Wagner's Ring Cycle: where to start - Classic FM Classic FM Schedule Wagner's Ring Cycle: where to start Richard Wagner's 'Der Ring des Nibelungen', otherwise known as The Ring cycle, is the peak of operatic indulgence, excess and excellence. But how do you go about it? What should you listen out for? And what on Earth are they all singing about anyway? Find out with our handy guide. The Ring - it's immense. Long, dense, mythological and, to top it all off, in German. The worst thing you could do, though, is be intimidated by it. Just because Richard Wagner's masterpiece and calling card is a mammoth work (or series of works) doesn't mean you should treat it any differently from other operas. The best thing to do is take it slowly, grab a translation and prepare to get lost in some of the most intoxicatingly sublime Romantic music ever composed, like this… But first, a little bit of background info. Der Ring des Nibelungen (usually known simply as The Ring cycle) is essentially four very big operas, all linked together by the same story.

In order, they are: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. There's no real way of paraphrasing that story without missing most of it out but to put in simple terms it's a bit like this… The Story A magic ring is stolen from the dwarf, Alberich, by Wotan, King of the Gods. However, he ends up having it taken from him by two giants - most of the story is about Wotan trying to get it back. Then there's a whole other section about Wotan's grandson, Siegfried, who ends up getting the ring back, and Brünnhilde, Siegfried's lover, who also turns out to be Wotan's daughter (are you keeping up?). But these are just the main points - it's actually much easier than you'd think to keep up with the story, as long as you've got a translation handy or if you're watching a subtitled version. And the Sydney Symphony Orchestra have also put together this easy-to-follow(ish) video: Wagner took around 26 years to complete the whole thing, and it's easy to see why.

There are all sorts of little interesting corners, quirky sub-plots, massive staging considerations and, above all, the incredible music. Wagner's idea was that it should be a 'Gesamtkunstwerk' ('Complete Artwork'), a complete synthesis of music and drama where you didn't focus on one or the other - they just co-exist. But how did he do it? Well, here are some tricks he used: What's a leitmotif? Many of the characters, places and ideas in The Ring Cycle have their very own signature tune, or Leitmotif. Rather than an excuse to eat up composing time, the Leitmotifs act as a reminder about those characters, and Wagner occasionally changes them slightly to change how you feel about who it's representing. So for Siegfried, the hero, we have this rather nice Leitmotif: But for the two giants who take the ring from Wotan, Fafner and Fasolt, there's a rather more lumbering, threatening Leitmotif: And here's one for a storm, summoned by Donner, the God of Thunder. Obviously.

There are dozens more to explore besides these two, and it's great fun to get to know them so you can anticipate a character's appearance in the drama. It's all designed to involve the listener even more and without them even realising. Extra instruments Unsurprisingly, a convincing performance of The Ring cycle needs some pretty serious orchestral clout. That means a lot of extra instruments. So, alongside the usual orchestral instruments, you'll hear tam-tams, Wagner tubas, anvils (18 of them), steerhorns and all sorts of extra on-stage instruments too. Here's a fantastic anvil-eye view of the offstage anvils during Die Walküre from the Manchester International Festival: Isn't it all a bit complicated? We can't deny that The Ring cycle is a challenge for any listener, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a go. As with so many things in opera, you get out what you put in - if you make the effort, then it's a joy to experience.

If you're lucky enough to watch it live (it's often performed over four consecutive nights) then you're in for a real treat - incredible sets, wonderful music, bonkers storylines… and all for just one little bit of jewellery. Oh, and there's this war-film-inspiring gem at the beginning Die Walküre as well: Latest on Classic FM A First-Timer's Guide to Wagner's Ring This material © 1999 by Eric Rawlins. All rights reserved. The Story Wagner originally conceived of an opera to be called Siegfried's Death. He began work on the project around 1850. As he worked on the poem, he expanded it to include a "prequel" to be called The Young Siegfried. Eventually even that wouldn't hold his story, and it ended up in its present form of 3 operas plus an introduction. He worked on the cycle over several decades. After finishing up through Act II of Siegfried, he put the project aside from 1858 until about 1870, during which time he wrote both Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger. The complete cycle was finished in 1874.

The story comes, in a very general way, from the old Norse/Germanic legend of the Nibelungenlied ("The Song of the Dwarves"). I once tried to read a translation of the Nibelungenlied,but it had so little to do with Wagner's epic that I lost interest. Wagner had his own interests, and he wanted to invoke his ancestral legends and put them to use to say what he wanted to say, and what was on his mind was the relationship between love and earthly power, and themes of yearning and loss. Like J. R. R. Tolkien, Wagner had an instinct for mythic storytelling, and so his very much invented story feels like something far older than it is. Neither Wagner nor Tolkien knew of Joseph Campbell, of course, but both their stories contain many of the same classic elements of the Hero Myth: Both center around a ring of power, and the attempts of various people to acquire it. In both, the ring carries with it a corrupting curse. Both feature an all-conquering sword which is broken and later reforged. Both involve a romantic partnership between a human hero-knight and a demigod female.

Both involve a hero who fails and dies, but whose descendant, after a period of hiding in the wilderness, returns to fulfill the quest. Both feature a wise old man with a staff that is more than just a stick of wood. The main protagonist of the Ring is not Siegfried (who was famously compared once to Li'l Abner) but Wotan, the king of the Gods. Wotan is a man who wants power, and the story is about how he sought it and the price he ultimately paid. He began his career (long before the story begins) when, as a young God, he cut a branch off the World Ash Tree, source of all wisdom and power, gave one eye in payment, and made from it a spear. Over the years Wotan increased his power by making treaties, which were inscribed on his spear as the embodiment of that power, until he made himself chief of all the Gods. And there Wagner's story begins... Das Rheingold The story begins in the depths of the Rhine river, where the three Rhinemaidens (think "mermaids") are playing in a state of primal state-of-nature innocence.

Enter Alberich the Nibelung (dwarf) from a fissure beneath the earth, who spies the three and lusts after them. The Rhinemaidens taunt him and humiliate him for his ugliness and awkwardness. In his rage at being rejected, Alberich steals the Rhinegold from them, having learned that he who is willing to renounce love will thereby gain the ability to forge a ring of power from the gold. The maidens had assumed that no one in his right mind would make such a renunciation, but Alberich is enraged and wants revenge. He disappears with the gold, leaving the bereft maidens to sing a song of loss and grief that will reappear all through the four operas. Alberich forges the ring and makes himself lord over all the Nibelungen. Meanwhile, Wotan wants a grand castle for the gods to live in as a testament to his greatness. He has contracted with the two giants Fasolt and Fafner to build him the castle.

On the advice of the wily Loge, god of fire, Wotan has promised the Giants Freia, goddess of youth and beauty, in return for the building; Loge has assured Wotan that he will find him a way out of the deal. Fasolt and Fafner, having finished the castle, come for their payment. Wotan is stuck; since all his power rests on the treaties inscribed into his spear, he cannot renege on the deal, and the giants make off with the terrified Freia. Loge, having learned of Alberich's ring, suggests to Wotan that they steal it from Alberich and offer it to the giants as a substitute payment. Wotan agrees, though he secretly plans to keep the ring for himself. The two go down into the earth to Nibelheim where the dwarves live. There Alberich has enslaved the dwarves and forced them to mine him an enormous pile of gold. Wotan and Loge succeed in kidnapping Alberich and take him back to the gods' abode on the mountain top. There they relieve Alberich of the hoard and of the ring.

Alberich is as shattered by the loss of his ring as Gollum ever thought of being. He places on the ring a terrible curse, bringing endless misery to all who possess or seek it. Wotan and Loge offer the giants Alberich's hoard of gold in return for Freia. Fafner accepts, though Fasolt has by now become rather sweet on Freia and wants to keep her. The hoard is piled up, but Fafner wants one last thing: Alberich's ring, now on Wotan's finger. Wotan refuses, the giants threaten to call off the deal and leave with Freia, and in the middle of the hubbub there appears out of the ground Erda ("earth"), goddess of the earth and the world's wisest woman. She warns Wotan to flee the ring's curse, foretells that a death-laden day is coming for the gods, and disappears. Wotan relents and gives the ring to the giants, who immediately fall to arguing about the division of the spoils. Fafner kills Fasolt on the spot, and goes off with the loot.

The problem resolved for the time being, Wotan and the rest of the gods prepare to enter into the new castle, which Wotan dubs "Walhall"--literally, the "hall of the fallen heroes." Fricka, his wife, asks him the meaning of the name, and Wotan says, "If what I'm planning works out, its meaning will become clear to you." The gods enter Valhalla, as the Rhinemaidens sing a mournful song of loss. Between the two operas What Wotan is planning, which doesn't become apparent until the next opera, is this, and it forms the driving notion of the entire plot: Because of his dependence on treaties, Wotan cannot himself take the ring back from Fafner; but if he can create a hero who is not dependent on him, who is not acting as Wotan's agent, that hero could slay Fafner and win the ring back for him. Wotan, always a great womanizer, descends to earth in human guise as "Wälse" and sires a pair of twins, Siegmund and Sieglinde, on an earthly mother.

He then abandons them to their fate, and starts paying visits to Erda the earth goddess. Erda bears him eight immortal daughters--the Valkyries (Walküre: "bearer of the fallen heroes"). Bearing in mind Erda's prediction of a final Armageddon of the Gods, Wotan instructs the Valkyries to roam the earth, inciting men to make war on each other so as to find the most valiant warriors, and when they fall in battle to carry them to Valhalla to abide with the Gods and (by the way) defend Valhalla in its eventual apocalyptic battle against Alberich's army. (The Valkyries are female, but they are warlike females. Not only that, Brünnhilde has to have a voice capable of outshouting a full Wagnerian orchestra for 4-plus hours. Hence the cliche of the massive armor-girt soprano with breastplates and horns.) Die Walküre A dark and stormy night (yes).

Siegmund ("victorious") arrives exhausted and weaponless at the home of Hunding (literally, "son of a bitch"), where he is tended by Sieglinde, Hunding's wife. (Hunding is a great character--a big, hulking brute whose entire life revolves around notions of kinship and warrior's honor.) Hunding recognizes Siegmund as his tribe's enemy, and tells him he can spend the night there, but Hunding intends to kill him in the morning. Left alone, Siegmund ruminates on his father Wälse, and his promise that Siegmund would find a magic sword in his hour of need. Sure enough, the sword is stuck in the ash tree that grows through Hunding's house; it has been there for years, and no one has been able to draw it forth. Sieglinde appears, and the two recognize both their kinship and their love for each other. Siegmund draws the sword, and he and Sieglinde run off together into the night. Back in Valhalla, Wotan's wife Fricka is furious.

She is the goddess of hearth and family, and here is Sieglinde renouncing her marriage vows and running off with her own twin brother. She demands to Wotan that Siegmund must die in the coming fight. Wotan explains that Siegmund is his only hope for a hero that will reclaim the ring for him. Fricka points out that, by giving Siegmund his sword, Wotan has taken away any claim Siegmund might have had to being a free agent, and therefore can't win the ring anyway. Wotan is trapped, and sadly agrees to Siegmund's death. He tells Brünnhilde to give the victory to Hunding. Brünnhilde is shocked that Wotan would turn against his cherished son, whom she too has loved from afar, but Wotan is firm and angrily orders Brünnhilde to do his bidding. Brünnhilde confronts Siegmund while Sieglinde lies asleep in exhaustion, and tells him he is about to die and be taken to Valhalla. Siegmund asks about Valhalla, and Brünnhilde describes it in glowing terms.

Finally, Siegmund asks if Sieglinde will be there with him; Brünnhilde says no. Siegmund says, "So greet for me Wotan and all the fallen heroes, for I will abide here." Torn by grief and moved by Siegmund's courage, Brünnhilde rebels against Wotan's will and assures Siegmund that she will protect him. At the moment of battle, Wotan appears and shatters the magic sword with his spear. Siegmund is killed. Brünnhilde gathers up Sieglinde and the shards of the sword, mounts her horse and flees. Act III opens with the famous "Ride of the Valkyries" as all eight gather on a mountain top with their load of fallen heroes preparatory to taking them to Valhalla. Brünnhilde appears with Sieglinde, in terror of the coming wrath of Wotan. To protect Sieglinde she sends her off with the shards of the sword to hide in the forest, telling her that she carries Siegmund's child.

Wotan appears, threatening thundering destruction to all who shield Brünnhilde, and the Valkyries flee in terror. In punishment for her disobedience, Wotan condemns her to sleep on a rock on a mountain top, to become the mortal bride of whatever man awakens her. As a consolation, he agrees to surround the rock with terrifying fire, so that only a man who knows no fear can reach her. Wotan has thus in short order been forced to renounce his two most beloved children--Siegmund and Brünnhilde. He is by now a very different person than the vigorous, ambitious God we first met. He knows now that he will from this point on be alone, and that he is powerless to keep Erda's predictions from coming true. From now on he is a spectator in the story's action. Siegfried In the forest, Sieglinde has been taken in by Mime the Nibelung, brother of Alberich. He knows the whole story and is only helping her in hopes of using the hero she is to bear to get the ring for himself. Sieglinde dies in childbirth, and Mime raises Siegfried to young manhood.

Siegfried is a child of nature, totally uneducated and not even very bright, but strong and--literally--fearless. He reforges his father's sword, and Mime takes him to Fafner to teach him about fear. Fafner has used the ring to turn himself into a dragon, where he sits in a cave and guards the Nibelung hoard. Mime brews up a cup of poison, which he plans to give to Siegfried as soon as he has slain Fafner. Siegfried kills Fafner (quite pitilessly; Fafner is not looking for trouble). Tasting of Fafner's blood, Siegfried finds he can understand the language of the birds, who tell him of the hoard and the ring and of Mime's treachery. Siegfried kills Mime. The birds then tell him of the woman lying asleep on a rock, and Siegfried sets off to find her. On the way, Siegfried comes across Wotan, now in the guise of a Wanderer. Wotan tries to bar Siegfried's way.

Siegfried, in a reversal of the action in Die Walküre, breaks Wotan's spear with his sword. Wotan's power is broken, and he slinks off, not to be seen again in the opera cycle. Siegfried climbs the mountain, strides through the magic fire, and awakens the sleeping Brünnhilde. (A note on Siegfried: He is a most unlikable character--arrogant, conscienceless, more than a little stupid, quite happy to slaughter people for the slightest of reasons, easily manipulated by other characters. My biggest problem with this story is that I simply can't fathom what Brünnhilde sees in the big lunk. He behaves so abominably that when he dies one is almost relieved.) Götterdammerung ("Twilight of the Gods") Siegfried takes his leave of Brünnhilde to seek adventure and heroic deeds. His travels down from the mountain top are described in the orchestral passage called "Siegfried's Rhine Journey." He ends up in the kingdom of the Gibichungs along the Rhine.

The Gibichungs are a gloomy and none too bright bunch, where king Gunther is advised and controlled by Hagen, Alberich's son by a human woman. They hail Siegfried as a great hero, and Siegfried in his naiveté swears blood-brotherhood with Gunther. Hagen slips Siegfried a potion that makes him forget Brünnhilde and fall in love with Gutrune, Gunther's sister. Siegfried proposes to Gutrune and then, when told about Brünnhilde on her rock, agrees to capture her to be Gunther's wife. As Brünnhilde sits on her rock, she is visited by one of the other Valkyries. It seems that Wotan came home one day from his travels with his spear in two pieces. He instructed that kindling be piled all around Valhalla, and sent two ravens out into the world as messengers. Since then he sits, the fallen heroes ranged around him in the great hall, waiting for the ravens to return and signal the end of the Gods.

She asks Brünnhilde to help, but Brünnhilde says she is now a mortal woman with the love of a mortal man and is no longer concerned with the fate of the Gods. After the Valkyrie leaves, Siegfried shows up disguised as Gunther and carries Brünnhilde most unwillingly off to the Gibichungs. The double wedding is planned amidst great merriment. Hagen's plan is to kill Siegfried on a hunting trip and claim the ring. While on the hunting trip, Siegfried passes by the Rhine and encounters the three Rhinemaidens, who chide him as the foolish child he is, and warn him that his life is in danger. Siegfried, ever confident, laughs at their warning, and Hagen duly slays him with a spear in the back. There follows the other great orchestral passage of this opera, "Siegfried's Funeral March." Back at the Gibichungs there is much acrimony, as Gutrune has been done out of a husband and Gunther out of a blood-brother. Hagen claims the ring on Siegfried's dead hand and moves to take it.

At that moment Brünnhilde appears. This is the "Immolation Scene," the longest single aria in the operatic literature. Brünnhilde orders Siegfried's body placed on a funeral pyre. She takes the ring from his finger in preparation to giving it back to the Rhine and thus cleansing the earth of the curse at last. The funeral pyre is lit, and Brünnhilde rides onto it on her horse. The fire consumes all, and the Rhine rises to flood the room. Hagen cries, "The ring is mine!" but is dragged to his death by the Rhinemaidens, who reclaim their gold at last. In the distance, Valhalla can be seen to be burning. The orchestra in these last moments plays a wonderful melange of the motives Valhalla, Magic Fire, and Redemption By Love, as the curtain falls.

Der Ring des Nibelungen | music dramas by Wagner | Britannica.com Der Ring des Nibelungen Alternative Title: “The Ring of the Nibelung” Related Topics Sir Georg Solti Der Ring des Nibelungen, ( German: “The Ring of the Nibelung”) four music dramas (grand operas ) by German composer Richard Wagner , all with German librettos by the composer himself. The operas are Das Rheingold (“The Rhine Gold”), Die Walküre (“The Valkyrie”), Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung (“The Twilight of the Gods”), first performed in sequence at the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth , Bavaria , Germany , on August 13, 14, 16, and 17, 1876. Collectively they are often referred to as the Ring cycle. Background and context Wagner had long been interested in early Norse and German heroic poetry , including the medieval German epic Nibelungenlied (“Song of the Nibelung”), when he sketched out a prose version of the Nibelung myth in 1848.

His first libretto to use that version was called Siegfrieds Tod (“The Death of Siegfried ”), which became the basis of Götterdämmerung. He began composing the music in 1850, but he soon realized that he could not tell of Siegfried’s death without first telling of his life. In 1851 he wrote the libretto for Der junge Siegfried (“The Young Siegfried”; later shortened to Siegfried). Continuing back toward the beginning of the story, he finished the librettos for Die Walküre and Das Rheingold, respectively, in 1852. After completing the massive text, he composed the operas in the order of the story. The first two were composed by 1856, and then Wagner took a long break to complete Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg before completing Siegfried in 1871 and Götterdämmerung in 1874—26 years after he started work on the project.

Richard Wagner, oil on canvas by Giuseppe Tivoli, 1883; in the Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale, … The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images Der Ring des Nibelungen, or the Ring cycle, is an unsurpassed exaltation of German heritage and mythology . In places, Wagner tells the story with the orchestra , using leitmotifs —fragments of melody that convey emotions and themes as they recur in varying contexts . It is even possible for the orchestra to convey ideas that are hidden from the characters themselves—an idea that later found its way into film scores. Similar Topics Star Wars Wagner was perpetually in need of funds, and the Ring would be extremely expensive to stage. Faced with a double motivation, Wagner conducted a series of concerts that featured orchestral excerpts from his forthcoming epic.

Most famous of those is the Ride of the Valkyries, which opens the last act of Die Walküre, second of the four operas; other frequently encountered excerpts are the Entry of the Gods into Valhalla from Das Rheingold; Magic Fire Music from Die Walküre; Forest Murmurs from Siegfried; and Siegfried’s Rhine Journey, Siegfried’s Funeral March, and Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene from Götterdämmerung. The concerts provided him with a steady income, and they whetted the public appetite for the operas that would follow. The original and ongoing home of the cycle, the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, was built to the composer’s specifications at the command of Bavaria’s King Louis II (often referred to by his German name, Ludwig). The first festival, which consisted of three multiday performances of the cycle, drew some of the best-known musical figures of the age, including Franz Liszt , Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , Camille Saint-Saëns , and Anton Bruckner . The festival lost money, and the staging of the operas was problematic because of the complexity of the set design.

The music was another story. Whatever others thought of Wagner’s vocal writing and ponderousness, none could deny his control of harmony , dramatic structure, and orchestration . Wagner had reimagined opera. Main cast of Der Ring des Nibelungen Britannica Stories 3 Rhinemaidens, 3 Norns (the Fates), 7 more Valkyries, and the Forest Bird. Story summary of Das Rheingold Listen: Wagner, Richard: Das Rheingold “ Descent into Nibelheim ” from scene 2 of Richard Wagner’s opera … The magical Rhinemaidens possess a horde of gold , which is stolen from them by the dwarflike Nibelung Alberich; having been unlucky in love, he renounces it altogether and determines that he will make do with wealth. The Rhinemaidens lament the loss of their horde. Music: Fact or Fiction? Meanwhile, the gods await completion of their new palace, Valhalla , which is being built for them by the giants Fafner and Fasolt. As payment for the palace, Wotan had promised to hand over to the giants Freia , goddess of youth and beauty.

Upon the urging of his wife, Fricka , and the other gods, however, Wotan decides instead to offer the giants a different payment: a magic ring of power that Alberich has fashioned from the Rhinemaidens’ gold. Wotan is joined by the fire god Loge , and they set off to seize the ring. Alberich has enslaved the other Nibelungs, forcing them to dig for more gold. One of the objects that has been fashioned from this gold is the Tarnhelm, a helmet that makes its wearer invisible. Wotan and Loge arrive. They trick Alberich into demonstrating his magical ability to turn himself into any creature; when, at their request, he transforms into a small toad , they seize and imprison him. The price of his freedom is his gold. Alberich orders his slaves to bring up all the gold. Wotan takes the gold and seizes the Ring. Alberich places a curse upon the Ring. Loge, meanwhile, steals the Tarnhelm. The gods and the giants meet to trade gold for Freia. As the discussion proceeds, the Tarnhelm and even the Ring become part of the price.

Erda has warned Wotan to give up the Ring so that he can avoid its curse. Freia is back with the gods, but the giants have everything else. Immediately, Alberich’s curse takes effect as the giants argue over ownership of the Ring until Fafner slays Fasolt. The survivor departs, and the gods take possession of Valhalla, while the Rhinemaidens again lament their loss. Story summary of Die Walküre Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Wotan had fathered twin children with a mortal woman, a male (called Siegmund) and a female (called Sieglinde). Separated early, the twins are now young adults. Siegmund, who has helped a woman being forced into marriage , is fleeing enemies and traveling under the assumed name Wehwalt (meaning “woeful”). In the course of his flight, he loses his weapons. Sieglinde is living with her husband, Hunding, in a forest cabin. Act I Siegmund takes shelter in a remote house built around a massive ash tree. The house proves to be that of Sieglinde, who offers the stranger sustenance. The two are strongly attracted to one another.

When Hunding returns, it develops that he was one of the men pursuing Siegmund. Rules of hospitality declare that he must offer this wayfarer safe shelter for the night, but he declares that they shall duel in the morning. Ordered by Hunding to prepare him a drink, Sieglinde brings a sleeping potion. Away from her husband, she tells Siegmund of a mysterious man (Wotan) who came to the house and plunged a sword into the ash tree, declaring that only a great hero could remove it. Many had tried, but all had failed. Empowered by destiny and by the passion he and Sieglinde feel for one another, Siegmund easily retrieves the sword, dubbing it “Nothung”: the necessary one. Pledging their love, the two flee from Hunding’s house before he awakes. Act II Knowing of the twins’ actions and having himself placed the sword in the tree to await Siegmund, Wotan orders his daughter the Valkyrie Brünnhilde to ensure Siegmund’s triumph over Hunding. Wotan’s wife, Fricka, appears.

As the goddess of marriage, she demands that Wotan right multiple wrongs—against herself and also Hunding—by letting Siegmund die in the forthcoming contest. Angrily, Wotan changes his order to Brünnhilde, declaring that Siegmund must die. Britannica Lists & Quizzes Listen: Wagner, Richard: Die Walküre Excerpt from the prelude to Die Walküre (“The Valkyrie”) … The other Valkyries are assembling, as it is their duty to carry slain heroes to Valhalla. Brünnhilde arrives with Sieglinde, announcing that Sieglinde is pregnant with Siegmund’s child. Because that child will become the greatest of heroes, Sieglinde must be protected. Although the other Valkyries fear Wotan’s wrath too much to assist, Brünnhilde gives the sword fragments to Sieglinde and sends her off into the forest, declaring that she must live for the sake of the child. Wotan arrives in a fury. Knowing that Brünnhilde has acted for his sake, he would rather forgive her, but the laws are clear.

As punishment for her disobedience, she will lose her place among the gods and become a mortal woman, and she will be left to sleep upon a rock until a mortal man has claimed her. Brünnhilde first declares that she would rather die. Then she begs to be surrounded by a fearsome defense so that only the greatest of heroes will be able to reach her. Wotan accedes. Placing Brünnhilde in a magic sleep, he calls upon Loge to ignite a blaze around her. With his parting words, Wotan declares that only one who does not fear the god’s spear will be able to pass the fire. Story summary of Siegfried Some years have passed since the scenes that close Die Walküre. Sieglinde had died after giving birth to a son she named Siegfried, who was raised by the Nibelung Mime . Siegfried has grown to be a strong and bold young man who is disdainful of his foster father.

Act I Forest Murmurs ” from Act II of Richard Wagner’s opera … Mime is attempting to forge a new sword from the shards of Siegmund’s sword, Nothung, hoping that, with such a sword, Siegfried will be able to retrieve the Ring from Fafner the giant, who has taken the form of a dragon . Mime intends thereby to obtain the Ring for himself. Siegfried returns home and argues with Mime, eventually forcing him to tell the young man about his mother. He tells Mime to forge the sword, and he goes back into the forest. Next to arrive is a mysterious man known as the Wanderer, actually Wotan in disguise. From this visitor, Mime learns that only one who has never experienced fear will be able to forge the sword. After Mime fails in his attempts to teach Siegfried fear, he suggests that the youth should confront the dragon Fafner. To do so, Siegfried will need the sword Nothung, which he merrily and successfully forges himself. Act II Wotan comes upon Alberich outside the dragon Fafner’s cave and tells him of Siegfried’s approach.

They awaken Fafner, who is not interested in giving up the Ring simply to avoid a fight. Siegfried and Mime arrive. Undismayed by the prospect of confronting the dragon, Siegfried attempts to understand the speech of birds and, when Fafner awakens, asks for instruction in how to feel fear. Fafner charges at him, but soon Siegfried plunges Nothung into the dragon’s heart. Siegfried enters the cave and emerges with both the Tarnhelm and the Ring, to the dismay of Alberich and Mime. The voice of the bird, which Siegfried can now understand, warns him not to trust Mime. When Mime attempts to drug Siegfried so as to be able to seize the Ring, Siegfried kills him. As Act II closes, the bird shares with Siegfried word of the sleeping Brünnhilde, who lies awaiting a hero who knows no fear. Siegfried promptly takes off. Act III Erda, the goddess of the earth, learns from Wotan that he will be content to face the destruction of the gods, because he is certain that the good-hearted Siegfried will inherit the gods’ power.

Siegfried arrives to find Wotan barring the way to Brünnhilde’s mountainside. Siegfried shatters Wotan’s spear with Nothung, proving his lack of fear. Wotan leaves, and Siegfried plunges through the flames surrounding Brünnhilde. The sleeping Brünnhilde, lying on the rock in full armour , is the first woman Siegfried has ever seen. Overcome with an emotion that he first believes must be fear, he recognizes that he is feeling passion. He kisses Brünnhilde, awakening her. She quickly realizes who Siegfried must be, for she had asked Wotan to ensure that only the greatest of heroes could reach her. She declares that she had already loved Siegfried by reputation, and he reciprocates . The opera ends with rhapsodic praise of love in the face of all challenges. Story summary of Götterdämmerung In a prologue, the three Norns (Fates) relate tales of Wotan’s past adventures and of the pending consumption of Valhalla and the gods by fire. Siegfried and Brünnhilde appear, pledging their love.

He departs to pursue heroic deeds along the Rhine , borrowing Brünnhilde’s horse , Grane, and leaving Brünnhilde the Ring for protection. Act I The Ring Cycle | The Ring Cycle The Ring Cycle Information on The Ring Cycle including music recordings, events calendar, librettos, videos, and Richard Wagner's Autobiography Search for: You are here: Home / The Ring Cycle The Ring Cycle The Ring Cycle – Der Ring des Nibelungen – The Ring of the Nibelung Brunnhilde in flames The Ring Cycle is a common abbreviation for Der Ring des Nibelungen (English translation – The Ring of the Nibelung), by German composer Richard Wagner. The Ring of the Nibelung is made up of a cycle of four epic operas that if played consecutively would last for about 15 hours. Wagner wrote both the music and the libretto, taking his inspiration from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied (a 12th century German poem). The four operatic dramas are actually a trilogy with a prelude making up the fourth part.

NOTE: Some people translate “Der Ring des Nibelungen” as “The Ring of the Nibelungs” but this is not correct. In German the ‘-en’ ending of ‘Nibelungen’ and the article ‘des’ preceding it denotes the possessive (genitive) case making the correct translation to be Nibelung in English and not Nibelungs. Brunnhilde the Valkyrie In chronological order of the events contained in each opera, The Ring of the Nibelung consists of – Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold) – Prelude Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) – First Day of the Trilogy Siegfried (Siegfried) – Second Day of the Trilogy Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) – Third Day of the Trilogy As well as being an epic production in its own right, Der Ring des Nibelungen was also an epic in writing taking Wagner about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874 to complete. Each opera can stand on its own but the authors intention was that they be performed as a series.

Wagner worked on and off again on the Ring during the twenty-six years between when it was first started and when it was completed. He wrote the poems of the four operas in the late 1840s and early 1850s; the music for Das Rheingold in 1853–54, that for Die Walküre in 1854–56; and in 1856–57 Wagner composed, though he did not score, the first two acts of Siegfried. However, at this point in time he took a break from The Ring for twelve years, in order to concentrate on Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. It was always in his mind to complete The Ring and in 1869 he got back to work on the epic again. Despite the long break his enthusiasm and inspiration had not diminished. He completed Siegfried between 1869–74 as well as Götterdämmerung.

The first performance of Das Rheingold was in Munich on 22 September 1869, and it took until 13 August 1876 before it was performed as part of the complete Ring cycle at Bayreuth – where it is still performed today. Today we can enjoy performances of the Wagner Ring Cycle as both live performances by world famous opera houses, or as high quality recordings on CD and DVD . In addition there are modern translations of Wagner’s libretto that make it easy to follow the storyline and understand the plot. The passage of time has confirmed Wagner’s “Der Ring Des Nibelungen” as one of the classic operas of all time, and although it may not enjoy the heights of popularity it enjoyed before World War 1, it still attracts sold out houses wherever it is performed in the world today. If you cannot find something on this page, Search Google Search for: Symbols in Wagner's "Ring" The compilation of symbols below relies predominantly on information contained within William O. Cord's several volume set of phenomenally researched and concisely written books entitled The Teutonic Mythology of Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung.

Apple In Wagner's adaptation of Teutonic myths, the apple remains a symbol of youth, fertility and immortality. An "integral element" in Das Rheingold, the apple becomes a dramatic tool to create suspense: the gods begin to age after the keeper of the golden apples, the Goddess of Youth and Love, Freia (in whom Wagner blends Idun and the Vanir goddess Freyja) is kidnapped by the giants Fafner and Fasolt "to whom she hadbeen promised by Wotan as a reward for the brothers' labor on the castle Valhalla." The price of Freia's return is the stolen Nibelung gold, including Alberich's ring (Cord, I, 64). Apple as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Blood Although there is little gore in Wagner's operas, his use of blood usually signifies faithfulness and noble action. Blood figures as an important symbol in the first act of Gotterdammerung when Siegfried and the Gibichung Gunther exchange a blood oath. To seal a bond of brotherhood, Siegfried and Gunther each take an oath of fidelity and drink blood from a horn.

Despite the fact that this specific pact is not valid since Siegfried has been bewitched by Gunther, their blood oath is strongly representative of the Teutonic tradition. In this way, Wagner seemed to portray blood as a symbol of human vitality and of the fundamental quality of life itself (Cord, III:1, 29-31). Blood as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Bridge Though never actually called "Bifrost," Wagner's "Rainbow Bridge" is the same pathway in Teutonic mythology that connects Midgard to Asgard. This bridge is an important dramatic element in the first opera of the Ring. However, in adapting his Rainbow Bridge from Bifrost , Wagner excluded any reference to the mythical beliefs that were concerned with its construction by gods and the materials used to construct it. Also, in place of the Teutonic god Heimdall, Froh, the Ring's "god of fields" becomes the guardian of the Rainbow Bridge. Also, the appearance of this bridge in the Ring is more theatrical than symbolic.

To the amazement of the other gods, Wotan creates the Rainbow Bridge at the end of Das Rheingold to provide the gods a direct way to return to Valhalla from Midgard. Since Wotan's magical by-way serves to distract the gods from the lament of the Rhinemaidens over the loss of their gold, this Rainbow Bridge becomes an excellent example of how Wagner uses objects and symbols for dramatic climax and intrigue (Cord, I, 28-29). Bridge as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Cave Caves in Wagner's operas are places of evil, treasure hoards and deceit. Fafner's Cave, the cavernous dwelling of the dragon of that name, is where Siegfried (in Siegfried) must go after he has reforged his father's sword, Notung, in order to learn the meaning of fear. According to one of the Valkyries, Fafner was formerly a giant who slew his brother, Fasolt, took the Nibelung gold and fled to a cave in the east.

For this reason, Wagner called Fafner's lair the "Cave of Envy." At the end of Act II of Siegfried, Siegfried eventually kills Fafner and retrieves the Nibelung gold from the dragon's cave (Blyth, 70-73; Cord, III:1, 128-9, 293-4). Cave as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Dragon "The matter of a wingless dragon," a Fafnir in Old Norse, "that lies guard over a great treasure of gold" and its involvement with the hero Siegfried is "one of the numerous fancies of imaginative thought that was prominent among the early Germanic peoples."(Cord, III:1, 85) But, "Wagner's rendition of this celebrated mythical episode is unique to his drama."(Ibid, 86) The significance of Fafner in the Ring pertains to "the underlying purpose that the dragon fulfills in the composer's version of the Siegfried legend.

If the mythicalness of the Teutonic gods existed in early culture, and if the substance of the Siegfried legend was vivid and vital in early German society, the two had no fundamental relationship...."(Ibid, 90) In Siegfried, Wagner brought together historical legend and cultural myth "into a unified argument that is completely awash with mythical ambience," for "it is by means of the dragon that the youthful mortal hero Siegfried is lead into the realm of the divine where he meets his grandfather, Wotan, and then the supernatural Valkyrie Brunnhilde, now transformed into a mortal maiden" (Ibid, 90). For the story of Siegfried and Fafner, see above description under Cave . Interested in hearing dragons? Dragon as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Eagle Wagner uses the symbol of the eagle to show power and a sense of animal fierceness. There is only one reference to an eagle in the Ring, and this occurs in the final scene of Act I of the fourth and final drama, Gotterdammerung.

When a frightened Brunnhilde sees who she thinks is Gunther but is really a disguised and drugged Siegfried, she screams that an eagle has flown to the mountain top to tear her to bits. Brunnhilde's protestation reflects Wagner's awareness of the import of the eagle in Teutonic beliefs as a symbol of strength and independence. The eagle inspired fear and was honored due to its great strength and the way it protected itself (Cord, vol. III:1, 101-3). Eagle as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Earth The Earth does not figure into Teutonic mythology as a distinct symbol, though the stories of its creation by the gods out of the body of the frost giant Ymir suggest that the ancient Teutons did worship it. However, in the Ring, Wagner makes full use of the symbolic significance of the Earth in the character Erda (whose name in modern German literally means "soil" or "earth") in order to convey a sense of Germanic antiquity throughout the drama. Erda is Wagner's all-wise being who is the prime mother of the universe. She is mother of the three Norns and of the Valkries.

Erda's power extends beyond that of the all-father Wotan himself, for he turns to her when he needs guidance. Erda appears twice in the Ring operas. In Das Rheingold, Wotan, brooding over the ring, consults Erda presumably for the first time; and this union results in the birth of the Valkries. The second time Wotan calls Erda is in the third opera, Siegfried. In this opera, Erda chides Wotan for having enchanted Brunnhilde because of her disobedience to him in defending a mortal, Siegmund, the father of Siegfried. To repair the situation and chastise Wotan, Erda fates Brunnhilde to be awakened by her future love, Siegfried (Cord, III:1, 110-113; Blyth, 27, 73). Eyes Reference to Odin's loss of an eye for knowledge occurs twice in the Ring. In the Prelude to Gotterdammerung, the Norns mention the sacrifice of Odin as they weave their cord or Rope of destiny.

Also, in Das Rheingold, Wotan tries to convince his wife Fricka of how highly he values women by reminding her that one of the prices he paid to win her was one of his eyes. For Wagner, in addition to the sacred symbolism of the eyes in connection to Wotan, eyes are important for dramatic purposes--to reveal the inner states of his characters, whether they be good or evil. For example in one of the opening scenes of the Ring, in Das Rheingold, there is a comment upon the power of wickedness in the eyes of the dwarf Alberich as he makes lustful glances at the Rhinemaidens. But, "good could also come from a sympathetic glance, even of a stranger," such as that exchanged between Siegmund and Sieglinde in the first scene of Die Walkure. Later in this opera Sieglinde speaks directly of the eyes as being potential "harborers of tenderness." Similarly, Siegfried and Brunnhilde see love in each other's eyes in the final scene of Siegfried (Cord, III:1, 117-122).

Eyes as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Fire Fire is one of the Greek concepts of the elements of creation which Wagner borrowed. Several scenes in the Ring show fire as a component of life. At the end of Die Walkure, Wotan calls a great fire to surround the mountain-top on which he condemned Brunnhilde to sleep. To music of the "magic fire" leit-motif, Loge, the god of fire, appears as a small flame and slowly assumes shape and height to block Brunnhilde from view. In this scene, Wagner reveals the supernatural qualities of fire; but, more importantly, he signals the role of fire as one of the most "integral and destructive elements in Teutonic mythology." Probably the best example of the "profoundness" of fire as a symbol is the very last scene of the entire opera cycle: in Gotterdammerung, Brunnhilde tosses a torch on Siegfried's funeral pyre--an act which foreshadows the ultimate demise of the gods in the all-consuming flames of Ragnarok (Cord, III:1, 106; Blyth, 114-5). Ever wonder what fire could sound like in music?

Click below to hear its Wagnerian leitmotif . Fire as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Forest Most of the Ring's thirty-six scenes are set in or near a forest. This setting is a critical dramatic element in the operas, establishing a necessary aura of primevil nature. Since Wagner was aware of the significance of forests in Teutonic culture and the myths, he chose the forest as the primary background for his operas (Cord, III:1, 138-9). Forest as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Fog Fog is important dramatically and thematically to Wagner's operas. Most likely taking the name for the opera cycle from that of the Nibelunglied, Wagner nonetheless must have been aware of the significance of the title. Wagner adapted the mythological race of dwarfs into his Nibelungs, "children of the fog," who lived in Nibelheim, a place of fog and caves. These black dwarves had an evil nature that is linked to the night, to evil, and to the fog.

Also, wherever Wagner wanted the audience to be aware of the presence of evil, especially scenes involving Alberich, Mime, and the rest of the Nibelungs, the set often would be bathed in smoke to give the appearance of fog (Cord, I, 23, III:2, 97). Fog as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Giant The giants in Wagner's operas are much like the Teutonic giants, and some reference to them occurs in all three operas. However, in creating Fafner and Fasolt, the two main giants in the Ring, Wagner included neither the story of their origin nor did he cause his giants to be associated with the violence of nature. It is only under the influence of the ring's curse that Fafner becomes evil and kills his brother. According to one source, in Wagnerian terms, when Fafner dies, the race of giants and that of the Teutons symbolically die (Cord, III:1, 149-153). Giant as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Gold The gold in the Ring is physically seen in the opening scene of the first of the four music dramas.

Illustrated succinctly by its own leitmotif , gold, especially in the form of the ring , becomes the protagonist of the drama, driving the characters forward and establishing much of the intrigue--for it is the hoard of gold and the powers the TREASURE holds that account for each major action within the operas (Cord, I, 183). Click below to hear Wagner's leitmotif for the Rhinemaidens' gold. Gold as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Hammer Wagner included the hammer Mjollnir in his operas for two purposes: one as a simple weapon of war belonging to the god Donner, and the second as the object Donner uses to burst open the heavens to cause thunder to clamor and lightning to spark across the sky. These two uses appear in Das Rheingold. In the first instance, Donner raises his hammer threateningly to try to stop the giants Fafner and Fasolt from arguing so maybe Wotan can convince them to accept something other than Freia as their prize for the construction of Valhalla (Cord, I, 31-39).

Hammer as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Hat A magical cap, called the "Tarnhelm," made from the gold of the Rhinemaidens, appears in the Ring as an object which gives its wearer the ability of physical transformation(Cord, I, 41-2). "The cap is the symbol of deception.... Mime, unknowingly, has made this powerful weapon for his master Alberich, and it becomes a factor for evil. however, Alberich is hoist with his own petard when the cunning Loge traps him with the aid of the Tarnhelm. Fafner (the giant)...uses it to turn himself into a dragon; Siegfried learns of its power only from Hagen and through it deceives Brunnhilde" (Blyth, 16). Hell As an example to demonstrate Wagner's "thoroughness in the use of myth," Cord cites the composer's frequent "references to Hella, first as the name of the land to which the dead are consigned, and then as the name of the guardian of that land" (I, 4).

Hell as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Horse Although horses have no direct bearing on the story of the Ring, they are integral to Wagner's drama. Wagner utilizes horses much in the same way as they appear in the Teutonic myths. However, apart from the Valkyries who each have their own horse, Wotan is the only god who owns a steed, whose name Wagner kept as Sleipnir. This situation grants Wotan more power and autonomy and makes the rest of the gods extremely dependent upon him to move through the worlds (Cord, III: 1, 244-5). Horse as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Kiss In Die Walkure, Wotan kisses Brunnhilde who has disobeyed him and puts her into a deep sleep, taking away her supernatural qualities she had as a Valkyrie. Parallel to this enchantment, in Siegfried, Brunnhilde is awakened from her sleep by Siegfried's kiss--one which, unlike the mark of Wotan, had no special magic (Cord, III:1, 260-2).

Kiss as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Lightning Within Wagner's four operas, lightning retains its supernatural qualities but is used more for dramatic emphasis rather than its symbolic value. For instance, at the end of Das Rheingold, after payment to the gods is settled by the giants, the gods prepare to enter Valhalla, only the citadel is covered by a mist. To bring the scene out of darkness, Donner uses his hammer to open the sky with thunder and lightning, making the brilliant palace of Valhalla visible to all. When Wagner composed his opera cycle, the usage of light effects to illustrate the mood of a scene or to highlight a particular part of a set were of long-standing tradition, though electricity had not quite come into the picture at the time of the Ring's creation (Blyth, 28; Cord, I, 35-39). Lightning as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Oak According to Teutonic mythology, in the center of Valhalla grew an oak tree, called Branstock, on which mistletoe grew (the same mistletoe that caused Balder's death and led to Ragnarok).

Adapting freely from mythological sources for the Ring, Wagner completely altered the oak Branstock. Wagner transferred the oak from Valhalla to make it into Hunding's dwelling, which appears prominently throughout the beginning of Die Walkure. Additionally, Wagner chose not to give Branstock a name, changed the tree's orientation from an oak to an ash, and removed this former oak's common association with Thor (Donner in Wagner) to establish a relationship between the tree and Wotan. Due to all of these changes, Branstock loses its significance as an oak and becomes instead a variation of the symbolic World Ash Tree, Yggdrasill (Blyth, 31-2; Cord, I, 14-5). Occurs in the Ring in the form of the Rainbow Bridge. See BRIDGE . Ring In the Ring of the Nibelung, the ring is the "symbol of omnipotence, endowing its possessor with supernatural strength, with superhuman power over his fellows. Alberich has had it created from the GOLD , which he has gained through his renunciation of love, and through its power he hopes to destroy all that is good in the world.

When it is wrenched from him by Wotan, he curses it, so that it becomes the cause of eternal misery in the world. Indeed, its very existence causes the end of existence. It forms the object of plots and intrigues on earth. All wish to possess it, but those who do fall victim to Alberich's curse, which passes from it only when Brunnhilde, after the trial and anxieties it has brought upon her, restores it to its native element" (Blyth, 15-16). Futhermore, "Wagner's ring...was developed from the generic totality of the rings that he had found in the myths, and as such it was a reflection of mythical beliefs, a ring like others that were part of Eddic literature. Like those rings of old, Wagner's ring was TREASURE, forged as it was from the gold that rested in the Rhine" (Cord, I, 108-112). Click below to hear Wagner's leitmotiv of the Ring River Rivers are important in the Ring, especially the Rhine.

At times, the Rhine is only part of scenery descriptions; yet, often it is almost a bystander to the action. This river serves several purposes in Wagner: sometimes it is the peaceful home of the Rhine-maidens and the powerful protector of their gold; other times a wide expanse of WATER, a flowing river that takes the hero and his horse in their boat to the kingdom of the Gibicungs. The Rhine is a rushing, turbulent natural force which cleanses the world of the evil curses of men and gods. This river is also the force that will quench the fire of the worlds and become the source of life for a new, innocent world after Ragnarok. This role is exemplified by the river's presence in the final moments of the last opera, Gotterdammerung, one of the most climactic scenes in Wagner (Cord, III:2, 362-5). Click below to hear Wagner's leitmotiv of the river. River as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Rope In the Norn scene in the "Prelude" of Gotterdammerung, the three Norns weave the Cord of Destiny which held the strands of life and death of all living things.

They tell of what was, is and will be. The third Norn predicts the downfall of the gods, which is woven into the Cord. She finally wishes to cast the Cord North, but it is too short and will not stretch. The rope (Cord) breaks and ends the eternal wisdom of the Teutonic fates and infers the gods' doom. These three Norns were spinners who used a gold thread for each life; and as each thread interwove with all the others, a pattern of society emerged. The ends of the Cord were thrown into space, into the east, the west and the north after which a specific fate was forever in the sky. Wagner's cord of fate in the "Prelude" to Gotterdammerung captures the symbolism of the myths. Rope allowed Wagner a way to dramatize his version of the gods' doom as a sense of final judgment and inescapable destruction (Cord, III:1, 62-7). Serpent In the third scene of Das Rheingold, the dwarf Alberich demonstrates the magic of the Tarnhelm for Wotan and Loge by turning himself into a serpent.

To describe the creature Alberich becomes, Wagner uses the German word "Schlange" as opposed to "Wurm." By doing this, Wagner makes a definite distinction between the serpent of Alberich in the Nibelheim scene and the beast--the "Wurm" or dragon--Fafner transforms into in order to guard the gold (Cord, III:2, 393-5). Serpent as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Spear "This is the symbol of Wotan's authority while that lasts. Through it he has subjected others to his will, and by it he prevents strife between gods and giants. It is his ego, and its power is eventually broken by the superior power of the Sword, representing youthful strength and love"(Blyth, 16). Sword A sword is one of several objects in the Ring that are highlighted by Wagner for its symbolic significance in Teutonic mythology and for its theatrical utility. It is "the symbol of strength and the burning force of life" (Blyth, 16).

In the tradition of the naming of swords throughout various Teutonic myths and heroic epics, Wagner calls the sword of his Ring Notung, which means "child 'born' of need." Wagner's "Siegmund comes to possess it through the love of Sieglinde, but Wotan, who has presented Siegmund with this life force, nullifies its power when he is forced to shatter it by Fricka's insistence on the upholding of marital law. Its fragments are inherited by Siegmund's son, Siegfried, through Mime, who is powerless to recreate this life force. Only Siegfried is able to refashion the sword, and uses it as a weapon" to kill the dragon Fafner. "It is now seemingly invested with superhuman power as it strikes down evil, breaks the spear, and cuts through Brunnhilde's armour, losing its power only when Siegfried betrays Brunnhilde" (Blyth, 16; also from Cord, 96-98). Click below to hear Wagner's leitmotiv for the sword. Sword as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Thunder Like lightning, thunder was used for dramatic purposes in the Ring.

The musical effect of thunder could be achieved through the hitting of a bass drum or similar instrument. The only instance in which Wagner includes thunder in his operas occurs at the end of Das Rheingold when Thor uses Mjollnir to clear the skies so the gods clearly can see the way to Valhalla. Thunder as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Tree Much of the Ring drama takes place within nature. The stage settings of four of the ten acts of the Ring have a forest as part of the scene. One set of stage instructions even specifies that the forest is a fir tree forest. Wagner refused to put the Oak tree into the plot of his dramas, though this tree was an especially sacred tree in early Teutonic mythology. Instead, Wagner specifically used three types of trees in the Ring: the fir, the linden and the ash. The fir tree, Tannenwald, is used throughout the operas as a background setting, since it evoked the atmosphere of the Germanic forests. But, Wagner does not highlight the symbolic nature of the fir as he does the linden and the ash.

The linden is the tree for lovers who wish to fall in love, and it may also cause a hero to fall into a deep enchanted sleep. In the second act of Siegfried, the hero lies under a linden tree, dreams of his father and mother, and wishes he could understand the song of the Forest Bird. Unlike the linden's association with love and fertility, the ash tree was seen as the tree of war. The ash gave warriors silent warnings about war; warriors wished to die in battle under an ash for they might get selected by Odin to go to Valhalla; and the favored spears of the culture were fashioned from the ash tree. Yggdrasill was the eternally groaning World Ash Tree of Teutonic mythology. Though Wagner never refers to any of the ashes throughout his dramas as Yggdrasill, he nonetheless included three ash trees in the Ring. In the final scene of the first act of Siegfried, Siegfried begins to reforge the two pieces of Notung, his father's word. While Siegfried is working, he tells of the ash he felled from which he made the fuel for the fire.

This detail is important because the fire allows Siegfried to remake the sword that will kill the dragon Fafner and will allow the hero to reclaim the gold and to shatter the supreme power of Wotan. The other two ash trees Wagner features in the Ring are the ash seen in the beginning of Die Walkure that is Hunding's dwelling, a tree that was formerly an oak, and the tree under which the Norns weave their Rope of destiny in the "Prelude" to Gotterdammerung (Blyth; Cord). Tree as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Wanderer In Siegfried, the young hero meets up with a mysterious Wanderer, who is really his grandfather, the god Wotan, in disguise. Throughout Teutonic mythology, the all-father Wotan (Wagner's version of Odin) transforms himself so he can travel freely amongst the nine worlds. Similarly, Wagner's Wotan is also famed for his various disguises; but, Wotan must rely on his own powers and cleverness, not objects like the Tarnhelm, the magic hat (cap), in order to change his appearance (Cord, I, 121-2).

Click below to hear Wotan's leitmotif for the Wanderer. Wotan as the Wanderer Water "The third element of the Grecian concept of the fundamental consituents of creation is water. This basic element...is generously provided in Wagner's Ring, and not merely once. The first offering is evident at the rise of the first curtain, in the initial scene of Das Rheingold whose setting is the bottom of the Rhine River. It this Rhine that steadily makes its own way through the lengthy drma and is regularly sensed as being almost ever-present by means of the numerous references to it by the players.... Of course, the Rhine and its waters become a primary factor in the last moments of the Ring, primary in the sense that it is the Rhine that overflows its banks and floods the world, extinguishing the conflagration that has brought defeat and destruction to the gods. There can be no suggestion that the element of water is lacking in the Ring" (Cord, 107).

At the end of Gotterdammerung, Wagner took advantage of the symbolic nature of water for dramatic effect in causing Hagen, Alberich's evil son, to die by drowning in the Rhine river. "Wagner seemed to feel that Hagen's death should become an action that was related to the drama, an action that would enhance the details of his argument. Thus it was that death by drowning was to be the cause of Hagen's death, but it was not a drowning at any place, in just any water. Rather, he would cause Hagen's death to be in the Rhine, the waters that are so significant throughout his drama and the waters that had served as the original home of the gold and to which it would be returned by Brunnhilde in her final moments" (Cord, III:1, 229). Water as a symbol in Teutonic mythology Wolf "Wagner understood the matter of the wolf in the lives of the gods, and especially that animal's association with Wotan (Odin). He sensed that it would be thematically correct and dramatically appropriate to bring that association into his Ring drama.

And thus it is that the theme of the wolf takes a silent but nevertheless rightful role in Wagner's Nibelung tale. "The topic of the wolf in Wagner's drama makes its first appearance in Die Walkure, as Siegmund relates the story of his sad life.... (He) tells how he and his father (Wotan) traveled about in the forests, much like the wolf, and that they were really the 'wolf pair.' Siegmund later says that he even called his father 'Wolfe' because he was really a wolf to cowardly foxes.... Wagner continues the theme of the wolf" in Siegfried when Siegfried, Siegmund's son, "desirous to know who his parents were...tells Mime that the wolf is one of the animals that has a mate and offspring and that they all live as family. The lonely youth later laments that the only thing his horn calls attract are the wolf and the bear.

The final reference to the wolf comes in the last scene of the second act of Siegfried, when Mime makes reference to Siegfried as Wolfssohn, that is, 'Wolf's son'" (Cord, III:2, 527-30).

Question: What is the title of the opera by Wagner, that makes up the third part of the 'Ring Cycle'?
Answer: 'SIEGFREID'