Aarushhh/wikipedia-simple-splitted huggingface dataset:
The egg case also contains a bubble of gas used for buoyancy similar to shelled cephalopods, although it does not have chambers as seen in other shelled cephalopods.

Argonauta argo is the largest species in the genus and also produces the largest eggcase, which may reach a length of 300 mm. The smallest species is Argonauta bottgeri, with a maximum recorded size of 67 mm.

Beak
The beaks of Argonauta species are distinctive. They  are characterised by a very small rostrum and a fold that runs to the lower edge or near the free corner. The rostrum is 'pinched in' at the sides. This makes it much narrower than in other octopuses, with the exception of the closely allied monotypic genera Ocythoe and Vitreledonella. Argonaut beaks are most similar to those of Ocythoe tuberculata and Vitreledonella richardi. They differ in 'leaning back' to a greater degree than the former and because they have a more curved jaw angle than the latter.
Feeding and defense
Feeding mostly occurs during the day. Argonauts use tentacles to grab prey and drag it toward the mouth. It then bites the prey to inject it with poison from the salivary gland. They feed on small crustaceans, molluscs, but also jellyfish and salps. If the prey is shelled, the argonaut uses its radula to drill into the organism, then inject the poison.

Argonauts are capable of changing their color. They can blend in with their surroundings to avoid predators. They also produce ink, which is ejected when the animal is being attacked. This ink paralyzes the olfaction of the attacker, providing time for the argonaut to escape. The female is also able to pull back the web covering of her shell, making a silvery flash, which may deter a predator from attacking.

Argonauts are preyed upon by tunas, billfishes, and dolphins. Shells and remains of argonauts have been recorded from the stomachs of Alepisaurus ferox and Coryphaena hippurus.
Male argonauts have been seen living inside salps, which are planktonic tunicates. Little is known about this relationship.

Classification
The genus Argonauta contains up to seven existing species. Several extinct species are also known.

The extinct species Obinautilus awaensis was originally assigned to Argonauta, but has since been transferred to the genus Obinautilus.

Other websites 
Tree of Life web project: Argonauta

References 

Cephalopods
Civil protection, or civil defense, protecting life, health, property and environment of citizens 
 Environmental protection, is a political action that is to do with protecting nature by preservation (keeping them), and restoration (making something that was lost to come back)
 Contraception (euphemism)
 Protectionism, in world trade, making people stop buying what other countries make, so they must buy things made in their own country 
 Protective clothing, clothing that protect the body from danger 
 A protectorate, in politics and history, is the protector (the person who protects), for example:
 A Lord protector, guarding as the country like a minor Monarch or during The Protectorate as a British republic 
 The protectorate between a strong power (the protector) and a weaker one, who can ask for help when needed, or are obliged to agree 
 Protection (album), a 1994 album by the group Massive Attack
 Protection (song), a song by trip-hop band Massive Attack. It was released in 1995
Protection (band) is an American band, based in San Francisco 
 The Protection of the Mother of God, a feast day in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Minor can mean:

 Minor (law), a young person who has not yet reached the age of majority or some other legal age
 Minor scale, a minor key in music
Camouflage is a visual disguise. Without it, an animal would be recognised easily. If the natural color of an animal makes it look like its surroundings, that is camouflage. One example is a tiger's stripes in the long grass.

Camouflage is a form of deception. The word camouflage comes from the French word camoufler, which means "to disguise".

Natural camouflage 
In nature, most animals blend into their environment or conceal their shape. They are very hard to see. This way they survive, and if they survive, then they can reproduce. There are exceptions: animals which are dangerous to eat (e.g. wasps) advertise with warning coloration.

Prey animals hide from predators. Predators must search for prey without being seen. Natural camouflage is one way to do this: an animal can blend in with its surroundings. Another way is for the animal to disguise itself as something harmless.
Some camouflaged animals also copy movements in nature, e.g., of a leaf blowing in the wind. Other animals attach natural materials to their body for concealment. A few animals change color in changing environments. Seasonally: (many Arctic animals, such as the arctic fox, or arctic hare).  Or quickly, like the chameleon and the cuttlefish. Some herd animals, like zebra, have a pattern which makes it difficult for the predator when they are running.

Mimicry is a special kind of camouflage, where an animal or plant looks like another, usually one which is unpleasant to eat or dangerous.

Countershading 
Most animals are dark on top and light underneath. With light coming from the sky, this countershading makes them less visible. That this is the correct explanation is proved by cases where the animal lives upside down. A famous example is the Nile catfish, which swims belly uppermost. In this case, the belly is dark, and the back is light in color.p43
Transparency and silvering 
Transparent or partly transparent animals are common in the pelagic layer of the sea. These are the layers into which light penetrates. The effect of transparency or silvering works is better under water than above it. This is because the amount of light which penetrates is less and less as the depth increases. Also, the proportion of the light reflected is much less under water (0.001–0.6%) than in air (2–5%).

Related pages 
Military camouflage
Mimicry
Warning coloration: the opposite of camouflage

References

Further reading 
Ferrari, Mareo 1992. Colors for survival: mimicry and camouflage in nature. NY: Barnes & Noble. 
Behrens, Roy R. 2002. False colors: art, design and modern camouflage. Bobolink Books. 
Wolf, Art 2005. Vanishing act. Text by Barbara Sleeper. NY: Bullfinch Press. 
Purser, Bruce 2003. Jungle bugs: masters of camouflage & mimicry. Toronto: Firefly. 
Forbes, Peter 2009. Dazzled and deceived: mimicry and camouflage. Yale University Press.

Other websites
Other websites 

Harris, Tom. 2006. How animal camouflage works.  How Stuff Works.

Roy R. Behrens. Art and camouflage: an annotated bibliography 
Roy R. Behrens 2006. The thinking eye: a chronology of camouflage
An informal study into camoflage 
 BBC/Attenborough: Octopus hides in shells, from Blue Planet II.

Gallery 

Coevolution
Mimicry
Ethology
In biology, an extant group is one which has survived to the present day, and so it is a living group. This distinguishes it from an extinct group.

The term 'extant' can also be used to describe species or higher groups (such as genera or families) which are still in existence (living).

Example: in the group of molluscs known as the cephalopods, there are about 600 extant species and 7500 extinct species.

References 

Biology
Echinoderms  are a successful phylum of marine animals. They include sea stars, brittle stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and their relatives.

Echinoderms have these features:
 A skeleton of plates. These are formed from calcite, a mineral made of calcium carbonate. The plates are usually spiny, and the skeleton is covered outside and in by a layer of skin.
 Five-rayed (pentameral) symmetry.
 A water-vascular system. This is an internal system of tubes and bladders filled with water.
 Tube feet. These are extensions of the water-vascular system. The tube feet poke out from the skeleton, and are used in walking, respiration and feeding. The animal handles the world outside by using its tube feet.
 Stenohaline. They can't handle big changes in the salinity of the water. No doubt this is why they are:
 Entirely marine.
Echinoderms live in all parts of the ocean, but mostly on the sea floor. Some are filter feeders, and others (starfish) are important predators of molluscs and other shell-fish. They are extremely common near the shore, and on reefs.

They have a long and abundant fossil record. This phylum appeared in the early Cambrian period; it contains about 7,000 living  and 13,000 extinct species. The four or five main groups are called sub-phyla by some authorities, and classes by others.

Echinodermata is the largest animal phylum which is entirely marine: no animals in this group live on land or in fresh or brackish water.

Taxonomy
A modern classification 
 Asterozoa: about 1,500 species that catch prey for their food.
 Asteroidea: the starfish.
 Sea daisies, notable for their unusual water vascular system. Only two species, now merged into Asteroidea.
 Ophiuroidea (brittle stars and basket stars), the largest echinoderms; about 1,500 species.
 Crinozoa (crinoids: the feather stars or sea lilies): about 600 species that are suspension feeders. Originally these were stalked echinoderms with long arms, rather plant-like in appearance. In this form they are called 'sea lilies'. The P/Tr extinction event almost eliminated them. Now they are reduced to a few deep-water species. The free-living 'feather stars' in shallow water are quite successful today.
 Blastozoa: the cystoids, an extinct group. They were mostly sessile and lived in shallow waters. Sometimes put together with crinoids in the subphylum Pelmatozoa.
 Echinozoa: echinoids and sea cucumbers.
Echinoidea: sea urchins and sand dollars, notable for their movable spines. There are about 1,000 species.
 Holothuroidea (sea cucumbers). Relatively soft-bodied animals with a tube-like shape; about 1,500 species. The usual calcareous elements in the skin are much reduced, but the skin is quite tough, and covered in slime. They have good defences against predators.
 Homalozoa: an extinct group of strange early echinoderms. Some put them in the phylum Chordata, and call them calcichordates.
A simplified classification 
For many purposes it is better to use the following classification. It is easier to learn and understand, and is based more on the living forms.p19

 Asteroidea: the starfish.
 Ophiuroidea: the brittle-stars
 Echinoidea: the sea-urchins
 Holothuroidea: the sea-cucumbers
 Crinoidea: the sea-lilies and feather-stars.

Only with the crinoids is it necessary to deal with the fossil forms, because the stalked crinoids were so important on the Palaeozoic sea floors.

General account 

All echinoderms have fivefold radial symmetry in their body at some stage of life. The holothurians have bilateral symmetry as adults, and do not have so much of a skeleton as other groups.
Echinoderms have a hydraulic water vascular system. This network of fluid-filled canals moves and feeds the animal, and allows gas exchange. There is also a complete digestive tube. They have a simple radial nervous system that consists of a modified nerve net. There are nerve rings with radiating nerves around the mouth extending into each arm. The branches of these nerves coordinate the movements of the animal. Echinoderms have no brain, although some do have ganglia. They usually move with their tube feet, but brittle stars use their arms to pull against rocks. Some feather stars and sea cucumbers can swim.

The sexes are usually separate. Sexual reproduction typically consists of releasing eggs and sperm into the water, with fertilization taking place externally. Their larvae are planktonic.

Many echinoderms have remarkable powers of regeneration. A starfish arm cut off will regenerate. A section as small as a single arm, with some central disk and neural tissue, can regenerate the whole organism.
Echinoderm larvae 
Most of the adults have radial symmetry. If they are not sessile or attached, they are at least benthic (bottom-dwellers). In contrast, echinoderm larvae are planktonic, and have bilateral symmetry.p119 Echinoderm larvae are ciliated free-swimming organisms that have a bilaterally symmetry rather like embryonic chordates. The first stage in all groups except the crinoids is the dipleurula, which has a row of cilia winding round its body. All the groups have second and third stage larvae. The larvae grow, and are carried away from their parents.

Later, the adult body grows into a radial form, with the body arranged in five parts around a central axis. This means they often have a star-shaped pattern.
Evolution 
There is no geological evidence about the origin of echinoderms. The first undoubted fossils in the Lower Cambrian are already well developed, and fall into five or six different groups. Arkarua, from the Ediacaran, is thought to be an echinoderm. Tribrachidium is another possible, from the same period. On general biological grounds, it seems that echinoderms, and some related phyla, may have been derived from worm-like ancestors.p311

Of all invertebrate phyla, the echinoderms are the closest relatives to the chordata, that is, animals who have spinal cord, such as vertebrates. With the chordates and hemichordates, echinoderms are deuterostomes, one of the two major divisions of the animal kingdom.

Notes

References 
 Clark A.M. 1968. Starfishes and their relations, 2nd edition. British Museum (Natural History).
 Paul C.R.C & Smith A.B. (eds) 1988. Echinoderm phylogeny and evolutionary biology. Oxford.

Other websites 

 Echinodermata  from the Tree of Life website.
The word Argonaut might refer to:
 Argonauta, a genus of octopus
 Jason and the Argonauts, a tale from Greek mythology
 Argonaute (protein), a kind of protein
 The Toronto Argonauts, a Canadian Football League team that plays in Toronto, Ontario
Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold) is an opera by Richard Wagner. It is the first of the four operas that together tell a story called Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).

Das Rheingold is an opera in one act, divided into four scenes. It is a very long act, lasting 2 ½ hours, but it is normally played without an interval as the music is continuous, even between the scenes.

The characters in the opera are Gods, Giants, Nibelungs and the Rhinedaughters. The Nibelungs are a race of dwarfs. They are cunning and evil and live underneath the surface of the earth.

The story of the opera

Scene 1
Scene 1 

The first scene takes place in the river Rhine where the three Rhinemaidens: Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde, are guarding the precious Rhine gold. Alberich, an evil Nibelung dwarf, arrives and tries to catch the Rhinemaidens. From what they say Alberich learns that the gold they are guarding gives the person who owns it the power to rule the world. Alberich wants the gold, but the Rhinemaidens say that anyone who wants to have it has to renounce (give up) love. They think that Alberich will not do that because he is very fond of girls, but Alberich does renounce love and so he gets the gold.

Scene 2
Scene 2 

The second scene takes place in Valhalla, which is where the gods live. Wotan, the chief god, is there with his wife Fricka. Two giants have been building an enormous castle for the gods. Wotan has promised them that he would pay them for their work by giving them Freia, the Goddess of Youth and Beauty. Fricka is worried about the promise that Wotan has made, but Wotan tells his wife that he is not going to keep his promise. He thinks he can find a way of tricking the giants. Freia enters. She is frightened because the giants are coming for her.

The giants, Fasolt and Fafner, enter. They want to have Freia in payment for having built the castle. The problem for the gods is that Freia has a garden in which she grows golden apples. If the gods no longer have these golden apples they will grow old and die. Wotan does not know what to do.
Loge, the god of fire, enters. Wotan is cross with Loge for not having found something else to pay the giants with. Loge says he has been all over the world looking for something. He tells everyone that the gold from the Rhine has magic power, and how Alberich renounced love so that he could steal it from the Rhinemaidens. He tells them that a ring can be made from the gold, and that whoever has the ring will have power over all the world. The giants hear what Loge is saying and decide that they want the gold instead of Freia. They take Freia as hostage, saying that they will be back later to collect the gold. If they do not get it then they will keep Freia forever.

Wotan asks Loge how they are going to get the gold. Loge tells them that they should steal it from Alberich. After all, Alberich stole it from the Rhinemaidens, so it does not belong to him. Wotan and Loge go down below the earth to the Nibelungs.

Scene 3
Scene 3 

Underneath the earth Alberich is forcing the Nibelungs to work for him. They are hammering at the anvil. Mime, who is Alberich’s brother, has used some of the gold to make a helmet. This helmet is called the Tarn helmet. Anyone who wears it can change their shape or become invisible. Alberich treats his brother very cruelly.

Wotan and Loge tell Alberich that they have heard how clever he is. They ask him to show them what he can do with the Tarn helmet. Alberich puts on the helmet and changes himself into a huge dragon. Wotan and Loge pretend to be impressed. They ask him whether he can change himself into something small. Alberich show off again, changing himself into a frog. Wotan immediately puts his foot on him and catches him. Wotan and Loge take all the gold and go back to Valhalla.

Scene 4
Scene 4 

Wotan and Loge tease Alberich. Alberich asks them what they want so that he can be free. Wotan demands the gold. The Nibelungs pile the gold up. Alberich is not too worried, because he still has the ring which gives him magic power. He thinks he can use this power later to get the gold back. Wotan sees the ring on Alberich’s finger. He tells him to give him the ring. Alberich is terrified, but Wotan tears it from his finger. Before Alberich goes he puts a curse on the ring. Whoever has had the ring will die. This is very important to the whole story of the four operas.
The two giants appear with Freia. The gods have become very weak, but once Freia returns they start to become stronger again. Wotan tells the giants they can have their gold. The giants say that they must pile up the gold in front of Freia until they cannot see her. They do this, but the giants say there is still a tiny hole through which they can see Freia’s eye. They see the ring on Wotan’s finger and tell him to put it in the hole. Wotan says they can have anything they want but not the ring.

Erda appears. Erda is the Earth Goddess. She is very wise. She reminds Wotan that there is a curse on the ring and that he should quickly give the ring to the giants. Wotan has no choice. He puts the ring in the hole. Now the giants are happy.

Immediately, however, the giants start to argue with one another and Fafner kills Fasolt. The curse on the ring is working. Loge tells Wotan he was wise to give up the ring. However, Fricka is still worried because Wotan did have the ring.
Donner, the god of Thunder, enters and swings his hammer. There is a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. The clouds vanish, a rainbow makes a bridge to Valhalla and the gods enter Valhalla. The Rhinemaidens are heard crying out to Wotan to give the gold back, but Wotan takes no notice. The gods are now at the height of their glory. We shall see, at the end of the fourth opera, that the curse will catch up with them and that they, too, will die.

The music 
The music of Das Rheingold is beautifully written to fit every person and every situation. The famous opening starts with a low chord of E flat which describes the bottom of the river Rhine. At first the notes of the chords are held on, then gradually a ripple of broken chords and arpeggios suggest the ripples of the water. The harps make a sound like the waves. The harmony just consists of the same E flat chord for the first 136 bars until the Rhine Maidens start to sing.
Each character in the opera has his own musical leitmotif which can change and combine to show their changing moods and situations. There are big, heavy chords for the giants, creepy chromatic winding music for Loge, the god of fire, who is supposed to be very crafty, dignified music for the Earth Goddess Erda etc. There is a special leitmotif for the curse, which is heard at various times in all four operas.

Wagner actually called "Das Rheingold" a "prologue" to the other three operas, which he saw as the main operas of the cycle.

The other operas 
 The second opera in the cycle is Die Walküre.
 The third opera in the cycle is Siegfried.
 The fourth opera in the cycle is Götterdämmerung.
 The whole cycle is called Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Operas by Richard Wagner
1860s operas
Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) is an opera by Richard Wagner.  It is the second of the four operas that together tell a story called Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).  The story continues from the first opera which was called Das Rheingold. It is a very beautiful piece.  

Die Walküre was first performed on 26 June 1870 in Munich.  The first performance that was part of the whole Ring cycle took place on 14 August 1876.

The story of the opera

Act One
The opera starts with a storm.  The young man Siegmund is out in the storm and comes to a house.  The house belongs to Hunding who lives there with his wife Sieglinde.  An ash tree is growing in the middle of the house.  Siegmund and Sieglinde are twins who were separated as children, so neither of them knows who the other one is.  Their father is Wotan, the chief god, but they don’t know this either.  Their mother was a mortal (an ordinary person, not a goddess) or perhaps a she-wolf, which is how the goddess Fricka refers to her.
Sieglinde lets Siegmund into the house and gives him a drink of mead.  They start to fall in love.  Hunding arrives and asks Siegmund who he is.  Siegmund says that his name ought to be Woeful because he has had an unhappy life.  When he was small he came home once and found his house burned down, his mother murdered and his twin sister had been abducted (taken away).  He then remembers that some years later he went to help a young lady who had been forced to marry a cruel man.  He had killed some of the man’s friends.  Hunding realizes that he himself was this man, so that he is Siegmund’s enemy.  He says to Siegmund that he can sleep in his house tonight because this is a law of hospitality, but in the morning he will have to fight him.
Sieglinde goes to prepare a drink for her husband.  She puts a drug in it which will make Hunding sleep deeply.  Siegmund meanwhile is thinking about something his father had promised him.  He had told him that he would thrust a magic sword called “Nothung” into a tree.  No one would get that sword until, one day, when Siegmund found himself in great difficulty, he would be able to pull it from the tree and use it.

Sieglinde enters and tells Siegmund a story about how, on the day she was forced to marry Hunding, an old man had come into the house and thrust a sword into the ash tree in the middle of the room.  They start to realize that they are brother and sister,  but it does not stop them from falling in love and they sing passionately about their love for one another.  Siegmund pulls the sword from the tree and the two lovers embrace.
Act Two
Wotan is the chief god, whom we heard in Das Rheingold. He is trying to get rid of the curse of the Rheingold, and has built a grand plan around Siegmund. Wotan tells his daughter Brünnhilde that she must make sure that Siegmund wins the fight with Hunding.  Brünnhilde (the out-of-wedlock daughter of Wotan and Erda, the Earth-Mother goddess) has the power to do this.  She is one of eight daughters of Wotan who are Valkyries (German: Walküren).  Their job is to collect the dead bodies of brave heroes who have died in battle and take them back to Valhalla, the house of the gods.
Wotan’s wife Fricka arrives in a chariot pulled by a ram.  Brünnhilde disappears, and there follows a big argument between husband and wife.  Fricka says to Wotan that Siegmund and Sieglinde must be punished for breaking Hunding's marriage, and for loving one another because brothers and sisters are not allowed to be lovers (this is called “incest”).  She says that she herself is the goddess of marriage and must make sure that marriage laws are obeyed. Fricka says that the gods will all be disgraced. Wotan says that he went to the world to have children with mortal women because the gods needed a race of heroes who would protect them.  But Fricka says to Wotan that he is wrong: Siegmund cannot be a free hero if he is being protected by Wotan. Giving in, Wotan now tells Brünnhilde that she must leave Siegmund to his fate.
Sieglinde tells Siegmund that she feels guilty and that he ought to leave her, but they are desperately in love.  When she hears Hunding’s horn she imagines that Siegmund will be torn apart by the dogs and she faints.  Brünnhilde pities Siegmund. She tells Siegmund that he must follow her to Valhalla.  When Siegmund asks whether he can take Sieglinde with her Brünnhilde says that he cannot do this.  Siegmund refuses to go.  Brünnhilde tells him that he cannot escape his fate.  Siegmund continues to plead with Brünnhilde, and in the end she is so moved that she changes her mind. She breaks Wotan's order, and says that she will protect Siegmund in battle.  Hunding appears and the two men fight.  Brünnhilde protects Siegmund with her shield.  Siegmund is nearly winning when suddenly Wotan appears and smashes Siegmund’s sword into pieces. Hunding kills Siegmund.

Act Three
Act Three

The other Valkyries are wondering where Brünnhilde is.  They see her coming on her horse, but instead of a hero she is carrying a woman (it is Sieglinde).  The Valkyries are angry with Brünnhilde because she disobeyed Wotan.  Sieglinde wants to die, but when she is told that she has a baby in her womb she asks Brünnhilde to save her.  She escapes into the forest with bits of Siegmund’s sword.  One day the baby she is now bearing will grow up, become a hero, and use the bits to make another sword.
Wotan goes to the Valkyries.  He is furious with Brünnhilde because she disobeyed him.  He punishes her.  He tells her that she is no longer a Valkyrie.  She will fall asleep on a rock and any man who finds her can have her.  Brünnhilde pleads with Wotan.  She asks him whether he could, at least, put a fire round her so that the only man who could get her would be a hero.  In the end Wotan agrees.  Loge, the god of fire, arrives and lights the fire.  At the end of the opera Brünnhilde is asleep on the rock, surrounded by the fire.  There she will stay until, one day, a hero comes to rescue her.

The music of the opera
The music contains many wonderful moments.  The most famous bit is the beginning of Act Three where the Valkyries are riding on their horses.  This music is known as The Ride of the Valkyries.  It is very dramatic music.  The very beginning of Act One is also very dramatic.  The music describes a storm.  The orchestra is a very large one, including special tubas which are known as “Wagner tubas”.  There are no separate arias in these operas: all the sections flows into one another.  Sometimes a character has a section when they are telling a story.  There are beautiful sections like the one in Act One where  Siegmund is remembering about his father and the sword, or the love music between Siegmund and Sieglinde.  By using leitmotifs (music which goes with certain ideas or characters) he gets many subtle effects.  When Siegmund looks at the ash tree we hear the sword motive because the sword is in the tree, although at that moment he does not know about it
.  We also hear Wotan’s theme when Siegmund talks about his father.  We (the listener) know who his father is, but Siegmund does not.  The music tells us lots of things that the characters in the story may not understand.  This makes the music very powerful and exciting.
The other operas 
The first opera in the cycle is Das Rheingold.
The third opera in the cycle is Siegfried.
The fourth opera in the cycle is Götterdämmerung.
The whole cycle is called Der Ring des Nibelungen.

References

Operas by Richard Wagner
1870s operas
Siegfried is an opera by Richard Wagner. It is the third of the four operas that together tell a story called Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). The story continues from the end of the second opera which was called Die Walküre. 

The first performance of Siegfried took place when the whole Ring cycle (all four operas) were performed in the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth on 16 August 1876.

The story of the opera

Act One 

The first part of the opera takes place in a forest where the giant Fafner lives. He has used the magic tarn helmet to change himself into a dragon so that he can guard the treasure of the gold and the ring (we saw how he got the treasure in the first opera, Das Rheingold). Siegfried, who was not yet born at the end of the second opera, Die Walküre, is now a young lad. He has been brought up by the dwarf Mime, Alberich's brother. Mime is just as horrible as his brother.
Mime is hammering away at the anvil, trying to repair the sword that was smashed to pieces by Wotan in Act Two of Die Walküre. He wants to make the bits into a strong sword, but every time he thinks he has managed it Siegfried picks up the sword and breaks it with his strength. The reason that Mime wants to make the sword is so that he can give it to Siegfried (who is obviously the hero who is meant to have the sword in the end) and tell him to fight the dragon. Then Mime will be able to get the ring from him so that he can have power over all the world. When Siegfried enters he brings a bear from the forest. The bear chases Mime and Siegfried laughs. Then he lets the bear go free.
When Mime and Siegfried are together again, Mime tries to frighten Siegfried so that he knows what fear is. He tells him all about the huge dragon in the cave. "Does that not frighten you?" he asks him. "Not a bit" answers Siegfried, who likes the thought of fighting a dragon. Siegfried works at the anvil and starts to make the sword. Mime is thinking of how he will trick Siegfried after the dragon has been killed, so that he can get the sword and kill Siegfried. At last Siegfried manages to make the mighty sword. He calls out its name: "Nothung"! Then he crashes the sword down on the anvil which splits into two pieces.

Act Two 

Outside the dragon’s cave Wotan, still disguised as a wanderer, meets Alberich (Mime’s brother who has not been in the story since the first opera). Alberich hates Wotan for having snatched the ring from him. Wotan does not care, and even wakes the dragon up, but the dragon does not want to fight them.
Mime and Alberich appear. They are arguing about who shall have the ring and the tarn helmet. Siegfried appears with both. Mime offers Siegfried a drink which is drugged. The bird warns Siegfried not to drink it. Siegfried kills Mime by chopping his head off with the sword. The bird then tells Siegfried about his beautiful bride Brünnhilde who is lying on a rock, protected by fire, waiting to be rescued by him.

Act Three 

Erda, the wise Earth Goddess, tells Wotan about the Norns who are weaving the rope of destiny. She is surprised to hear how Wotan has punished Brünnhilde. Wotan says he now looks forward to the end of the gods, and wants Siegfried to take his place.

Siegfried arrives. He tells Wotan (who is a stranger to him) about his heroic deed with the dragon. He finds Wotan annoying and smashes Wotan’s sword. He goes to the rock where Brünnhilde is lying.
Siegfried bursts through the flames and finds the sleeping Brünnhilde. He gently takes off her helmet, then her breastplate. Suddenly he sees that she is a woman. He has never seen a woman before. For the first time in his life he is frightened, yet he very much wants to wake her up. He kisses her lips and she opens her eyes and sits up. She tells him that she has always loved him, even long before he was born. Siegfried feels his passion growing and tries to put his arms round her, but now it is Brünnhilde who is frightened. She tells him not to spoil the purity of their love. Finally they embrace.

The music
The music 

It took Wagner more than 15 years to write this opera which is one reason why the music of Act Three is slightly different in style. Some ideas from the love music of Siegfried and Brünnhilde were later re-used by Wagner in a separate orchestral piece, called the Siegfried Idyll. Many of the leitmotifs (musical ideas that belong to particular characters or ideas) are ones that were heard in the Das Rheingold or Die Walküre. One unusual instrument in the orchestra is the anvil. It is played when Mime, and later Siegfried, are hammering on the anvil trying to forge the pieces of the sword together. The rhythm of this music is the same rhythm heard earlier in the Nibelung scene in Das Rheingold.

When Wagner started working on the opera he called it Der junge Siegfried (The young Siegfried) but by 1856 he had changed the title to Siegfried.
The German word “Sieg” means “victory” and “Fried” or “Friede” means “peace”. It is a good name for a hero. The role of Siegfried is sung by a tenor. The singer needs a very strong voice, often called a “Heldentenor” in German (a “heroic tenor”). He is on stage for most of the opera which lasts about four hours.

The other operas 
 The first opera in the cycle is Das Rheingold
 The second opera in the cycle is Die Walküre.
 The fourth opera in the cycle is Götterdämmerung
 The whole cycle is called Der Ring des Nibelungen
 See also Siegfried (about the character from Norse mythology)

Other websites 
 The libretto in German

Operas by Richard Wagner
1870s operas
Götterdämmerung is an opera by Richard Wagner. It is the fourth and last of the cycle of operas that together tell a story called Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). The story continues from the end of the third opera which was called Siegfried. "Götterdämmerung" is the German name for "Ragnarök".

Götterdämmerung is the longest of the four operas. It takes about five hours to perform. It consists of a prologue and three acts. Wagner finished composing the opera in the autumn of 1874. It was first performed on 17 August 1876 as part of the complete Ring cycle.

The story of the opera
The Prologue 
The three Norns, daughters of Erda the Earth Goddess, are spinning the rope of destiny. This rope is a symbol of what has to happen in the end. They take it in turns to tell the story of the past, spinning as they sing and passing on the rope to the next one. The first Norn tells how Wotan went to drink from the Well of Wisdom for which he lost an eye. He then cut a spear from a tree which then died. The second Norn tells how a young hero broke Wotan’s spear and how the gods were sent from Valhalla to chop down the World Ash. The third Norn tells how the logs from the ash tree have been piled round Valhalla ready for a fire that will burn everything. The Norns have visions of the future. The rope breaks. The Norns disappear into the earth.
Brünnhilde and Siegfried come out of a cave by the rock where they were left at the end of the third opera. Siegfried has to go off to do heroic deeds. He gives Brünnhilde the ring as a token of his love for her. She gives him her horse which is called Grane (pronounce: GRAH-ne). Siegfried travels down the river Rhine.

Act One 
Act One takes place in the Hall of the Gibichung palace. Gunther is the chief of the Gibichungs. His half-brother Hagen tells him he would look more important if he got married. He also says that Gunther’s sister Gutrune ought to get married. He tells him about Brünnhilde who, he thinks, is still asleep on the rock surrounded by fire that no one except Siegfried would be able to get through. He says that if they manage to get Siegfried to marry Gutrune, then she could persuade him to go and catch Brünnhilde for Gunther. He says that they could give Siegfried a potion (a special drink) which would make him forget that he loved Brünnhilde.
The next scene takes place on the top of the Valkyrie rock. Her sister Waltraute arrives on a flying horse. She says that Wotan (their father, the chief God) returned to Valhalla with his spear broken. She says he told the gods to pile up the logs from the World Ash for a fire which will burn everything. Wotan desperately wants the ring to be given back to the Rhine Maidens (who were guardians of the gold, from which the ring was forged, in the first opera). Brünnhilde refuses to give her the ring that Siegfried had given her as a token of their love. Waltraute disappears.

After the weather calms the flames flicker again. Siegfried arrives, disguised as Gunther. Brünnhilde is horrified to see a person she thinks is a stranger. Siegfried says she is his bride, forces the ring from her finger and drags her into a cave for the night, although placing the sword between them.

Act Two
Act Two 

Back at the palace Alberich tries to persuade his son Hagen to get the ring. Hagen wants to get the ring, but only for himself. Siegfried arrives. He no longer wears the tarn helmet so he looks like himself. Hagen blows his horn to call his vassals (soldiers) for a celebration. Gunther is to marry Brünnhilde and Siegfried is to marry Gutrune. Brünnhilde cannot understand why Siegfried is doing this. She sees the ring on his finger and asks him how he got it, as she thinks Gunther snatched it from her. Siegfried says that he won it by killing a dragon. He tells people how he tricked Brünnhilde and swears that a sword lay between them during the night, although Brünnhilde tries to make people think otherwise.
Act Three 
The last act takes place in a wild forest. Siegfried’s hunting horn is heard, and then the hunting horn of the Gibichungs. By the river Siegfried happens to meet the Rhine Maidens and teases them by showing them the ring, but does not let them have it. They tell him about the curse on the ring but Siegfried does not believe them. He meets Hagen. They drink together. Siegfried tells the men all about his life, how he was brought up by Mime, about the sword, the dragon and the bird singing. Then he cannot remember any more. Hagen gives him another drugged drink which makes him start to remember what actually happened. He remembers Brünnhilde and how he found her surrounded by fire. He gradually realizes how he has been tricked and feels unbearable sadness. Two ravens fly overhead and Hagen plunges his spear into Siegfried’s back. He dies while speaking the name of Brünnhilde. His body is carried off to a funeral march.
The music 
The music of this long opera is extremely cleverly linked so that musical ideas flow into one another and combine to comment on the drama. Many of the themes have been heard in the other three operas. It is a very exhausting opera to sing, especially for Brünnhilde. There are usually two long intervals during a performance. The orchestra is very large and includes eight harps.

The other operas 
 The whole cycle is called Der Ring des Nibelungen.
 The first opera in the cycle is Das Rheingold.
 The second opera in the cycle is Die Walküre.
 The third opera in the cycle is Siegfried.

Operas by Richard Wagner
1870s operas
Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung (Alberich)) is a cycle of four operas by Richard Wagner.

Stories
The first opera in the cycle is Das Rheingold.
The second opera in the cycle is Die Walküre.
The third opera in the cycle is Siegfried.
The fourth opera in the cycle is Götterdämmerung.

The story of each opera can be found in the separate articles.

Sometimes it is known as a “tetralogy” meaning: four works that belong together.

Wagner took the story of the operas from a book called the Nibelungenlied (the Nibelung Song) which was written in the 12th century by a German poet.  We do not know the name of the poet.  The story is about the ancient gods from German mythology.
Composition
Wagner made a lot of changes to the story in order to make it suitable for his four operas.  Wagner’s story tells of a hoard of gold which is being guarded by the Rhinemaidens.  The dwarf Alberich steals the gold and uses some of it to make a ring which makes the owner powerful over all the world.  When Wotan, the chief god, steals it from him, Alberich puts a curse on the ring.  The ring will bring death to whoever has it.  The ring goes through the hands of several characters, all of whom die in the end.

Alberich belongs to a race of dwarfs called the “Nibelungs”.  The word “Nibelungen” in the title of the cycle: Der Ring des Nibelungen (“The Ring of the Nibelung”), refers to Alberich (it is singular, not plural).
The story of Wagner’s Ring cycle sounds quite fantastic and strange, like a fairy tale.  Although the characters seems very different from real people,  the story tells us all about basic human emotions.  It is a story about greed, love, lust, intrigue etc.  This is what makes it so powerful.

Wagner’s music matches each character and situation beautifully.  It develops continuously: there are no breaks in the music during the acts.  Wagner used what he called leitmotifs (leading motives).  These are tunes or chords or little musical phrases which are linked to particular people in the opera.  In this way he can hint at things very cleverly in the music.  For example: there is a leitmotiv for the curse.  Whenever we hear this curse motive we know that the curse of the ring is working.
Wagner spent about twenty years writing the Ring cycle.  He started in the 1850s when he was living in Switzerland.  He wrote all the libretto (the words) himself, as he always did for his operas.  By 1857 he had finished the first two operas and two thirds of Siegfried.  It was many years later that he finally finished Siegfried and wrote the final opera as well.
Opera house
Wagner wanted to have the Ring cycle performed in a special opera house which would be built in the way he wanted.  He needed a lot of money for his ideas, and he was very lucky to find someone who adored his music and was happy to give him a lot of money.  This was King Ludwig II of Bavaria (sometimes called the “mad king of Bavaria” because he did become insane).  Wagner told the King that the Ring cycle would be performed in Munich which was the capital city of Bavaria.  Later, when it seemed impossible to build a new opera house there, Wagner broke his promise and built his opera house in Bayreuth instead.  The King did not seem to mind and still gave him lots of money for the project as well as a nice house to live in.  Das Rheingold was first performed in Munich in 1869 and Die Walküre in 1870.  The whole Ring cycle was first performed in 1876 in the new opera house called the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth.

Operas by Richard Wagner
1860s operas
In Finnish mythology, Väki means races of Haltijas (Finnish elves) and their magical powers. Different things in nature had their own väki guarding them. For example, Väki of water lived in and protected water. Väki is the name of both the magical power and Haltijas. Väki could sometimes be seen. They looked like little man-like creatures. Sometimes Väki went inside people and made people ill. Väki makes people ill if they behave badly in their kingdom. For example, if someone shouted in a forest without reason then the Väki of forest may make then ill. Shaman could heal these illnesses by telling the väki to leave the person and go back to its original place.

The other version of väki refers to the realm of the dead. Väki was the anonymous pack of dead people. Once they (väki) had been our beloved ones, relatives etc. but after spending some time in the afterlife they had been become unknown masses of dead creatures without any personal markings.

Finnish mythology

sv:Rådare
The Sudetenland was a mountainous area of Czechoslovakia. The name comes from the Sudetes, a mountain range, but it was also used for other places in Bohemia in which mostly-German people lived. They wanted their homes to be part of Germany, not Czechoslovakia. Nazi Germany took small parts of the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia in September 1938.  After the Munich Agreement, they took the rest of Sudetenland, which contributed to the start of World War II.

Other websites
 WW2DB: Annexation of Sudetenland

History of Germany
Geography of the Czech Republic
1375 was a year in the 14th century.

Events 
 The English, weakened by the plague, lose so much ground to the French that they agree to sign the Treaty of Bruges, leaving them with only the coastal towns of Calais, Bordeaux and Bayonne.
 The Russian town of Kostroma is destroyed by the ushkuinik pirates from Novgorod.
 October 24 – Death of Valdemar IV of Denmark.
 Petru I succeeds his father, Costea, as ruler of Moldavia (now Moldova & eastern Romania).
 The Mamluks from Egypt conquer the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Leo VI of Armenia is imprisoned for several years in Cairo until a ransom is paid by King John I of Castile.
 Mujahid Shah succeeds his father, Mohammad Shah I, as Sultan of the Bahmanid Empire in Deccan, southern India.
 Moscow & Tver sign a truce. Tver agrees to help Moscow fight the Blue Horde.

Births 
 Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (approximate date; d.1415)
 Nicolas Grenon, French composer (approximate date; d. 1456)
 Lan Kham Deng, King of Lan Xang 1416-1428 (d. 1428)
Deaths 
 July 5 – Charles III of Alençon, French archbishop (b. 1337)
 October 24 – King Valdemar IV of Denmark
 December 21 – Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian writer (born 1313)
Coral is a reddish or orangeish shade of pink.  The color is named after the sea animal also called corals.

The first written use of coral as a color name in English was in 1513.

Meaning of coral 

 Coral and coral blue color for painting a room to give a calm feeling of warmth.

 In some sects of Hinduism, coral red instead of red is shown as being the color which represents the first (muladhara) chakra in Hindu philosophy.

Tones of coral color comparison chart

Related pages
 List of colors

References
Crimson is  reddish magenta color between red and rose on the color wheel.  You can make it by combining a strong, bright deep red with a little blue.  It is originally the color of the dye produced from the dried bodies of a scale insect, Kermes vermilio.

The word crimson has been in written use in the English since 1400.

Meaning of crimson

In English, crimson is traditionally associated with the color of blood, and hence is associated with violence, courage and martyrdom.
Crimson was the most distinctive color of British officers' uniforms until the introduction of khaki camouflage, and remains in use for the colors (flag). The King's Royal Hussars still wear crimson trousers.
 In Poland, karmazyn ('crimson') is a synonym for a Magnate (someone who is a member of the nobility).

Tones of crimson color comparison chart

Related pages
List of colors

References
Rose is the color halfway between red and magenta on the color wheel.  It represents the color of the rose flower.

The first recorded use of rose as a color name in English was in 1382.

Meaning of rose

 Saying that someone has rosy cheeks suggests that they are in good health.  

 Saying that someone is "seeing through rose-colored strawberries" means that they are an optimist, only seeing the good and neglecting to notice the bad. (The opposite type of person, a pessimist, is symbolised by the color grey).

 The color rose represents romantic love because it is customary to give rose flowers to one's beloved on Valentine's Day, 14 February.

 Rose is a popular color for women's clothing, lipstick and shoes.  

 The color rose is well loved in Iran because the cultivation of the rose flower is thought to have began in Iran.
Rose is the national color of Georgia (specifically, that tone of rose called Dogwood Rose or Georgian Rose [shown on the color chart below]) because the people of Georgia believe the cultivation of roses began there.

 The revolution in which current Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in 2003 was called the Rose Revolution.

 Marrakesh, Morocco is sometimes called the Rose City because many of its buildings are colored shades of rose or pink.

Comparison of purple, magenta, rose and red