An Introduction and Notes to

Richard Wagner's

THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG


By Larry Brown

Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Please email comments: larry.brown@lipscomb.edu



Composition

Richard Wagner took 25 years to complete his master artwork of the future (1848-1874) with a 12-year hiatus in the middle. The first complete festival presentation at Bayreuth occurred in 1876.

After completing a full prose sketch of the main narrative in 1848, Wagner first wrote the poetry for the tragedy of Siegfried's Death (Götterdämmerung in its final form) with extensive exposition explaining the mythical past. He soon came to realize that he needed to present the events leading up to Siegfried's death in more detail and in dramatic form, that is, on stage rather than narrated. So next he added a "prequel" Young Siegfried, then eventually composed Rhinegold and Valkyrie to complete the four-part cycle.



Mythological Sources

Wagner created his Ring by adapting the myths from several sources (13th century AD): the Icelandic works Poetic Edda, Prose Edda (by Snorri Sturluson), and Volsunga saga, and in German the Niebelungenlied, are among the major sources. Throughout the notes, we will review how Wagner transformed the original myths to meet his dramatic requirements.



Wagner's major contributions to the mythology of the Ring

  1. Rhinegold


    1. Wagner invented most of Rhinegold in its present form by combining three unrelated Edda stories:


      1. Freia offered in payment to the giants for building the walls around Valhalla.


      2. The apples of youth lost (from another goddess named Idunn).


      3. Odin and Loki stealing gold from a dwarf named Andvari to pay for the wrongful death of Fafner's brother, after which Fafner murders his father to obtain the gold.


    2. Additional new material in the prologue: the Rhinedaughters, the Rhinegold as the source for the ring, the act of forswearing love to obtain the ring's power, Wotan being bound by the contract of runes on his spear.


  2. Valkyrie


    1. Wagner makes Siegmund and Sieglinde Wotan's children and his intended means to regain the ring.


    2. He invented Brünnhilde's rebellion against Wotan by rescuing Sieglinde, and the idea of Brünnhilde acting as Wotan's alter ego.


  3. Siegfried


    1. Wagner envisioned Siegfried as a "free human being" who can change the world order.


    2. He will accomplish this feat with the sword which he reforges himself, breaking Wotan's spear.


    3. In this way Wagner links Siegfried's story to Wotan's ultimate plan to regain the ring. This connection is Wagner's major contribution to the entire plot of the Ring.


  4. Twilight of the Gods (Götterdämmerung)


    1. Wagner identified Gunther's half-brother Hagen as Alberich's son, linking Siegfried's murderer (with the ring as his ulterior motive) to Wotan's old adversary.


    2. Although never suggested in his sources, Wagner also makes the connection between Siegfried and Brünnhilde's deaths and the doom of the gods.


    3. The finale with the return of the ring to the Rhine and the restoration of nature.




Overview of the major themes of the four music-dramas:



Credits

Numbers are to pages in the Andrew Porter translation (Norton publishers 1977), unless otherwise noted as SS, which indicates a quote from the translation by Spencer (see bibliography at the end of the notes for full credits).

Midi musical examples were created by Fabrizio Calzaretti. My thanks for his wonderful work on this site.

If you do not see the menu bar on the left click here
Versione italiana
Versione italiana


Copyright 1999 by Larry A. Brown