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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

Tenor

Mime

Tenor

Brünnhilde

Soprano

The Wanderer (Wotan)

Bass-baritone

Fafner (Dragon)

Bass

Alberich

Baritone

Erda

Contralto

The Woodbird

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 toad-
like 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, per-
haps 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 mon-
strous 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 Faf-
ner 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

Siegfried Page 21

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

Siegfried Page 22

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 wis-

dom 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

Siegfried Page 24

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 life-
threatening 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

Siegfried Page 25

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

Siegfried Page 26

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

Siegfried Page 27

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

Siegfried Page 28

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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