Siegfried (Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series)

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Siegfried Music drama in three acts Music composed by Richard Wagner Drama written by RIchard Wagner Premiere: Bayreuth Festspielhaus, August 1876 Siegfried is the third music drama in the cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung , “Der Ring des Nibelungen.”

Adapted from the Opera Journeys Lecture Series by Burton D. Fisher

Principal Characters in Siegfried Page 2 Story Synopsis and Overview Page 2 Story Narrative with Music Highlights Page 6

Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series Published © Copywritten by Opera Journeys www.operajourneys.com

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Principal Characters in Siegfried Siegfried Mime Brünnhilde The Wanderer (Wotan) Fafner (Dragon) Alberich Erda The Woodbird

Tenor Tenor Soprano Bass-baritone Bass Baritone Contralto Soprano

Story Synopsis and Overview The events in Siegfried occur about seventeen years after Brünnhilde entered her eternal sleep at the end of The Valkyrie.The birth of the noble hero, Siegfried, was solemnly foretold in The Valkyrie when Brünnhilde proclaimed to Sieglinde, Den hehrsten Helden der Welt hegst du, or Weib, im schirmenden Schoos!, “You carry in your womb the noblest hero in the world.” In the Ring, the her’s purpose is to implement a transformation; as an unwitting surrogate of Wotan it is anticipated that through his great qualities and achievements he will redeem the world by purifying the Ring of its Curse and returning it to the Rhine; ultimately his defeat of evil forces will bring into existence a new order of noble moral ideals and elevated conscience. After The Rhinegold, Mime had left the Nibelheim and set up his forge in the forest near Niedhöle where Fafner has become transformed by the Tarnhelm into a ferocious Dragon. The future hero’s mother, Sieglinde, had escaped Wotan’s wrath, and was led to Mime’s cave where she was provided food and shelter. The Dwarf helped Sieglinde deliver Siegfried and she died immediately after childbirth. Mime raised the young hero as his own son but kept him ignorant of his background; his sole purpose was to nurture Siegfried’s strength to the boy a fearless instrument against Fafner and ultimately capture the treasure. In Siegfried, Wagner addressed the archetypal conflict of the child learning fear, adapting elements from Grimm’s early 19th century fairy tale. “The Story of a Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was.”

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As the music drama unfolds, the maturing young Siegfried is an uninhibited, natural young man; the idealized noble savage unencumbered and uncorrupted by the trappings of civilization. Siegfried begins in the darkness of Mime’s cave and ends in the brilliance of the sky, symbolically the hero’s transformation to maturity, consciousness and awareness, all of which are ultimately cultivated to their utmost through the powerful love between Brünnhilde and Siegfried. Emotionally, Siegfried is a child who displays a combination of admirable as well as objectionable characteristics: he is a lonely boy who is psychologically maturing and desperately yearning for companionship and maternal love; he can be gentle and sensitive. But in his pursuit of understanding the incomprehensible world surrounding him, he can become deeply troubled, at times confused and frustrated, as well as uncertain and insecure. Mime sheltered him from the world, preposterously claiming to be both his father and mother, but the boy learned the facts of life in the forest and realized that Mime lied to him. Nevertheless, the young Siegfried is trapped in Mime’s world, and the malevolent Dwarf represents his only road to wisdom and knowledge. Siegfried displays an exuberant love of life and freedom, an eagerness for adventure, and a profound sense of purpose and resolution. Yet his boisterous adolescence and youthful vitality can erupt into impetuos explosions of nastiness and sadism; he terrifies the weaker Mime by bringing a bear into the cave, gloating with pleasure as Mime shakes in fear. Mime is by no means a kindly old Dwarf, but rather, a treacherous, despicable, murderous villain; he fostered Siegfried for the sole purpose of slaying the Dragon and seizing the Ring and Hoard for himself. And afterwards, he unabashedly planned to murder the boy. But Siegfried hates Mime for seemingly repugnant reasons; he saw his own image reflected in the stream and views Mime as an ugly toad, hating him because of his inferior features. Wagner described his conception of Mime in his stage directions for the unproduced Young Siegfried: “He is small and bent, somewhat deformed and bobbling. His head is abnormally large, his face a dark ashen color and wrinkled, his eyes small and piercing, with red rims, his gray beard long and scrubby, his head

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bald and covered with a red cap. He wears a dark grey smock with a broad belt about his loins: feet bare, with thick coarse soles underneath. There must be nothing approaching caricature in all this: his aspect, when he is quiet, must simply be eerie; it is only in moments of extreme excitement that he becomes outwardly ludicrous, but never too uncouth. His voice is husky and harsh; but this again ought of itself never to provoke the listener to laughter.” Mime is the incarnation of evil and villainy, demented by his monomania to capture the treasure and its powers.Night and day he seethes with revenge against his cruel brother, Alberich, and dreams that when he gains the Ring he will enslave the Nibelungs and master the world. Mime has build Siegfried’s strength and vitality and nurtured him to be fearless, but to slay the the Dragon the young hero needs an omnipotent sword, and Mime, an expert blacksmith, has been unable to forge it.

Act I: Wotan appears in Mime’s cave in the disguise of the Wanderer to challenge Mime to a game of wits, ultimately prophesying that only a fearless man can temper the hardy fragments of the Sword: Nothung. Of all that Mime has taught Siegfried, he has never taught him fear; the Wanderer warns Mime to be wary of his life before one who is fearless. Mime is confident that Siegfried will succeed in killing Fafner, but shudders that the boy might also be the fearless one who the Wanderer predicted would kill him. Siegfried desperately wants to learn fear and Mime assures him he will learn it well when he confronts the terrifying Dragon. In anticipation of his combat, Siegfried re-forges the splinters of his father’s Sword, Nothung, while Mime intrigues to kill the boy after he has accomplished the deed.

Act II: Wotan, again in the disguise of the Wanderer, encounters Alberich and alerts him that his brother Mime plans to recover the entire treasure for himself by poisoning Siegfried after he slays Fafner.. At dawn, Mime brings Siegfried before Fafner’s forest cave. Siegfried awakens Fafner and fearlessly slays him; as Fafner dies he warns the young hero

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about the Curse on the Gold. After tasting the Dragon’s blood, Siegfried is able to understand a forest bird who advises him to claim Fafner’s treasure, beware of Mime’s sinister plot to kill him, and rescue a maiden encircled by fire on a nearby mountain. Taking the bird’s advice, Siegfried ignores the Hoard as valueless but seizes the Ring and Tarnhelm. The Dragon’s blood also enables Siegfried to understand Mime’s villainous thoughts. When Mime offers Siegfried a poisoned drink, Siegfried is aware of his intentions and slays him. With the bird as his guide, Siegfried begins his journey to the mountain where Brünnhilde sleeps.

Act III: Wotan summons Erda to predict the destiny of the Gods, but her negative prophesy causes him to resign himself to their imminent downfall. However, his hopes for the world’s salvation now turn to the wise Brünnhilde. As Siegfried nears Brünnhilde’s rock, the Wanderer confronts him. Siegfried has no reason to recognize him, is not aware that the stranger is his grandfather, and treats him rudely and disrespectfully. In anger and incomprehension, he smashes Wotan’s Spear with Nothung; Wotan displays indescribable emotional turmoil; his shattered Spears signifies the inevitable doom of the Gods. Siegfried scales the heights of Brünnhilde’s rock and heroically passes through its flaming barrier. He observes the slumbering Brünnhilde and awakens her with a kiss; his emotions stirred, he has finally learned fear. Brünnhilde solemnly greets the sunlight, sees the young Siegfried, and they both gaze at each other in feverish excitement. Brünnhilde, now a defenseless mortal woman, surrenders herself to Siegfried’s love; she has likewise learned fear.In rapturous moment that expresses their profound desire and fulfillment of love, the Goddess, untouched in Valhalla, becomes a woman; and the boy becomes a man. Brünnnhilde and Siegfried share the ecstasy of their new-found love for each other. Brünnhilde will endow Siegfried with her wisdom: through his great deeds the old world order will end and a new one will emerge; “let the twilight of the Gods begin.”

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Story Narrative with Music Highlights Prelude The prelude to Siegfried presents a musical portrait of Mime’s inner thoughts; his ceaseless and obsessive monomania to gain possession of the Ring and make himself master of the world. Mime’s Thoughts and Reflection

The Hoard

Act I: Mime’s cave. Against a wall there is a smith’s forge with its chimney ascending through the roof; nearby there is an anvil and other smith’s implements. Mime reflects on his frustration and agony: he is weak, impotent, and unable to slay the monstrous Dragon himself. It also requires a far greater weapon than he has ever fashioned, and each time he makes a sword for Siegfried he shatters his work with a single stroke. And, he lacks the skill to forge Nothung’s shattered fragments. With frenzied despair, he plunges himself into his work, all the while thinking about Fafner who lies in his dark cave with his huge Dragon bulk protecting the Hoard. The Dragon

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Siegfried’s horn call is heard from the forest, and then he impetuously enters the cave.. Young Siegfried

He arrives with a tethered bear, and with wanton adolescent boisterousness sets the animal against the frightened Mime, who in his terror shelters himself behind the forge. Then Siegfried frees the bear to the forest, at which time Mime, still trembling in fear, emerges from behind the forge and rebukes the boy’s bold impudence. After recovering from his laughter, Siegfried explains that he was hoping that the bear would be a more compatible friend than the Dwarf, but he only befriended and bridled him so he would ask Mime for his promised sword. Mime, seemingly recovered from his fear, removes the sword he has been forging from the anvil and hands it Siegfried, all the while praising its sharpness. But Siegfried presses his hand over the blade and fails to find its steel hard and true; he downgrades it, rejects it as a useless toy and strikes it on the anvil, breaking it into splinters. He explodes in rage at the terrified Mime, castigating him for boasting that he made weapons of might but always deceives him with rubbish that he can easily break. After Siegfried calms down, Mime complains that he can never seem to please the boy, admonishing him that he is inconsiderate, ungracious, and unappreciative of all his unselfish kindness and indulgence for his sake. Siegfried’s Ingratitude

Siegfried becomes contrite, sulks, and turns to the wall with his back to Mime. Mime shows Siegfried the dinner he prepared, but Siegfried rashly knocks the meat and bowl from his hands. Mime reproaches him, moaning again that the boy is unappreciative and fails to reward him for all of his love and devotion.

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Mime reminds Siegfried that he has devoted his entire life to rearing him with irrepressible love, and has unselfishly provided him with clothes, food, a soft bed, many toys, and a ringing horn. And he also thought for him, quickened his wits with wise advice, and provided him with knowledge and insight. While Siegfried roamed the forest with complete abandon, Mime remained at home toiling for him; Siegfried has caused Mime excruciating torment; the Dwarf begins to sob, overcome with self-pity and anguish. Siegfried turns to Mime, fixes his eyes searchingly on him, and then harshly denounces the Dwarf: Mime indeed taught him much but he failed to teach him what he most desired to learn; to endure the sight of his ugliness and evil. Siegfried taunts Mime by asking him why he loves all the creatures in the forest more than the ugly Dwarf? Mime reproves Siegfried, admonishing him that he speaks not from his heart for he indeed truly loves the unselfish old Mime. Mime’s Love

Siegfried has learned about life in the forest and has witnessed mothers showering love on their offspring. He asks Mime how he came about without a mother? With embarrassment, Mime assures him that he is both Siegfried’s father and mother in one. But Siegfried refutes him, noting that in the forest the child resembles the parent: he has seen his own face in the brook and his features are far from those of the toadlike Mime. He tells Mime that the only reason he returns from the comfort of the forest is to learn from Mime who his father and mother were, and he insists that Mime must reveal his past even if he must tear it from him by force; suddenly, Siegfried seizes Mime by the throat and half chokes him. Mime frees himself and again laments that he has been a fool to expect gratitude from such an insolent boy. At Siegfried’s insistence, Mime begins to tell him about his past, finally admitting that he is neither Siegfried’s father or mother. Mime relates that long ago he found a woman weeping in the desolate forest

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and brought her to his cave to give her warm shelter. Then she gave birth to a child just before she died: the child was Siegfried. Sadly, Siegfried echoes Mime’s words: “So my mother died?” Siegfried asks why he is called Siegfried, and Mime replies simply that it was his mother’s wish. At first he tells Siegfried that he never knew his mother’s name, but after a renewed threat he reveals that it was Sieglinde. However, he never learned his father’s name, only that he had died in combat. Once more Mime begins to whine but Siegfried stops him to ask what proof he has that Mime tells the truth? Mime ponders for awhile and then produces the fragments of a broken sword: these, he says, were the pitiful pay for his kindness to the woman; shattered fragments of a sword which his father wielded in his fatal fight. At once, Siegfried springs up in excitement and decides that Mime shall forge a sword from the fragments; Siegfried’s rightful weapon. Siegfried urges Mime to begin forging the sword immediately, threatening him if he fails to forge it properly. For Siegfried, the sword will become the instrument of his freedom; with it, he will leave Mime, the forest, and go into the world, never to return to the horrifying ugly Dwarf who is not his father. Aus dem Wald fort in die Welt zieh’n

In the joy of Siegfried’s ecstatic fantasy of freedom, he rushes impetuously into the forest and leaves Mime alone, confused and in terror. Mime suddenly becomes prey to new anxieties about his nefarious monomania. Siegfried was to be his surrogate who would slay Fafner and win the treasure for him, but now the headstrong boy is shattering his plans by resolving to leave him. He seats himself by the forge and ponders how he can lead Siegfried to Fafner’s cave. Nevertheless, Siegfried needs a powerful sword and Mime cannot melt those baffling splinters nor conquer its steel with his hammer. As Mime collapses in despair by the anvil, Wotan, disguised as the Wanderer, enters slowly from the back

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of the cave; an ominous figure wearing a long cloak and a large hat set low over one eye. He approaches Mime with an aura of gravity and solemnity. Wotan as Wanderer

The Wanderer greets the cringing Nibelung courteously and asks the customary grace of house and hearth for a weary wayfarer. Mime inquires who the stranger is, and he explains that he is known to the world as the Wanderer, the recipient of gracious hospitality from good men with whom he exchanges profound wisdom. He points his Spear at Mime and comments that few are wise enough to know their own needs, but he nevertheless graciously offers them the benefits of his wealth of wisdom. The Dwarf urges the strange intruder to leave, protesting that he is sufficiently wise and needs no counsel from strangers. Nevertheless, the Wanderer calmly seats himself and proposes a combat of wits in which he stakes his head on his ability to answer whatever question the Nibelung may ask him. Mime becomes distressed and ponders how he can rid himself of what he regards as an intrusive spy. But he is confident of his own cunning and decides to accept the stranger’s challenge: he will gamble his hearth against the Wanderer’s head and ask the stranger three questions to test his boastful arrogance. Mime begins by asking the wise stranger if he can tell him what race it is that dwells in the caverns of the earth? The Wanderer replies that it is the Nibelungs; their home is Nibelbeim and they were slaves of Alberich who overpowered them with the magic Ring. Mime, after further reflection, asks what race it is that dwells on the surface of the earth? The Wanderer replies that it is the Giants: their home is Riesenbeim, and two of them, Fasolt and Fafner, fought over the Nibelung’s Hoard and Fafner slew his brother Fasolt. Fafner now guards the treasure transformed into a Dragon. The Wanderer requests the Dwarf’s third question. Mime, rather baffled by his omniscience, reflects deeply and at last asks what race dwells on the cloud-covered

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heights? The Wanderer replies that it is the Gods: their fortress is Valhalla and the highest of the Gods is Wotan who made a Spear-shaft from a branch of the world-ash-tree and governs the world by virtue of the laws carved on it; with his power he restrained the Giants and the Nibelung Dwarfs. The Wanderer lets his Spear touch the ground, and a rumble of thunder causes Mime to shrink back in terror. The Wanderer asks if he has answered the Dwarf’s questions correctly, and therefore, hold on to his head? Timidly yet ingratiatingly, Mime nods his assurance, but then exhorts him to go on his way. The Wanderer reminds him that they had made rules for their wager and it is now the Dwarf’s turn to gamble his own wisdom against his own head. Mime becomes petrified but pulls his wits together, gains confidence, and prepares to answer the Wanderer’s first question. The Wanderer asks what race received Wotan’s wrath though he loved it more than all others in the world. Mime confidently answers that it is the race of the Volsungs that Wotan cherished but chastised as well; as Wälse he sired the twins, Siegmund and Sieglinde, whose offspring was Siegfried, the noblest and strongest of all the Volsungs. The Wanderer compliments Mime on his knowledge. The Wanderer asks who is the wise Nibelung who shelters Siegfried to fight Fafner for him and win him the Hoard; and by what sword will Fafner die? Mime ponders the question but finds the answer absurdly easy. He rubs his hands in glee and announces that Nothung is the Sword, the weapon wielded by Siegmund in his last fight but shattered by Wotan’s spear. But now it is Mime, the cunning smith who possesses the fragments that he will reforge and give to the witless Siegfried to slay the Dragon. Mime, highly pleased with himself, asks the Wanderer if he has saved his head? The Wanderer laughs cynically and assures him that nowhere on earth is there wisdom like that of Mime. But since he is so wise as to mold this young hero for his own ends, perhaps he is wise enough to answer the third question: By whose hand shall the mighty pieces of the Volsung sword be made anew into Nothung? Mime erupts into wild terror and fear and screams pathetically that he does not know. Mime is the most

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skillful of smiths but the cursed steel has been too hard for him to hammer or melt. In an outburst of despair he throws his tools about and cries deliriously: “Who can shape the Sword that baffles my skill? Who can achieve this marvel?” Finally, the Wanderer provides profound wisdom for Mime by boldly informing him that Nothung can only be forged anew by one who knows no fear, however, he must beware that this fearless man will slay him. The Wanderer turns away with a cynical smile and then disappears into the forest. Mime contemplates the Wanderer’s enigmatic words and feels crushed and threatened. Acccording to the Wanderer’s mysterious prophesy, the fearless Siegfried will be able to forge Nothung, but that same fearless one will.take Mime’s head. Mime’s anxiety turns to hallucinations as he stares despairingly at the sunlit forest: it seems to have come alive with menacing lights that flash, swirl, and quiver and dart. He imagines the roar of monsters opening their jaws to seize their prey and then shrieks, “Fafner! Fafner!” Mime collapses in terror. Siegfried returns to the cave, searches for Mime, and finds him behind the anvil, confounded and tormented by the Wanderer’s prediction. He is hardly conscious of Siegfried’s presence and muses on his baffling enigma. Suddenly he conceives a solution to his dilemma: he will teach Siegfried fear to save his own life. Mime complains that to Siegfried that he was careless in educating him: he taught him about the evil and duplicity of the world but never taught him fear; without the knowledge of fear the mightiest of swords will not protect him. Siegfried asks disingenuously, “What is fearing? Is it a craft?” Mime conjures up terrors and asks Siegfried if he ever felt dread in his soul when night fell in the forest, but Siegfried affirms that his heart always beats soundly. However, Mime’s description has aroused the lad’s curiousity about fear, and he concludes that it must be the strangest of feelings; shivering, shuddering, trembling, burning and fainting. Excitedly, Siegfried yearns to learn fear. Mime will teach Siegfried fear by taking him to Neidhöhle in the eastern forest where a monstrous

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Dragon devours men. Siegfried becomes impatient and delighted and urges Mime to immediately begin making him a powerful sword. But Mime wails again, complaining that the task is beyond his talents, however, it is indeed within the power of one who has never known fear. Siegfried recognizes his call and immediately brushes the whimpering Dwarf aside, strides to the hearth, and announces that he , the fearless one, will re-forge his father’s Sword. Siegfried piles a great heap of charcoal on the hearth, blows up the fire, places the fragments of the Sword in the vice, and begins to file them vigorously. Mime watches him, offers advice, but is contemptuously rejected. Song of the Sword

As Siegfried’s apparent success in forging the Sword becomes more apparent Mime begins to vacillate about his dilemma: according to the wise Wanderer, if Siegfried does not learn fear from Fafner, Mime’s head will fall; but if Siegfried learns fear, Fafner will never be slain. Meanwhile, Siegfried files the fragments, forms them in a crucible and places them on the forge. He turns to Mime and asks what name the Sword once had and Mime replies, “Your mother told me it was named Nothung.” Siegfried bellows the fire and lustily praises the Sword. But Mime’s thoughts are preoccupied with his diabolical plan to kill Siegfried after he slays the Dragon. Siegfried continues forging the Sword, tugs at the bellows and plunges the white-hot crucible into the water, all the while suspiciously watching Mime and noticing that he is excitedly shaking herbs into a pot. When Siegfried inquires what he is doing, Mime evades him by praising his smith’s skill in putting the master to shame: from now on, Siegfried will be the smith and Mime will be his cook.

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Forging the Sword

Siegfried extracts the glowing steel from the fire and lays it on the anvil. He has tamed the stubborn Sword: he takes it from the anvil, brandishes it and again plunges it into the water, laughing boisterously at the sounds of its hissing. Mime leaps about in delight, ecstatically sensing his own triumph: Alberich’s despised slave will soon acquire the Gold and master the world; the Nibelungs and Gods will soon cringe before Mime. With his last blow of his hammer Siegfried rivets the handle and greets the Sword victoriously: “Nothung! Neidliches Schwert!” Nothung! Nothung! Neidliches Schwert

The splintered Sword that had lain dead has been brought to life. Proudly, Siegfried addresses his masterwork: “Show the cowards how you can shine! Cut through the false heart, and strike at the knave!” He raises the newly forged Nothung, and with a mighty blow shatters the anvil into pieces. Mime, who had been exulting in his triumph, turns to fright as Siegfried exultantly holds the Sword aloft.

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Act II: A knoll in the forest at Neidhöhle before Fafner’s cave Fafner: the Dragon

It is night. Alberich is crouched outside Fafner’s cave convinced that soon his dreams of world mastery will dawn, and recoils in terror when he recognizes the approach of Wotan in his Wanderer’s disguise. He reproaches the God with venomous wrath, indicting him for violating the sacred Laws on his Spear by using guile and force to ravish his Ring and Hoard, and declaring the evil God doomed by his own deceit. Then, wondering what treachery awaits, Alberich taunts the God’s fears that if the treasure is recaptured by the Nibelung he will destroy Valhalla and master the world. However, the Wanderer, with quiet composure, tells Alberich that he has come not to act against him but to witness events. Calmly, the Wanderer announces that the Ring’s destined master will deal with its power in his own way. Knowingly, Alberich denounces him for breeding a hero-race specifically to gain possession of the Ring for his own selfish purposes. Nevertheless, the Wanderer claims he no longer has interest in actively pursuing the treasure: its recapture is now in the hands of a hero who knows nothing about the God but who will serve his Will; the God will accept whatever destiny awaits him. Alberich rejoices that the Gods will no longer intervene in his diabolical obsession for the Gold. The Future Hero

But the Wanderer bears an omen: he cautions Alberich that his greedy brother Mime has goaded a young hero to slay Fafner; Alberich responds confidently that he can cope with his despised brother and the innocent boy. The Wanderer prophesies that Fafner will fall and the two Nibelungs will lust for the Gold.

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The Wanderer mounts the knoll in front of the cave and calls out to awaken the Dragon. Fafner’s deep voice booms from the dark recesses of the cave and asks who wakens him from his sleep. With irony, the Wanderer replies that it is a friend who will allow him to live if he yields him the Hoard. Alberich intervenes with urgency and advises Fafner that a hero comes to challenge him; Fafner replies casually that he welcomes the combat. The Wanderer and Alberich exhort the Dragon to be prudent, telling him that the brave hero comes with a mighty Sword and craves only the golden Ring; if Fafner yields it he will not fight him and the Hoard will remain with the Dragon. Fafner merely growls, confirms that he will hold his possessions, yawns, and then asks to be left to sleep in peace. The Wanderer had anticipated Fafner’s negative reply and turns to Alberich, laughing heartily about their failure. Then he offers advice to Alberich: “All things go as they must: no minute part may be altered.” The Wanderer announces that he must leave but cautions Alberich to beware of his brother, Mime. As he disappears into the forest Alberich gazes after him, curses the God, predicts his victory and their ultimate downfall, and then slips into a cleft in the rocks. As day dawns Siegfried and Mime arrive. Mime reconnoiters warily, recognizes the cave, and announces that they need go no further. Siegfried urges Mime to leave him, satisfied that he has come at last to a place where he will learn the meaning of fear. Mime assures him that if he does not learn fear here and now there is no other time or place where he can teach it to him. Siegfried remains undisturbed and confident while Mime intentionally provides a horrifying description of the grim and grisly Dragon in the cave; vast jaws that could kill him with one snap, poisonous saliva that can rot his bones and body, and a huge tail that can crunch his bones like glass. Siegfried asks if the monster has a heart, and if it is in the same place as in men and beasts? Mime’s assurance prompts Siegfried to announce that he will drive Nothung straight into his heart; there is nothing to fear. Mime again tries to arouse Siegfried’s fright and panic by telling him that when he sees the Dragon his senses will weaken, his heart will beat madly, and the

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forest will spin round him. Then, Mime hopes he will “thank him for leading him here, and think of Mime’s great love for him.” Siegfried’s hatred of Mime resurfaces and he frankly asks when he will be rid of this horrible creature who professes to love him but for whom he feels only loathing and hate. As Mime leaves he tells Siegfried to wait until the sun reaches its height; then the monster will crawl from his cave to water at the stream. Siegfried amuses himself with the pleasing idea that the Dragon might assault and devour Mime while he is at the spring and advises him to save his life and flee; then Siegfried will no longer be troubled by the miserable Dwarf. Once more Mime hypocritically urges the boy to call on him should he need advice, and once more Siegfried roughly repulses him, finally driving him away with a furious gesture. As Mime slinks away he reveals his treacherous intentions: “Fafner and Siegfried, Siegfried and Fafner, would each the other might slay!” Mime disappears and Siegfried stretches himself out comfortably under a tree as the forest becomes slowly astir with morning life. Forest Murmurs

Siegfried muses how gentle the forest is, and how it seems to laugh with delight now that the loathsome old Dwarf has gone, fervently hoping he will never see him again. When he learned that Mime was not his father his heart filled with joy, but now he wonders how his true father looked? Surely, if Mime had a son he would resemble him; hunchbacked, drooping ears, and bleary blinking eyes. Siegfried begins to yearn for his mother, wishing he could learn more about what she was like; surely her eyes were soft and shining and tender like those of the deer? Perhaps they were even more beautiful? She bore him in sorrow and he wonders if all mothers must die so that their young may live? He sighs and then imagines his happiness if he could only see his mortal mother.

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While he is lost in her reverie the forest murmurs grow louder, and he becomes attracted by the song of a woodbird in the branches above him. The Woodbird

Siegfried muses whether the bird is trying to tell him something of his mother? The irritable old Dwarf told him that there was meaning in the songs of birds if men could but understand them. But how can he communicate with the birds? Suddenly he thinks about following the bird’s notes on a reed, piercing its meaning by exchanging melodies with it. He runs to the spring, cuts a reed with his Sword, and hastily shapes it into a pipe. When the bird sings again he makes an attempt to imitate it, but his clumsy reed either blows false or gives no sound at all. He becomes boyishly peevish at his failure and smiles to acknowledge that the little songbird is his superior. He concludes that perhaps the slender reed was not a fitting instrument so he places his horn to his lips and blows a vigorous, sustained call on it. The woodland begins to resonate and suddenly he senses something stirring in the background: he has awakened Fafner who now lurches from his cave and drags his monstrous bulk up to the higher ground on which be rests the front part of his body. As he comes to rest he emits a huge yawn that astonishes Siegfried and causes him to gaze on him with boyish delight. The Dragon addresses the lad, asking who it is that awakened him? Siegfried answers, “One who wants to learn what fear is. Happily I will learn it from you? If not, soon you will be food for my Sword.” Fafner opens his gaping jaws, shows his teeth, and roars: “I came for a drink, and now I find food!” As Siegfried goads the Dragon with taunts and threats Fafner’s anger increases: he begins to roar defiantly and bids the boastful boy engage him in combat. Th Dragon drags his clumsy body up the knoll, spouts venom from his nostrils, and lashes at him with his tail. Angered by a wound he has received, he raises the front part of his body to throw his whole weight on

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the boy, exposing his breast. Quickly and instinctively, Siegfried plunges his Sword into the Dragon’s heart. Fafner groans with pain, raises himself still higher, and then sinks to the ground. Siegfried withdraws his Sword and leaps beside him. In a weakening voice Fafner asks the lad who he is, and who had urged him to this murderous deed, for his own childish mind could never have conceived such a diabolic act. Siegfried accuses the monster himself of provoking him to combat. Fafner proceeds to tell Siegfried whom he has slain. He recounts the story about the brother Giants who long ago won the cursed Gold from the Gods, that Fafner murdered his brother and used the Tarnhelm to transform himself into a Dragon to guard the Hoard, and that now the last of the Giants has fallen by the hand of a boy. The dying Fafner offers Siegfried advice: “Heed yourself well, blossoming hero; Whoever drove you blind to this deed also plots your death! Mark it well! Heed my word!” Siegfried replies to Fafner’s advice with a question, telling him he knows only that he is called Siegfried but yearns to learn more about himself; he asks Fafner if he could tell him from where he came. The Dragon merely repeats Siegfried’s name with a sigh and then utters his final caution before he dies: “The dead, can give him no information.” Fafner, in his death agony, rolls to one side. As Siegfried draws the Sword from his breast the Dragon’s blood smears his hand, burns him, and he instinctively puts his fingers to his mouth to suck away the blood. As he does this the song of the birds once more captures his attention. He senses that they seem to be speaking to him, and he realizes that by some spell in the Dragon’s blood their song has become intelligible to him. One of the birds says, “Now Siegfried has won the Nibelung Hoard: it lies awaiting him there in the cave. If he wins the Tarnhelm too it would serve him for wonderful deeds; but if he finds the Ring it would make him lord of the world!” Siegfried thanks the bird, resolves to follow its counsel, and enters the cave in search of the treasure. Mime suddenly slinks in, looks around timidly, assures himself that Fafner is dead, and proceeds warily towards the cave. Simultaneously Alberich emerges

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from the cleft and rushes at his brother to bar his way. The Nibelung brothers are fully aware that each seeks to claim the treasure; they volley questions, argue, and make accusations at each other. Mime screams that the Gold shall not escape him because he earned it with bitter toil, and Alberich claims the treasure because it was he who robbed the Rhinegold and invoked the Ring’s spell. Mime proclaims that it was he who made the magic Tarnhelm that served Alberich so well, and Alberich claims that it was through his invocation of the Ring’s power that Mime was endowed with the skill to make the Tarnhelm. Mime claims the Ring because Alberich let it go to the Giants, and what he lost he has now won for himself; Alberich denies him and claims that the Hoard belongs to him, the one who won it first. After Mime claims that he had reared the boy to do the deed, he weakens and capitulates, suggesting a compromise in which they would share the booty: Alberich would keep the Ring, and he would take the Tarnhelm. With a scornful laugh Alberich swears that he will never let the Tarnhelm pass into Mime’s hands, absolutely certain that his brother would work his cunning on him while he sleeps. Mime screams in rage that now it seems that nothing, not even the smallest share of the treasure will be his. But he proclaims that Alberich too shall have no share, for he will summon Siegfried who will wield his powerful Sword to avenge him against his brother. At that moment Siegfried emerges from the cave. To his astonishment, Mime notices that the boy took nothing from the treasure, but only, like a child captivated by a toy, the Tarnhelm. However, Alberich keenly notices that he has taken the Ring and curses him. Mime adds to Alberich’s consternation by advising him that he will convince Siegfried to give him the Ring. To avoid confronting Siegfried, Mime runs into the forest; Alberich slips into a cleft while muttering confidently that soon the Ring will return to him. Siegfried walks slowly from the cave and gazes curiously at the Tarnhelm and the Ring that he took on the advice of the wood-bird; they seem like mere trinkets, and he has no idea how they may serve him. Nevertheless, this booty has not brought him the one

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thing he desired: he has not learned the meaning of fear. While he places the Ring on his finger and affixes the Tarnhelm to his side, the wood-bird suddenly announces that Siegfried has won the Tarnhelm and Ring and he should not trust the treacherous Mime; however, because he has tasted the Dragon’s blood he will be able to understand Mime’s thoughts. Siegfried acknowledges that he understands the wood-bird’s caution. Siegfried, now confident and self-assured, observes Mime returning from the forest. Mime is unaware that Siegfried, having tasted the Dragon’s blood can understand the Dwarf’s treacherous thoughts; as such, Siegfried now knows that Mime is possessed by malice and deception. Mime welcomes Siegfried with gushing compliments for his heroic victory over Fafner. Siegfried complains that the Dragon did not teach him fear, but more importantly, he is grieved because Mime urged him to evil and remains unpunished; he now hates Mime more than his stricken foe. Nevertheless, Mime remains undaunted and continues to shower Siegfried with flattery and affection although he becomes flabbergasted by his unfriendliness: Siegfried fulfilled the Dwarf’s purpose and slew Fafner and his only concern now is to poison him, kill him, and rob the treasure; he hates the boy but only feigned love so he could use him to slay the Dragon and win the Gold for him. Mime tells Siegfried that if he does not yield the treasure he will die, but Siegfried’s casual demeanor agitates him. Mime: Siegfried, mein Sohn

Mime shows Siegfried the flask containing the broth he claims he lovingly prepared for the hero’s refreshment after the combat; but his thoughts, intelligible to Siegfried, reveal that it is poison. Mime

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offers Siegfried the draught, reminding him that in the past he never hesitated to take refreshment from him. Siegfried asks what herb it contains and Mime assures him that if he tastes it he will soon sleep peacefully, but he laughs inwardly that as soon as the boy sleeps he will behead him. Siegfried of course well understands Mime’s thoughts and confronts him; Mime becomes confused, defends himself furiously, and then denies his accusations. Mime again coaxes Siegfried to drink his poison, thinking to himself that it will be the last draught he will ever drain. Siegfried, fully aware of Mime’s villainous thoughts, suddenly becomes filled with violent hatred for the treacherous Dwarf who plots to kill him: he raises his Sword, and with a swift blow slays him: The horrifying Curse on the Ring has just claimed another victim; in the background, Alberich is heard laughing mockingly. Siegfried carries Mime’s body to the entrance of the cave, heaves it inside, and pronounces his epitaph for the hateful and wretched Dwarf; he may now guard his long-sought treasure without fear of thieves. He drags the Dragon’s body to block the cave entrance and blesses the rivals for the Gold; in death they have been victorious in their quest. Siegfried leaves the cave and rests under a tree to be sheltered and shaded from the sun’s heat. He delights at the chatter of the woodbirds in the branches above him who seem to be singing of love. Suddenly he feels a yearning for love and friednship, lamenting that he is so lonely: he has no brother or sister, his mother and father are dead, and his one friend was that treacherous old Dwarf who tried to kill him. Siegfried’s desire for love

Siegfried asks the woodbird to advise him where he can find a faithful friend. The bird announces that the most glorious of brides awaits him; she is Brünnhilde who sleeps on a fire-encircled rock, and he should awaken her and win her for his wife.

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Siegfried springs up abruptly and impetuously, his heart suddenly aflame with passion and love. He asks the wood-bird how he can pierce the flames to awaken the bride, and he is told that it is only accomplished by one who has never known fear. The fearless Siegfried becomes ecstatic; he failed to learn fear from the Dragon, and now burns with desire to learn fear from Brünnhilde; the friend who awaits him. Siegfried asks the bird to lead the way to his bride. The bird hovers above him, teases him for awhile, and then sets its course for Brünnhilde’s rock as Siegfried follows anxiously.

Act III: the foot of a mountain at the base of Brünnhilde’s rock. It is night. Amidst a raging storm there are flashes of lightning and roaring thunder. Wotan has become tortured by the mystery of events he precipitated but is unable to control; he is anxiously trying to learn the future of the Gods, the Ring, and Siegfried. After leaving Alberich, he hastened to Erda, the Goddess of wisdom, for advice and counsel. He awakens Erda her from her interminable sleep. A bluish light glows from the dark cavern and Erda rises slowly from the depths, her eyes heavy with sleep, covered with frost, and her hair and garments emitting a shimmering light. She inquires whose magic power has broken her dreams and sleep? Wotan announces that it is the Wanderer. He tells Erda how he has roamed the world in quest of wisdom and now seeks it from the wisest of women, the Wala, or prophetess, who knows all that stirs and breathes on earth, in the waters, or in the air. Erda responds gravely, telling him that while she sleep and dreams the Norns spin all that she knows; he should seek them for wisdom. But the Wanderer desperately needs Erda’s wisdom to interpret events already set into motion. Erda evades his pleas and tells him to go to their child, Brünnhilde, who possesses her wisdom and can predict the destiny of the world. He replies that Brünnhilde

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has been deprived of her Godhood and has lost her wisdom: she scoffed at his Will and has been punished, now a mortal lying in a deep sleep to be awakened by a hero who wins her for his wife. Erda reproaches him for punishing Brünnhilde for fulfilling his inmost wishes; he defends truth and right, but reigns with untruth. She tries to dismiss him but he insists that she reveal how the Gods can avoid their downfall. World Inheritance

But his hopes rest with Siegfried. He reveals that the young Volsung, knows him not, but has won the Nibelung’s Ring free of his counsel and intervention; Alberich’s curse has no power over the young hero who is free from envy and knows not fear. Siegfried will awaken Bünnnhilde, the child of Erda’s wisdom, and through their love they shall inherit the earth and redeem the world. He tells Erda to return to her endless slumber, dream, and witness the demise of the Gods, but they are yielding their power to greater spirits. Erda closes her eyes, slowly descends, and disappears. The storm has ceased and the moon rises. Siegfried, having lost the forest bird, climbs blindly toward Brünnhilde’s rock. He is halted by the Wanderer who inquires where he goes; he advises the stranger that a bird directs him to a flame-encircled rock where he must awaken a sleeping maiden. The stranger tells him that wood-birds sometimes chatter senselessly, and asks him how he learned to understand the singing of birds. Siegfried relates that he was brought to Neidhöhle by a treacherous Dwarf named Mime, slew a lifethreatening Dragon, and after he tasted its blood was able to understand the songs of birds. The stranger asks him who forged his Sword? He responds that he himself forged it out of splinters that baffled the skill of Mime, the master-smith himself. The stranger asks who created the mighty steel from which the fragments came? Siegfried, now irritated by the stranger’s indulgence, replies that he knows not. Siegfried’s naive reply causes the Wanderer to laugh, annoying the lad even more, and he asks why

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the stranger delays him with his questions: if the stranger knows the way to the rock let him show it to him; if not he should be silent. As the Wanderer criticizes his disrespect, Siegfried’s patience explodes: all his life elders have interfered in his life, especially the Dwarf who had to be dispatched; he warns the stranger to be careful lest he share Mime’s fate. Siegfried inquires why the stranger’s face is overhung by a large hat, and he is told that it is the way the Wanderer goes against the wind. Siegfried notices that the stranger has one eye missing and concludes that it was no doubt struck out by another whose path he tried to bar; he warns him to be off or he may lose the other. Quietly and lovingly the Wanderer reproaches the impetuous lad, telling that if he knew him he would not scoff at him; he bore love for his family but in his anger punished it excessively, and the lad should not ruin both of them by awakening his wrath again. The wood-bird has fled from sight, and Siegfried impatiently orders the stranger to step aside and let him pass; the Wanderer tells him that the bird fled in fear of its life, having seen him, the lord of the ravens. He tells Siegfried that it was by his might that the maiden slumbers: if he can pierce the flames and awaken and win her, his power will be vanquished forever. He points to the glow visible on the heights and bids the foolhardy Siegfried retreat unless he wishes to be consumed by fire. Siegfried declares that he fears not the fire, and that he intends to go straight to Brünnhilde. In a last effort to dissuade him, the Wanderer holds out his Spear to bar Siegfried’s path, telling him that the Spear is hallowed and was the instrument that broke and shattered his father’s Sword. Siegfried exclaims vengefully that he has finally found his father’s ancient enemy, raises his Sword, and with one blow shatters the Spear in two; thunder, and a flash of lightning project from the Spear toward the rocky heights where the flames have become brighter. The fragments of the Spear fall at the Wanderer’s feet, and with resignation he quietly retrieves them. In this confrontation with Siegfried, Wotan played out his internal drama, and ultimately his power to shape external events ceased. Siegfried’s destruction of the

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divine Spear symbolizes the annulment of the God’s power over events. Wotan had sought to bar Siegfried’s path with the Spear upon which the Laws of the old order were engraved, but when Siegfried shattered the Spear, the inherent power of the old order was abolished. But with Siegfried and Brünnhilde a new moral world-order will emerge: Siegfried will remain ignorant, but as Erda hinted, Brünnhilde’s omniscient wisdom will redeem the world from its evil. The Wanderer departs, commanding the lad to go his way, for he can no longer restrain him. The fate of the world now weaves toward its appointed end, without the intervention of the Gods. Act III - Scene 2: Brünnhilde’s rock. Siegfried notices the increasing brightness of the fire-clouds, and joyously sounds his hunting horn as he makes his way toward the rock where his promised friend and bride awaits him. Fearlessly, he plunges into the blazing fire, the flames diminish slowly, and the rosy light of dawn gradually appears; Brünnhilde sleeps on the rock in her Valkyrie armor. Siegfried approaches slowly and then pauses in wonder. At first he sees a horse, and then a sleeping warrior in armor; the noble companion he has yearned for. He raises the warrior’s helmet, becomes startled when a great mass of hair falls down, and then cuts the binding armor. He bolts back and turns into a frenzy of fear and excitement: to his amazement, the sleeping warrior is a woman, the first he has ever beheld: “That is no man!” Love’s confusion.

Pulsating emotions begin to stir in the young Siegfried; he invokes his mother whom he had never seen, but who incarnates for him woman and the love which he has yearned for. Siegfried questions his pulsating emotions and asks himself if this at last is fear? He tries vainly to arouse the sleeping woman but she does not respond. In a despairing attempt, he kneels before her, presses his lips to hers, and his long kiss

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awakens the beautiful slumbering maiden. At once, Brünnhilde opens her eyes and returns to life, solemnly raising her arms to greet the earth and the sky. Greeting to the World

Brünnhilde turns to ask who this hero is who has braved the flames and awakened her?: He is Siegfried. The Valkyrie suddenly recalls her parting cry to Sieglinde when she announced the birth of the world’s future hero: “Let him take his name from me; Siegfried, joyful in victory.” Brünnhilde erupts rapturously, realizing that the rescuer before her is Siegfried, the fearless Volsung hero who has fulfilled Wotan’s prophesy. Siegfried and Brünnhilde bless the mother who gave him birth. O Heil der Mutter die mich gebar!

Brünnhilde praises Siegfried as the most blessed of heroes, the man she had loved even before he was born. Rapture of Love

Brünnhilde and Siegfried lose themselves in blissful contemplation of their shared souls. But she suddenly becomes fearful when she realizes her vulnerability; she is no longer a Valkyrie maiden but a mortal woman. Siegfried tries to embrace her, but frightened and conflicted, she repels him. In Valhalla she was untouched, a sacred Goddess to every hero, but now she realizes the full weight of her punishment; in losing her Godhood she has become prey to mortal emotions and she cannot subdue the yearning that burns within

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her. Now in shame and disgrace, Brünnhilde asks Siegfried to torment her no longer and leave her in peace. Peace

Siegfried refuses, vowing to awaken Brünnhilde to life and love by invoking the new day that has dawned for both of them. Slowly and passionately Brünnhilde’s protests dissolve and she yields to mortal love. She praises Siegfried as the “highest hero, wealth of the world, life of the life of things, laughter and joy”; the star that shines above Brünnhilde, and the light of all living and loving. Both embrace ardently and become transformed by the ecstasy of each other’s love; in their happiness, they invoke their love as “laughing death.”

Love’s Resolution

The warrior maiden, now tranformed into a mortal woman, has discovered the power of love; the essence of her all-consuming love for Siegfried will be to endow him with her wisdom.

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