me ! Hasten ! Hasten ! Then hurry from hence Down to your toil In the dusky shafts ! Woe to the weary and faint ! On your heels I follow you fast. The Nibelungs, after they have piled up the hoard, slip timidly down again into the cleft. Alberich. Gezahlt hab' ich, Lasst mich nun zieh'n t Und das Helmgeschmeid, Das Loge dort halt, Das gebt mir nun giitlich zu- riick ! The ransom I've paid. Now let me depart ! And the lordly helmet. That Loki there holds, In friendship remit unto me ! Loki throws the magic helmet on the hoard, where- upon Alberich becomes furious. Yet inwardly he con- THE RHEINGOLD. lOS soles himself, thinking that Mime at his command might forge for him another helmet of like power. He now desires to be released from his bonds ; but as Loki asks Wotan if he is satisfied with the ransom, Wotan replies, turning to Alberich : Ein gold'ner Ring A golden ring Glanzt dir am Finger : Gleams on thy finger : Horst du, Alp ? Hearest thou, elf ? Der, acht' ich, gehort mit zum Methinks it belongs to the Hort. hoard. Alberich, terrified at Wotan's demand, refuses to give up the ring, and says that it belongs to him as well as his hands, head, eyes and ears belong to his body. But Wotan scornfully upbraids him for deeming the ring his own, and tells him to ask the Rhine-daughters if they have willingly given him the gold from which he made the ring. Alberich. Schmahliche Tucke ! O shameful fraud ! Schandlicher Trug ! O frightful sham ! Wirf'st du, Schacher, Darest thou, wretch. Die Schuld mir vor. Arraign me for deeds Die dir so wonnig erwiinscht ? Thou hail'st with delight in thy heart ? Wie gem raubtest From the Rhine the gold Du selbstdem Rheine das Gold, Thou gladly thyself wouldst have wrenched, War nur so leicht Hadst thou been aware Die List, es zu Schmieden, er- Of the wisdom to fashion the langt } charm ? Wie gliickt' es nun For thy weal then befell it, Dir Gleissner zum Heil Thou feigning knave, Dass der Niblung, ich, That the Niblung here io6 RING OF THE N IB EL UN G. Aus schmahlicher Noth, In des Zornes Zwange Den schrecklichen Zauber ge- wann, Dess' Werk nun lustig dir lacht ? Des Unseligsten, A n gstversehrten , Fluchfertige, Furchtbare That, Zu fiirstlichem Tand Soil sie frohlich dir taugen ? Zur Freude dir frommen mein Fluch ? Hiite dich, Herrischer Gott ! Frevelte ich, So frevelt' ich frei an mir Doch an allem, was war, 1st und wird, Frevelst, Ewiger, du, Entreissest du frech mir den Ring : Wotan with vehement force tears the ring from Al- berich's finger, the Nibelung shrieking horribly, and puts it on his, contemplating it with delight. Alberich's bonds are loosed by Loki. The Nibelung raises him- self from the ground, and with furious laughter utters a frightful curse on every one who thereafter shall wear the ring. Death shall it bring to its wearer ; no happi- ness shall come from its glaring light ; he who possesses the ring shall be the prey of unending sorrows, and he who has it not shall pine for its might. The possessor of the ring shall be its slave, until it comes back into Al- In wretched need. In the heat of wrath. The charm terrific had wrought Which now is thy laughing delight ? Fraught with curses, The frightful deed Which I, the most wretched, BanefuUy wrought, — For princely display Should now be pleasing to thee? My curse should cause thee de- light ? Have heed. Thou haughty god ! If wrong I did, I wronged but a deed of mine : But on all that was. Is and will be, A crime, thou god, is thy craft. If the ring is wrenched from my grasp ! THE RHEINGOLD. 10/ bench's hand. The Nibelung then vanishes quickly down into the cleft, and the mist in the foreground of the scene gradually grows clearer. Loki, looking to- wards the right, perceives Fasolt and Fafnir from afar, leading Freyja. From the other side Fricka, Thor and Fro appear. Fricka anxiously inquires after the success of Wotan's undertaking, whereupon Loki points to the hoard. The foreground has become bright again ; the appearance of the gods assumes in the light its former freshness. Over the background, however, the mist is still visible, so that the distant castle cannot be seen. Fafnir and Fasolt appear, with Freyja between them. Fricka joyously hastens to- wards her and embraces her. Fasolt. Das Weib zu missen. To part with the maid Wisse, gemuthet mich weh : Painfully preys on my mind : Soil aus dem Sinn sie mir My heart henceforth she would schwinden, harass, Des Geschmeides Hort Unless the hoard Haufe denn so, Be heaped aloft, Dass meinem Blick Till from my face Die Bluhende ganz er verdeck' ! The fair one wholly be hid ! Fafnir and Fasolt thrust their staves in front of Freyja into the ground in such a way as to comprise the same height and breadth as her figure. Loki and Fro swiftly heap up the treasure between the staves. Fafner with rude force presses it close together, and stoops down to see if there are any open spaces. In the mean time, while Wotan can hardly suppress his rage against the giants, Fricka, fixing her glance on Freyja, bewails the shameful treatment to which the Io8 RING OF THE NIB EL UNO. lofty goddess is thus exposed. Fafnir rudely calls for more gold ; and Thor is about to attack the giant, when Wotan exclaims that Freyja's figure is hidden by the hoard. At the same time Loki says that all the gold had been parted with. Fafnir, measuring the hoard with his eyes, replies that he can see Freyja's hair, and demands the magic helmet. Loki throws it on the pile of gold. Fasolt then approaches the hoard and spies through it ; he perceives Freyja's gleaming eye, and at once declares that she cannot be freed unless she be wholly concealed from sight. Fafnir demands the ring, but Wotan stubbornly refuses to give it up. Fasolt then furiously drags Freyja from behind the hoard, and cries out that the goddess must follow the giants to their home. Despite the entreaties of Fricka, Fro and Thor to yield the ring and thereby procure Freyja's ransom, Wotan is still determined to keep it. Fafnir for a moment holds off Fasolt, who is about to lead Freyja away. The gods stand amazed, and Wotan wrathfully turns away from them. Dark- ness reigns again on the scene. From the rocky cliffs at the side a bluish light breaks forth. In it Wotan im- mediately perceives Erda, who half emerges from the depth ; she is of noble mien, with long black hair. Erda stretches her hand warningly towards Wotan. Erda. Weiche, Wotan, weiche ! Yield, O Wotan, yield ! Fiieh' des Ringes Fluch ! Escape from the curs^ of the ring! Rettungslos, To hopeless woe, Dunlclem Verderben To doleful harm, Weiht dich sein Gewinn. Dooms thee the gain of the ring. THE RHEINGOLD. 109 Wotan. Wer bist du, mahnendes Weib ? Who art thou, woman ? warning Erda. Wie alles war, weiss ich ; Wie alles wird, Wie alles sein wird, Seh' ich auch : Der ew'gen Welt Ur-Wala, Erda, mahnt deinen Muth. Drei der Tochter, Ur-erschaflE'ne, Gebar mein Schooss : Was ich sehe, Sagen dir nachtlich die Nornen. Doch hochste Gefahr Fuhrt mich heut' Selbst zu dir her ; Hore ! hore ! h5re ! Alles was ist, endet. Ein diist'rer Tag Dammert den Gottern : Dir rath' ich, meide den Ring ! All that was I know ; How all now is, And hence shall be. Behold I too : The measureless world's Immortal Vala, Erda, warns thee : beware ! To daughters three. Yore- begotten. Birth I gave ; What I view, Unveil to thee nightly the Norns.* But dreadful danger Draws me hither In haste to-day ; Hearken ! hearken ! hearken 1 All that is, shall end. A gloomy day Dawns for the gods ; My rede is : refrain from the ring! Erda slowly sinks down, up to her breast, while the bluish gleam begins to darken. Wotan. Geheimniss-hehr Mystery weird Hallt mir dein Wort : Resounds in thy words : Weile, dass mehr ich wisse ! Delay, till more I have learned ! * See page 29. no RING OP THE NlBELUNG. Erda. (Im Verschwinden.) (As she is disappearing.) Ich warnte dich — I warned thee now — Du weisst genug : Thou knowest enough ; Sinne in Sorg' und Furclit! Consider in sorrow and fear! (Sie verschwindet ganzlich.) (She vanishes.) Wotan. Soil ich sorgen und furchten — Shall fear and sorrow beset me — Dich muss ich fassen, I'll hold thee now, Alles erfahren ! All I will know ! He is about to rush into the cleft to seize Erda, but Thor, Fro and Fricka throw themselves before him and prevent him. He remains lost in deep thought for some time, and then suddenly, by a strong effort of the will, arrives at a decision. He throws the ring on the hoard, and the giants let Freyja go. She joyfully hastens towards the gods, who display their great de- light by caressing her. " Erda is the pantheistic symbol of the universe, the timeless and spaceless mother of god and man. In the melody which accompanies her words we recognize the gradual rising of the waves in the orchestral prelude, a significant circumstance establishing the affinity of the primeval sources of the world." Fafnir has spread out a huge sack, and begins to pack the hoard in it. Fasolt becomes angry with Fafnir, since the latter takes the greater part of the treasure for himself. Fasolt begs the gods to settle the dispute, but Wotan disdainfully turns away from him. Loki per- fidiously advises Fasolt to let the hoard go and care THE RHEINGOLD, 111 only for the ring. Fasolt rushes on Fafnir and grasps at the ring ; they wrestle with one another, until Fasolt wrenches the ring from Fafnir. The latter strikes furiously at Fasolt with his staff, and with one blow stretches him on the ground. While Fasolt is dying, Fafnir hastily snatches the ring from him, which he puts in the sack, and then slowly gathers together the rest of the hoard. All the gods stand amazed at the deed ; and Wotan, having thus witnessed the death of the first victim of Alberich's curse, ponders in long and solemn silence on the events that fate may have in store for the gods. He is deeply agitated, and resolves by himself to descend to Erda's abode, so that he may learn from her the tidings of the future.* Even when Fricka presses caressingly towards him, and points to the castle whose lofty walls bid welcome to their lord and master, Wotan's gloom does not vanish ; he says that with baneful pay he acquired the abode. Thor pointing to the background, still enwrapped in a veil of mist, ascends a high rock in the slope of the valley and swings his hammer. The clouds gradually draw closer about him, until he vanishes wholly in a huge mass of thunder-cloud which grows darker and darker. Then the blow of his hammer is heard falling heavily on the rock ; fierce flashes of lightning dart out from the cloud, and a violent thunder-clap follows. He sum- mons to him Fr6, who disappears with him in the cloud. All at once the cloud vanishes. Thor and Fro are visible ; from their feet in dazzling brightness a rain- bow-bridge extends over the dale to the castle. The latter, now illumined by the setting sun, shines in * See page 131. 112 RING OF THE N IB E LUNG. brightest splendor. Fafnir, who, by the side of his murdered brother, had at last packed the whole hoard, has left the scene with the huge sack on his back, dur- ing Thor's storm-spell. Wotan turns to Fricka and says : " Follow me, wife ; in Valhall abide with me !" They walk towards the bridge ; Fro and Freyja, and, a little further behind, Thor, follow. Loki re- mains standing for a short while, looking after the gods. Foreseeing their final destruction, he derides them in an undertone, and expresses his wish to transform himself again into flickering flames, so that he may de- vour the gods that of yore had bound him and forced him to serve them. At last he leisurely joins them. Out of the depth resounds the song of the Rhine- daughters : Rheingold ! Rhinegold ! Reines Gold ! Purest gold ! Wie lauter und hell How once thy flame Leuchtetest einst du uns ! Around us flashed its rays ! Um dich, du klares, And now the loss Nun wir klagen ! Of thy light we bewail ! Gebt uns das Gold, Give us the gold, O gebt uns das reine zuriick ! O give us again its gleam ! Wotan, who is just about to set foot on the bridge, halts, turns round, and asks Loki whence come the plaintive strains. When he learns the truth, he gives vent to his anger against the river-maidens. Loki scornfully tells them to rejoice in the new splendor of the gods. The gods laugh and step on the bridge. From the depth is heard again the song of the Rhine- daughters : THE RHEINGOLD. II3 Rheingold ! Rhinegold ! Reines Gold ! Purest gold ! O leuchtete noch O would that thy light In der Tiefe dein laut'rer Tand ! Waved in the waters below ! Traulich und treu Unfailing faith Ist's nur in der Tiefe : Is found in the deep, Falsch und feig While above, in delight, 1st was dort oben sich freut ! Faintness and falsehood abide ! The gods stride over the bridge towards the castle. Thus closes the " Rheingold." " It remains to point out the fine psychological use to which the leading motives are turned in this scene. While Wotan is still under the power of the gold, the ring-motive in the orchestra paints the struggle of his soul ; his moral effort in parting with the ring is power- fully expressed by the bond-motive, which in a manner connects his act with the moral order of the world, of which he is the guardian and representative. . . . The musical conception of this extremely powerful scene (the quarrel between Fasolt and Fafnir) is founded on a combination of the ring-motive and the formula of Alberich's curse, the former being representative of the irresistible attraction of the gold, the latter of its bane- ful power. . . . The gathering of the thunder-storm up to the fortissimo of the actual outbreak is rendered by the wild rhythms of triplets and semi-quavers in the strings. When the fury of the storm is expended, the wind-instruments commence a quiet, long-drawn melody in G flat, which indicates the rainbow thrown by Fro across the valley. . . . The grand chords of the Val- hall Motive bring the ' Rheingold ' to a splendid musical conclusion. The ' Rheingold ' might be compared to the 8 114 Jil^G OF THE N IB E LUNG. prologue in Heaven prefixed to Goethe's Faust, for it foreshadows in the minds of divine beings the sufferings and aspirations of the human actors. In the present drama, however, the gods are not placid contemplators of the events to follow ; they are themselves tragic ob- jects, and their own fate, nay, their very existence, is at stake. The germs of the whole trilogy may indeed be recognized in the introductory piece." THE WALK Ore. 115 CHAPTER V. THE WALKURE. At the close of the " Rheingold " we have seen how Wotan, striding over the rainbow-bridge towards the castle erected by the giants, conceived the thought of calling the new abode of the gods " Valhall " (the hall of the slain heroes). To aid the gods in the approach- ing struggle — the " Gotterdammerung" — the Valkyrs, Wotan and Erda's daughters, had to select on the battle-field the noblest and greatest warriors of the world and lead them to Valhall. But all these cham- pions were of little avail, since they could act only according to Wotan's command. What was most needful for the welfare of the gods was a hero not included in the curse resting on the possessor of the Nibelung hoard, who should by his own free will, un- aided by Wotan, obtain the ring, and by returning it to the Rhine accomplish the work of redemption. In fur- therance of this, two human children, the twins Sieg- mund and Sieglind, were born to Wotan. Early in youth they were separated, since the mortal foe of their house, Hunding, destroyed their home and carried off Sieglind as his bride. Siegmund grew up to manhood in the forest, amidst battles and storms. At first he was with his father Valse, as Wotan called himself, but Il6 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. one day the father disappeared forever.* Siegmund was not the free hero that could accompHsh the object held in view by Wotan, for the curse on the Nibelung gold was transferred to him by his father. The first act of the "Walkiire" opens at the house of Handing. In the centre of the hall rises the trunk of a gigantic ash-tree whose mighty roots extend far over the ground. The branches reach over the high roof, and are supposed to spread over the whole building. The walls are made of roughly-hewn wood, covered here and there with plaited and woven hangings. To the right, in the foreground, is a hearth ; behind it an inner room, like a kind of larder. In the background is a large door with a plain wooden bolt. To the left a few steps lead up to the door of an inner apartment. Farther towards the foreground are a table, with a bench fastened to the wall, and a few wooden footstools. A short orchestral prelude, weird and stormy, recalling partly the Valhall scene at the closing act of the " Rheingold," forms the introduction. It portrays a fierce storm, first in its most violent and then in its calmer aspect. " The triplets of the violins denote the beating of hail and rain on the leaves of tall trees, the rolling phrase in the double basses being suggestive of the angry voice of thunder." At the rise of the curtain, Siegmund, with a bear-skin thrown over his shoulder, hurriedly opens the door in the background and enters. Evening is approaching ; the storm is passing away; the fire blazes fitfully on the hearth, and lightnings now and then flash through the hall. Siegmund stops for a moment and surveys the room ; he seems utterly ex * See page 121. THE WALK Ore. 117 hausted, and his apparel and appearance denote that he has been pursued by an enemy. Perceiving no one in the hall, he closes the door behind him, walks towards the hearth, and throws himself wearily on a bear-skin rug lying in front of it. Siegmund. Wess' Herd dies auch sei, Whose hearth soe'er this be, Hier muss ich rasten. Here must I rest. He sinks back and remains for some time stretched out motionless. Sieglind comes in through the door of the inner apartment. From the noise she has heard she imagines that her husband has returned ; she grows serious and is surprised at finding a stranger stretched out before the hearth. Sieglind. (Noch im Hintergrunde.) (Still in the background.) Ein fremder Mann ! A stranger here ! Ihn muss ich fragen. What brought him hither? (Sie tritt ruhig einige Schritte (She calmly approaches a few steps.) naher.) Wer Icam in's Haus Who came to this house Und liegt dort am Herd ? And lies at the hearth ? As Siegmund remains motionless, she draws a little nearer and looks at him. Then she bends closer to him. Noch schwillt ihm der Athem ; His breath still heaves, Das Auge nur schloss er : Though his lids be lowered. Muthig diinkt mich der Warlike and manful I deem Mann, him. Sank er miid' auch hin. Though, wearied, down he has sunk. Il8 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Siegmund suddenly raises his head and calls for a cooling draught. Sieglind takes a drinking-horn and returns with it filled with mead. She hands it to Sieg- mund with sympathetic words and gestures. He drinks and returns the horn to her, then gazes a long time on her countenance. They seem to become strongly and irresistibly attracted towards each other ; yet no words, only their glances full of interest and emotion, denote the expression of their feelings. Siegmund starts quickly as if to go away, but Sieglind asks why he will not tarry. Siegmund. Misswende folgt mir Misfortune follows Woliin ich fliehe : Whither I fare ; Misswende naht mir Misfortune is near Wo ich mich neige : Where I am nigh ; Dir, Frau, doch bleibe sie fern ! But far from thee be its fate ! Fort wend' ich Fuss und Blick. Forth from here will I hie. Siegmund walks quickly to the door and lifts the bolt. Sieglind with impetuous self-forgetfulness bids him to remain, and exclaims that he can bring no sorrow to the house in which sorrow already reigns. He halts, deeply moved, and gazes searchingly in Sieglind's countenance ; she at last casts down her eyes, abashed and sad. A long silence reigns in the hall. Siegmund returns and sits down, leaning against the hearth, deter- mined to wait for Hunding's arrival. " The musical treatment of this scene is of great tenderness. A grave melody indicates the lonely sadness of the Volsung, but a motive of tenderest pathos expresses the feeling of love which at first sight unites the pair. It always appears in two parts, betokening thus the inseparable THE WALKURE. II9 duality of the emotion. Another love-motive of equal beauty belonging to this scene deserves mention as a specimen of that sustained melodiousness which of all Beethoven's followers Wagner alone shares with that master." Sieglind remains in embarrassed silence. Footsteps are heard outside, while the music is gloomy, and ill- boding strains announce Hunding's return to his home. At the sound of the bugles Sieglind starts, listens, and hears how Hunding leads his horse to the stall ; she hastily goes to the door and opens it. Hun- ding, armed with shield and spear, enters, but halts at the threshold as soon as he perceives Siegmund. Hunding casts a grave and searching glance at Sieglind in regard to the stranger, whom, however, he receives hospitably. While Sieglind hangs Hunding's weapons on the branches of the ash-tree and then places food and drink on the table for the evening meal, Hunding scans sharply and with astonishment Siegmund's feat- ures and compares them with those of his wife. He finds that they resemble each other, and the same glare flashes from their eyes ; yet he conceals his surprise, and with seeming unconcern invites Siegmund to share the evening meal with him and Sieglind. Hunding proudly reveals his name to Siegmund, and boasts of his posses- sions and the great number of chieftains " who protect Hunding's honor." He then expresses the wish to know who his guest is. Siegmund, who in the mean time had seated himself at the table, looks thoughtfully before him. Sieglind, sitting opposite Siegmund, casts wondering and sympathetic glances at him. I20 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Sieglind. (Unbefangen und theilnahmvoU.) Gast, wer du bist Wiisst' ich gern. (Blicktauf, sieht ihr in das Auge, und beginnt ernst.) Friedmund darf ich nicht heis- sen; Frohwak mocht' ich wohl sein. Doch Wehwalt muss ich mich nennen. Wolfe, der war mein Vater ; Zu zwei kam ich zur Welt, Eine Zwillingsschwester und ich. Friih schwanden mir Mutter und Maid. Die mich gebar Und die mit mir sie barg. (Without embarrassment and sym- pathetically.) Guest, thy name I fain would know. Siegmund. (Looks up, gazes into her eyes, and begins earnestly.) Friedmund * I cannot be called ; Frohwalt t fain would I be : ButWeliwaltt I now must be named. Wolf my father was ; At once to the light of the world Awoke a sister and I. Kaum hab' ich sie je gekannt. — Wehrlich und stark war Wolfe ! Der Feinde wuchsen ihm viel. Zum Jagen zog Mit dem Jungen der Alte; Von Hetze und Harst Einst kehrten sie heim : Da lag das Wolfsnest leer ; Zu Schutt gebrannt Der prangende Saal, * Peaceful. Ere long both mother And maid I lost. Her who bore me And her with whom I was born, Hardly 1 ever beheld. — Warlike and mighty was Wolf ! And many the foes that he felled. To the hunt in the woods Together we went ; From hurry and toil When home we returned. There lay the Wolf's nest waste ! A glowing heap The glorious hall ! t Gleeful. \ Woful. THE WALKURE. 121 Zum Stumpf der Eiche Bliihender Stamm ; Erschlagen der Mutter Muthiger Leib ; Verschwunden in Gluthen Der Schwester Spur. Uns schuf die herbe Noth Der Neidinge liarte Schaar ; Geachtet floh Der Alte mit mir. Lange Jahre Lebte der Juiige Mit Wolfe im wilden Wald. Manclie Jagd Ward auf sie gemacht ; Doch muthig wehrte Das Wolfspaar sich. (Zu Hunding gewendet.) Ein Wolfing kiindet dir das. Den als Wolfing mancher wohl kennt. A stump the oak's Stalwart stem ; The fearless mother Fell in the fray ; In cinders was trampled The sister's trace. The fearful harm had been wrought By the hateful host of the foe. Harassed, the father Fled with the son. For many years The youngling remained With Wolf in forests wild. Many a hunt For their haunt was made ; But fearlessly fought The Wolves in the fight. (Turning to Hunding.) A Wolfing tells thee the tale, * Who as Wolfing is feared by his foes. At Sieglind's request Siegmund relates more of his adventures, in one of which he was separated from his father, lost all trace of him, and only found a wolf's skin in the forest. He bewails his fate, since wherever he tarries he meets with ill-fortune, and this is the reason why he calls himself " Wehwalt." Woe alone is his lot. When Sieglind asks him how he lost his weapons, he recounts in a spirited manner the last conflict in which he had been engaged. Foiled in his attempt to rescue a maiden from the power of her enemies, he flees, after his spear and shield had been hewn in splinters, to Hunding's house, without knowing that he had slain, 122 RING OF THE NI BE LUNG. though in self-defence, the kindred of his host, and that Hunding on the very same day had left his home to wreak vengeance on the unknown slayer of his friends. The sacred right of hospitality shields Siegmund for the night, but Hunding challenges him to deadly com- bat for the morrow. Sieglind pensively takes a drinking-horn from the table, goes to a cupboard, from which she takes spices, and turns towards the side apartment at the left. Hav- ing reached the highest step by the door, she turns towards Siegmund, and her glance rests long and wist- fully upon him. Suppressing his wrath, he calmly stands by the hearth, gazing on her alone. At last she directs his attention in a significant manner to a spot on the trunk of the ash-tree, which for a moment is illu- mined by the fitful blaze on the hearth. Hunding, who has become aware of her delay, commands her by a gesture to leave the hall, whereupon she disappears through the doorway, holding the horn in her hand. Hunding takes his weapons from the tree, and after re- minding Siegmund again of the combat that is to take place on the following day, he enters the door of the inner apartment. Siegmund remains alone. Night has come. The hall is dimly illumined by a faint fire on the hearth. Siegmund sinks down on the couch by the fire ; he is greatly agitated, and for some time re- mains silent and brooding. Siegmund. Ein Schwert verhiess mir der A sword — so promised my Vater, father — Ich fand' es in hochster Noth. — In sorest need I should find.— Waffenlos fiel ich Weaponless falling THE WALKURE. 123 In Feindes Haus: Seiner Rache Pfand Rast' ich hier : Ein Weib sah' ich Wonnig und hehr; EntzUckendes Bangen Zehret mein Herz ; Zu der raich nun Sehnsucht zieht, Die mit siissem Zauber mich zehrt — Im Zwange halt sie der Mann, Der mich — Wehrlosen — hohnt. Walse! Walse! Wo ist dein Schwert ? Das starlie Schwert, Das in Sturm ich schwange ? In the house of the foe. Here in pledge To his wrath I am held. A woman I saw Bewitchingly sweet ; My heart is rent With hallowed rapture ; For her I languish and long Who lured me to thrilling de- light- In thralldom holds her the spouse, Who me — ^the weaponless — spurns. Valse ! Valse ! Where is thy sword ? The stalwart sword That in storm I would swing ? The embers of the fire fall together. The flickering flame lights up for a moment the spot on the ash-tree trunk which Sieglind's glance had indicated, and where the hilt of a sword becomes plainly visible. Siegmund gazes at the glistening object, but does not know what it is whose glow flashes before his eyes and momen- tarily rends the darkness in the hall. The music of the sword-motive resounds and apprises us of the meaning of the glittering light. Siegmund falls back into his reveries ; the fire on the hearth is extinct : deep night. Sieglind softly enters from the inner apartment, and approaches Siegmund. She tells him to flee and avail himself of the darkness of the night for his safety. Then she points to the hilt of the sword, and relates how at Hunding's wedding feast, while she was sad and the warriors kept up their carousals, an old man 124 ^/A^C OF THE NIBELUNG. entered the hall, clad in gray raiment, his hat slouched down, hiding one of his eyes. He glared at the aston- ished crowd, and swinging a sword in his hand, he thrust it deep into the ash-tree's trunk. To him alone the weapon should belong who was able to draw it from the tree. Many had dared to try their strength, but not one had succeeded.* " From the Valhall Mo- tive accompanying her tale we know that this stranger was Wotan himself who thus left the sword for his son in his highest need." Sieglind tells Siegmund how she knows for whom the sword is destined. She sees in him the hero that can release her from the unbearable life with a hated and tyrannical husband. Siegmund ardently embraces her, and assures her that he is the one to whom weapon and wife are to belong. All at once the large door in the background has sprung back as if by magic, and remains wide open ; a charming night of spring-time is revealed outside ; the moon sheds her light on them both and the surrounding objects. Gazing on the beautiful spectacle, and drawing Sieglind towards him, Siegmund is heard in the peerless Love-song or Spring- song: Winterstiirme wichen Winter-storms have waned Dam Wonnemond, 'Fore winsome May, Ira milden Lichte In gentle blaze Leuchtet der Lenz, Blushes the Spring. Auf lauen Liiften On languid breezes, Lind und lieblich, Light and lovely, Wunder webend Wonders weaving Er sich wiegt ; He wends his way ; * See page 47. THE WALKURE. 125 Ueber Wald und Auen Weht sein Athem, Weit geoffnet Lacht sein Aug'. Aus sel'ger Voglein Sange Suss er tout. Holdeste Diifte Haucht er aus ; Seinem warmen Blut entbluhen Wonnige Blumen, Keim und Spross Entspriesst seiner Kraft. Mit zarter Waffen Zier Bezwingt er die Welt. Winter und Sturm wichen Der starlien Wehr : Wolil musste den tapfren Strei- chen Die strenge Thiire auch wei- chen, Die trotzig und starr Uns — trennte von ihm. Zu seiner Schwester Schwang er sich her ; Die Liebe lockte den Lenz ; In uns'rem Busen Barg sie sicli tief. Nun lacht sie selig dem Licht. Die brautliche Schwester Befreite der Bruder ! Zertriimmert liegt. Was sie getrennt ; Jauchzend griisst sich Das junge Paar : Vereint sind Liebe und Lenz ! Over wood and meadows Waves his breath, Widely opened Laughs his eye. In song of happy birds He sweetly sings. Lovely fragrance Flows from his lips. His blood is warming the blooming, Winsomest blossoms. Germ and sprout Spring from his might. With dainty weapons' sway Subdues he the world. Winter and storm have waned 'Fore his warlike gear. To the strokes of his dauntless strength The stalwart door had to yield. That stubborn and hard Withheld us from him. Hitherward fleetly He flew to his sister ; By Love was lured the Spring; Deep in our hearts She long lay hidden. She hails now, laughing, the light. The bride and the sister Is freed by the brother. To pieces is dashed What held them apart. With greatest rapture They greet each other : United are Love and Spring! 126 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Sieglind answers with tender and glowing passion, and faint memories of a nearly forgotten past dawn upon them. Siegmund springs to the ash-tree and seizes the hilt of the sword. Siegmund. Siegmund heiss' ich, Und Siegmund bin ich; Bezeug' es dies Schwert, Das zaglos ich hake ! Walse verhiess mir, In hochster Noth Sollt' ich es finden : ]ch fass' es nun ! HeiHgster Minne Hocliste Noth, Sehnender Liebe Zehrende Noth, Brennt mir hell in der Brust, Drangt mich zu That und Tod ; Nothung ! Nothung ! So nenn' ich dich Schwert. Nothung! Nothung! NeidHcher Stalil ! Zeig' deiner Scharfe Schneidenden Zahn : Heraus aus der Scheide zu mir ! Siegmund I'm hight. And Siegmund I am. As proves the sword That, dauntless, I seize. Valse had vowed. In direful venture The sword I should have. I hold it now. Sorest pang Of passion most sacred. Relentless woe Of languishing love. Flash their flames through my breast. Drive me to deeds and death ! Nothung ! Nothung ! So name I the sword ! Nothung! Nothung! Terrific steel ! Blazon thy trenchant. Keen-edged blade! Out from thy sheath unto me ! With a strong wrench he draws the sword out of the tree-trunk and displays it before Sieglind, who is ovei^ come with joy and wonder. Siegmund, den Walsung, Siehst du, Weib ! Als Brautgabe Bringt er dies Schwert ; Siegmund, the Volsung, Seest thou beside thee ! For bridal gift He bringsi thee this sword. THE WALKURE. 127 So freit er sich Die seligste Frau ; Dem Feindeshaus Entfuhrt er dich so. Fern von hier Folge ihm nun, Fort in des Lenzes Lachendes Haus : Dort schiitzt dich Nothung, das Schwert, Wenn Siegmund dir liebend er- lag! He wooes with the blade The blissfullest wife. From the house of the foe He hies with thee. Forth from here Follow him far, Hence to the laughing House of the Spring, Where Nothung the sword de- fends thee. When Siegmund infolds thee in love ! Siegmund puts his arms around Sieglind to take her with him. Sieglind. Art thou Siegmund Bist du Siegmund, Den ich hier sehe ?- Sieglinde bin ich. Die dich ersehnt : Die eig'ne Schwester Gewannst du zueins rait dem Schwert ! I see beside me ? — Sieglind am I, Sighing for thee. And so thy sister Hast won at once with the sword ! Siegmund. Braut und Schwester Bride and sister Bist du dem Bruder — Art thou to the brother — So bliihe denn Walsungen So bloom then the Volsungs' Blut ! blood ! Siegmund draws her with glowing passion towards him, and she sinks on his breast with a cry. So closes the first act of the " Walkure." The love-scene between Siegmund and Sieglind has often furnished an opportunity to Wagner's opponents for attacking the " Walkure," and even the whole " Ring 128 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. of the Nibelung." In the first place, it must be borne in mind that Wagner did not invent the incident, but adapted it from the Volsunga Saga.* Moreover, it forms in his composition the ideal garb in which the awakening of Love by the approach of Spring is repre- sented. Again, it must be said that Siegmund and Sieglind love each other before they are aware of their relationship. It is only at the last moment when Sieg- lind reveals her name to Siegmund that they know each other with full certainty as brother and sister. Their passion seems increased by the delusive idea that, the fate of the Volsungs being at stake, their race can be per- petuated only by the union of the last survivors of the once powerful family. The crime thus accomplished is not excused in the drama, but, as we shall see, is quickly and terribly punished. Franz Hueffer says, in regard to the marriage of Siegmund and Sieglind : " It should, moreover, be remembered that we are not dealing with ordinary men and women, but with the children of a god — mythical beings, that is, who have hardly yet emerged from the stage of natural forces. Who has ever been shocked at the amours of the Greek divinities on account of their being within the forbidden degrees of relationship, or at the intermarriage of the children of Adam and Eve which the Pentateuch im- plies ?" In the second act of the " Walkiire" the scene repre- sents a wild rocky mountain-chain. Wotan appears clad in warlike garb, holding the spear in his hand. Before him stands Brunhild, as Valkyr, also completely armed. Wotan bids Brunhild prepare for strife and * See page 47. THE WALKURE. 1^9 bestow victory on Siegmund against Hunding in the coming fray. Brunhild gladly listens to Wotan's be- hest, and, shouting and springing from rock to rock, while the '' Valkyr Motive " resounds with its wild '' Hoyotoho !" she finally disappears behind the heights. Fricka, in a chariot drawn by two rams, comes forth from the ravine. On the ridge she quickly alights and walks impetuously towards Wotan. Fricka. Ich vernahm Hunding's Noth, Hunding's lament I have learned, Um Raclie rief er mich an : Vengeance aloud he demands; Der Ehe Hiiterin As wedlock's warder Horte ihn, I heard his wish ; Verhiess streng I vowed to doom Zu strafen die That To vengeance dire Des frech frevelnden Paars, The fierce, nefarious pair DaskiihndenGattengekrankt. That harshly the husband has hurt. Wotan vainly endeavors to calm Fricka's wrath. She sternly upbraids him for his duplicity ; and when he asks her, as the patroness of marriage, to bless Siegmund's and Sieglind's love, her indignation knows no limits. She tells him that he always has deceived her and broken the oath of holy wedlock. Her greatest sorrow is to see him go forth to battle with the Valkyrs, the daughters of Erda and Wotan. She does not believe nor comprehend him when he says that a hero free from the protection of the gods can alone accomplish the deed- that will redeem them from the Nibelung curse ; this cannot be done by the gods, although it is most needful to their welfare. Fricka apprises Wotan 9 130 RING OF TH^ NIB EL UNO. that she knows full well his intentions in regard to Siegmund, his son. She is aware of the fact that Wotan had thrust the sword into the trunk of the ash-tree so that the Volsung, hateful to her, might find it. At last Fricka extorts from Wotan the prorrtise that he will not protect Siegmund in the approaching conflict. At the same time the exulting Valkyr cry is heard, and Brunhild, Wotan's most beloved daughter, is seen on the rocky pathway with her steed. Her ap- pearance reminds Wotan of the command he had given her to bestow victory on Siegmund. Fricka, Deiner ew'gen Gattin Thy holy wife's Heih'ge Ehre High renown Schirme heut' ihr Schild ! Be sheltered to-day by her shield ! Von Menschen verlacht, Derided by men, Verlustig der Macht, Bereft of might, Gingen wir GStter zu Grund, We gods were fated to fall, Wurde heut' nicht hehr Were not high to-day Und herrlich mein Recht My holy right Geracht von der muthigen Avenged by the valiant maid ! — Maid. — Der Walsung fallt meiner The Volsung shall (all as my Ehre : — victim ; — Empfah' ich von Wotan den Win I from Wotan the oath ?- Eid?— Wotan in inward rage and fearful dejection casts himself on a seat on the rocks. Fricka receives his oath, and Siegmund is thus doomed to death. Brun- hild, perceiving Fricka, leads her horse slowly down the rocky path. She takes it to a cavern, while Fricka returning to her chariot passes by. Brunhild, aston- THE WALK Ore. 131 ished and anxious, approaches Wotan, who, reclining on the rocky seat, his head resting on his hand, is ab- sorbed in gloomy brooding over his weakness. As Brunhild asks him what causes him such grief, he gives vent to his wrath and despair. Her affectionate words arouse him for a short time from his brooding grief, and call to his mind that she is dearest to him of all his daughters. She says : " Who am I, if not Wotan's will?" and he replies: "With myself I take counsel when I speak to thee." Thereupon, in a low voice and intently gazing into her eyes, he relates the story of the Rhine-maidens and Alberich, already told in the preceding pages." He further tells her that he had relied on the aid of the Valkyrs. Once he de- scended to Erda's abode in the bowels of the earth, determined to learn from her the fate of the gods. By means of a love-charm he overcame her, the all- knowing Vala, and the Valkyrs were born to him, of whom Brunhild is the wisest. Bythehelpof the war- like sisters who lead the heroes slain in battle to Val- hall, Wotan had hoped to avert the threatened over- throw of the gods ; but Alberich 's host he now fears ; for if ever again the Nibelung should win the ring, Valhall would be doomed. None can resist its magic power. Fafnir, Wotan continues, now guards the hoard ; but the god cannot wrest it from him, since, by the treaty he had made with the giants for building Valhall, the ring and the hoard had come into Fafnir's possession after the murder of Fasolt, his brother.-)- Only that hero can save the gods from destruction *See Chapter IV. \ See page in. 132 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. who, without their behest, of his own motion dares achieve the deed that is dearest to Wotan's wish, though it cannot be accomphshed by him. Wotan de- spairs of finding such a champion ; and moreover he knows the end is fast approaching. Wotan. (In wilden Schmerz der Verzweiflungf ausbrechend.) Ich beriihrte Alberich's ring — Gierig liielt ich das Gold ! Der Fluch, den ich floh, Nicht jflieht er nun mich : — Was ich liebe, muss ich ver- lassen, Morden was je ich minne, Triigend verrathen Wer mir vertraut ! Fahre denn hin, Herrische Pracht, Gottlichen Prunkes Pr;ihlende Schmach ! Zusammen breche Was ich gebaut ! Auf geb' ich meine Werke, Eines nur will ich noch. Das Ende — Das Ende — (Er halt sinnend ein.) Und ftir das Ende Sorgt Alberich ! Jetzt versteh' ich Den stummen Sinn Des wilden Wortes der Wala : (In an outburst of wild despair.) For Alberich's ring I reached In raging greed of the gold. The curse, that I fled from, From me will not flee. What I love I must lose and forsake. And doom to death what I long for, By falsely betraying Who trusts in my faith ! Begone, then, and perish. Thou gorgeous pomp, Thou glittering disgrace Of godhood's grandeur! Asunder shall burst The walls I built ! My work I abandon, For one thing alone I wish — The end — The end — (He pauses in thought.) And to the end Alb'rich attends ! Now I conceive The secret sense Of the Vala's bewildering word : THE WALKURE. 133 " Wenn der Liebe finstrer " When Love's ferocious foe Feind Ziirnend zeugt einen Sohn, Der Seligen Ende Siiumt dann nicht !" Vom Nib'lung juiigst Vernahm ich die Mahr', Dass ein Weib der Zwerg he- wait igt, Dess GunstGold ihm erzwang. Des Hasses Frucht Hegt eine Frau ; Des Neides Kraft Kreisst ihr im Schooss ■ Das Wunder gelang Dem Liebelosen : Doch der in Liebe ich freite, Den Freien erlang' ich mir nie ! In rage begetteth a son, The night of the gods Draws near anon ! " Of the Nibelung lately The tiding I learned, That the dwarf a woman had wooed, Whose guerdon he won for his gold. A woman hoards The fruit of hate ; The strength of spite Spreads in her womb : The wonder was wrought By the loveless rogue : But I who, loving, have wooed. The free one I never have won I Wotan, in despair, tells Brunhild of the promise he had made to Fricka, and commands her to give the vic- tory to Hunding. Brunhild beseeches Wotan to take back his v^ford, as she knows that the god in his inner- most heart loves the Volsung. Yet Wotan leaves her, threatening dire punishment if his will be not obeyed. She sadly gathers up her weapons and disappears. Sieglind enters, as though in great haste, closely fol- lowed by Siegmund. Their coming is announced by melodious strains, recalling the former love-scene. Sieg- lind is pursued by a wild fear of the consequences of her deed. Siegmund tries to calm her apprehen- sions ; suddenly she throws herself passionately on his breast, but a moment after she starts up and seems to listen. 134 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Sieglind. Horch ! Die Horner — H6rst du den Ruf ? Ringsher tont Wuthend Getos'; Aus Wald und Gau Gellt es herauf. Hunding erwachte Von hartem Schlaf; Sippen und Hunde Ruft er zusammen. Muthig gehetzt Heult die Meute, Wild bellt sie zum Himmel Um der Ehe gebrochenen Eid ! (Sie lacht wie wahnsinnig auf, dann schrickt sie angstlich zusammen.) Wo bist du, Siegmund ? Seh' icli dich noch ? Briinstig geliebter, Leuchtender Bruder ! Deines Auges Stern Lass noch einmal mir strahlen : Wehre dem Kuss Des verworf'nen Weibes nicht ! Horch ! O horch ! Das ist Hunding's Horn! Seine Meute naht Mit machtiger Wehr. Kein Schwert frommt Vor der Hunde Schwall : — • Wirf es fort, Siegmund ! Siegmund, wo bist du ? Ha, dort — ich sehe dich — Schrecklich Gesicht ! — Hark ! the horns — Hear'st thou the blast ? All around us Wild uproar ! From field and forest Furious yells ! Hunding awoke From slumber hard; Kinsmen and ho-jnds To the hunt he calls. Set on by him Howleth the pack. Wildly barking to heaven O'er wedlock's broken bond ! (She laughs as if beside herself ; then cowers down in terror.) Where art thou, Siegmund .' See I thee still .' Intensely beloved. Loftiest brother ! The glow of thine eye Once more let gleam on my gloom : O ward not off The worthless woman's kiss ! Hark ! O hark ! It is Hunding's horn ! His pack approaches Eager for prey. No sword can help 'Gainst the host of the hounds : Cast it off, Siegmund ! Siegmund, where art thou ? Ha, there — I behold thee-= Horrid the sight ! THE WALKURE. 135 Ruden fletschen Die Zahne nach Fleisch : Sie achten nicht Deines edlen Blicks ; Bei den Fussen packt dich Das feste Gebiss — Du fallst— In Stiicken zerstaucht das Schwert — Die Esche stiirzt — Es bricht der Stamm ! Bruder ! mein Bruder ! Siegmund — ha ! Hounds are gnashing Their teeth as they near. No longer they reck Thy lofty mien. To thy feet they cling With the clinch of their fangs. Thou fallest — Asunder is shattered the sword — The ash-tree falls — Broken's the stem ! Brother ! my brother ! Siegmund — ha ! With a cry of anguish Sieglind falls unconscious in Siegmund's arms. He listens to hear if she breathes, and, convinced that she is still alive, places her in a sitting posture, so that, as he now himself sits down, her head rests upon his knee. There is a long silence, while Siegmund bends over Sieglind with tender care. Brun- hild, leading her horse by the bridle, approaches and remains standing in front of Siegmund. In grave silence she gazes on him for some time. Siegmund and Sieglind retain their position as long as Brunhild is present, while the music depicts their love and sorrow in sad sweetness. The following scene is one of the most beautiful and pathetic in the whole drama, its effect being heightened by the sublime music accom- panying it. Brunhild. Siegmund— Siegmund — Sieh' auf mich ? Seest thou me ? Ich — bin's, — Me — soon — Der bald— du folgst. Must— thou follow. 136 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Siegmund. (Richtet den Blick zu ihr auf.) (Looks up at her.) Wer bist du, sag', Who art thou, — speak, — Die so schon und ernst mir er- Of aspect so fair and stern ? scheint ? Brunhild. Nur Todgeweihten Who's fated to die Taugt mein Anblick. Alone sees my face. Wer mich erschaut, Who gazes on me Der scheidet vom Lebenslicht. Foregoes the light of his life. Auf der Walstatt allein In the heat of the fray Erschein' ich Edlen : Heroes behold me ; Wer mich gewahrt. Who spies my glance, Zur Wal kor ich ihn mir. To death is doomed by my spear. Siegmund. (Blickt ihr lange in das Auge, senkt (He looks her in the eye for some dann sinnend das Haupt, und wen- time, then drops his head in det sich endlich mit feierlichem thought. At last, with solemn Ernst wieder zu ihr.) earnestness, he turns again to her.) Der dir nun folgt, Where leav'st thou, — speak, — Wohin fiihrst du den Helden ? The hero who falls by thy spear ? Brunhild. Zu Walvater To Valfather, Der dich gewahlt, Who chose thy fate, Fiihr' ich dich : I lead thee forth : Nach Walhall folgst du mir ! To Valhall follow me ! Siegmund. In Walhall 's Saal In Valhall's halls Walvater find' ich allein ? Find I Valfather alone ? Brunhild. Gefallner Helden The fallen heroes' Hehre Schaar Faithful host THE WALKURE. 137 Umfangt dich hold Will hail thee with grace Mit hoch-heiligem Gruss. And greeting holy and high. Siegmund. Fand' ich in Walhall Find I in Valhall Walse, den eignen Vater ? Valse, the Volsung's father ? Brunhild. Den Vater findet His father there Der Walsung dort. The Volsung shall find. Siegmund. Griisst mich in Walhall Greets me a woman Froh eine Frau ? Gladly in Valhall ? Brunhild. Wunschmadchen Wish-maidens * Waken dort hehr: Rule there with might: Wotan's Tochter Wotan's daughter Reicht dir traulich den Trank. WInningly gives thee to drink. Siegmund. Hehr hist du : Hallowed art thou : Heilig gewahr' ich Wotan's daughter Das Wotanskind : Holy I deem : Doch eines sag' mir, du Ew'ge ! But tell me, goddess eternal ! Begleitet den Bruder The brother will see Die brautliche Schwester? The bride and the sister? Umfangt Siegmund Will Siegmund embrace Sieglinde dort? Siegelind there ? At Brunhild's reply that Sieglind and Siegmund will not meet in Valhall, Siegmund exclaims : So griisse mir Walhall, Then greet for me Valhall, Griisse mir Wotan, Greet for me Wotan ; Griisse mir Walse, Hail unto Valse, * See page 31. 138 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Und alle Helden — And all the heroes ! Griiss' auch die holden Greet, too, the graceful Wunschesmadchen : Warlike wish-maidens : Zu ihnen folg' ich dir nicht. For now I follow thee not. Brunhild is deeply moved by Siegmund's words, al- though she does not comprehend how he can pre- fer the woful sister and bride to the joys of Valhall. Her sympathy with the forlorn hero increases, and, fully aware of Wotan's secret wish, she bids Sieg- mund prepare for the fray, promising to turn the fate of the battle and bestow the victory on him. She hastily disappears, and Siegmund joyfully gazes after her. Heavy thunder-clouds descending in the background, and the distant sound of horns, which is heard gradually nearer and nearer, announce the approaching contest. Siegmund bends over Sieglind, who still appears to be asleep, and hastens towards the background to encounter Hunding. Sieglind dreams of the destruction of her father's house, but is suddenly awakened by terrific peals of thunder. On all sides the blast of the horns resounds amidst lightning and thunder. She gazes about her in terror. Hunding's voice is heard, and soon after Siegmund's. The two warriors encounter each other ; a flash of lightning for a moment illumines the rock on which they fight. Sieglind is about to rush towards the combatants, but draws back at a sudden burst of light, in the midst of which Brunhild becomes visible, protecting Siegmund with her shield. Brunhild urges Siegmund on to trust to his sword ; but just as he is about to fell Hunding to the ground, a glowing red light breaks through the clouds. In it Wotan appears, standing over Hunding, THE WALKURE. 139 and stretches his spear across Siegmund's weapon. The latter breaks asunder, and Siegmund falls, pierced by Hunding's sword. Brunhild, amazed, withdraws from Wotan's sight, raises Sieglind from the ground, and disappears with her. Wotan, leaning on his spear, looks mournfully on Siegmund's corpse. By a disdain- ful wave of his hand Hunding falls lifeless to the ground. Wotan, in fearful rage, threatens to punish Brunhild's disobedience. Thus closes the second act of the " Walkiire." For the sake of the ring Wotan de- stroys his own beloved children, the Volsungs Siegmund and Sieglind. Their death atones for their guilt, and Wotan, in despair, relinquishes his plan ; he waits for the " end of the gods." The third act of the " Walkiire" represents a scene of uncommon beauty and interest. To the right appears the beginning of a forest of fir-trees ; to the left opens the entrance to a cavern in the rocks. Above this the cliffs attain their highest point; towards the back- ground huge rocks are supposed to lead towards a steep abyss. Clouds, driven by the storm, sweep by the mountains. The region is the gathering-place of the Valkyrs, the so-called " Walkuren Stein," or rock of the Valkyrs. At the rise of the curtain four of the Valkyrs are seen on the point of a rock near and above the cavern. With helmet, shield and spear, and glittering coat of mail over the long flowing dress, they await the coming of their sisters. A sudden blaze of lightning flashes through one of the clouds passing by, and in it is seen a Valkyr on horseback, the form of a slain warrior hanging across her saddle. Again a flash of hghtning displays another Valkyr, until at last eight 140 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. of the nine are assembled. Laughingly they greet each other and glory in their warlike deeds. The music plays the famous " Ride of the Valkyrs," portraying their wild flight through the air, the clash of arms, the neighing of the steeds and the laughter of the maidens, while the exulting Valkyr cry " Hoyotoho !" resounds from the lips of the warrior-maids. Suddenly in a glowing light in the sky Brunhild is espied by her sisters. She rides at furious speed, and, to the amazement of the other Valkyrs, instead of a dead hero carries a woman — Sieglind — on her horse Grani. As she comes upon the scene, supporting and leading Sieglind, she is surrounded by her sisters, but she hardly listens to their joyous greeting. In haste she relates to them the events connected with Siegmund's death ; and as she is aware of Wotan's wrath, she asks them for a fresh steed so that she may escape by flight the pursuit of the enraged god. They all refuse, ap- palled at Brunhild's disobedience to Wotan's command, and dreading his vengeance if they should comply with their sister's request. As Brunhild implores them to save at least Sieglind, the latter, who has been staring in gloomy thought before her, at once starts up and conjures Brunhild to thrust the sword into her heart. Siegmund being slain, she yearns for death. But when Brunhild tells her that she carries a pledge of Siegmund's love — a true Volsung — she appears at first amazed and then suddenly enraptured. Then she implores the Valkyrs to save her for the sake of the child. In the mean time a dreadful storm arises in the distance ; peals of thunder reverberate, announc- ing wrathful Wotan's ride and approach. Brunhild THE WALKURE. 141 resolves to await his arrival and suffer the penalty of her crime, but she urges Sieglind to flee at once. To the east a forest extends where Fafnir, the giant, in the shape of a dragon guards the Nibelung hoard and ring. There, and there alone, Sieglind is safe from Wotan's fury, as the god never draws nigh the ill-fated wood. Brunhild indicates to Sieglind the way to the forest. Brunhild. Fort denn, eile Nach Osten gewandt ! Muthigen Trotzes Ertrag alle Miih'n — Hunger und Durst, Dorn und Gestein ; Lache, ob Noth Und Leiden dich nagt ! Denn eines wisse Und wahr' es immer : Den hehrsten Helden der Welt Hegst du, O Weib, Im schirmenden Schoos ! — (Sie reicht ihr die Stucken von Sieg- mund's zerbrochenera Schwert.) Verwahr' ihm die starken Schwertes-Stiicken ; Seines Vaters Walstatt Entfiihrt ich sie gliicklich : Der neu gefiigt Das Schwert einst schwingt, Den Namennehm'ervonmir — Off, then, hie thee And haste to the east ! Fearlessly dare And defy all dangers, — Hunger and thirst. The thorns and the rocks ; Laugh at the need And pain that may gnaw thee ! For one thing know And never forget : The highest hero on earth Shall be — Sieglind And Siegmund's — child t (She hands her the fragments of Sieg- mund's sword.) Save for thy son The broken sword ! Where his father fell On the field I found it. Who welds it anew . And waves it again. His name he gains from me now — "Siegfried" freu' sich des Sieg's ! * See page 60, note *. "Siegfried" the hero be hailed!* 142 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Sieglind in ecstatic joy thanks Brunhild, and wends her way to the forest. After she leaves, the summits of the rocks are shrouded in black thunder-clouds. Amidst a fearful storm a lurid blaze illumines the fir-wood. Be- tween the peals of thunder Wotan's voice, calling for Brunhild, is heard. The Valkyrs mount to the point of the rock, concealing Brunhild in their midst. Wotan, having left his steed, comes in great anger out of the wood and stops in front of the group of Valkyrs, who in vain endeavor to appease his wrath. Brunhild is still hidden by them. Wotan. Horst du's, Briinnhilde .-' Hearest thou, Brunhild, Du, der ich Biiinne, To whom the hauberk, Helm und Wehr, Helmet and weapons, Wonne und Huld, And winning grace, Namen und Leben verlieh? Glory and life I gave? Horst du mich Klage erheben, Hearest thou how I arraign thee, Und birgst dich bang dem Yet shyly thou shunnest my Klager, wrath, Dass feig' du der Straf ent- In dastardly dread of thy floh'st } doom ? Brunhild steps forth from amid the other Valkyrs, descends with humble mien but with firm tread from the height of the cliffs, and approaches Wotan in order to hear his command. He tells her that she herself has brought her fate down upon her, and, to the horror of her sisters, announces that she has ceased to be Wish- maid and Shield-maid ; in short, she is no longer one of the Valkyrs. THE WALKURB. 143 Wotan. Nicht send' ich dich mehr aus No more from Valhall I send Walhall, thee ; Nicht weis' ich dir mehr Thy fate is no more Helden zur Wal ; With heroes to fight, Nicht fuhrst du mehr Sieger Or show to the warriors In meinen Saal : The way to my hall. Bel der Gotter traulichem At the hallowed meal of the Mahle gods Das Trinkhorn reichst du No more shalt thou hand me Mir traut nicht mehr ; The horn of mead ; Nicht kos' ich dir mehr No more thy lips Den kindischen Mund. I'll lovingly kiss. Von gottlicher Schaar From Asgard's * host Bist du geschieden. Thou art thrust out, — Ausgestossen, Cast off from the race Aus der Ewigen Stamm ; Of the Aesir t eternal ; Gebrochen ist unser Bund ; Asunder is broken our bond ; Aus meinem Angesicht bist du And banished thou art from verbannt. my sight ! Then Wotan pronounces the fearful penalty : on the cliff where she stands she shall sink into sleep, and to the man who shall find and awake her she shall be given in marriage. Him she must obey, and sit and spin in his house. The other Valkyrs are appalled at the dis- grace that threatens their sister, and offer to share the same fate with her ; but Wotan bids them leave the rock at once and shun it forever, lest in his wrath he inflict dire punishment on all of them. Brunhild has fallen with a shriek at Wotan's feet ; her sisters disperse with wild cries of woe, and in hasty flight rush to the forest. Soon afterwards they are heard as if riding away at furious speed. The storm gradually ceases, the clouds vanish, and anon calm night enshrouds * The castle of the gods. \ The dwellers of Asgard, or the gods. 144 RI^G OF TB£ NIBELUNG. the scene. After a long silence, Brunhild, slowly raising her head, tries to meet Wotan's averted glance, and then gradually rises from the ground. In most pathetic words she entreats the god not to disgrace his once favorite daughter, as he would thus dishonor him- self. She begs and conjures him not to let her become the booty of the cowardly wayfarer who may chance to meet her and awake her from her sleep. One request the god must grant to his most beloved child : fearful terrors shall frighten the dastard away from her rocky abode, so that none but the most dauntless hero will endeavor to approach her and interrupt her sleep. Wotan begins to be moved by her prayer, and his heart beats as of old with love for his daughter. She clings to him and wildly exclaims : Auf dein Gebot At thy behest Entbrenne ein Feuer ; A holy fire Den Fels umgliihe Shall enfold the rock Lodernde Gluth. In raging flames, Es leek' ihre Zunge To lick with their tongues Und fresse ihr Zahn And tear with their teeth Den Zagen der frech The coward who rashly may es wagte come Dem freislichen Felsen zu The terrific rock to approach. nah'n Wotan. (Blickt ihr ergriffen lange in's Auge.) (Deeply affected, gazes long into her eyes.) Leb' wohl, du kiihnes Farewell, thou charming, Herrliches Kind ! Warlike child ! Du meines Herzens Thou, my heart's Heiliger Stolz, Holiest pride ! Leb' wohl ! Leb' wohl ! Leb' Farewell ! Farewell ! Farewell ! wohl ! THE WALKUR&. US Muss ich dich meiden, Und darf minnig Mein Gruss nimmer dich grus- sen; SoUst du nicht mehr Neben mir reiten, Noch Meth beim Mahl mir reichen ; Muss ich verlieren Dich, die ich liebte, Du lachende Lust meines Auges : — Ein brautliches Feuer Soil dir nun brennen, Wie nie einer Braut es ge- brannt ! Flammende Gluth Umgluhe den Fels ! Mit zehrenden Schrecken Scheuch' es den Zagen, Der Feige fliehe Briinnhilde's Fels : Denn einer nur freie die Braut, Der freier als ich, der Gott. Must I forsake thee. And may I no more Hail thee with hallowed love ? Shalt thou no more Ride with me. Nor hand me the horn at the feast ? Must I then lose thee, Thee whom I loved. Thou laughing delight of mine eyes ? — has A bridal fire Shall blaze around thee. As ne'er for bride it blazed ! Sheaths of flame Shall enshroud the rock. And with terrors tremendous Dismay the timid ! Brunhild's castle The coward shall fear. To win her but one is fated — Who's freer than I, the god ! Brunhild, overwhelmed with emotion and delight, throws herself into Wotan's arms. From the depths of his heart he bids her again a most affectionate fare- well. He then kisses her on both eyes, which at once are closed and she sinks into sleep. He carries her to a low and soft mossy spot, over which a large fir- tree spreads its branches, and tenderly lays her down. Again he gazes long and mournfully on her features, closes the visor of her helmet, and once more casts a sorrowful glance on his beloved daughter. He covers her body with her long shield, and then ap- 146 HING OF THE NIBELUNG. proaches the huge rock, turning the point of his spear towards it. Wotan. Loge, hOr ! Loki, hark ! Lausche hieher ! Hitherward list ! Wie zuerst ich dich fand As at first I found thee Als feurige Gluth, In glowing fire, Wiedann einst du mirschwan- As once thou fleddest dest Als schweifende Lohe : In flickering flame, Wie ich dich band. As then I held thee, Bann' ich dich heut'! I hold thee to-day! Herauf, wabernde Lohe, Arise, thou wavering fire, Umlodre mir feurig den Fels ! Enwrap in thy flame the rock ! Loge ! Loge ! Hieher ! Loki ! Loki ! Arise ! At the last conjuration he strikes the rock three times with the point of his spear, whereupon a stream of fire bursts forth which swiftly swells to a sea of flames. With the point of his spear he indicates the direc- tion of the flames until they describe a complete circle around the rock. Then he exclaims : " Who fears the point of my spear shall never stride through the fiery stream." He disappears in the flames toward the back- ground. Sweet, enrapturing strains accompany the sinking of Brunhild into her long sleep, from which she is to be awakened by Siegfried, Siegmund and Sieglind's son. With the first stream of flames, the famous " Fire Charm" resounds from the orchestra, imitating in a wonderful manner the flaming, sparkling, leaping and dancing play of the fire. Thus closes the third and last act of the " Walkure." CHAPTER VI. SIEGFRIED. Henceforth Wotan in the guise of a wanderer roams through the world. He is hardly more than a witness of the events which he knows will come to pass. He is fully aware of the approaching end of the gods. Sieg- Hnd, weary and worn, yet upheld by Brunhild's prophecy, had dragged herself to the forest where Fafnir lay in the shape of a dragon, guarding the Nibelung hoard and the ring. There, dying, she gave birth to Siegfried, whom Mime, the Nibelung, Alberich's brother, brings up in the hope that the youth will slay Fafnir and thus obtain the ring for him. From a comparison of the Nibelung traditions with Wagner's " Siegfried " it will become evident that the composer has more closely adhered to the ancient sagas in this than in any other drama of the " Ring." In their leading incidents Sieg- fried's youth and adventures with the smith in the for- est correspond to the tales in the " Thidrek Saga" and in the "Lied vom Hurnen Seyfried,"* while, on the other hand, the events attending the slaying of the dragon and the awakening of Brunhild are depicted in the drama according to the Elder Edda and the Volsunga Saga.f The dramatis personce in " Siegfried " are Mime, the Wanderer (Wotan), Alberich, Fafnir, Erda, Brun- hild and Siegfried. * See pages 43, 44, 51, 52. | See pages 56-64. 148 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. " Wagner's ' Siegfried ' is the apotheosis of youth. Everything in it is young and fresh, from the hero to the little bird of the forest, whose language is no secret to one brought up in immediate contact with nature." In the first act the scene represents a forest. The foreground is formed by part of a rock cavern which towards the left extends deeper inward, but towards the right fills nearly three quarters of the stage. Two entrances formed by nature face the forest. Against the back wall of the entrance at the left stands a large natural forge, formed of pieces of rock: the huge bellows are all that is artificial. A rude chimney goes up through the roof of the rock. A very large anvil, and other smith's utensils, are visible. After a brief or- chestral prelude, recalling the gloomy Nibelung Motive, the curtain rises, and Mime is seen sitting at the anvil and, with growing uneasiness, hammering at a sword ; at last in bad humor he stops in his work. Mime. Zwangvolle Plage ! Tiresome task ! Miih' ohne Zweck ! Aimless toil ! Das beste Schwert, The mightiest sword Das je ich geschweisst. That ever I made. In der Riesen Fausten In the giants' hands Hielte es fest: Fast it would hold ; Doch dem ich's geschmiedet, But the reckless wight Der schmahliche Knabe, For whom I have wrought it Er knickt und schmeisst es ent- Will bend it and break it in zwei, two, Als schiif ich Kinderge- Like a toy for boyhood's dis- schmeid ! — play. — Es gibt ein Schwert A sword I know Das er nicht zerschwange: That he ne'er could sever ; SIEGFRIED. H9 Nothung's Triimmer Zertrotzt' er mir nicht, Konnt' ich die starken Stucken schweissen, Die meine Kunst Nicht zu kitten weiss ! Konnt' ich's dem Kuhnen Schmieden, Meiner Schmach erlangt' ich da Lohn ! (Er sinkt tiefer zuruck, und neigt sinnend das Haupt.) Fafner, der wilde Wurm, Lagert im finstern Wald ; Mit des furchtbaren Leibes Wiicht Der Niblungen Hort Hiitet er dort. Siegfried's kindischer Kraft Erlage wohl Fafner's Leib ; Des Niblungen Ring Errange er mir. Ein Schwert nur taugt zu der That: Nur Nothung niitzt meinem Neid, Wenn Siegfried sehrend ihn schwingt : Und nicht kann ich's schweis- sen, Notliung, das Schwert ! (Er fahrt in hochstem Unmuth wieder fort zu hammern.) Zwangvolle Plage ! Miih' ohne Zweck ! Das beste Schwert, From Nothung's fragments He needs would refrain. O, could I have wrought The terrific sword That all my wisdom Fails to weld ! Might I but forge the weapon, A reward for my woe I should find! (He sinks farther back, and bends his head in thought.) Fafnir, the dragon wild. Lies in the darksome wood ; With his body's unwieldy weight The Nibelungs' hoard Hides he beneath. By Siegfried's dauntless force Fafnir to death might be doomed ; The Nibelung's ring He would ravish for me. Naught but a sword I need ; Nothung is fit for my fury. When Siegfried waves it in war: But Nothung, the sword, I never can weld ! (He continues his hammering in greatest ill-humor.) Tiresome task ! Aimless toil ! The mightiest sword ISO RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Das je ich geschweisst, That ever I made Nie taugt as je Would ne'er be fit Zu der einzigen That ! For the fatal deed ! Ich tappr' und ham m 're nur I batter and beat it, alone Weil der Knab' es heischt : For the sake of the boy. Er knickt und schmeisst es He bends it and breaks it entzwei ; two, Und schmahlt doch, schmied' Yet taunts me if idle I be. ich ihm nicht. Siegfried, in wild forest garb, with a silver horn held by a chain, comes impetuously in from the wood. He has bridled a huge bear with a rope, and drives the beast with boisterous joy at Mime. In his terror Mime drops the sword and seeks refuge behind the hearth, but Siegfried drives the bear after him in all direc- tions. To the anger and alarm of Mime, and to gratify his own pleasure, Siegfried continues the sport for a few minutes. But when Mime tells him that his sword is ready, he loosens the bear, giving it a blow on the back with the bridle, and the beast runs back into the forest. Mime comes forth from behind the hearth, still trem- bling, while Siegfried seats himself to recover from his laughter. Then he goes toward Mime, seizes the sword, and smites it to pieces on the anvil, while Mime, terror-struck, tries to get out of the way. Siegfried gives vent to his wrath and overwhelms Mime with reproaches. In the subsequent conversation ensuing between them, Siegfried, who purposely has been brought up by Mime in utter ignorance of his parents and of the world in general, suddenly asks the smith to tell him who were his father and mother. In this con- SIEGFRIED. 151 nection it may be repeated that throughout this drama Siegfried appears as the impetuous but candid, trust- ful and generous youth, so familiar in the later Ger- man tales. None of his generous qualities can appear in his dealings with the treacherous Nibelung smith, and he treats the latter with utter contempt. But as Mime, trusting to Siegfried's supposed ignorance, at- tempts to evade the answer to his question about his parents by some absurd remarks, Siegfried seizes him by the throat and forces him to tell what he knows. Mime. Einst lag wimmernd ein Weib Wailing, a woman once lay Da draussen im wilden Wald, Without in the wilds of the wood ; Zur Hohle half ich ihr her, To the cave I helped her to hie Am warmen Herd sie zu hUten. And rest by the heat of the hearth. Ein Kind trug sie im Schooss ; With child she was ; she gave Traurig gebar sie's hier, Most wofuUy birth to it here. Sie wand sich hin und her, With rueful throes she writhed; Ich half, so gut ich Iconnt' : I rendered help in her harm ; — Starlc war die Noth, sie starb — Dire was the woe ; she died — Doch Siegfried, der genas. But Siegfried awoke here to life. At Siegfried's request Mime informs him that he re- ceived his name by his mother's behest. After some hesitation the Nibelung also tells him that he is the son of Sieglind, but of his father he pretends to know only that he was slain. Siegfried demands visible proofs of Mime's assertion, and after some meditation the smith shows him the two pieces of the broken sword. 152 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Mime. Das gab mir deine Mutter : Lo ! what thy mother had left me! Fiir Miihe, Kost und Pflege For my pains and worry to- gether Liess sie's als schwachen Lohn. She gave me this poor reward. Sieh' her, ein zerbroch'nes See ! — a broken sword, Schwert ! Dein Vater, sagte sie, fUhrt' es, Brandished, she said, by thy father, Als im letzten Kampf er erlag. When foiled in the last of his fights ! Siegfried orders Mime to weld immediately the pieces of the sword, and threatens him with severe punish- ment if the weapon should not prove to be perfect after it has left the hands of the smith. This veiy day, Siegfried says, he must have the sword. When Mime, greatly alarmed, asks Siegfried to tell him what he in- tends to do with the sword, he replies that he will go out into the world, enjoy his freedom, as nothing now fetters him, and see Mime no more. He dashes off into the wood, and Mime in greatest alarm shouts after him at the top of his voice. Not receiving any reply, he sinks in despair on the stool behind the anvil. The Wanderer (Wotan) appears, entering from the wood by the rear door of the cave. He wears a long, dark blue cloak, and carries a spear as a staff. On his head is seen a large hat with broad round brim, which hangs far down over the place of the missing eye. He greets the smith, who at his entrance has started up in great terror. The Wanderer solicits Mime's hospitality, but he is received by the smith in an unfriendly and suspi- cious manner. Yet he gradually advances a few steps, SIEGFRIED. 153 Mime's fear the while increasing, and at last sits down by the hearth. Then he says that he pledges his head, and is willing to lose it if he cannot answer the ques- tions that Mime may ask him. Mime, although in fear and embarrassment, agrees to the bargain, and an- nounces that he will ask three questions. After some meditation he requests the Wanderer to tell him what race lives in the depths of the earth. Wanderer. In der Erde Tiefe In the bosom of the earth Tagen die Nibelungen : The Nibelungs abide. Nibelheirn ist ihr Land. Nibel-Heim is their home. Schwarzalben sind sie, Dark-elves we call them ; Schwarz-Alberich Dark-Alberich Hijtet' als Herrscher sie einst : Once was the king of their clan. Eines Zauberringes By the mighty runes Zwingeiide Kraft Of a magic ring Zahmt ihm das fieissige Volk. He doomed them to delve in the depths. Reicher Schatze Of glittering gold Schimmernden Hort A gorgeous hoard Hauften sie ihm : They heaped for him : Der sollte die Welt ihm ge- The world by it meant he to winnen. win. Mime, after long reflection, asks the second ques- tion. The Wanderer is to tell him who lives on the ridges of the earth. Wanderer. Auf der Erde Riicken The back of the earth WuchtetderRiesenGeschlecht: By bulky giants is burdened : Riesenheim ist ihr Land. Riesen-Heim is their home. Fasolt und Fafner, Fasolt and Fafnir, Der Rauhen FUrsten, The chieftains fierce, 154 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Neideten Nibelung's Macht ; Den gewaltigen Hort Gewannen sie sich, Errangen mit ihm den Ring; Um den entbrannte Den Briidern Streit ; Der Fasolt fallte, Als wilder Wurm Hiitet nun Fafner den Hort. Pined for the Nibelung's power. The wondrous hoard They won for themselves, And ravished the ring withal ; It brought a broil Between the brothers ; Fasolt fell : In dragon's guise Fafnir guards now the gold. Mime, who is now absorbed in thought, asks the third and last question. He requests the Wanderer to say who live in the cloud-enshrouded heights. Wanderer. Auf wolkigen Hoh'n Wohnen die Gotter: Walhall heisst ihr Saal. Lichtalben sind sie ; Licht-Alberich, Wotan, waltet der Schaar. Aus der Welt-Esche Weihlichstem Aste Schuf er sich einen Schaft ; Dorrt der Stamm, Nie verdirbt doch der Speer ; Mit seiner Spitze Sperrt Wotan die Welt. Heil'ger Vertrage Treue-Runen Sind in den Schaft geschnitten Den Haft der Welt Halt in der Hand Wer den Speer fuhrt, Den Wotan's Faust umspannt. Ihm neigte sich Der Nib'lungen Heer ; * See On lofty mansions Live the Immortal : Valhall is hight their hall. Light-elves they are ; Light-Alberich, Wotan is head of the host. From Yydrasil's* Most hallowed arm A terrific shaft he wrought ; Though the stem may rot. The spear shall ne'er be ruined ; And with its point Wotan governs the world. Sacred runes With solemn oaths : Are hewn in the holy shaft : The hold of the world He has in his hand Who wields the spear That Wotan holds in his span. The Nibelungs' host Heeds his nod ; page 35. SIEGFRIED. 155 Der Riesen Gezucht The giant's race Zahmte sein Rath : Is ruled by his rede, Ewig gehorchen sie alle And all forever submit Des Speeres starkem Herrn. To the mighty lord of the spear. At this moment the Wanderer strikes, as if involun- tarily, on the ground vi^ith his spear ; faint thunder is heard, at which Mime is greatly frightened. He has awakened from his dreamy forgetfulness, and does not dare to look at the face of the Wanderer. He orders him to depart, but the Wanderer reminds him that he has staked his head to enjoy the hospitality of Mime's hearth. He avails himself now of the right, according to the terms of the wager, to ask three questions in turn. If Mime cannot answer them, his life will be forfeited. Mime, with timid resignation, pleads that he has long been absent from home and knows little of heroes and their deeds. Moreover, he is now fully aware of the fact that the dreaded Wanderer is Wotan, the god. Wotan's first question is : " What is the name of the race to which Wotan shows his displeasure, while yet it is dearest to him ?" Mime can easily answer that it is the race of the Volsungs, by Wotan begot and ten- derly beloved. The Wanderer's second question is : " What sword must Siegfried, the foster-child of a wise Nibelung, wield in order to bring about Fafnir's death ?" Mime readily replies that it is Nothung, the sword which Wotan thrust into the trunk of the ash-tree, and which Siegmund brandished in the fray until it split on Wotan's spear. The third question appalls Mime ; he is to say who will forge Nothung anew from the broken pieces. He starts up in terror and admits that he knows not who will do the wonder. The Wanderer 156 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. rises from his seat by the hearth and derides Mime on account of his folly. When he might have asked what was most momentous for him to know, his mind had wandered in idle questions to distant regions. Hor', verfallener Zwerg: Nur wer das Furchten Nie erfuhr, Schmiedet Nothung neu. (Mime starrt ihn g;ross an; er wendet sich zum Fortgange.) Dein weises Haupt Wahre von heut'; Verfallen — lass ich's dem, Der das Furchten nicht gelernt. (Er lacht und geht in den Wald.) Wanderer. Hark, thou forfeited dwarf : None but he Who never feared, Nothung forges anew. (Mime stares at him with eyes wide open ; Wotan turns to go.) Henceforth beware ! Thy wily head Is forfeit to him Whose heart is free from fear. (He laughs and goes into the wood.) Mime has sunk, as if crushed, on the stool behind the anvil ; he stares in a vague manner out into the wood, which is illumined by the rays of the sun. After a long silence he is seized with fear and trembling. Verfluchtes Licht ! Was flammt dort die Luft ! Was flackert und lackert, Was flimmert und schwirrt, Was schwebt dort und webt Und wabert umher? Da glimmert's und glitzt's In der Sonne Gluth : Was sauselt und summt Und saus't nun gar ? Es brummt und braus't Und prasselt hierher. Mime. Accursed flame ! What a flash of fire ! What flutters and flickers, What wavers and floats. What hovers and flits there. And flares and waves ? It glitters and glistens In the glow of the sun ; What whizzes and hums, And hisses and whistles? It rustles and roars And runs and rushes. Dort bricht's durch den Wald, It breaks through the wood SIEGFRIED. IS7 Will auf mich zu ! Ein grasslicher Rachen Reisst sich mir auf ! Der Wurm will mich fangen ! Fafner ! Fafner ! (Er schreit laut auf, und knickt hinter dem breitem Ambos zusammen.) And hitherward bounds ! A ghastly jaw Gasps and gapes ! The fangs of the dragon ! Fafnir ! Fafnir ! (He screams, and sinks down behind the broad anvil.) At this moment Siegfried breaks forth from the thicket and calls from without for the sword. When he enters, he is astonished at not seeing Mime. The latter in a faint voice asks Siegfried from behind his hiding-place whether he had returned alone. Sieg- fried upbraids him for his cowardice, and grows very- angry when he learns that Mime had not yet forged the sword. Mime, mindful of the fact that only he who knows no fear can weld Nothung anew and slay Fafnir, says to Siegfried : Hast never felt In forest night, When twilight dims The dismal twigs, When afar it hums, Hisses and whizzes, And wildly roaring Nearer it rushes, When flaring beams About thee flash. When it swells and rages And around thee sweeps — Hast then not felt the pang Of horror pierce through thy heart ? Shuddering flames Shake thy limbs, Wildly swim Thy wandering senses. Fuhltest du nie Im finstern Wald, Bei Dammerschein Am dunlclen Ort, Wenn fern es sauselt, Summs't und saus't, Wildes Brummen Naher braus't, Wirres Flackern Um dich flimmert, Schwellend Schwirren Zu Leib dir schwebt, — Fuhltest du dann nicht grleselnd Grausen die Glieder dir fah'n ? Gluhender Schauer Schuttelt die Glieder, Wirr verschwimmend Schwinden die Sinne, 158 RING OF THE NIB EL UN G. In der Brust bebend und bang In thy breast it quakes and quivers, Berstet hammernd das Herz ? And hammering bursts thy heart ?— Fuhltest du das noch nicht. If ne'er such awe thou hast felt. Das FUrchten blieb dir dann Naught thou knowest of fear, fremd. From Siegfried's reply it is evident that fear is un- known to him, but he fain would learn what he calls the delight of that feeling. Mime now tells him of Fafnir, and Siegfried is eager to go at once to the dragon's den, but first he urges Mime to forge the sword. The smith in rage and despair confesses his inability to achieve the desired work, and says that he who knows no fear might perhaps accomplish it. Siegfried at once prepares for work ; he has soon piled a huge mass of coal on the hearth and keeps up the fire, while he fastens the pieces of the sword in the vise and files them to dust. Mime looks on in wonder. When Siegfried has reduced the pieces and placed the filings into a melting-pot on the fire, he fans the flames with the bellows. Mime tells him the name of the broken sword. Siegfried. (Zu der Arbeit.) Nothung! Nothung! Neidliches Schwert ! Was musstest du zerspringen ? Zu Spreu nun schuf ich Die scharfe Pracht, Im Tigel brat' ich die Spahne ! (While he is at work.) Nothung ! Nothung ! Stalwart steel ! What shock hath shivered thee so? To chaff thy blazing Blade I've changed, The metal I melt o'er the fire! SIEGFRIED. 1 59 Hoho! hoho! Hahei ! hahei ! Blase, Balg, Blase die Gluth !— Wild im V/alde Wuchs ein Baum, Den hab' ich im Forst gefallt. Die braune Esche Brannt' ich zu Kohl', Auf dem Herd nun liegt sie gehauft ! Hoho ! hoho ! Hahei ! hahei ! Blow, bellows ! Blow up the blaze ! — In thicket untrodden Thrived a tree. Its trunk in the forest I felled. The ash-tree dun As dusky coal On the hearth now lies in heaps. Hoho! hoho! Hahei ! hahei ! Blase, Balg, Blase die Gluth .'— Des Baumes Kohle, Wie brennt sie kiihn, Wie gluht sie hell und hehr ! In springenden Funken Spruht sie auf, Schmilzt mir des Stahles Spreu. Hoho! hoho! Hahei ! hahei ! Blow, bellows ! Blow up the blaze ! — How fleetly flames The flashing fire! It glistens, glitters, and glows. In flickering sparks It sputters and flares To melt the metal's spray. Hoho ! hoho : Hahei ! hahei ! Blase, Balg, Blase die Gluth !— Nothung ! Nothung ! Neidliches Schwert ! Schon schmilzt deines Stahles Spreu ; Im eignen Schweisse Schwimm'st du nun — Bald schwing' ich dich als mein Schwert ! Hoho ! hoho ! Hahei ! hahei ! Blow, bellows ! Blow up the blaze ! — Nothung ! Nothung ! Stalwart sword ! Now melts the spray of thy steel ; In thy flaming stream Thou floatest now. I'll wave thee soon as my sword. l6o RING OP THE NJBELUNG. Mime. (Wahrend der Absatze von Siegfried's (Sitting apart, during the pauses of Lied, immer fur sich, entfernt Siegfried's song.) sitiend.) Er schmiedet das Schwert, He forges the sword, Und Fafner fallt er : And Fafnir he fells ; Das seh' ich nun sicher voraus ; The unfailing fate I foresee. Hort und Ring Hoard and ring Erringt er im Harst : — He will wrest from his haunt. Wie erwerb' ich mir den How gain I the guerdon for Gewinn ? me } Mit Witz und List With wisdom and craft Erlang' ich Beides, I'll win them both Und berge heil mein Haupt. And shield from harm my head. Mime is delighted at the thought that by the fell power of soporific drugs, with which he is well ac- quainted, Siegfried would die after he had slain the dragon. Then he fetches vessels and pours various kinds of spices out of them into a pot. Siegfried has now run the melted steel into a mould and plunged it into the water ; the loud hiss of cooling is heard. After some time he thrusts the steel into the fire, which is now red hot. He then turns to Mime, who, from the other end of the hearth, places a pot at the edge of the fire. Siegfried taunts the smith with brewing a broth while he forges a sword ; but Mime continues the preparation of the fatal draught. Siegfried has drawn out the glowing steel, and hammers it for some time on the anvil with the great smith's hammer. At last he plunges the steel into the water and laughs at the hissing ; then he fastens the welded sword-blade to the hilt. SIEGFRIED. i6i Mime. (Im Vordergrunde.) Er schafft sich ein scharfes Schwert, Fafner zu fallen, Der Zwerge Feind : Ich braut' ein Trug-Getrank, Siegfried zu fallen, Dem Fafner fiel. Gelingen muss mir die List, Lachen muss mir der Lohn! Den der Bruder schuf. Den schimmernden Reif, In den er gezaubert Zwingende Kraft, Das helle Gold, Das zum Herrscher macht — Ich hab' ihn gewonnen, Ich wake sein ! — Alberich selbst, Der einst mich band, Zu Zwergenfrohne Zwing' ich ihn nun : Als Niblungenfiirst Fahr' ich danieder ; Gehorchen soil mir Alles Heer ! — Der verachtete Zwerg, Was wird er geehrt ! Zu dem Hort hin drangt sich Gott und Held : Vor meinem Nicken Neigt sich die Welt, Vor meinem Zorne Zittert sie hin ! Denn wahrlich miiht sich (In the foreground.) A wondrous sword he welds, To fell for me Fafnir, The foe of the dwarfs. A magic draught I made. That Siegfried may die. When Fafnir be doomed. My cunning must carry the day. The gorgeous guerdon I'll gain! The brilliant ring That my brother wrought, Endowed with might Of magic dire. The ruddy gold. Inwrought with power, — I've won it well, I'll wield its reward !— Albrich himself. Whose slave I was, I'll force to delve And dig like a dwarf; As the Nibelungs' lord I'll alight beneath ; And all the host Shall heed my behest ! — The derided dwarf Shall revel in honor I To the hoard the god And hero shall hie ; At the nod of my head The world shall kneel. And writhe with fear Before my wrath ! Mime, forsooth. 1 62 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Mime nicht mehr : Ihm schaflfen And're Den ewigen Schatz. Mime, der kiihne, Mime ist KSnig, Ftirst der Alben, Walter des Alls. No more will toil ; His bondmen shall heap The boundless hoard. Mime, the bold one. Mime is king. Lord of the Nibelungs, And leader of all ! Siegfried, during the pauses of Mime's song, has filed and sharpened and hammered the sword with the small hammer. Siegfried. Nothung ! Nothung ! Neu und verjiingt ! Zum Leben weckt' ich dich wieder. Todt lag'st du In Triimmern dort, Jetzt leuchtest du trotzig und hehr. Zeige den Schachern Nun deinen Schein ! Schlage den Falschen, Falle den Schelm ! — Schau, Mime, du Schmied : So schneidet Siegfried's Schwert! Nothung ! Nothung! Anew thou art wrought . Back unto life I have brought thee. Dead thou lay'st In doleful night. Now flashes defiant thy fire. Blast the fiend With thy flaming blade ! Slay the rogue, Smite the wretch ! See, Mime, my smith : So sunders Siegfried's sword ! During the last verse Siegfried has brandished his sword, and now strikes with it on the anvil. The latter is cleaved into two pieces from top to bottom, and falls asunder with a great noise. Mime, overcome with fright, sinks to the ground. Siegfried exultingly waves the sword. The curtain falls quickly. SIEGFRIED. 163 In the second act of " Siegfried " the scene represents a dense forest. Far in the background is the opening of a cave. The ground rises as far as the middle of the stage, where it forms a small plateau ; thence it descends backwards towards the cave so that merely the upper part of its opening is visible. To the left appears through the trees a rocky wall, full of clefts. It is dark night, and especially gloomy over the background, where at first nothing can be distinguished by the spectator. Alberich. (An der Felsenwand zur Seite gelagert, in dusterem Bruten.) In Wald und Nacht Vor Neidhohr half ich Wacht : Es lauscht mein Ohr, Miihvoll lugt mein Aug'. Banger Tag, - Beb'st du schon auf ? Dammerst du dort Durch das Dunkel her ? (Sturmwind erhebt sich rechts aus dem Walde.) Welcher Glanz glitzert dort auf ? Naher schimmert Ein heller Schein ; Es rennt wie ein leuchtendes Ross, Bricht durch den Wald Brausend daher. Naht schon des Wurmes Wiir- ger? Ist's schon, der Fafner fallt ? (Leaning against the rocky wall at the side, absorbed in gloomy thought.) In wood and night At the den of wrath I watch With hearkening ear ; My eyes heavily gaze. Timorous day, Dawn'st thou so soon .' Dimly thy light Illumines the dark? (A storm-wind rises on the right, otJt of the wood.) But yonder what glimmers and glares ? Nearer it gleams With glittering glow ; Like the flash of a flaming steed, It darts through the wood And dashes along. Must the dragon die to-day ? Is it he who Faf nir shall fell ? 164 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. (Der Sturmwind legt sich wieder; der (The wind subsides, the light van- Glanz verlischt.) ishes.) Das Licht erlischt — The flash has fled ; Der Glanz barg sich dem Blick : The glow is hid from my glance : Nacht ist's wieder. — Again it is night. Wer naht dort schimmernd im Who nears with glare in the Schatten ? gloom .' Wanderer. (Tritt aus dem Wald auf, und halt (Steps forth from the wood, and stops Alberich gegenuber an.) opposite Alberich.) Zur Neidhohle To the den of wrath Fuhr ich bei Nacht : I rode through the night ; Wen gewahr ich ira Dunkel Who hideth here in the dark ? dort .' Suddenly the moonlight breaks forth, the clouds are dispelled, and the Wanderer's figure becomes visible in the light. Alberich recognizes Wotan and starts back in terror, but soon after breaks out into violent anger. In wrathful words he reviles and taunts the god for the disgrace he had suffered through him when the Nibe- lung hoard was seized by Wotan. Alberich tells him that he is fully aware of the bargain which the gods concluded with the giants to ransom Freyja from their power. Therefore, he says, Wotan himself can never wrest the gold from Fafnir ; if he did, he would break his word and his spear would be shivered. Wotan re- plies that there is no treaty by which he is bound to Alberich. As to the spear, the Nibelung knows that as yet he must bend to its power. Alberich. Wie stolz du drau'st With menace proud In trotziger Starke, Thy might thou displayest, SIEGFRIED. 165 doch Und wie dir's im Busen bangt ! — Verfallen dem Tod Durch meinen Fluch 1st Fafner, des Hortes Hliter: — Wer — wird ihn beerben ? Wird der neidliche Hort Dem Niblung wieder gehoren ? mit ew ger While terror is haunting thy heart ! — Forfeit to death By the doom of my curse Is Fafnir, who hideth the hoard : — Who — shall own it hereafter ? Shall the gorgeous hoard Belong again to the Nibe- lung ? That thrills thee with anguish unending. For lo ! if I hold it Anew in my hand. Thou know'st if like reckless giants I'll wield the Nibelung's ring; Then the hallowed king Of heroes shall cower ! Valhall's heights Storm I with Hella's host. And rule the world by my will! Wotan retorts that he knows full well the Nibelung's aim, but he recks not the danger. The god exclaims that he who has won the ring shall wield it. Alberich scornfully alludes to a youth of warlike descent who may pluck the fruit for the god which the latter dares not touch. But by Wotan's remarks he is led to be- lieve that Mime is the only one who will contend with him for the hoard. This is true, in so far as Siegfried knows as yet naught of its existence. Wotan vanishes in the wood ; a storm-wind rises and quickly subsides. Alberich gazes long and wrathfully after the god ; he vows that at last the hoard again must be his. The day Das sehrt dich Sorge. Denn fass' ich ihn wieder Einst in der Faust, Anders als dumme Riesen Ub' ich des Ringes Kraft: Dann zitt're der Helden Heiliger Huter ! Walhall's H5hen Stiirm ich mit Hella's Heer: Der Welt walte dann ich ! 1 66 RING OF THE NJBELUNG. dawns ; the Nibelung conceals himself among the clefts. Mime and Siegfried enter, the latter carrying the sword in a belt. Mime carefully looks about, casts anxious glances towards the background, which re- mains in deep shadow, while the eminence in the middle is gradually more and more lighted by the sun. Mime draws Siegfried's attention to the cave ; Sieg- fried seats himself under a large linden-tree. Mime is seated opposite to him, but, from fear of the dragon, in such a manner as to be able to keep the cave in sight. The dwarf tells Siegfried of the fierceness of Fafnir, his poisonous breath and his fearful tail ; but Siegfried does not mind the danger. Mime, as he departs, ex- presses to himself the wish that Fafnir and Siegfried may slay each other. When Siegfried is alone, he shows his pleasure at knowing that Mime is not his father. After a long and thoughtful silence he thinks of the mother he never has seen, and bewails her fate. The singing of birds attracts his attention ; he plays a lively tune on his little silver horn. " In an orchestral piece of almost symphonic import Wagner describes the mysterious whirr and life of the forest. The whole idyllic intermezzo is replete with the sweetest charm of romanticism." All at once a noise is heard in the background. Fafnir, in the shape of a huge lizard-like serpent, has risen from his hiding-place ; he breaks through the thicket and rolls himself forward out of the depth to the rising ground. He has reached it with the foremost part of his body, and utters a loud yawning sound. Siegfried turns round, looks at Fafnir in great astonishment, and SIEGFRIED. 167 laughs. Fafnir has halted at sight of Siegfried. When the dragon exclaims : " What is here ?" Sieg- fried, perceiving that the monster can speak, tells him that he knows naught of fear, and asks him if he cannot learn it from him. He adds that if the dragon will not teach him what fear is, he will wreak vengeance on him. Fafnir laughs, opens his jaws and shows his fangs. At Siegfried's scornful words he threatens him with his tail and roars. Siegfried seizes his sword and takes a position opposite Fafnir. The latter raises himself further forward on the rising ground. Siegfried leaps aside ; Fafnir swings forward his tail to seize Siegfried, but the latter evades it by springing over the back of the dragon. As the tail at once follows Sieg- fried and well-nigh lays hold of him, he wounds it with his sword. Fafnir hastily withdraws his tail, roars, and raises the forepart of his body in order to hurl him- self towards the side with his full weight on Siegfried. In this manner he exposes his breast ; Siegfried espies the place of the heart, and thrusts his sword into it up to the hilt. Fafnir rears with pain and, after Sieg- fried lets go the sword and has leaped aside, falls down on the wound. Siegfried. Da lieg', neidischer Kerl ! Die then, thou niggardly knave ! Nothung tragst du im Herzen. Nothung has hit thy heart. Fafner, (Mit schwacherer Stimme.) (In a weaker voice.) War bist du, kuhner Knabe, Who is the dauntless youth Der das Herz mir traf ? That's done me to death ? Wer reizte des Kindes Muth Who stirred thy childish mood 1 68 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Zu der mordlichen That ? To the murderous deed ? Dein Hirn briitete nicht Thy reckless brain did not breed Was du vollbracht. What thou hast wrought. Siegfried. Viel weiss ich noch nicht. Much is unknown to me, Noch nicht auch wer ich bin : I know not the name of my sire. Mit dir mordlich zu ringen Thy wrath aroused my soul Reiztest du selbst meinen To ferocious strife with thy Muth. strength. Fafnir tells Siegfried that he has slain the last of the giants' race ; he also informs him of Fasolt's death, of the accursed gold bestowed by the gods on the giants for the ransom of Freyja, and at last warns him against the treachery of that one who stirred him up to the fatal deed. When Siegfried, desirous to know the race of his kindred, tells his name to Fafnir, the dragon groans, and rearing, expires. He has rolled over on his side. Siegfried draws the sword out of his breast ; in doing this his hand is wetted with the dragon's blood. He starts up and exclaims : " Like fire burns the blood !" Involuntarily he puts his fingers to his mouth to suck the blood from them. As he looks before him in deep thought, his attention is at once aroused by the song of the wood-birds. He listens with bated breath, and after a little while exclaims that he under- stands the song of the birds. The voice of a bird in the linden-tree is heard. It hails Siegfried as the pos- sessor of the hoard, and calls his attention to the Tarn- helm and the ring. Siegfried descends into the cave, where he soon completely disappears. SIEGFRIED. 169 Mime creeps forward, gazing timidly about him, to convince himself of Fafnir's death. At the same time, from the opposite side, Alberich appears, coming for- ward out of the clefts. He keenly observes Mime. As the latter, perceiving nothing of Siegfried, turns cau- tiously towards the cave, Alberich rushes against him and blocks the way. There is a fierce altercation be- tween the two brothers, Alberich boasting of the fact that it was he who wrested the gold from the Rhine- daughters and wrought the magic ring, while Mime contends that he forged the Tarnhelm, and moreover claims that he brought up Siegfried, and now for his toil and worry expects to receive the coveted reward. Alberich. Fiir des Knaben Zucht For his nursing care Will der knick'rige Now the niggardly, Schabige Knecht Shabbiest knave. Keck und kuhn Forward and fierce, Gar wohl Konig nun sein ? Perhaps fain would be king? — Dem raudigsten Hund The lowest cur Ware der Ring Might covet the ring Gerath'ner als dir : More rightly than thou , Nimmer erring'st Never shall ravish Du, Rtipel, den Herrscherreif ! Thou, wretch, the royal hoop. Mime tries to conciliate his brother, and proposes to let him have the ring, while he will keep the Tarn- helm. Alberich derisively retorts, and assures Mime that he would not give him even the smallest portion of the hoard. Mime in rage threatens his brother with Siegfried's power. The two Nibelungs perceive Sieg- fried coming out from the cave with the Tarnhelm and the ring. Mime laughs maUciously, and vanishes in the I/O RING OF THE N IB E LUNG. wood. Alberich disappears among the cliffs. Siegfried has walked slowly and thoughtfully forward from the cave. He contemplates his booty, and stops near a tree on the height. Great silence reigns ; Siegfried knows naught of the value of the hoard, but is deter- mined to keep the spoils as witnesses of his fight with the dragon, and also on account of the warning of the bird. He puts the Tarnhelm in his belt, and the ring on his finger. The sounds of life in the wood increase. Siegfried's attention is again called to the bird ; he holds his breath and listens. Stimme des Waldvogeh. Voice of the Wood-bird. (In der Linde.) (In the linden-tree.) Hei ! Siegfried gehort Ha ! Siegfried now holds Nun der Helm und Ring! Both helmet and ring! O traut' er Mime O, would that in Mime Dem Treulosen nicht ! No more he might trust ! Horte Siegfried nur scharf Siegfried keenly must watch Auf des Schelmen Heuchler- The wily words of the rogue ; gered' : Wie sein Herz es meint What he means at heart Kann er Mime versteh'n ; He can hear from his lips So niitzt ihm des Blutes By dint of the dragon's blood, Genuss. Siegfried's gesture and mien denote that he has well understood the song of the bird. He sees Mime draw- ing nearer, and remains immovable in his position on the rising ground, leaning on his sword, attentive and composed in manner, until the end of the following scene. Mime approaches slowly, and thinks that Sieg- fried is pondering over the value of the spoils taken from Fafnir's den. The Nibelung asks Siegfried if he SIEGFRIED. 171 now knows what fear is. Siegfried replies that fear is as yet unknown to him. When Mime refers to the slaying of the dragon, Siegfried exclaims that he is al- most sorry for Fafnir's death, since greater malefactors are still unslain. Then Mime, despite his efforts to dis- semble his real intentions, discloses his hatred of Sieg- fried. In spite of himself, so to speak, he tells the young hero that he is determined to obtain possession of the hoard, and therefore the slayer of Fafnir must die. Mime now closely approaches Siegfried and holds out to him with loathsome importunity a drinking- horn into which he had poured the baneful liquid from a vessel. Siegfried has already grasped his sword, and, as if in a fit of violent disgust, strikes Mime with a blow dead to the ground. Alberich is heard from the clefts as he bursts out into scornful laughter. Siegfried seizes Mime's body, drags it to the cave and throws it in ; then he rolls the body of the dragon before the entrance of the cave so as to entirely block it up. He stretches himself again under the linden-tree, and after a long silence gives expression to his feeling of loneliness. He bewails his fate, since he has neither brother nor sister; his father had fallen in battle, and his mother he had never seen. He begs the bird to comfort him in his grief. Stimme des Waldvogeh. Voice of the Wood-bird. Hei ! Siegfried erschlug Ha ! Siegfried has slain Nun den schlimmen Zwerg ! The slanderous dwarf. Jetzt wiisst' ich ihm noch O, would that the fairest Das herrlichste Weib. Wife he might find ! Auf hohem Felsen sie schlaft, On lofty height she sleeps, Ein Feuerumbrennt ihren Saal : A fire embraces her hall ; 172 RING OP THE msELUNG. Durchschritt er die Brunst, If he strides througn the blaze Erweckt erdie Braut, And wakens the bride, Briinnhllde ware dann sein ! Brunhild he wins as his wife. Siegfried springs up from his seat with great vehe- mence ; the first feeling of love pervades his heart, and he asks the bird if he can break through the flame-wall and arouse Brunhild from her sleep. Der Waldvogel. The Wood-bird. Die Braut gewinnt. The bride to win, Brunnhild' erweckt, Brunhild to wake, Ein Feiger nie : No coward draws nigh : Nur war das Furchten nicht None to whom fear is known, kennt. Siegfried with rapturous delight asks the bird to show him the way to the rock. The bird flutters up, floats over Siegfried and flies away ; he hastens after the bird. Thus closes the second act of " Siegfried." In the third act the scene represents a wild country at the foot of a rocky mountain, which on the left rises steeply towards the background. It is night ; a storm, with thunder and lightning, prevails. Before a gate in the rock, forming the entrance of a grave-like cavern, stands the Wanderer. Wache ! Wache ! Awake ! Awake Wala, erwache ! Vala, awake ! Aus langem Schlafe From lengthy sleep Week' ich dich schlummernde The slumbering woman I wach. wake; Ich rufe dich auf : Hark to my rede : Herauf ! herauf ! Arise ! arise SIEGFRIED. m Aus neblicher Gruft, Aus nacht'gem Grunde herauf ! Erda! Erda ! Ewiges.Weib ! Aus heimischer Tiefe Tauche zur Hoh' ! Dein Wecklied sing' ich, Dass du erwach'st ; Aus sinnendem Schlafe Sing' ich dich auf. Allwissende ! Urweltweise ! Erda! Erda! Ewiges Weib ! Wache, du Wala I erwache ! From the misty dark. From the depth of dismal night ! Erda ! Woman Eternal, awake ! From thy home below Hie thee aloft. To wake thee I sing, My song shall arouse thee. From pondering sleep I summon thee now, Seeress omniscient. Wisest of women ! Erda! Woman Eternal, awake ! Waken, thou Vala ! Awaken ! A dim light has begun to dawn in the cave ; Erda arises from the depth in a bluish gleam. She appears as if covered with frost ; her hair and raiment shed a glittering light. AsWotan informs the goddess that he aroused her from her sleep to receive from her the light of her wisdom, she refers him to the Norns. Wotan replies that the Norns are the tools of fate, but cannot alter the course of events. Mannerthaten Umdammern mir den Muth : Mich Wissende selbst Bezwang ein Waltender einst, Ein Wunschmadchen Gebar ich Wotan : Der Helden Wal Erda. Deeds of men Dimly dismay my mind. E'en me and my wisdom A mighty one once over- powered. A wish-maiden To Wotan I bore ; The heroes' host 174 ^/yVG OF THE NIBELVNG. Hiess er fur ihn sie kuren. He bade her choose for his hall. Kiihn ist sie Bold is she, Und weise auch : And wise withal ; Was weck'st du mich. Why trouble ray sleep, Und frag'st urn Kunde And trust not the wisdom Nicht Erda und Wotan's Kind ? Of Erda and Wotan's child ? * At this reference to Brunhild Wotan apprises Erda of the Valkyr's disobedience to his command, and of the punishment he had to inflict upon her. Erda, ab- sorbed in thought, and after a long silence, upbraids him for punishing the maid. Wotan reminds the god- dess of her gloomy foreboding in regard to the over- throw of the gods at the time she appeared before them and Wotan refused to give the Nibelung's ring to the giants in ransom for Freyja.f He now wishes to learn from her lips how the danger may be averted. Erda does not answer his question, but bids him to free her from his magic power so that she may descend to her abode. Thereupon he tells her that her wisdom is gone, and her knowledge is naught compared with Wotan's will. No more he grieves for the approaching doom of the gods, since by his will the decree of fate shall be accomplished. As formerly in disgust and de- spair he had doomed the world to the Nibelung's hate, he now bestows its kingdom on the noble Volsung, Siegmund and Sieglind's son, who had gained the ring. Siegfried shall awaken Brunhild from her sleep, and thus the daughter of Wotan and Erda shall ransom the world from Alberich's curse. After these words Erda descends to her home in the bosom of the earth. The cavern has become dark again ; Wotan leans * See page 131. \ See page 109. SIEGFRIED. 175 against a rock and awaits Siegfried. Feeble moonlight dimly lights up the scene. The storm has entirely ceased. Siegfried appears from the right in the fore- ground. Siegfried. Mein VSglein schwebte mir My bird has floated aloft ; — fort ;— Mit flatterndem Flug Und sussem Sang Wies es mir wonnig den Weg ; Nun schwand es fern mir davon. Am besten find' ich Selbst nun den Berg; Wohin mein Fiihrer mich wies, Dahin wandr' ich jetzt fort. (Er schreitet welter nach hinten.) (In seiner Stellung an der Hohle ver- bleibend.) Wohin, Knabe, Heisst dich dein Weg ? With fluttering flight And warbling sweet He swiftly showed me the way ; But now afar he has fled. The rock without fail I'll find by myself. On the way which I learned as he flew Now fleetly I wander along. (He goes farther towards the back- ground.) Wanderer. (Remaining in his position at the cave.) Whither, my lad. Wends thy way ? (Da redet's ja : Wohl rath das mir den Weg.) Einen Felsen such' ich, Von Feuer ist der umwabert Dort schlaft ein Weib, Das ich wecken will. Siegfried. (A voice I hear : Perhaps it will help in my search.) A rock I must find. In raging fire inwrapped ; There sleeps a woman I wish to wake. Wer sagt' es dir Den Fels zu suchen, Wer nach der Frau sehnen ? Wanderer. Who bade thee find The fiery rock dich zu With fervent love of the maid ? 176 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Siegfried. Mich wies' es ein singend From a warbling bird Waldvog'lein : In the wood I learned Das gab mir gute Kunde. Delightful lore of the woman. Wanderer. Ein VSg'lein schwatzt wohl The voice of a bird may chat- manches ; ter ; Kein Mensch doch kann's ver- His chirp, though, of meaning steh'n : is void : Wie mochtest du Sinn What led thee to see Dem Sange entnehmen ? Sense in the song? Siegfried. Das wirkte das Blut The blood of a dread, Eines wilden Wurms, Blustering dragon Der mir vor NeidhShl' er- I doomed to death at its den. blasste : Kaum netzt' es ziindend My tongue it barely Die Zunge mir, Had burned, when I grasped Da verstand' ich der Voglein The sense of the sound of the Gestimm'. birds. Wanderer. Erschlug'st du den Riesen, Who roused thy mind Wer reizte dich, To murderous wrath. Den starken Wurm zu be- To ferocious fight with the steh'n? foe? Siegfried. Mich fiihrte Mime, Mime, the feigning, Ein falscher Zwerg ; Faithless dwarf ; Das Furchten woUt' er mich To teach me fear he presumed. lehren : Zum Schwertschlag aber, But to deal the death-blow, Der ihn erschlug. That doomed him to die, Reizte der Wurm mich selbst ; Fafnir had stirred my mind, Seinen Rachen riss er mir auf. When he stared and gaped upon me. SIEGFRIED. 177 Wanderer. Wer schuf das Schwert Who forged the sword, So scharf und hart, So strong and fierce, Dass der starkste Feind ihm To fight with so fell a foe ? fiel? Siegfried. Das schweisst' ich mir selbst, I wrought it myself, Da's der Schmied nicht konnte: As the smith could not weld it ; Schwertlos noch war' ich wohl Or swordless I still should be sonst. seen. Wanderer. Doch wer schuf But who had made Die starken Stucken, The mighty splinters Daraus das Schwert du ge- From which thou weldedst the schweisst ? weapon ? Siegfried. Was weiss ich davon ! I mind not who made them. Ich weiss allein, I merely know Dass die Stucken nichts mir For naught they were fit in the niitzten, fight Schuf ich das Schwert mir Unless I had forged them nicht neu. anew. At this ingenuous answer of Siegfried Wotan breaks out in good-humored laughter ; but Siegfried takes his mirth amiss. He bluntly asks him to show him the way to the fiery rock or to be silent. While he draws nearer to Wotan, he observes that the god has only one eye.* He gives expression to his belief that he had lost the other in an affray when he barred some wan- derer on his road. Wotan is grieved at Siegfried's harsh words, and insinuates that he loves him and his race ; but Siegfried in his anger heeds not the words of the * See page 2. 178 RING OP THE NIBELUNG. god. In the mean time the scene has become dark again. Wotan's ire is at last aroused by Siegfried's obstinacy, and especially when the hero expresses his determination to follow the bird that had shown him the way to the rock, but had fled as he came near the cave. Wanderer. Es floh dir zu seinem Heil ; Den Herrn der Raben Errieth es hier : Weh' ihm, holen sie's ein ! Den Wag, den es zeigte, Sollst du nicht zieh'n ! Hoho ! du Verbieter ! Wer bist du denn, Dass du mir wehren willst ? To save his life he has fled; The lord of the ravens He believed was nigh : Woe unto him, if they near him ! The way that he showed thee Thou shalt not walk ! Siegfried. Haha ! He forbids it ! But who may be The bold one that bars my way ? Wanderer. Furchte des Felsens Huter ! Verschlossen halt Meine Macht die schlafende Maid ; Wer sie erweckte, Wer sie gewanne, Machtlos macht' er mich ewig ! — Ein Feuermeer Umfluthet die Frau, Gluhende Lohe Umleckt den Fels : Wer die Braut begehrt, Dem brennt entgegen die Brunst, Fear the mountain's defender ! Fast in sleep My might enfolded the maid. He who awakes her And wins her away, Mightless he makes me for e'er. A sea of flames Around her floats. With glowing rage It licks the rock ; Who wooes the bride Must brave the withering blaze. SIEGFRIED. 179 (Er winkt mit dem Speer.) Blick' nach der Hoh' ! Erlug'st du das Licht ? — Es wachst der Schein, Es schwillt die Gluth ; Sengende Wolken, Wabernde Lohe, Walzen sich brennend Und prasselnd herab. Ein Lichtmeer Umleuchtet dein Haupt ; Bald frisst und zehrt dich Zundendes Feuer: Zuriick denn, rasendes Kind ! (He points with liis spear.) Look on the height ! Behold the light, The searing flames, The soaring flare ! Fiery blast And wavering blaze Leap and roll Rushing below. Sheaths of fire Will enshroud thy face; Direful flames Will doom thee to death : Back, thou reckless boy ! Siegfried. Zuriick, du Prahler, mit dir! Back, thou boaster, thyself! Dort, wo die Briinste brennen. The fiery sea I defy, Zu Briinnhilde muss ich jetzt Forth to Brunhild I fare! hin! (Er schreitet darauf zu.) (He strides towards the rock.) Wanderer. (Den Speer vorhaltend.) Furchtest das Feuer du nicht, So sperre mein Speer dir den weg! Noch halt meine Hand Der Herrschaft Haft ; Das Schwert das du schwing'st, Zerschlug einst dieser Schaft : Noch einmal denn Zerspring' es am ewigen Speer ! (Stretching out his spear.) Know'st thou no fear of the fire. My spear shall harass thy haste ! My palm yet wields The powerful weapon ; Once this shaft Shivered the sword that thou wield'st ; Asunder again It shall split on the godlike spear ! l8o RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Siegfried. (Das Schwert ziehend.) (Drawing his sword.) Meines Vaters Feind ! My father's foe ! Find' ich dich hier ? Here have I found thee ? Herrlich zur Rache Wrathful vengeance Gerieth mir das ! I'll wreak anon ! Schwing' deinen Speer : Brandish thy spear : In Stiicken spalt' ihn mein My sword shall break it Schwert ! asunder ! Siegfried fights with the Wanderer and breaks his spear in pieces. A terrible thunder-clap follows. Wanderer. TA€a' hin! Ich kann dich nicht Hence! No more can I hold halten ! thee ! (Er verschwindet.) (He disappears.) " On this spear the laws of the universe are cut, and its destruction is symbolical of that of the old order of things. Henceforth Wotan resigns the world to the unimpaired impulse of youth, and returns to Valhall to await his final doom. The broken rhythm of the bond- motive from the ' Rheingold ' denotes that Wotan's power and the law on which it was founded are gone forever." With increasing brightness fiery clouds have descended from the height of the background. The whole stage is filled as with a floating sea of flames. Siegfried. Ha, wonnige Gluth ! Ha, glorious glow ! Leuchtender Glanz ! Glittering glare ! Strahlend ofTen A flaming road Steht mir die Strasse. — Flashes before me ! — Im Feuer mich baden ! To bathe me in fire ! Im Feuer zu finden die Braut ! In fire to find the bride ! SIEGFRIED. l8l Hoho ! hoho ! Hoho ! hoho ! Hahei! hahei! Hahei! hahei! Lustig ! lustig ! How merry ! how merry ! Jetzt lock' ich ein liebes Gesell ! With a loving mate I shall meet ! He puts his horn to his lips and, playing his alluring tune, rushes into the fire. The flames rage now also over the whole foreground. Siegfried's horn is heard, at first near by, then farther off. The fiery clouds pass constantly from back to front, so that Siegfried, whose horn is heard again nearer, appears to move towards the background up the height. At last the flames be- gin to become paler. They dissolve, as it were, into a fine, transparent veil. The latter gradually clears off and an intensely bright blue sky in broadest daylight is seen. The scene, from which the clouds have entirely disappeared, represents the summit of a rocky moun- tain as in the third act of the " Walkiire." On the left, the entrance to a natural rocky hall ; on the right, broad fir-trees ; the background is entirely open. In the fore- ground, under the shadow of a large fir-tree, lies Brun- hild in deep sleep. She is completely encased in glit- tering armor ; her helmet is on her head, and her long shield covers her. Siegfried, in the background, has just arrived on the rocky border of the height, and gazes about in astonishment. Siegfried. Selige Oede Wilderness hallowed Auf sonniger Hoh' ! On sunniest height ! (In den Tann hineinsehend.) (Looking into the wood.) Was ruht dort schlummernd What sleeps there fast Im schattigen Tann ? By the shadowy fir ? 1 82 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Ein Ross ist's, A horse I behold Rastend in tiefem Schlaf ! Resting in slumber here ! Siegfried appears on the highest point of the summit and walks slowly forward ; when, still at some distance, he perceives Brunhild, he stops, lost in astonishment. Siegfried. Was strahit mir dort entgegen ? What gleams and glistens beyond ? Welch' glanzendes Stahlge- What a glittering glare of schmeide ! steel ! Blendet mir noch Is my look still dimmed Die Lohe den Blick? — By the dazzling light ? (Er tritt naher hinzu.) (He steps nearer.) Helle Waffen ! — Shining weapons ! — Heb' ich sie auf ? Away with the shield ! He takes off the shield and perceives Brunhild's face, which, however, is still covered to a great extent by the helmet. Siegfried. Ha ! in Waffen ein Mann : Ha ! a mail-clad man ! Wie mahnt mich wonnig sein With delight my mind is Bild !— elate !— Das hehre Haupt The helmet burdens Driickt wohl der Helm ? The hallowed brow. Leichter wiird' ihm. If loosened, more softly L6st' ich den Schmuck. The head would lie. Siegfried cautiously unfastens the helmet and raises it from the head of the sleeper ; long, flowing hair breaks forth. Siegfried starts. Ach ! — wie schon ! — Alas ! — how fair ! — (Er bleibt in den Anblick versunken.) (He remains lost in the sight.) Schimmernde Wolken Glittering clouds SIEGFRIED. 183 Saumen in Wellen Den hellen Himmelssee : Leuchtender Sonne Lachendes Bild Strahlt durch das Wogenge- wolk! (Er lauscht dem Athem.) Von schwellendem Athem Schwingt sich die Brust : — Brech' ich die engende Briinne? (Er versucht es mit grosser Behutsam- keit — aber vergebens.) Komm', mein Schwert, Sclineide das Eisen ! Enclose with their gleam A lake of heavenly light ! A radiant sun's Rapturous image Darts its rays on the dark ! (He listens to her breathing.) With heaving breath Beats the heart ; — Shall I rend the rings of the mail ? (He tries with great care to unfasten the armor, but in vain.) Out, my sword. Sunder the iron. With tender care he cuts through the rings of the hauberk on both sides of the whole armor. He then Hfts off the coat of mail and greaves, so that Brunhild lies before him in a soft womanly raiment. He starts up in surprise and wonder. Das ist kein Mann ! Brennender Zauber Ziickt rair in's Herz; Feurige Angst Fasst meine Augen : Mir schwankt und schwindelt Der Sinn ! Wen ruf ich zum Heil, Dass er mir helfe ? — Mutter! Mutter! Gedenke mein' ! No man it is ! Hallowed rapture Thrills through my heart ; Fiery anguish Enfolds my eyes. My senses wander And waver. Whom shall I summon Hither to help me? Mother ! Mother ! Be mindful of me ! He drops his forehead on Brunhild's bosom. A long silence ensues. Then he starts up and sighs. 1 84 RING OF THE N IB E LUNG. Wie week' ich die Maid, Dass sie die Augen mir off 'ne ? — Das Auge mir off'nen ? Blende mich auch noch der Blick ? Wagt' es mein Trotz? Ertriig' ich das Licht ? — Mir schwebt und schwankt Und schwirrt es umher. Seiirendes Sengen Zehrt meine Sinne : Am zagenden Herzen Zittert die Hand ! — Wie ist mir Feigem ? 1st es das FUrchten ? — O Mutter ! Mutter ! Dein muthiges Kind! Im Schlafe liegt eine Frau : Die hat ihn das Fiirchten gelehrt ! i)t 4: H< 3^ % It Wie end' ich die Furcht ? Wie fass' ich Muth ? — Dass ich selbst erwache, Muss die Maid ich er- wecken ! Siiss erbebt mir Ihr bliihender Mund : Wie mild erzitternd Mich Zagen er reizt ! Ach, dieses Athems Wonnig warmes Gediift' ! — Erwache ! erwache ! Heiliges Weib ! — Sie h6rt mich nicht. — How wake I the maid That her eyes be opened for me? — Her eyes be opened ? Though her glance may singe my sight ? Dare I the deed ? Endure I the light ? What flickers and floats And flutters around me ? My senses glow With searing flames ; O my throbbing heart ! There thrills through my veins A feeling strange. Could it be fear ? O Mother ! Mother ! Thy manly son ! A maiden is fast asleep And fills his mind with dismay ! ****** How conquer the fear ? How find I my courage ? — To waken myself. The maid I first must awake. Sweetly allure me Her blooming lips ; Faintly quivering They quell my fear ! With sweetest fragrance Her swelling breath is fraught ! — Awaken ! Holy Woman, awake! — She hears not my words. SIEGFRIED. i8s So saug' ich mir Leben Aus sussesten Lippen — Sollt' ich auch sterbend ver- geh'n ! Then life will I sip From sweetest lips, Though death be my lot for the deed. He imprints an ardent and lingering kiss on her lips. He then starts up appalled. Brunhild has opened her eyes. He gazes on her in astonishment. Both remain for some time lost in contemplation of each other. Brunhild. (Langsam und feierlich sich zum Sitze aufrichtend.) Hail dir, Sonne ! Heil dir, Licht ! Heil dir, leuchtender Tag! Lang' war mein Schlaf ; Ich bin erwacht : Wer ist der Held, Der mich erweckt' ? (Slowly and solemnly rising to a sitting posture.) Hail to thee, sun ! Hail to thee, light ! Hail to thee, luminous day ! Deep was my sleep ; Dark was the night ; Who is the hero That woke me here } Siegfried. (Von ihrem Blick und ihrer Stimme feierlich ergriffen.) Durch das Feuer drang ich, Das den Fels umbrann ; Ich erbrach dir den festen Helm. Siegfried heiss' ich, Der dich erweckt. (Solemnly impressed by her look and voice.) I broke through the fire That embraced the height ; Thy brazen helmet I loosed. Who woke thee here Siegfried is hight. Brunhild. (Hoch aufgerichtet sitzend.) Heil euch, GBtter ! Heil dir, Welt ! Heil dir, prangende Erde ! Zu End' ist nun mein Schlaf; Erwacht seh' ich : (Sitting up fully erect.) Gods, I hail you ! I hail thee, world ! I greet thee, glorious earth ! Ended at last is my slumber, Awakening I see 1 86 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Siegfried ist es, Siegfried, the brave, Der mich erweckt ! Who broke my sleep ! Brunhild still further gives vent to her joyful feelings ; she remembers how she had sheltered Sieglind from Wotan's wrath.* To Siegfried she discloses the events immediately following Siegmund's death ; she asserts that her shield had protected Siegfried even before he saw the light of the world. She also says that Wotan's secret intentions had always been known to her, and that her deeds and her sufferings came from her love of Sieg- fried. The hero barely understands her allusions to the past ; he is aware of one thing only : the sensation he has never felt before now thrills his heart. As he is about to draw closer to Brunhild, she gently wards him off and her glance turns towards the wood. She per- ceives Grani, her noble horse, that had been aroused from the magic sleep at the same time as herself. Brunhild. (Ihn mit der Hand bedeutend.) (Pointing with her hand.) Dort seh' ich den Schild, I behold my shield Der Helden schirmte ; That sheltered heroes ; Dort seh' ich den Helm, My helmet is here Der das Haupt mir barg: That covered my head ; Er schirmt, er birgt mich nicht Alas ! it hides me no longer ! mehr. Siegfried. Eine selige Maid A hallowed maid Versehrte mein Herz ; Seared my heart ; Wunden dem Haupte A woman sorely Schlug mir ein Weib : — Wounded my head ; — Ich kam ohne Schild und No buckler nor helmet I bore! Helm! * See page 141. SIEGFRIED. 187 Brunhild. (Mit gesteigerter Wehmuth.) Ich sehe der Brunne Prangenden Stahl : Ein scharfes Schwert Schnitt sie entzwei ; Von dem maidlichen Leibe L8st' es die Wehr : Ich bin ohne Schutz und Schirm, Ohne Trutz ein trauriges Weib ! (With increased sadness.) My hauberk's flashing Steel 1 behold ; A keen-edged sword Cut it asunder ; No coat of mail Now covers the maid . Defenceless I am and forlorn I A woful woman, alas ! Durch brennendes Feuer Fuhr ich zu dir ; Nicht Briinne noch Panzer Barg meinen Leib : Mir in die Brust Brach nun die Lohe. Es braust mein Blut In bliihender Brunst; Ein zehrendes Feuer 1st mir entzundet : Die Gluth die Brunnhild's Felsen umbrann, Die brennt mir nun im Gebein ! — Du Weib, jetzt losche den Brand ! Schweige die schaumende Gluth ! Siegfried. Through the fiery stream Fearless I strode ; No corselet nor hauberk Covered my heart ; But now in my bosom The blaze is burning ; Devouring flames Flash through my veins ; Fiercely rages And roars the fire ; The heat that embraced Brunnild's height Burns now here in my heart ! — Thou, woman, quench the fiire ! Silence the foaming surge ! Siegfried passionately embraces her; she leaps up, wards him off with the strength of greatest terror, and hastens to the other side. No god nor hero, she ex- claims, has ever dared to embrace her. As a holy maiden she went forth from Valhall's heights. In spite 188 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. of all she cannot easily forget, that once she was a Val- kyr, while now she is a mortal woman. At last, how- ever, her love of Siegfried triumphs over all other emo- tions, and, unmindful of her past, she sacrifices every- thing for the sake of the dauntless hero. Fahr' hin, Walhall's Leuchtende Welt ! Zerfair in Staub Deine stolze Burg ! Leb' wohl, prangende Gotter-Pracht ! Ende in Wonne, Du ewig Geschlecht ! Zerreisst, ihr Nornen, Das Runenseil ! GStter-Damm'rung, Dunk'le herauf ! Nacht der Vernichtung, Neb'le herein ! — Mir strahlt zur Stunde Siegfried's Stern ; Er ist mir ewig, Er ist mir immer, Erb und Eigen, Ein' und all' : Leuchtende Liebe, Lachender Tod ! Brunhild. Away, Valhall's Glorious world! To dust thy haughty Walls be dashed ! Farewell, thou gorgeous Realm of the gods ! End in delight, Thou lofty race ! Rend, ye Norns, The rope of runes : Dusk of the gods. Break forth from thy depth ! Night of destruction. Draw near in thy storm ! — Siegfried's star Beams on my sight ; Mine he is And always shall be, My own and all For ever and aye ; Dazzling love And laughing death ! Siegfried. (Mit Brunnhilde zugleich.) Lachend erwach'st Du wonnige mir; Briinnhilde lebt! Brunnhilde lacht! Heil der Sonne, (Together with Brunhild.) Laughingly wakes The lovely woman ; Brunhild lives ! Brunhild laughs! Hail to the sun SIEGFRIED. 189 Die uns bescheintl Heil dem Tage, Der uns umleuchtetl Heil dem Licht, Das der Nacht eiittaucht I Heil der Welt, Der Briinnhild' erwacht! Sie wacht! sie lebtl Sie lacht mir entgegen ! Prangend strahlt Mir Brtinnhilde's Stern! Sie ist mir ewig, Sie ist mir immer, Erb' und Eigen, Ein' und all' : Leuchtende Liebe, Lachender Tod ! That shines on us here ! Hail to the day With its dazzling glow I Hail to the glare That conquered the gloom I Hail to the world Where Brunhild awakes I She wakes ! she lives ! The laughing delight! Brunhild's star Brightly beams ! Mine she is And always shall be. My own and all For ever and aye ; Dazzling love ! Laughing death ! Brunhild rushes into Siegfried's arms. This is the close of the third and last act of " Siegfried." " The impassible shield-maiden has become a loving woman. The duet betwreen the lovers all but equals, in grandeur and beauty, that between Siegmund and Sieglind in the ' Walkure.' " CHAPTER VII. GOTTERDAMMERUNG. The " Gotterdammerung," or dusk of the gods,* consists of a prelude and three acts. The dramatis personcB are Siegfried, Gunther, Hagen, Alberich, Brunhild, Gudrun, f Valtraute, one of the Valkyrs ; the Norns, the Rhine-daughters, warriors and women at Gunther's court. The prelude opens on the rock of the Valkyrs, the scene being the same as at the conclusion of the preceding drama. It is night. Out of the depth of the background appears the glow of fire. The three Norns % — tall female figures in flow- ing dark garments — are discovered : the first, the eldest, lying in the foreground under the large fir-tree on the right ; the second, younger, stretched on a bench of stone in front of the cave in the rock ; the third, the youngest, sitting on a rock at the edge of the height, in the middle of the background. For some time a gloomy silence prevails. First Norn. (Ohne sich zu bewegen.) (Without moving.) Welch' Licht leuchtet dort ? What light illumines the dark ? Second Norn. Damraert der Tag schon auf ? Dawns the day so soon ? * See page 37. \ Kriemhild in the German poems. % See pages 29 and 30. GO TTERDAMMER UNG. 191 Third Norn. Loge's Heer Unilodert feurig den Fels. Noch ist's Nacht ; Was spinnen und singen wir nicht ? Loki's host In fire enfolds the height. Night is still near ; Why spin we and sing we not now? Second Norn. (To First Norn.) Wollen wir singen und spinnen, Whereon, as we sing and spin, Woran spann'st du das Sell ? Fasten the fateful rope? First (Erhebt sich, und knupft wahrend ihres Gesanges ein goldenes Seil mit dem einem Ende an einen Ast der Tanne.) So gut und schlimm es geh', Schling' ich das Seil, und singe. — An der Welt Esche Wob ich einst, Da gross und stark Dem Stamm entgriinte Weihlicher Aste Wald ; Im kiihlen Schatten Schaumt' ein Quell, Weisheit raunend Rann sein Gewell' : Da sang ich heiligen Sinn. — Ein kiihner Gott Trat zum Trunk an den Quell ; Seiner Augen eines Zahlt' er als ewigen Zoll : Von der Welt- Esche Norn. (Rises, and during her song, fastens one end of a golden rope to a branch of the fir-tree.) For weal or sorrow and woe I set the rope and sing. — At the ash primeval * I wove it with might. When bold and firm A forest of boughs Towered aloft from its trunk ; By their shade refreshed, A fountain foamed ; Wisdom floated Along its waves ; Then sang I a holy song. — A fearless god To the fountain drew for a draught ; The light of an eye He left for e'er as a pledge ; t From the ash primeval ■ See page 35. f See page 2. 192 RING OF THE NIBELVNG. Brach da Wotan einen Ast Eines Speeres Schaft Entschnitt der Starke dem Stamm. — In langer Zeiten Lauf Zehrte die Wunde den Wald ; Falb fielen die Blatter, Diirr darbte der Baum : Traurig versiegte Des Quelles Trank ; Triiben Sinnes Ward mein Sang. Doch web' ich heut' An der Welt-Esche nicht mehr, Muss mir die Tanne Taugen zu fesseln das Seil : Singe, Schwester, — Dir schwing' ich's zu — Weisst du wie das ward ? A branch the mighty one broke ; A trusty spear Wotan split from the tree. — In the run of the rolling world The wound weakened the root ; Fallow the foliage waxed. The tree withered and waned ; Sadly the source Of the fountain sank ; With sorrow drear Sounded my song. At the ash primeval No more the web I shall weave ; The fir must be fit To fasten the fateful rope ; Sing, O sister — I sling it to thee — Heard 'st thou how it befell? Second Norn. (Wahrend sie das zugewortene Seil urn einen hervorspringenden Felsstein am Eingange des Gemaches windet.) Treu berath'ner Vertrage Runen Schnitt Wotan In des Speeres Schaft : Den hielt er als Haft der Welt. Ein kiihner Held Zerhieb im Kampfe den Speer ; In Triimmern sprang Der Vertrage heiliger Haft. — (Winding the rope thrown to her around a projecting rock at the entrance of the cave.) Sacred runes With solemn oath Wotan hewed In the holy spear. The world he held with its haft. A warrior bold In battle sundered the weapon ; To splinters was rent The spear and its hallowed runes. — GO TTERDA MMER UNG. 193 Da hiess Wotaa Walhall's Helden Der Welt-Esche Welkes Geast Mit dem Stamm in Stiicke zu fallen ; Die Esche sank ; Ewig versiegte der Quell ! — Fess'le ich heut' An dem scharfen Fels das Sail : Singe, Schwester — Dir schwing' ich's zu — Weisst du wie das wird ? At Wotan's behest Valhall's heroes Asunder hewed Ygdrasil's * Tottering arms and trunk ; The ash-tree fell ; The fountain wasted away ! — To-day I tie To the trenchant rock the rope ; Sing, O sister — I sling it to thee — Heard'st thou how it will be ? Third Norn. (Das Seil empfangend, und dessen (Taking the rope and throwing its Ende hinter sich werfend.) end behind her.) Es ragt die Burg, Von Riesen gebaut : Mit der Gotter und Helden Heiliger Sippe Sitzt dort Wotan im Saal. Gehau'ner Scheite Hohe Schicht Ragt zu Hauf Rings um die Halle : Die Welt-Esche war diess sonst ! Brennt das Holz Heilig, brUnstig und hell, Sengt die Gluth Sehrend den glanzenden Saal : Der ewigen Gotter Ende Dammert ewig da auf. — A bulwark bold The giants built; With the gods and heroes' Hallowed host Wotan sits in the hall. Layers of wood Tower aloft. Heaped on high Around the hall ; The ash-tree once it was ! When holy flames Wildly flash through the wood. When glowing heat Enwraps the glittering hall. The doom of the gods grows dark. The night eternal is near. — ' See page 35. 194 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. The third Norn has thrown the rope to the second, who has thrown it again to the first. The first Norn un- fastens the rope from the bough and ties it to another branch. She is uncertain whether the hght comes from the dawning day or from Loki's flickering flames. Her sight grows dim ; she inquires after the doom of the god of fire. The second Norn again winds the rope thrown to her around the rock, and sings of Loki who is fated to surround Brunhild's rock with his flames. The third Norn has caught the rope and throws it be- hind her. She sings of the approaching end of the gods, when Wotan shall plunge the splinters of his spear into Loki's fiery breast. Then the chief of the gods shall hurl the flaming brand into the layers of wood that are piled up round Valhall's lofty walls. The third Norn throws the rope to the second, who throws it again to the first. The first Norn fastens the rope anew. The day is dawning, and with it her wisdom vanishes. The threads of the rope become entangled. A horrid vision haunts her sight : it is the gold wrenched by Alberich from the Rhine. The second Norn with great haste and difficulty winds the rope around the rock. The keen-edged rock has chafed the rope. The web becomes ravelled : it is Alberich's curse of the Nibelung ring that gnaws the texture of the rope. The third Norn hastily seizes it as it is thrown towards her ; it is not long enough ; she pulls at it with all her strength. The rope breaks asunder in the middle. Amazed, the three Norns have started up and come together towards the centre of the stage ; they seize the pieces of the broken rope and with them bind themselves together. In concert they exclaim GO TTERDAMMER UNG. 19s that eternal wisdom has vanished ; the world will hear no more tidings from the Norns. Then they descend to Erda, their mother. After they have disappeared, the daylight, which has been gradually growing brighter, now fully pours in and dims the glare of the fire in the depth. Siegfried and Brunhild appear from the rocky cave. Siegfried is clad in full armor ; Brun- hild leads her horse by the bridle. Brunhild. Zu neuen Thaten, Tlieurer Helde, Wie liebt' ich dich — Liess' ich dich nicht .' Ein einzig Sorgen Macht mich saumen : Dass dir zu wenig Mein Werth gewann ! Was Gotter mich wiesen, Gab ich dir: Heiliger Runen Reichen Hort ; Doch meiner Starke Magdlichen Staram Nahm mir der Held, Dem ich nun mich neige. Des Wissens bar — Doch des Wunsches voll ; An Liebe reich — Doch ledig der Kraft : Mog'st du die Arme Nicht verachten. Die dir nur gonnen — Nicht geben mehr kann ! To deeds of daring, Dearest hero, To bar thy way — How were it love ? A single sorrow Saddens me sore : So little it was My worth to win ! My gifts from the gods I gave unto thee ; Of hallowed runes Rich was the hoard ; But of the might Of a warrior-maid Bereft me the hero Whom husband I hail. Of wisdom bare — Though her wish is unbounded; Rich in love — Though bereft of her strength ; Despise not the lonely, Longing woman Who merely can grant — But give no more ! 196 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Siegfried replies tiiat although he may not have grasped all the wisdom she taught him, one thing he will never forget : his love of Brunhild. She reminds him of his deeds, of the fire surrounding her hall, and of the helmet he broke to awaken the sleeping Valkyr. Siegfried. Lass' ich, Liebste, dich hier Ere I leave thee, beloved one, here, In der Lohe heiliger Hut, Defended by lofty fire, Zum Tausche deiner Runen For the lore of thy runes as guerdon Reich' ich dir diesen Ring. I give thee this ravishing ring. Was der Thaten je ich schuf. What glory I ever acliieved Dess' Tugend schliesst er ein ; Is writ in its glittering charm ; Ich erschlug einen wilden A gory dragon I slew Wurm, Dergrimmiglang' ihnbewacht. Who long had guarded its gold. Nun wahre du seine Kraft To thee I entrust now its might Als Weihe-Gruss meiner Treu ! As a mindful pledge of my truth ! Brunhild receives the Nibelung ring, Alberich's dread- ful work, from Siegfried's hand. She gives him her horse Grani. In by-gone times he had soared aloft over thunder-clouds and through lightning-flashes, but now, since the Valkyr has become a mortal woman, he has lost his magic power. Yet, as Brunhild assures Siegfried, the horse will obey the hero wherever he will ride him, even be it through fire. After many affection- ate words Siegfried leaves Brunhild ; he leads his horse down the rock. Brunhild in rapturous delight gazes long after him from the edge of the height. From the depth the merry sound of Siegfried's horn is heard. Curtain falls. GOTTERDAMMERUNG. 197 FIRST ACT. The scene represents the hall of the Gibichungs on the Rhine. The background is quite open, dis- playing a flat shore that extends to the river ; rocky heights border the space. Gunther and Gudrun are seated on a throne before which stands a table with drinking-vessels. Hagen sits near the table. In this connection it must be remembered that Gib- ich is the name of the father of Gunther and his sister in Wagner's drama, as well as in the mediaeval German epics with the exception of the Nibelungen Lied. Gunther's sister is called Gudrun in the early northern traditions* and in Wagner's composition. In the German poems her name is Kriemhild. Gibich's children are called Gibichungs. In the northern epics and sagas* Gunther's (Gunnar's) and Gudrun's father is Giuki, and his wife is Grimhild (Kriemhild), as she is also named in Wagner's poem. Gibich and Grimhild, the father and mother of Gunther and Gudrun, are merely referred to in our drama ; Gibich having been a warlike king of great renown, while his wife Grimhild was skilled in sorcery. The residence of the Gibich- ungs is Worms on the Rhine in most of the German traditions. As to Hagen, Wagner followed the Thidrek Saga.f Gunther asks Hagen if he thinks that Gibich's fame is worthily upheld by his son. Hagen replies that he is fully aware of Gunther's genuine birth, and that he is only his half-brother. Yet though Gunther is king by right of birth, he admits that the gift of matchless wis- * Not including the Thidrek Saga. \ See page 65. 198 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. dom has been bestowed on Hagen, and he therefore holds the hero in highest honor. Hagen, the powerful and crafty son of Alberich,* slyly begins to unfold his plan for the recovery of the Nibelung ring, and consequently for the destruction of Siegfried. He reminds Gunther that both he and his sister Gudrun are still unwedded. Gunther thereupon asks Hagen whom he would advise him to woo. Hagen, as is evident from subsequent re- marks of his, knows of Brunhild and Siegfried's mar- riage, but conceals the fact in order to attain his direful purpose. Hagen. Eiti Weib weiss ich, Of a woman I know. Das hehrste der Welt : — None more renowned ! — Auf Felsen hoch ihr Sitz ; On lofty heights she lives ; Ein Feuerumbrennt ihren Saal : A fire defends her hall : Nur wer durch das Feuer bricht, Who breaks through the flam- ing blaze, Darf Briinnhilde's Freier sein. Brunhild he wins as his bride. Hagen arouses Gunther's desire, and anger withal, by telling him that a hero stronger than Gunther can alone accomplish the deed. He speaks of Siegfried the Vol- sung, the son of Siegmund and Sieglind, and at the same time insinuates that Siegfried should become Gudrun's husband. Hagen furthermore mentions Siegfried's slaying of the dragon and his acquisition of the Nibel- ung hoard. Gunther's heart is rent by his eagerness to win Brunhild as his wife, and by the despairing thought that he cannot achieve his purpose. Hagen discloses his plan, and tells Gunther that he might succeed if Siegfried should love Gudrun. * See page 65. GOTTERDAMMER UNG. 199 Gudrun. Du SpStter, boser Hagen ! Wie soUt' ich Siegfried binden ? 1st er der herrlichste Held der Welt, Der Erde holdeste Frauen Friedeten langst ihn schon. Thou mocker, thou heartless Hagen ! What might is in me that may hold him ? If he is the highest Of heroes on earth, The world's winsomest women Ere now will have won his love. Hagen. Gedenk' des Trankes im Schrein ; Vertrau' mir, der ihn gewann : Den Helden, dess' du yerlang'st, Bindet er liebend an dich. Trate nun Siegfried ein, Genoss' er des wiirzigen Tran- kes, Dass vor dir ein Weib er ersah, Dass je ein Weib ihm genaht — Vergessen miisst' er dess' ganz. Nun redet : Wie diinkt euch Hagen's Rath ? In the shrine is sheltered a potion ; On me, who made it, depend ! The hero for whom thou long- est It lovingly locks to thy heart. If Siegfried should hie to this hall And drink of the hidden draught, That ever a woman he'd seen. That ever a woman he'd woo'd. His heart would wholly forget. Now say. How seems to you Hagen's ad- vice? Gunther praises Grimhild who gave him such a wise half-brother. Gudrun expresses the wish to meet Sieg- fried. It is therefore evident that both Gunther and Gudrun agree to Hagen's plan. Although, as has been said above, they are unacquainted with the fact of Sieg- fried and Brunhild's marriage, they rely on the magic love-draught to accomplish their ends. From this point 200 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. the tragic action rapidly proceeds. Siegfried's horn is heard in the distance. Hagen goes to the shore, looks down the river, and perceives Siegfried sailing in a boat. Siegfried lands. Gunther has joined Hagen on the shore. Gudrun beholds Siegfried from her throne, and for some time her glance rests on him in joyous surprise. As the men come near the hall she withdraws in evident con- fusion, through a door on the left, into her apartment. As in the Nibelungen Lied, Siegfried at once challenges Gunther to combat, but the latter receives the hero in a most cordial manner and no combat takes place. Hagen leads Siegfried's horse Grani to the right behind the hall and quickly returns. Gunther walks forward with Siegfried into the hall and bids the hero welcome. He declares that all his possessions shall belong to Sieg- fried ; in fact he will be his vassal. Siegfried replies that he can offer naught but his sword and himself. Hagen, standing behind them, questions Siegfried about the Nibelung hoard. The hero says that he had well-nigh forgotten the gold ; he had left it in the dragon's den. As to the Tarnhelm that hangs at his belt, Siegfried does not know its magic power until Hagen explains it to him. When the Nibelung asks him in regard to the ring, he says that a noble woman possesses it. Hagen has gone to Gudrun's door, and now opens it. Gudrun steps forth; she carries a drink- ing horn and approaches Siegfried with it. She says to him : " Be welcome, guest, in Gibich's house ! His daughter hands thee the drink." Siegfried bends in a friendly manner to her and takes the horn; he holds it thoughtfully before him and says in a low voice : GOTTERD'AmMERUNG. 201 Vergass' ich alles Were I to forget Was du gabst. All thou gav'st. Von einer Lehre One lesson I'll never Lass' ich nie : Unlearn in my life : Den ersten Trunk This morning-drink Zu treuer Minne, In measureless love, Brunnhilde, bring' ich dir! Brunhild, I pledge "to thee ! Siegfried drinks and hands the horn back-to'Gudrun, who, ashamed g,nd confused, casts down her«eyes before him. The effect of the magic potion is instantaneous. Siegfried declares his love for Gudrun in passionate words. When he seizes her with fiery impetuosity by the hand, she humbly lowers her head and, with a ges- ture signifying that she feels herself unworthy of him, with unsteady step again leaves the hall. Siegfried, at- tentively observed by Hagen and Gunther, stares after her as though spell-bound ; then, without turning round, asks : Hast du, Gunther, ein Weib ? Hast thou, Gunther, a wife ? Gunther. Nicht freit' ich noch, I never wooed, Und einer Frau ' Nor hope I to welcome Soil ich mich schwerlich freu'n ! A woman here in my hall ! Auf eine setzt' ich den Sinn, On one my mind I have set ; Die kein Rath je mir erringt. No way to win her I know. Siegfried. (Lebhaft sich zu ihm wendend.) (Quickly turning to him.) Was war' dir versagt. By dint of my might Steh' ich dir bei ? What may'st thou not dare ? Gunther. Auf Felsen hoch ihr Sitz ; On rocky heights is her home ; Ein Feuer umbrennt den Saal — A fire enfolds her hall — 202 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Siegfried, astonished and as if to recall something long forgotten, repeats in a low voice, " ' On rocky heights is her home ; a fire enfolds her hall ' ? " Gunther. Nur wer durch das Feuer Who breaks through the flash- bricht— ing flames— Siegfried. (Hastig einfallend und schnell nach- (Hastily interrupting him and quickly lassend.) leaving off.) " Nur wer durch das Feuer " Who breaks through the bricht " ? flashing flames" ? Gunther. — Darf Briinnhild's Freier sein. —Brunhild he wooes as his bride. Siegfried expresses by a gesture that at the mention of Brunhild's name all his recollection wholly vanishes. Siegfried offers to bring Brunhild to the Rhine to be- come Gunther's wife. By the power of the Tarn- helm he is to assume Gunther's semblance when he shall meet Brunhild in her rocky castle. As reward for his deed Gunther promises him the hand of Gudrun. Hagen fills a drinking-horn with fresh wine ; with their swords Siegfried and Gunther prick their arms and hold them for a moment over the horn. Siegfried and Gunther. Bliihenden Lebens Refreshing blood Labendes Blut Of blooming life Traufelt' ich in den Trank. I dropped deep in the drink. Bruder-briinstig With brotherly love Muthig gemischt Mingled with might Bliiht im Trank unser Blut. Our blood blooms in the draught. GOTTERDA MMER UNG. 203 Treue trink' ich dem Freund : Froh und frei Entbluhe dem Bund Blat-Biiiderschaft heut' ! Bricht ein Bruder den Bund, Triigt den Treuen der Freund ; Was in Tropfen hold Heute wir tranken, In Strahlen str6m' es dahin, Fromme Siihne dem Freund ! So — biet' ich den Bund ; So— trink' ich dir Treu' ! Faith I drink to my friend. Frank and free Shall bloom from the bond Blood-brotherhood now. Breaks a brother the bond, Foils he by fraud his friend, What in drops to-day Duly we drink In ruddy streams, it shall flow To atone for the wrong to the friend ! So— I plight my truth ; So — I pledge my trust ! They drink, one after the other, each half ; Hagen then, who during the oath has stood leaning aside, smashes the horn with his sword. Siegfried and Gun- ther take each other's hands ; soon after they leave the banks of the Rhine and embark on their journey to Brunhild's abode. Hagen, by Gunther's command, re- mains behind to guard the hall. Hagen. (Nach langerem Stillschweigen.) Hier sitz' ich zur Wacht, Wahre den Hof, Wehre die Halle dem Feind ; Gibich's Sohne Wehet der Wind ; Auf Werben fahrt er dahin. Ihm fiihrt das Steuer Ein starker Held, Gefahr ihm will er besteh'n , Die eig'ne Braut Ihm bringt er zum Rhein ; (After prolonged silence.) Here I keep watch And ward of the house. Defend the hall 'gainst the foe ; — Gibich's son Sails with the wind ; To woo a woman he went. A stalwart hero Steers the helm. Who dangers for him will en- dure ; He brings him his own Bride to the Rhine ; 204 RIl^G OP THE NIBELVNG. Mir aber bringt er— den But to me he brings — the Ring.— ring.— Ihr freien Sohne, Ye happy champions, Frohe Gesellen, Cheerful heroes, Segelt nur lustig dahin ! A charming journey be yours ! Dunkl er euch niedrig, Low though you deem him, Ihr dient ihm doch— You serve his delight — Des Niblungen Sohn'. The Nibelung's son. The next scene represents the rocky height as in the prelude. Brunhild sits at the entrance of the cave and contemplates in silent thought Siegfried's ring. Over- whelmed with sweet recollections she covers it with kisses, when she suddenly becomes aware of a dis- tant noise ; she listens and looks towards the side into the background. The voice of the Valkyr Val- traute, riding through the clouds, is heard from the distance, as she calls Brunhild by name. The lat- ter starts up from her seat in extreme joy. Val- traute appears, entering hastily from the wood. Brun- hild impetuously hastens towards her ; in her joy she does not notice the anxiety and agitation of Valtraute. She is astonished that her sister dares to approach her, and asks if Wotan's anger has ceased. Brunhild also informs Valtraute that she knew full well the inmost desire of the god when she protected Siegmund in battle. Her punishment has made her the happiest of women, since by means of it she has become Sieg- fried's beloved wife. The Valkyr cannot understand Brunhild's love of a mortal man ; she thinks only of Valhall and the welfare of the gods. She relates to Brunhild. what we already know from the contents of the drama " Siegfried " and the songs of the Norns in the prelude. Wotan's spear had been shivered by GOTTERDAMMERUNG. 205 Siegfried. Valhall's heroes at Wotan's command had felled the ash-tree Ygdrasil, and piled the fragments around the hall of the gods. Furthermore, Wotan has summoned the gods and heroes to council. In gloomy silence he now sits on his throne, holding the broken spear in his hand. The gods and Valkyrs are struck with awe. At last Wotan, deeply sighing, closes his eye and, as if he were dreaming, says : " If Brunhild should return the ring to the daughters of the Rhine, the gods and the world would be released from the curse on the gold." Valtraute, hearing the words of the god, has secretly and in haste left Valhall and gone to Brunhild's abode. She entreats her to end the woe of the gods, and give back the fatal ring to the Rhine-maidens. Brunhild. Mehr als Walhall's Wonne, More highly than Valhal's heaven, Mehr als der Ewigen Ruhm — More highly than the pride of its realm, 1st mir der Ring : I prize the ring. Ein Blick auf sein helles Gold, One glance at its luminous gold, Ein Blitz aus dam hehren One glare from its dazzling Glanz — light. Gilt mir werther Gladdens me more Als aller GStter Than all the glory Ewig wahrendes GlUck ! And endless bliss to the gods. Denn selig aus ihm In its gleam I perceive Leuchtet mir Siegfried's Liebe : The glow of Siegfried's love. Siegfried's Liebe — Siegfried loves me ! O liess' sich die Wonne dir Holy, unheard-of rapture sagen ! — Sie— wahrt mir der Reif. Is held for e'er by the ring. 2o6 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Geh' hin zu der Gotter Heiligem Rath ; Von meinem Ringe Raun' ihnen zu : Die Liebe liesse ich nie, Mir nehmen nie sie die Liebe- Stiirzt auch in Triimmern Walhall's strahlende Pracht ! Go hence to the gods' Hallowed host ; And of my ring Tell them aright : The gods I defy ; my love Will last as long as my life. Sooner in cinders Valhall's splendor shall vanish. Valtraute- exclaims; " Woe is to me, to thee, sister, and to Valhall's gods," then hurries away, and is heard without, as if 'on horse, riding at full speed away from the wood. Brunhild gazes after a luminous storm-cloud as it sails away and is soon lost in the distance. Even- ing has come ; from the depth of the valley appears the glimmering fire, gradually increasing ii> intensity. Brunhild. Abendlich Dammern Deckt den Himmel : Heller leuchtet Die hiitende Lohe herauf. Was leckt so wuthend Die lodernde Welle zum Wall ? Zur Felsenspitze Walzt sich der feurige Schwall. Shadows of evening Enshroud the heavens; In brighter flames The blaze flashes on high. Why foam so wildly The fiery waves o'er the wall ? A pillar of flames Flares o'er the point of the rock. Siegfried's horn is heard below in the valley ; Brun- hild listens, and then starts up in highest rapture. She hastens towards the background. Flames rush over the rocks ; out of them Siegfried leaps to a projecting cHff, whereupon the flames fall back again and are visi- ble only from the depth of the valley. Siegfried ap- pears in Gunther's form, wearing the Tarnhelm, the visor of which conceals his face, leaving only the eyes COTTERDAMMERUNG. 207 free. Brunhild recoils horror-stricken, and in speechless astonishment gazes on Siegfried. The latter remains in the background, standing upon the rock ; he leans on his shield and gazes at her for a long time. Then he addresses her in a changed — deeper — voice : Siegfried. Brunnhild' ! Ein Freier kam, Brunhild ! A wooer appears ; Den dein Feuer nicht ge- No fear of thy fire appalls schreckt, him. Dich werb' ich nun zum Weib; He wooes thee here for his wife, Du folge willig mir ! So heed now well his behest ! Brunhild trembles and asks : " Who is the man that has dared to accomplish what one hero alone was fated to do?" Siegfried remains silent for some time. Brun- hild in greatest anguish exclaims : " Art thou de- scended from man, or comest thou from Hel's night- born host?" Siegfried at last replies: " A Gibichung I am ; Gunther is named the hero whom thou shalt obey as his wife." Brunhild. (In Verzweiflung ausbrechend.) (In a despairing outburst.) Wotan ! ergrimmter, Wotan ! unfeeling, Grausamer Gott ! Fierce-hearted god ! Weh ! nun erseh' ich Woe ! Thy cruel Der Strafe Sinn : Decree I discern. Zu Hohn und Jammer To dire disgrace Jagst du mich hin ! Thy daughter is doomed. Siegfried. (Springt vom Stein herab und tritt (Leaps down from the rock and ap- naher.) proaches her.) Die Nacht bricht an : The night draws near ; In deinem Gemach Now in thy room Musst du dich mir vermahlen. Anon be married to me! 208 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Brunhild threateningly stretches out her finger on which is Siegfried's ring. She tells him to beware of the power of the ring; he rushes upon her; they wrestle. Brunhild frees herself and flees. Siegfried pursues her. They wrestle again ; he tears the ring from her finger. She shrieks and falls exhausted on the rocky seat in front of her room. Siegfried with a commanding gesture compels her to enter the room. Trembling and with tottering steps she obeys his command. Siegfried draws his sword and speaks with his natural voice. Siegfried. Nun, Nothung, zeuge du. Now then, Nothung, be wit- ness Dass ich in Ziichten warb : That nobly Brunhild I wooed. Die Treue wahrend dem Bru- To keep my pledge to my der, brother, Trenne mich von seiner Braut ! Part me now from his bride ! He follows Brunhild, and thus closes the first act of the " Gotterdammerung." In the second act the scene represents a river-bank before the hall of the Gibichungs. At the right is the entrance to the hall ; at the left is the bank of the Rhine. From the latter rises a rocky slope divided by many mountain-paths. There appears an altar-stone dedicated to Fricka ; a larger one higher up is conse- crated to Wotan, and another towards the side to Thor. It is night. Hagen, with spear in hand and shield at his side, sits sleeping against the wall. The moon all at once casts a glaring light on him and his surroundings ; Alberich is crouching in front of him, leaning his arms on Hagen's GOTTERDAMMERVNG. 209 knees. Alberich exclaims : " Sleepest thou, Hagen, my son ? Thou sleepest and hearest not him whom rest and sleep have betrayed." Hagen, without mov- ing, so that he appears still to sleep though his eyes are open, replies : " I hear thee, dark Alberich ; what know- ledge hast thou to impart to my sleep ?" The Nibel- ung reminds his son of the great strength and power he inherited from his mother ; but Hagen feels no grati- tude for his father, to whose cunning she succumbed, because, despite his strength, his face is pale and wan like that of Alberich. Hagen gives expression to his intense hatred against all happy beings ; he himself has never known any pleasure. Alberich incites still more his son's wrath against all joyful creatures ; in this manner, he asserts, Hagen can best manifest his love of his father. Alberich. Bist du kraftig, If thou art wary, Kiihn und klug : Warlike and wise, Die wir bekampfen The foes whom we fight Mit nachtigem Krieg, In the feud nocturnal Schon gibt ihnen Noth unser Are doomed to dire defeat. Neid. Der einst den Ring mir entriss, Wotan, the reckless robber, Wotan, der wiithende Rauber, Who wrested my ring from me, Vom eig'nen Geschlechte In the fray by his own Ward er geschlagen : Offspring was foiled. An den Walsung verlor er Bereft by the Volsung Macht und Gewalt ; Of valor and realm, Mit der Gotter ganzer Sippe Together with the host of the gods In Angst ersieht er sein End'. In anguish his end he beholds. Nicht ihn furcht' ich mehr : No more I fear his might ; Fallen muss er mit alien !— Fall he must with his mates.— Schlaf St du. Hagen, mein Sohn ? Sleepest thou, Hagen, my son ? 210 RING OF THE NIB E LUNG. Hagen. (Bleibt unverandert wie zuvor.) (Remaining motionless as before.) Der Ewigen Macht, The realm of the gods, — War erbte sie ? Who shall rule it hereafter? Alberich. I — and thou. The world shall be ours, If I in thy faith May fully confide, — Shar'st thou my harm and my hate. — Wotan's spear Was split by the Volsung, Who in the feud Fafnir had felled And taken the ring like a toy. Ich — und du : Wir erben die Welt. Triig' ich mich nicht In deiner Treu', Theilst du meinen Gram und Grimm. — Wotan's Speer Zerspellte der Walsung, Der Fafner, den Wurm, Im Kampfe gefallt, Und kindisch den Reif sich er- rang: Jede Gewalt Hat er gevvonnen ; Walhall und Nibelheim Neigen sich ihm ; An dem furchtlosen Helden Erlahmt selbst main Fluch : Denn nicht kennt er Des Ringas Werth, Zu nichts nlitzt er Dia naidlichste Macht ; Lachend in liebandar Brunst Brennt ar lebend dahin. Ihn zu erwerben Taugt uns nun einzig . . . Hor'st du, Hagen, mein Sohn ? Zu seinem Verderben Dient er mir schon. Boundless might Was the meed of his boldness. The gods and Nibelungs Acknowledge his reign. My curse cannot harass The dauntless hero ; Naught of the power Of the ring ha knows ; No use he makes Of its endless might; By laughter and glowing love Are gladdened the days of his life. Now his destruction We sternly must strive for — Hearest thou, Hagen, my son ? Hagen. Already his ruin He seeks by my rede. GO T TE/iDA MMER UNG. 211 Alberich. Den gold'nen Ring, Den Reif gilt's zu erringen ! Ein weises Weib Lebt dem Walsung zu Lieb'; Rieth' sie ihm je Des Rheines Tochtern, — Die in des Wasser's Tiefen Einst mich bethort ! — Zuriick zu geben den Ring : Verloren ging mir das Gold, Keine List erlangte es je. The golden hoop — The ring — we must wrest from his hand. A woman wise Loves him as well as her life. If e'er by her rede To the river-maidens — Who by their wiles In the waves had spurned me — He rendered the gorgeous ring, The gold fore'er would begone. No art could gain it again. Alberich incites Hagen to wage a relentless war against Siegfried, to wrest the fatal ring from him, and thus accomplish the overthrow of Wotan and Valhall. An increasing darkness conceals Hagen and Alberich, while the day begins to dawn on the Rhine. Alberich, gradually disappearing from view, and his voice becom- ing more and more indistinct, exclaims : " Be true, Hagen, my son ! Faithful hero, be true ! Be true ! true !" Hagen, who has remained during all this time in the same position, looks motionless and with vacant eyes upon the Rhine. The sun rises and is mirrored in the waters. Sieg- fried suddenly comes forward from behind a bush close to the river-bank. He is in his own figure, but wears the Tarnhelm still on his head ; he now takes it off and hangs it in his belt. He arouses Hagen from his sleep. Gudrun appears and welcomes Siegfried. He replies by saluting her as his wife, and relates how by the magic power of the helmet he assumed Gunther's semblance and wooed Brunhild for the king. As Gu- 212 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. drum betrays some jealousy, he exclaims, pointing to his sword : " Between east and west is north ; so near, yet so far, was Brunhild." He furthermore relates that in the morning Brunhild followed him towards the val- ley ; when near the shore, Gunther suddenly appeared, while Siegfried at the same time, by the helmet's mar- vellous might, arrived at the Rhine. Hagen looks down the river from the height in the background, and discov- ers a sail. It is the boat that carries Brunhild and Gun- ther. Gudrun calls the women to the approaching double marriage, and bids Hagen summon the vassals. Siegfried and Gudrun withdraw. Hagen, standing on the height, turns towards the side of the land and blows with all his might a great cattle-horn. He calls the vassals to Gunther's court. Again he blows his horn. Other horns answer it from different parts of the country. From the heights and out. of the valleys armed men rush hastily in. When they ask Hagen why he has summoned them and wha-t foe threatens Gunther, he replies from the height where he is standing that they have been called to receive Gunther and his wife. He tells the vassals to sacrifice strong bulls in honor of Wotan ; to slay a boar for Fro, a goat for Thor, and sheep for Fricka, so that the gods may bless the ap- proaching marriage. The vassals in great glee ask Hagen what they shall do after that. He bids them take the drinking-horns, fill them with mead and wine, and empty them in honor of the gods. The men break out into ringing laughter, while Hagen, who has remained very serious, comes down from the height and joins them. He commands them to be faithful to their mis- GOTTERDAMMERUNG. 213 tress, and to quickly avenge her if she should suffer any harm. Gunther and Brunhild have arrived in the boat. Some of the men leap into the river and drag the boat ashore. While Gunther escorts Brunhild to the bank, the vassals with shouts clash their weapons. Hagen stands aside in the background. The men loudly sa- lute and welcome Gunther and his bride. Brunhild, pale and with her eyes fixed on the ground, follows Gunther, who leads her towards the hall, out of which now come Siegfried and Gudrun, accompanied by a train of women. Gunther stops with Brunhild in front of the hall. Gunther. Gegriisst sei, theurer Held ! Hail to thee, hero beloved ! Gegriisst, holde Schwester! Hail to thee, lofty sister! Dich seh' ich froh zur Seite I gladly see thee beside him Ihtn, der zum Weib dich ge- Who bravely has won thee for wann. bride. Zwei selige Paare Two blooming couples Seh' ich hier prangen. Exult here with bliss. Brijnnhilde und— Gunther, Brunhild and — Gunther, Gutrune und — Siegfried ! Gudrun and — Siegfried ! At the mentioning of Siegfried's name Brunhild is startled ; she raises her eyes and perceives Siegfried. She lets go of Gunther's hand, impetuously advances a step towards Siegfried, then falls back in horror and with glaring eyes gazes upon him. All the men and women are astonished. Siegfried goes calmly a few steps nearer to Brunhild, and asks what is the cause of her sudden emotion. Brunhild. (Kaum ihrer machtig.) (Barely able to control herself.) Siegfried— hier ! — Gutrune ? — Siegfried — here ! — Gudrun ? 214 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Siegfried. Gunther's milde Schwester: Gunther's modest sister, Mir vermaiilt, Married to me Wie Gunther du. As thou to him. Brunhild. Ich — Gunther? — du liig'st! — I — to Gunther? — thou liest! — Mir schwindet das Licht — The light grows dim — (Sie droht umzusinken; Siegfried, ihr (She is about to fall; Siegfried, being zunachst, stiitzt sie.) nearest, supports her.) Brunhild. (Matt und leise in Siegfried's Arme.) (Faintly and softly in Siegfried's arms.) Siegfried — kennt mich nicht? Siegfried — Icnows me not? — Siegfried. Gunther, deinem Weib ist iitel ! Gunther, thy wife is ill. (Gunther tritt hinzu.) (Gunther approaches.) Erwache, Frau ! Awaken, woman ! Hier ist dein Gatte. Here is thy husband. As Siegfried points at Gunther with his finger, Brun- hild recognizes the ring upon it. She starts up in terror, with great vehemence. Brunhild. Ha ! — der Ring — Ha ! — The ring An seiner Hand ! I behold on his hand ! Er — Siegfried ? His .'—Siegfried's ? While the men and women assembled give expres- sion to their amazement, Hagen comes forth from the background and says to Gunther's vassals: "Now listen well to the woman's speech." Brunhild collects herself and by a strong effort represses her fearful agi- tation. GOTTERDAMMER UNG. 2 1 5 Brunhild. Einen Ring sah' ich A ring I beheld An deiner Hand : — Here on tliy hand ; — Nicht dir gehort er, No right thou hast Ihn entriss mir To the ring ; it was wrenched (Auf Gunther deutend.) ' (Pointing at Gunther.) — Dieser Mann ! From me — by that man. As she asks Siegfried how he could have come into the possession of the ring, he rephes that he did not receive it from Gunther. Thereupon Brunhild turns to Gunther and fiercely demands of him that, if it was he (Gunther) who had torn the ring from her finger as the pledge of marriage, he must insist on his sacred right and obtain the ring again. Gunther is greatly per- plexed, and admits that he never gave the ring to Sieg- fried. When Brunhild asks Gunther where he conceals the ring, he is in great confusion and remains silent. All at once a thought strikes Brunhild, and she bursts out in terrible wrath : Brunhild. Ha ! — Dieser war es. Ha ! — He then it was Der mir den Ring entriss : Who wrenched the ring from my hand ; Siegfried, der trugvolle Dieb ! Siegfried, the treacherous wretch ! Siegfried. (Der fiber der Betrachtung des Ringes (Who had been carried far away by in femes Sinnen entruckt war.) the contemplation of the ring.) Von keinem Weib No woman gave me Kam mir der Reif ; This golden ring ; Noch war's ein Weib, Nor woman 'twas Dem ich ihn abgewann : From whom the reward I won, Genau erkenn ich Full well I remember Des Kampfes Lohn, The meed of the fray, 2l6 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Den vor Neidhohl' einst ich When once at the Den of bestand, Wrath Als den starken Wurm ich The raging dragon I slew. erschlug. Hagen draws near to Brunhild, and says if the ring which she gave to Gunther is the same that Siegfried now wears on his finger, he must have obtained it by fraud ; for such a crime the traitor shall suffer terrible punishment. Brunhild screams in fearful anguish: " Treason ! treason ! Most shameful deceit !" Brunhild. Heilige Gotter ! Hallowed gods ! Himmlische Lenker ! Ye heavenly guides ! Rauntet ihr dies Was this the doom In eurem Rath ? Ordained for me "i Lehrt ihr mich Leiden Unnamable sorrow Wie keiner sie litt ? Like none ever suffered ? Schuft ihr mir Schmach No woman has felt Wie nie sie geschmerzt ? More fearful woe ! Rathet nun Rache Name now such vengeance Wie nie sie gerast ! As never was wreaked ! Ziindet mir Zorn Arouse my wrath Wie nie er gezahmt ! To right this wrong ! Heisset Briinhild' Let Brunhild's heart Ihr Herz zu zerbrechen, Be broken at once, Den zu zertriimmern, If but he who wronged her Der sie betrog ! Be ruined and wrecked. Gunther, deeply moved, beseeches Brunhild to calm herself. The vassals have listened to her words with great astonishment. Hagen conceals his inward de- light at the course of events. Brunhild. (To Gunther.) Weich' fern, Verrather ! Away, thou betrayed, Selbst Verrath'ner !— Woful betrayer ! go'tterdammerung. 217 Wisset denn Alle : Hark to me, all : Nicht — ihm, — Not — he, — Dem Manne dort That man — yonder — Bin ich vermahlt. Was married to me. Mannen und Frauen. Men and Women. Siegfried ? Gutrun's Gemahl ? Siegfried ? Gudrun's spouse ? Brunhild. Er zwang mir Lust He forced delight Und Liebe ab. And love from me. Siegfried sternly reproves Brunhild for being so little mindful of her own honor. He calls the vassals to witness if ever he broke his oath of brotherhood to Gunther. The sword Nothung, he exclaims, guarded his oath ; it separated him from Gunther's bride. Brun- hild replies that she knows full well the sword,* but she also knows the scabbard in which Nothung was encased and reposed on the wall when Siegfried was married to Brunhild. Gunther, Gudrun, and the vas- sals are greatly enraged and surprised. Siegfried, who by the magic draught that Gudrun gave him at Hagen's advice had forgotten the events relating to his mar- riage with Brunhild, seems angry and is ready to swear that he has always been faithful to Gunther. The vas- sals form a ring round Siegfried and Hagen. Hagen holds out his spear, and Siegfried lays two fingers of his right hand on its point. Siegfried. Helle Wehr ! Warlike spear ! Heilige Waflfe ! Hallowed weapon ! Hilf meinem ewigen Eide ! — Ward my oath and my honor ! Bei des Speeres Spitze On this glittering spear-head * See end of First Act. 2l8 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Sprech' ich den Eid : Spitze, achte des Spruchs !- Wo Scharfes mich schneidet, Schneide du mich ; Wo der Tod mich soil treffen, Treffe du mich : Klagte das Weib dort wahr, Brach ich dem Bruder den Eid ! If my faith broke. Brunhild. (Tritt wuthend in den Ring, reisst Siegfried's Hand vom Speere, und fasst dafur mit der ihrigen die Spitze.) Helle Wehr ! Heilige Waffe ! Hilf meinem ewigen Eide! — Bei des Speeres Spitze Sprech' ich den Eid : Spitze, achte des Spruchs ! — Ich weihe deine Wucht, Dass sie ihn werfe ; Deine Scharfe segn' ich, Dass sie ihn schneide: Denn, brach seine Eide er all, Schwur Meineid dieser Mann ! I speak the oath : Spear - head, witness my speech ! — Where steel can harm me. Strike at my heart ; To death shall pierce me The point of this spear. If true be this woman's words, to my brother I Die Mannen. (Im hochsten Aufruhr.) Hiif, Donner! Tose dein Wetter, Zu schweigen die wiithende Schmach ! (Steps wrathfully into the circle, thrusts Siegfried's hand away from the spear, and seizes the point with her own.) Warlike spear ! Hallowed weapon ! Ward my oath and my honor! On this glittering spear-head I speak the oath : Spear-head, witness my speech! Thy might shall doom him To dismal death ! Thy blade I bless. So his blood shall atone For all the oaths the fierce, Perfidious man has betrayed ! The Vassals. (In the greatest tumult.) Help, Thor! Let thy thunder be heard To silence this grievous dis- grace ! Siegfried advises Gunther to prevent Brunhild from using such insulting words. He draws nearer to him and says : " Believe me, I am more enraged at this GOTTERDAMMERUNG. 219 course of events than you can be ; methinks the Tarn- helm has but partly concealed my face." Then he cheerfully turns to the vassals and women and bids them follow him to the wedding-feast. With boundless joy he throws his arms round Gudrun and draws her into the hall with him. The men and women follow. Brunhild, Gunther and Hagen remain behind. Gun- ther, covering his face, has seated himself aside in deep shame and utter dejection. Brunhild stands in the fore- ground and gazes vacantly before her. She gives vent to the terrible wrath that has taken possession of her soul. " Where," she says, " is now all my wisdom against this enchantment, where are my runes against this rid- dle ? All I knew I have taught him, and now he holds me in bondage and despises me. Who will offer me a sword with which I may sever these bonds ?" Hagen draws near to her and promises to revenge her honor. She derides him and laughs bitterly, as she knows full well that neither Hagen nor any other hero can van- quish Siegfried in combat. Hagen admits that Sieg- fried's strength is invincible, yet he asks Brunhild if she does not know of any manner in which his death might nevertheless be brought about. His question arouses Brunhild's wrath and despair anew. By her runic wisdom she protected Siegfried against all harm in combat ; but — as she knew that he would never flee from an enemy — she did not bestow any magic bless- ing on his back. Hagen quickly replies : " There my spear shall pierce him !" He turns quickly from Brun- hild to Gunther, who has been sitting apart during the conversation of Brunhild and Hagen. Gunther rises sorrowfully and gives expression to his 220 KING OF THE NIBELUNG. feelings of shame and anger. Hagen bluntly tells him: " I do not deny that thy disgrace is great." Brunhild sarcastically reproaches Gunther for his cowardice. Gunther shows, as in all the Nibelung traditions, his weak character. He confesses that he is a traitor be- trayed. He even goes so far as to remind Hagen that they both are the sons of the same mother, and piti- fully asks the help of the Nibelung. Hagen sternly re- plies that there is no help except in Siegfried's death. When Gunther, horror-struck, refers to the blood-bro- therhood he swore to Gudrun's husband, Hagen tells him that Siegfried broke the bond. Brunhild ex- claims : " He betrayed thee, and you all betrayed me. If I demanded full satisfaction, all the blood in the world could not efface your guilt. But the death of one shall suffice. Siegfried must die to atone for his crime and yours." Hagen turns close to Gunther and calls his attention to the Nibelung ring; he tells him that the ring bestows measureless power on its posses- sor, and can be obtained only by Siegfried's death. Gunther still hesitates, thinking of his sister Gudrun. " How can we," he says, " stand before her after we have slain her husband ?" Hagen* proposes to hide the deed from Gudrun. " We go to a merry hunt to-morrow," he says, " and we pretend that Siegfried was killed by a boar." Gunther and Brunhild. So soil es sein ! So shall it be ! Siegfried falle : Siegfried falleth ! Siihn' er die Schmach, For the shame he wrought Die er mir schuf ! His ruin shall atone ! * See the account of Siegfried's death in the Nibelungenlied. GO TTERDA MMER UNG. 221 Eid-Treue Hat er getrogen: Mit seinem Blute Biiss' er die Schuld ! Allrauner ! Rachender Gott ! Schwurwissender Eideshort ! Wotan ! Wotan ! Wende dich her ! Weise die schrecklich Heilige Schaar, Hieher zu horchen Dem Racheschwur ! So soil es sein ! Siegfried falle : Sterb' er dahin, Der strahlende Held ! Meiii ist der Hort, Mir muss er gehoren : Entrissen d'rum Sei ihm der Ring! Alben-Vater ! Gefallener Furst ! Nacht-Huter ! Niblungen-Herr ! Alberich ! Alberich ! Achte auf mich! Weise von neuem Der Niblungen Schaar, Dir zu gehorchen, Des Ringes Herrn ! Truth and honor And oath he betrayed ; His blood shall efface His fell offence. All-ruling God of wrath ! Thou awful ward And witness of oaths ! Wotan ! Wotan ! Hitherward hark! Send forth thy holy Fearful host. Here to aid Our oath of revenge ! Hagen. So shall it be ! Siegfried falleth ! To death be doomed The dazzling hero ! Mine is the hoard. My might shall hold it ; So of the ring He must be bereft. Niblung-father, Thou fallen prince! Ruler of night ! Lord of the Nibelungs • Alberich ! Alberich ! Come to my aid ! The Nibelungs' host Anew shall heed The behest of their ruler. The lord of the ring. Gunther and Brunhild turn hastily towards the hall. 222 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. At the same moment a bridal procession, headed by boys and girls waving staves covered with flowers, meets them. Siegfried on a shield, and Gudrun on a chair, surrounded by her women, are borne by the men. Siegfried and the vassals blow with their horns the wedding-call. The women invite Brunhild to accom- pany them at Gudrun's side. Gunther grasps Brunhild, who has been staring with suppressed wrath at Gudrun, by the hand, and follows with her. Hagen alone re- mains behind. At the opening of the third act a wild woody and rocky valley of the Rhine is seen. In the background the river seems to rush past a steep slope. The three Rhine-maidens, Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde, rise out of the water and, during the following song, swim about in a circle. Frau Sonne Sendet lichte Strahlen ; Nacht liegt in der Tiefe : Einst war sie hell. Da heil und hehr Des Vaters Gold in ihr glanzte ! Rhein-Gold ! Klares Gold ! Wie hell strahltest du einst, Hehrer Stern der Tiefe ! The sun-orb Sends its streams of light. Darkness lies in the deep ; Once it was bright, When safe and brilliant Our father's gold in it glis- tened. Rhine-gold ! Glorious gold ! How strong was thy light of yore. Resplendent star of the deep ! Frau Sonne, Send' ""s den Helden, Der das Gold uns wiedergabe ! Liess' er es uns, Deiti lichtes Aug' O send us. Sun, Soon the hero Who'll give us again the gold ! If he rendered our heirloom. Thy radiant eye GOTTERDAMMERUNG. 223 Neideten dann wir nimmer. No more we should meet with envy. Rhein-Gold ! Rhine-gold ! Klares Gold ! Glorious gold ! Wie f roh strahltest du dann How gladly again thou wouldst glow, Freier Stern der Tiefe ! Glittering star of the deep ! Siegfried's horn is heard from the height. The Rhine-maidens dive quickly down the waters. Sieg- fried appears on the slope in full armor. " Some elf," he exclaims, " led me astray, until I lost the track of the bear I had followed." The three Rhine-maidens arise again from the waters. They ask of him the reason why he is so enraged. Siegfried looks smilingly at them. " If you, fair maids," he says, " have enticed away the fellow with the shaggy hide, and he is your lover, I will gladly leave him with you." The maidens laugh aloud. They ask him what present he would make them if by their help he should recover his booty. Siegfried replies that as yet he has pursued the chase in vain ; " But tell me," he adds, " what you desire.'' Wellgunde. Ein gold'ner Ring A golden ring Ragt dir am Finger — Inwraps thy finger — The Three Rhine-daughters. ^Together.) Den gieb' una ! Give us the ring 1 Siegfried. Einen Riesenwurm A dragon gigantic Erschlug ich um den Ring : I slew to gather that ring. Fiir des schlechten Baren For the paws of a paltry bear Tatzen Bot' ich ihn nun zum Tausch ? Should I now barter tlie prize .' 224 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. The Rhine-maidens upbraid him for his apparent avarice and otherwise tease him, as he will not give them his ring. They laugh and dive below the waters. Siegfried, when alone, exclaims: "What makes me en- dure their slander? If they should eome up again near the shore, they might have my ring." The Rhine- daughters arise again from the waters, but this time appear grave and solemn. They tell him now to keep the ring and guard it well until he has learned the tid- ings of the curse that rests upon it. Siegfried calmly puts the ring again on his finger and bids them sing ■what they know. The Rhme-daughters. Siegfried ! Siegfried ! Sieg- fried ! Schlimmes wissen wirdir. Zu deinem Wehe Wahr'st du den Ring! Aus des Rheines Gold 1st der Reif gegliiht : Der ihn listig geschmiedet Und schmalilich verier, Der verfluchte ihn, In fernster Zeit Zu zeugen den Tod Dem, der ihn triig'. Wie den Wurm du falltest, So fallst auch du, Und heute noch — So heissen wir dir's; — Tauschest den Ring du uns nicht, Im tiefen Rhein ihn zu bergen. Siegfried ! Siegfried ! Sieg- fried ! Sorrow drear we foresee. To rueful woe Thou w^ardest the ring. From the gold of the Rhine It was wrathfully wrought. He who craftily shaped it. And lost it in shame. Accursed it for aye : Whoever shall own it Is fated to fall ; Forfeit is his life. As the dragon thou slewest. Thyself shalt be slain, And here to-day — Thy doom thou hearest — Unless thou render's! the ring To the rolling waves of the Rhine. gotterd'ammervng. 225 Nur seine Fluth Nought but its -depth Siihnet den Fluch ! Redeemeth the curse I Siegfried pays no attention to their warnings ; even when they say that the Norns at night had woven Albe- rich's curse into the rope of life * he remains indiffer- ent. The thoughtless hero tells them that what they could not obtain from him by allurements they will still less achieve by trying to frighten him. He full well re- members the dying Fafnir's warning words, but heeds them not. Life, he says, if it must be spent in fear and without love, is not worth living. The Rhine- maidens swim away singing. The call of bugles is heard from the height. Siegfried answers merrily with his horn. Hagen appears on the hills, and is soon followed by Gunther and the vassals. They greet Siegfried ; game is piled up, and drinking-horns are brought. They all lie down. Hagen exclaims : " Now shall you hear of wonders accomplished by Siegfried's hunt." Siegfried laughingly admits that he has had no luck in the chase ; water-game, he says, was all he met with : three river- maids had told him that he would be slain to-day. Gunther starts] and looks darkly at Hagen. The latter laughs, and remarks that this would indeed be a doleful hunt, if the luckless hunter were killed by lurking beasts. Siegfried has now seated himself between Hagen and Gunther ; filled drinking-horns are handed to them. Siegfried drinks and then offers his horn to Gunther, who gazes thoughtfully and dismally into it. " The wine," says Gunther to Siegfried, " looks pale and * See page 194. 15 226 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. weak ; thy blood alone is in it." Siegfried laughingly pours some wine out of Gunther's horn into his own, so that it overflows. Hagen asks Siegfried if it be true that he understands the song of birds. Siegfried replies that since he has heard the singing of women he forgot the sounds of the birds ; but to cheer up Gunther, who is absorbed in gloomy thought, he offers to relate some adventures of his early days. The vassals place themselves near to Siegfried, who alone sits upright while they recline. The events which Siegfried now recounts are well known to the reader from the contents of the drama " Siegfried," and there is no need of repeating all of them here. We may mention that he sings of the days of his early youth when he was in the forest with Mime. He likewise sings of the forging of the sword and the slaying of Fafnir.* He refers to the song of the bird that told him of Mime's treachery. When he recounts Mime's death, Hagen laughs and says: " He was felled by the sword he could not forge." Then Hagen squeezes the juice of an herb into the drinking-horn. Siegfried drinks, and the effect of the draught of forgetfulness which Gudrun, at Hagen's advice, had given to him is now wholly effaced. Siegfried continues the tale of his adventures, and says a bird sang to him the following song : " Hei, Siegfried erschlug nun " Ha! Siegfried has slain Den schlimmen Zwerg ! The slanderous dwarf. Jetzt vviisst' ich ihm noch O, would that the fairest Das herrlichste Weib : — Wife he might find ! * See pages 158-168. GO TTERDAMMER UNG. 227 Auf hohem Felsen sie schlaft, Ein Feuer umbrennt ihren Saal; Durchschritt' er die Brunst, Erweckt' er die Braut, Briinnhilde ware dann sein !" On lofty heights she sleeps, A fire embraces her hall. If he strides through the blaze And wakens the bride, Brunhild he wins as his wife." Gunther listens with increasing astonishment. Hagen asks Siegfried if he obeyed'the advice of the bird. Siegfried. Rasch ohne Zogern Zog ich da aus. Bis den feurigen Pels ich traf ; Die Lohe durchschritt ich, Und fand zum Lohn — Schlafend ein wonniges Weib In lichter Waflen Gewand. Den Helm lost' ich Der herrlichen Maid ; Mein Kuss erweckte sie kiihn ! — O wie mich briinstig da um- schlang Der schonen Briinnhilde Arm ! At once I set out And wandered along. Till the flaming rock I had reached. I went through the fire, And found as reward — A woman bewitchingly sweet Asleep in warrior-mail. The helm I unfastened Trom the head of the fair one ; My kiss awakened the wo- man ! — In fervent embrace I felt Beauteous Brunhild's arm. Gunther greatly wonders at Siegfried's words. Two ravens fly from a bush, circle over Siegfried and depart. Hagen asks Siegfried : " Divinest thou also the .speech of these ravens .?" Siegfried starts up impetuously and, turning his back towards Hagen, looks after the ravens. At this moment Hagen thrusts his spear into Siegfried's back ; Gunther, too late, seizes his arm. Gunther and the vassals exclaim : " Hagen, what deed hast thou done?" Siegfried swings aloft his shield with both 228 RING OF THE NI BE LUNG. hands to crush Hagen with it ; his strength forsakes him, the shield drops from his hand, and he himself falls with a crash over it. Hagen points to him as he lies stretched out on the ground, and with the words, " Perjury have I avenged," turns calmly away. He soon disappears beyond the heights. Gunther, stricken with grief, bends down to Siegfried's side. The vassals stand with signs of sincere sympathy around the dying hero. Long silence of deepest sorrow. At the appear- ance of the ravens, twilight had already commenced to fall. Siegfried once more opens his flashing eyes, and with a solemn voice says : Briinnhilde — Heilige Braut — Wach' auf ! Off'ne dein Auge ! Wer verschloss dich Wieder in Schlaf ? Wer band dich in Schlummer so bang ? — Der Weaker kam ; Er kiisst dich wach, Und aber der Braut Bricht er die Bande : — Da lacht ihm Briinnhilde's Lust !— Ach, dieses Auge, Ewig nun offen !^ Ach, dieses Atheras Wonniges Wehen ! — Susses Vergehen — Seliges Grauen : — Briinnhild' bietet mir — Gruss ! — Brunhild ! Hallowed bride ! — Awaken ! Open thine e)'es ! Who again has doomed thee To dismal slumber? Who binds thee in bonds of sleep ? — The wakener came. His kiss awoke thee ; Once more he broke The bonds of his bride ; — O for Brunhild's loving em- brace ! Ah ! — her eyes Are open forever ! Ah ! — how sweet Is her swelling breath ! — Delicious destruction — Ecstatic awe — Brunhild gives greeting — to Siegfried dies. The vassals raise his body on his GO TTERDAMMER UNG. 229 shield and carry it in solemn procession slowly away over the height. Gunther follows at a little distance. The orchestra plays the famous funeral march. The moon breaks through the clouds and lights the procession along the hills. Then mists arise from the Rhine and gradually fill the whole stage up to the front. When the mist disperses, the scene is changed to the hall of the Gibichungs near the river-bank as in the "first act. It is night. Moonlight is mirrored in the Rhine. Gudrun enters the hall from her room. Gudrun. War das sein Horn ? (Sie lauscht.) Nein ! — noch Kehrt er nicht heim. — Schlimme Traume Storten mir den Schlaf ! — Wild hort' ich Wiehern sein Ross : — Lachen Briinnhilde's Weckte mich auf. — Wer war das Weib, Das zum Rhein ich schreiten sah ? — Ich furchte Brunnhild' ! — 1st sie daheim ? (Sie lauscht an einer Thure rechts, und ruft dann leise :) Briinnhild' ! Briinnhild' ! Bist du wach ? — (Sie offnet schuchtern und blickt hinein.) Leer das Gemach ! — So war es sie, Was that his horn ? (She listens.) Hark ! — not Yet is he home. — Horrid dreams Haunted ray sleep. — His horse's wild Whinny I heard ; — Brunhild's laughter Broke my slumber. — A woman I saw Wending her way to the shore. — I dread Brunhild. — Is she at home ? (She listens at a door on the right, and then calls softly ;) Brunhild! Brunhild! Art thou awake ? (She timidly opens the door and looks in.) Bare is the room. — So she it was 230 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Die zum Rhein ich schreiten sah ? — (Sie erschrickt und lauscht nach der Feme.) Hort' ich sein Horn ? — Nein ! — • Ode alles ! — Sail' ich Siegfried nur bald ! That went to the shore of the Rhine ?— (She becomes terrified and listens towards the distance.) Heard I his horn ? — No!— All alone ! — O would that he were here ! She is on the point of returning to her room ; all at once she hears Hagen's voice ; she stops and, overcome by fear, remains for some time motionless. Hagen's voice from without is coming nearer. Hagen. Hoiho ! hoiho ! Wacht auf ! Wacht auf ! Lichte ! Lichte ! Helle Brande ! Jagdbeute Bringen wir heim. Hoiho! hoiho! Hoyho ! hoyho ! Awake ! Awake ! Torches ! torches ! Bring the brands ! From the hunt we bring Home now the booty. Hoyho ! hoyho ! (Licht und wachsender Feuerschein (Lights and increasing flashes of fire von aussen.) from without.) (In die Halle tretend.) Auf! Outrun' ! Begriisse Siegfried ! Der Starke Held, Er kehret heim. Hagen. (Entering the hall.) Up ! Gudrun ! To Siegfried give greeting ! The hardy hero Is coming home. Men and women with lights and firebrands accom- pany amidst great confusion the train with Siegfried'^ body. Gunther is among them. GOTTERDAMMERUNG. 231 Gudrim. (In grosser Angst.) (In great terror.) Was geschah, Hagen ? What happened, Hagen ? Nicht hort' ich sein Horn ! I heard not his horn. Hagen. Der bleiche Held, His cheeks are blanched, Nicht blas't er's mehr ; He blows it no more ; Nicht stiirmt er zum Jagen, To hunt or battle Zum Streit nicht mehr. He hies no more, Noch wirbt er um wonnige Nor wooes he the fairest of Frauen ! ' women ! Gudrun asks with growing fear what the men have brought into the hall. Hagen replies : " Siegfried, thy husband, slain by a wild boar." Gudrun screams and throws herself on the body, which has been set down in the middle of the hall. General emotion and sorrow. Gunther bends over his fainting sister and tries to raise her. She recovers herself, thrusts him away and calls him her husband's murderer. Gunther accuses Hagen of the treacherous crime. Hagen scornfully retorts : " Art thou angry with me for the deed ?" When Gunther says, " To woe and anguish thou shalt be doomed for ever," Hagen exclaims with terrible de- fiance : " Well, then ! It is I that have slain him ! I — Hagen — have dealt him the death-blow with my spear on which he spoke a truthless oath. A holy right to Siegfried's heirloom I have obtained ; there- fore I now claim this ring." Gunther bids him to keep away from the ring. " Shameless son of the Nibelung," he says, " how darest thou touch Gudrun's inheritance ?" Hagen draws his sword and retorts : " The Nibelung's son thus demands the Nibelung's heirdom." He rushes on Gunther; the latter defends himself; they fight. 232 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. The vassals throw themselves between them. Gunther, at a stroke of Hagen's sword, falls dead to the ground.* Hagen grasps at Siegfried's hand, which raises itself threateningly.! General amazement. Gudrun and the women scream. From the background Brunhild ap- proaches; she advances with firm and solemn step towards the front. She exclaims : " Silence your sor- row ! I am the woman that all of you have betrayed. Siegfried's wife now takes her revenge." When Gu- drun accuses Brunhild of being the sole cause of all this terrible misery, she replies in a pitiful voice : " Poor woman, be silent ! Thou never hast been Siegfried's lawful wife. I was his spouse to whom he swore oaths of eternal faith, long before he had ever seen thee." Gudrun. (In heftigster Verzweiflung.) (In the most vehement despair.) Verfluchter Hagen ! Accursed Hagen ! Weh ! ach weh ! Woe ! Ah, woe ! Dass du das Gift mir riethest. Thou gav'st me the heinous draught Das ihr den Gatten entriickt ! To beguile her husband's faith. O Jammer ! Jammer ! O sadness ! What sadness ! Wie jah nun weiss ich, On a sudden I see DasBriinnhild' dieTrautewar, Brunhild was the bride of his heart Die durch den Trank er ver- Whom by that draught he for- gass ! got ! Gudrun turns with awe from Siegfried's body and bends with utmost grief over Gunther; she remains * The fight between Hagen and Gunther, and the death of the latter by Hagen's hand, is not in accordance with the Nibelung traditions. f See the Nibelungen Lied. " When Hagen drew near Siegfried's corpse, the blood began to ooze from the wounds, and it became thus evident who the murderer was." GOTTERDAMMERUNG. 233 thus motionless to the end. Long silence. Hagen stands leaning on his spear and shield, and seems ab- sorbed in gloomy thought. He assumes a defiant atti- tude. Brunhild is alone in the middle of the stage ; she is lost in contehaplation of Siegfried's face. At first she shows deepest emotion, then overwhelming sadness. With solemn exaltation she turns to the vassals and tells them to pile up layers of wood so that she and Siegfried may be united amidst the roaring flames. The men obey her command, and erect during the fol- lowing scene a huge funeral pyre. The women adorn it with hangings on which they strew herbs and flowers. Brunhild, again gazing on Siegfried's body, muses : " The most faithful he was, and yet he betrayed me. His wife — his only true love — he deceived when he placed his sword between her and himself. More nobly than he no one ever swore oaths of fealty. None ever loved with purer love. And yet all his oaths, his truest love, he betrayed. O ye gods, ye guardians of sacred oaths, gaze now on your measureless guilt ! Wotan, hear my complaint ! By his daring deed thou hast eagerly longed for, thou hast doomed him to death. Me he had to betray, so that wise a woman might be. Now all I know. Thy ravens I hear rustling ; I send them home to you." She beckons to the men to lift Siegfried's body and bear it to the funeral pyre ; at the same time she draws the ring from Siegfried's finger, contemplates it for some time, and at last places it on her finger. " Accursed ring, I give thee back to the Rhine ; the fire that shall embrace me will redeem the gold from the curse." She turns to the background, where 234 KING OF THE NIBELUNG. Siegfried's body lies already on the pyre, and seizes a huge firebrand from one of the men. Fliegt heim, ihr Raben ! Raun't es eurem Herrn, Was hier am Rhein ihrgehort! An Briinnhild's Felsen Fahret vorbei ! Der dort noch lodert, Weiset Loge nach Walhall ! Denn der Gotter Ende Dammert nun auf : So — werf ich den Brand In Walhall's prangende Burg. Away, ye ravens ! Unravel to Wotan What here on the Rhine ye have heard ! Follow the road By Brunhild's rock ! Tell Loki, who flames there, To fly to Valhall anon ! The day of the doom Of the gods has dawned. So — hurl I the torch Into Valhall's towering heights. Brunhild flings the brand into the funeral pyre, which quickly blazes up. Two ravens fly up from the shore and disappear towards the background. Two men bring in the horse ; Brunhild seizes and quickly un- bridles it. Grane, main Ross, Sei mir gegriisst ! Weisst du, Freund, Wohin ich dich fuhre? Im Feuer leuchtend Llegt dort dein Herr, Siegfried, main seliger Held. Dem Freunde zu folgen Wieherst du fraudig ? Lockt dich zu ihm Die lachende Lohe? Fiihl' meine Brust auch, Wie sie entbrennt ; Helles Feuer Das Herz mir erfasst, Grani, my horsa, I greet thee hare ! Know'st thou, my friend, Whither we'll fare .' Lo ! there lies Thy lord in the fire, Siegfried, the hallowed hero. To join him anon Thou neighest with joy ? Allures thee to Siegfried The searing light ? Feel how my bosom Fervently heaves I Holy flames Flash through my heart. GOTTERDAMMERUNG. 23S Ihn zu umschlingen, O, but to infold him, Umsciilossen von ihm, To feel his embrace, In machtigster Minne In burning love Vermahlt ihm zu sein ! Be bound unto him ! Heiaho ! Grane ! Heiajaho ! Grani ! Griisse deinen Herrn ! Greet now the hero ! Siegfried ! Siegfried ! Sieh ! Siegfried ! Siegfried ! Behold ! Selig griisst dich dein Weib ! Blissfully hails thee thy bride ! Brunhild leaps on the horse and takes it with one bound into the burning pyre. The flames at once blaze up so that the fire fills the entire space before the hall, and seems even to seize on the hall itself. The women, terrified, crowd toward the foreground. Sud- denly the fire sinks, leaving only a dismal cloud which remains for some time hanging over the place ; then it rises and parts. The Rhine has overflowed its bank and sweeps over the fire. The three Rhine-daughters have swum forward on its waves. Hagen, who has ob- served Brunhild's demeanor with increasing anxiety, is amazed at the appearance of the Rhine-daughters. He hastily throws away his spear, shield and helmet, and plunges, as if out of his senses, into the flood. He shouts : " Away from the ring !" Woglinde and Well- gunde twine their arms around his neck and so draw him with them into the deep. Flosshilde, swimming in front of them, holds up exultingly the ring which she has recovered. At the same time there appears in the sky, from the distance, a reddish glow like the Northern Light, which gradually increases. The men and women gaze in speechless emotion on the strange sight. Valhall is burning ; the gods and heroes are seen calmly awaiting their doom — the Gotterdammerung. NOTES. Page I. Note I. — The Norse form was Odhinn, the Old High German Wuotan, the Old Saxon Wuodan, W6dan, the Anglo-Saxon W6den, the Frisian Weda, and the Longobard W&dan or Gu6- dan. Note 2. — See Grimm's Mythology. " Metodsceaft seon, Beo- wulf 2, 360. Caedmon 104, 31. In the North, faring to Odhinn, being guest with Odhinn, visiting Odhinn, meant simply to die, Fornald. sog. i. 118. 422-3, 2,366, and was synonymous with faring to Valhall, being guest at Valhall,ib. I. 106. Among the Christians these were turned into curses: far ihu til OdAins / Odhins eigi thik ! — may Odhin have thee ! Here is shown the inversion of the kindly being, with whom one fain would dwell, into an evil one, whose abode inspires fear and dread." Page 9. Note 3. — The myth of Prey is also given in the author's " Great Epics of Mediaeval Germany," page 123. It is found in the beautiful Edda song of Skirnisfor (the journey of Skirnir), and also in the Younger Edda. Frey possessed a boar named GuUinbursti, whose golden bristles lighted up the night like day, who ran with the speed of a horse, and drew his chariot. The god once gazed down from Hlidhskialf, the seat of Wotan, upon the worlds, and beheld in the North at Jotunheim (the home of the giants) the maiden Gerda, who was of such wonder- ful beauty that both the sky and the sea glistened from the radiance of her white arms. Frey was filled with ardent love 238 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. for her ; but her father, the giant Gymer, guarded her in his dwelling, surrounded by wavering fire and furious dogs. The god's messenger was called Skirnir (the bright one) ; he was sent for, and Frey asked him to bring the maiden to him. Skirnir declared himself ready to go if Frey would give him his horse to cross the flames, and his sword of surpassing virtue which could put itself in motion against the giants. Frey gave him the horse and the enchanted sword ; this is the reason why he found himself unarmed when he fought with Beli (Gerda's brother), and slew him with a hart's horn. Yet he found himself in a terrible plight, when at the Ragnarok (Gotterdammerung) he faced Surt (Swart) in a single combat; he then sorely missed his trusty blade. Skirnir overcame all obstacles on Frey's steed ; the whole of Jotunheim trembled under its hoofs, and he penetrated to Gerda's dwelling, where, after much resistance on the part of the maiden, he obtained in the end her promise that after nine nights she would marry Frey. Frey is the sun-god ; the boar with golden bristles is the sym- bol of the sun. Skirnir represents the god, who himself in an older form of the myth undertook the journey. He freed the maiden from the powers of darkness by slaying the monster that guarded her, and by crossing the flame-wall which sur- rounded her. Gerda is the earth held in bond by the frost- giants, that is, by snow and ice in winter. The god's sword is the sunbeam, which he surrenders to obtain the j)ossession of Gerda ; or, in other words, the glowing sun penetrates the earth and frees it from the power of the frost-giants. Beli (the barker) and the furious dogs are the roaring storms. The wavering fire surrounding Gerda's dwelling (and Brynhild's castle, as we shall see hereafter) denotes the burning funeral pyre, as Jacob Grimm has shown. The earth in winter is, as it were, lifeless, and therefore belongs to the funeral pyre, and thus to the powers of the lower world. It was customary to intertwine the funeral pyre with thorns, and to light it with a thorn ; we see now what is meant when Wotan pricks Brynhild with the sleep-thorn and she falls into death-like sleep. A relic of the myth appears in the charming fairy story of the " Sleeping Beauty" (Dornroeschen). It is remarkable that the name of the NOTES. 239 infernal river UvpicpXey e^oav has the same meaning as the wavering fire ; the way to the lower world leads through the glowing funeral pyre. Page 12. Note. 4. — The myth of Balder bears a most prominent rela- tion to the Nibelung story, and foreshadows the near advent of the Gotterdammerung. It is also found on page 120 of the "Great Epics."' Balder, the son of Wotan and Fricka, was the god of the summer sunlight, the beloved of gods and men. He was so fair and dazzling in form and features that rays of light seemed to issue from him. His dwelling was called Breidablick (the broad-shining splendor), where nothing unclean could enter. The Younger Edda relates that he was tormented by dreams which foreboded danger to his life. Thereupon the gods held counsel together, and his mother Fricka exacted an oath from fire, water, iron, and all kinds of metal, stones, earth, trees, sicknesses, beasts, birds, and creeping things that they should not hurt Balder. Then it became the pastime of Balder and the gods that he should stand up at their assemblies, while some of them would shoot at him, others would hew at him ; but whatever they did, no harm came to him. When Loki saw this, it displeased him very much that Balder was not scathed. So by cunning he learned from Fricka, to whom he had gone in the likeness of a woman, that no oath had been exacted from the mistletoe, as it seemed too young. Loki pulled up the mistle- toe and went to the assembly. There Balder's blind brother Hodir (darkness) stood aside from the others, but Loki placed the mistletoe in his hand and treacherously told him to shoot at Balder. Hodir was of tremendous strength, and without malice hurled the fatal dart at Balder, who was pierced by it and fell to the ground. The gods were struck speechless with horror ; but Wotan took this misfortune most to heart, since he best comprehended how great a loss and injury the fall of the beautiful god was to all of them. His corpse was taken to the ship Hringhorn, in order to be burned there ; and as his wife Nanna beheld this, she died of grief, and was burned on the funeral pyre at the side of her husband. Balder's death was the sign of the approaching destruction of 240 RING OF THE NIBELUNG. the gods and of the world through the powers of evil and dark- ness when the Fenris-wolf swallows Wotan and the heavens are rent in twain. Balder is the god of summer, and cannot be hurt by any weapon ; only the mistletoe, which needs so little the warm sun that its fruit ripens in winter, and which grows on trees, not upon the earth, can harm him. The mjrth denotes the disappearance of the bright summer and the approach of winter with its dark and long nights. The idea of the struggle between the powers of nature, as seen in the seasons of the year, was transferred to the mythical world-year. Balder is the prototype of Siegfried, the hero of the Nibelung sagas. It is probable that a myth combining the chief incidents of the stories of Frey and Balder was originally ascribed to Wotan, and thus Siegfried would be identical with the chief of the Teutonic gods. THE AMATEUR SERIES. i2mo. Blue Cloth. ART LIFE AND THEORIES OF RICHARD WAGNER: Selected from his writings and translated by Kdward \i. Burlingame. With a Preface, a Catalogue of Wagner's published works, and drawings of the Bayreuth Opera House. ^2.00. ON ACTORS AND THE ART OF ACTING. By George Henry I^ewes. $1.50. THE LIFE OF J. M. W. TURNER, R. A. : Founded on I,etters and Papers furnished by his Friends and Fellow-Academicians. With illustra- tions facsimiled in colors, from Turner's original drawings. By Walter Thornbury. $2.00. RECENT MUSIC AND MUSICIANS: As described in the Diaries and Correspondence of Ignaz Moscheles. Selected by his wife, and adapted from the original German by A. D. Coleridge. $2.00. RECENT ART AND SOCIETY: As described in the Autobiography and Memoirs of Henry Fothergill Chorley. Compiled from the Edi- tion of Henry G. Hewlett, by C. H. Jones. ^2.00. AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MUSICAL GROTESQUES. By Hector Berlioz. Translated by W. F. Apthorp. $2.00. HENR Y HOL T & CO., Publisliers, New York.