The Ring of the Nibelung



Der Ring des Nibelungen ("The Ring of the Nibelung" ) is a cycle of four operas by Richard Wagner (hence the alternative term, the "Ring Cycle," which is sometimes applied to the whole . The cycle premiered at the Wagner Festival Theater in Bayreuth, August 14th-17th, 1876, though the first two sections of the work had already appeared at the Munich Court Opera in 1869 and 1870.

Der Ring des Nibelungen consists of


 * Prologue: Das Rheingold ("The Rhine-Gold")
 * Day I: Die Walküre ("The Valkyrie")
 * Day II: Siegfried
 * Day III: Götterdämmerung ("Twilight of the Gods")

For a recap of the plot, consult our synopsis page. Or listen to Anna Russell's famous analysis/summary.

The fundamental theme of Der Ring des Nibelungen is the opposition of Power to Love. Wagner's original intention in the work was socially progressivist, suggesting that the plutocratic society of 19th century Europe could be fundamentally improved by rejecting the desire for the domination of others and embracing instead redemption through universal love; however, as his philosophy developed, Wagner came to reject love as leading to social improvement, and suggested instead that the only possible "redemption" would come through a compassionate rejection of all personal desires, including the desire for societal amelioration, to achieve a Buddhistic Nirvana -- or what Wagner called the „wunsch- und wahnlos, heilig Wahlland, the desire-free, illusion-free, holy chosen Land."

As the vehicle for this symbolic drama, Wagner radically adapted the ancient legend of Siegfried the dragon-slayer, as it was preserved in ancient German and especially Scandinavian sources, such as the Nibelungenlied, the Volsunga Saga, Thridiks saga of Bern, the Poetic Edda, and the Prose Edda, as well as other, lesser works. He also found much suggestive detail in the scholarly writings of antiquarians such as Simrock, Rühs, and The Brothers Grimm. Wagner composed the text in the style of ancient Germanic poetry, in the alliterative verse form called Stabreim, as, for example, in Walküre:

"Waffenlos fiel' ich in Feindes Haus! Seiner Rache Pfand’ raste ich hier! "

"Defenseless, I found my foeman’s house! Fall’n to his revenge, remain I here!"

Wagner shows a tendency in his verse to employ an excess of superlatives ("Deepest love’s holiest need") and unusual or archaic words and constructions („neidlich”, "emulable" (?); “der Recken Zwist “of war-men the strife", and so on), which gave his text rather a stilted sound even in the over-blown literary German of his time. Dramatically, however, his text is masterly in its construction; his situations highly suggestive, and his characterization vivid and deep in psychological insight.

The staging of the work proved problematic. Wagner had the typical Teutonic and 19th century fascination with history, and instructed his scenery and costume designers to emulate as closely as possible the Ancient Germanic setting of the original legend. Unfortunately, that particular period was (and still is) a particularly obscure one in terms of social history, and Carl Döpler’s designs, though in accordance with the best knowledge of the time, were largely based on ceremonial costumes, in some cases extrapolated backward from much later sources. Hence the rather silly looking Horny Vikings costumes and settings that still inform most people’s mental image of the Ring. Furthermore, the spectacular scenic effects that Wagner intended, his dwarfs and dragons, gods and nixes, his bear and rams and serpent and ravens and wood-bird, even his rainbows, mists, rivers, caverns, and mountains, have afforded nightmarish problems from the very earliest presentations of the work. (Legend has it that the dragon’s neck was unavailable in the first performances, having been sent by mistake, not to Bayreuth in Bavaria, but to Beirut in Lebanon.) Nevertheless, Wagner’s dramatic technique was highly influential, to the extent that it colored the general public’s very conception of what "opera" is.

Note that it is largely Carl Emil Döpler's costume designs for the Valkyries in the 1876 Bayreuth production of Wagner's Ring that has established the popular image of the fat, horn-helmeted, breast-plated operatic soprano, though it may be noted that Döpler's Valkyries actually wear winged helmets. The common expression "The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings" may well derive from productions of Götterdämmerung in which Brünnhilde sings a lengthy monologue just before the conclusion (the actual last words are those of the villain Hagen) or from Tristan und Isolde which actually concludes with a lengthy monologue from the opera's heroine. (The lady in question being fat because the huge soprano voice required to sail over a Wagnerian orchestra is often not found in petite women.)

Most important, of course, is Wagner's music. In the Ring Wagner's Leitmotiv method is used in its most developed and sophisticated form. The score is by no means a simple patchwork, with (say) a "Wotan" motive sounding every time Wotan appears on-stage. Rather, it is a symphonic development of fundamental musical ideas, varied, combined, split, and developed in a complicated psychological counterpoint to the symbolism of the stage action. Frequently the music reveals the unspoken thoughts or feelings of a character; equally frequently, it comments ironically on the action. For the rest, Wagner’s music is characterized by a lush late Romantic nationalism, making rich use of chromaticism in the service of mood-setting and picture painting -- hence his pre-eminence as a dramatic composer, and his influence on later composers, particularly for the cinema, which has lasted to this day.

"„Weia! Waga! Woge, du Welle! Walle zur Wiege! Wagalaweia! Wallala weiala weia!""
 * Achievements in Ignorance: Siegfried succeeds in reforging Nothung, for the very reason that he knows not fear. Literally. Never mind that Mime with all manner of skill in smithery can't do it, Siegfried can somehow do it just from having complete ignorance of the concept of fear.
 * Alliteration: The libretto of the Ring is written in Stabreim, the ancient Germanic verse-form that was based on alliteration. Thus the opening of Rheingold:


 * Amazon Brigade: The Valkyries.
 * Ancestral Weapon: In Walküre, Brünnhilde gives the fragments of Siegmund's sword to Sieglinde; Siegfried duly forges them anew into a sword in his eponymous opera.
 * Anti-Hero/Anti-Villain: Wotan. Though he is trying to establish a world of order and laws, his actions are nearly always self-serving.
 * Artifact of Doom: The Ring of the Nibelung. Mainly because Alberich cursed all those who would have it after him, but not only due to that. The misery and hatred that it brings is implicit in the very act of making it, since the condition for doing so is the renunciation of Love (in the broader sense that includes all affections). Plus, pretty much any item that gives its bearer power over the whole world will end up with a pretty bloody trail behind it of those who sought it out.
 * Attack Its Weak Point: How Siegfried defeats Fafner.
 * At the Opera Tonight: The Ring operas rank among the favorites for characters to attend, as in Nicholas Meyers' Sherlock Holmes novel, The Seven Per Cent Solution (Siegfried).
 * Badass Baritone: Or Bass-baritone. Alberich, Wotan, Fasolt, Fafner, Donner, Hunding, Hagen -- Gunther is the only weakling at the deep end of the pool.
 * Batman Gambit: Wotan tries to manipulate Siegmund into killing Fafner and getting the ring to Wotan by his own free will. Doesn't work.
 * In fact, it backfires on all the Walküre cast except Fricka.
 * Who also  at the end of Götterdämmerung.
 * Bastard Bastard: Scheming Hagen, murderer of Siegfried and his own half-brother Gunther.
 * Battle Cry: Hojotoho! Hojotoho! Heiaha! Heiaha!
 * To a lesser extent: Hagen's Hoiho in Götterdämmerung.
 * Bavarian Fire Drill: How Hagen summons the vassals in Götterdämmerung
 * Bed Trick: Actually occurs in Wagner's sources for the Ring, but softened by him into a temporary exchange of identities by Siegfried and Gunther; Brünnhilde's certainty that this trope has been invoked leads to the disaster that follows.
 * Beneath the Earth: Nibelheim.
 * Also Gesamtkunstwerk.
 * Big Screwed-Up Family: As Deryck Cooke remarks, "Those who derive amusement from making fun of The Ring will be delighted to realise that one of Wotan’s problems is 'in-law trouble.'"
 * The Blacksmith: This is the normal occupation of the Nibelungs. See also Ultimate Blacksmith, below.
 * Born Winner: Siegfried.
 * Brother-Sister Incest: At the beginning of Die Walküre, Sieglinde is married to Hunding. A mysterious stranger arrives. The mysterious stranger and Sieglinde fall in love, and Sieglinde drugs her brutish husband. At the end of the act it is revealed that the mysterious stranger is Siegmund, and he is Sieglinde's long-lost brother. The brother and sister ecstatically declare their love at the end of the act. Their child, Siegfried, will be the hero of the eponymous next opera in the cycle.
 * BSOD Song: Notably, „Als junge Liebe" in Walküre.
 * Butt Monkey: Mime is victimized by both Alberich and Siegfried.
 * Cain and Abel: In Das Rheingold, Fafner kills his brother Fasolt, and in Götterdämmerung, Hagen murders his half-brother Gunther.
 * Chickification: Threatened by Wotan as a horrible fate for the Valkyries; Brünnhilde comes to embrace it.
 * The Chosen One: Siegfried is the hero destined to recover the Ring and rescue Brünnhilde from the ring of magic fire.
 * Concept Album: The Ring
 * The Consigliere: Hagen in Götterdämmerung pretends to be this, but he's actually The Chessmaster who suffers from Chronic Backstabbing Disorder -- or, at least, makes others suffer from it.
 * Cool Helmet: As a result of Döpler's costume designs, in which helmets are adorned by various varieties of horns and wings.
 * Cool Sword: Nothung ("Born of Need"), Wagner's equivalent to the Nibelungenlied 's "Balmung" ("Destruction") or Volsungasaga's "Gram" ("Wrath").
 * Curb Stomp Battle: The first act and a half of Siegfried is spent building up to what ought to be an epic battle between the fearless Siegfried and Fafner the dragon. The actual fighting only goes on for one minute before Siegfried runs Nothung through Fafner's heart, and is set to rather perfunctory music.
 * Dark Age Europe/The Low Middle Ages: Though really more The Time of Myths.
 * Death by Flashback: Happens to Siegfried in Götterdämmerung.
 * Dirty Coward: Mime, though some directors try to soften his character considerably in modern productions.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Technically, Siegfried didn't really have to kill Mime, he just had to not drink the poison Mime was trying to give him.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Wagner's Nibelung dwarves (particularly Mime) have been claimed as Fantasy Counterpart Cultures of the Jews. While this is not entirely far-fetched (Gustav Mahler, both a Jew and an admirer of Wagner, accepted Mime, at least, as a Semitic caricature), it is a theory that can be pressed too far.
 * Easy Amnesia: Brünn-who-lde?
 * End of an Age: Or you could even call it a Götterdämmerung.
 * The Epic: Der Ring des Nibelungen. All fifteen-to-twenty hours of it.
 * 13 1/2 (Böhm & Boulez) to 17 hours (Goodall) is a more realistic estimate.
 * Everything's Worse with Bears: As Siegfried demonstrates by letting one loose on Mime.
 * Evil Counterpart: In the end, Wotan and Alberich aren't too different. Wotan even refers to himself and Alberich as "Light Alberich" and "Black Alberich" at points.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: As with Alberich, Hunding, and Hagen.
 * On the other hand, the well-intentioned, if weak, Gunther is a baritone, and on the other other hand, Mime is a squeaky tenor.
 * Eyepatch of Power: Wotan.
 * Face Heel Turn: Alberich does a decidedly abrupt one of these, starting as a inept lover but quickly transforming into an Evil Overlord and staying that way for the rest of the cycle. This also sets the entire rest of the plot in motion.
 * Fanfare: Several of Wagner's Leitmotive (e.g., Siegfried's horncall) have the character of fanfares. At Bayreuth, certain motifs are played as fanfares from the balcony of the Festspielhaus to announce the beginning of an act.
 * Fearless Fool: Siegfried has never learned what fear is until he meets Brünnhilde. (No, you're not supposed to laugh.)
 * Forged by the Gods: The magic sword Nothung, created by Wotan and wielded first by Siegmund and then Siegfried.
 * Forging Scene: In Siegfried, the eponymous hero reforges his father's shattered sword Nothung, while singing an address to the weapon, „Nothung! Nothung! Neidliches Schwert!"
 * Full Potential Upgrade: Siegfried has a habit of contemptuously snapping Mime's swords in two until Siegfried finally reforges the invincible Nothung.
 * German Language: While Leitmotiv was actually coined rather by Hans von Wolzogen rather than by Wagner, the Master did coin the resoundingly Teutonic term, Bühnenfestspiel mentioned above.
 * Once again, don't forget Gesamtkunstwerk.
 * Giggling Villain: Mime is often played this way in Siegfried.
 * God's Hands Are Tied: Why Wotan cannot just kill the giants and take the Ring for himself.
 * Give Me a Sword: The weaponless Siegmund voices this sentiment when he sings his aria „Ein Schwert verhieß mir der Vater". At the end of the act he pulls Nothung, which had been planted there by Wotan, out of the ash tree that supports Hunding's roof.
 * Hat of Power: The Tarnhelm, which grants the wearer invisibility, shape-shifting, and teleportation.
 * The Heavy: Hagen in Götterdämmerung is perhaps the most typical example.
 * The Hecate Sisters: The Norns in Götterdämmerung.
 * Heroic Bastard: Siegfried, presumably.
 * Historical Domain Character: Oddly enough, Gunther, who is based on an actual 6th century Burgundian ruler, Gunthahari.
 * Hope Spot: Occurs notably in Walküre, when Siegmund sees the gleam of the sword that his father has promised him. The hope proves delusive, of course.
 * Hot Amazon: What Brünnhilde (and, indeed, all the Valkyries) were intended by Wagner to be. Too bad most opera singers are (in the words of PG Wodehouse) "designed more along the lines of the Albert Hall."
 * Hot-Blooded: Siegfried is rather ... excitable.
 * Hunting Accident: Hagen claims that Siegfried has been slain by a wild boar.
 * Idiot Hero: Siegfried ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer.
 * Illegal Guardian: Mime serves as this to Siegfried, in the hope that the boy will kill Fafner for him. (One wonders exactly how Mime convinced Sieglinde to give her child up.)
 * In Siefried it is said she died in childbirth, there is nothing to suggest Mime killed her - he probably would have mentioned it in the scene where thanks to Fafner's blood Siegfried can hear through his lies.
 * It May Help You on Your Quest: In Siegfried, after the eponymous hero kills Fafner, he can understand the forest bird's song telling him to take the ring and helm. He doesn't know what they really are, but it keeps them out of the hands of Alberich and Mime. (Too bad that the ring is an Artifact of Doom...)
 * Karma Houdini: Alberich, arguably.
 * Kiai: The Valkyries use the well-known cry „Hojotoho! Hojotoho! Heiaha! Heiaha!"Naturally, their cry is a significant musical Leitmotif.
 * Kill'Em All: Götterdämmerung culminates with Siegfried's death, prompting Brünnhilde to make a Heroic Sacrifice that burns down Walhall with all the gods and heroes inside.
 * Large Ham: Let Brünnhilde show you how it's done.
 * In fact, if you're not a gigantic ham, you have no place in Wagnerian opera. Period. (See World of Ham, below.)
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia: In Götterdämmerung, Siegfried is drugged to forget that he ever met Brünnhilde, but remembers killing Fafner and all his other early deeds. Later, he steals the Ring from Brünnhilde, but promptly forgets this.
 * Last Kiss: Wotan memorably gives this to Brünnhilde in Walküre.
 * One of the most moving and beautiful scenes ever written, with heartbreaking music to match.
 * Leitmotif: The Leitmotif technique, if not invented by Wagner, was certainly perfected by him. In his operas, not only would every character have his/her own motif, but also objects, places, and even abstract ideas, all of which would be woven into a complex symphonic whole, in which the variations of the motifs have a psychological effect far more significant than a mere announcement of a character's presence.
 * Light Is Not Good: Done rather subtly in the Ring, in which often the only difference between Wotan and Alberich is that Wotan somewhat regrets his actions -- but does them anyway. (Wotan actually refers to himself as „Licht-Alberich" ("Light-Alberich") and to the dwarf as „Schwarz-Alberich" ("Dark-Alberich" (or more literally "Black-Alberich"))).
 * Love At First Sight: Plenty of examples in the Ring.
 * Long lost siblings Siegmund and Sieglinde quickly fall in love in Act I of Die Walküre.
 * Siegfried instantly falls in love with Brünnhilde after he braves the magic fire and awakens her with a kiss.
 * Love Potion: Where it also induces Easy Amnesia in Siegfried.
 * Meaningful Name: As when Siegmund ("Victorious Protection") calls himself „Wehwalt der Wölfing -- ("Sorrow-ruled, son of Wolfe").
 * Mood Motif: One of the basic functions of the Leitmotive.
 * Music of Note: The "Ride of the Valkyries" is the Standard Snippet.
 * Named Weapons: The principal sword in the Ring is named Nothung.
 * Nice Hat: Those winged (and horned) helmets.
 * No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: It has been asserted that when composing the Ring, Wagner at one point intended for the operas to be performed three times in a purpose-built opera house. Afterward, all copies of the score and all the props were to be burned, along with the entire opera house. Obviously this did not happen.
 * Norse Mythology: Wagner has hugely affected the popular perception of it.
 * Only the Chosen May Wield: The sword in the ash tree, which can be only pulled out by Siegmund, as he does in Die Walküre Act I.
 * Opera: Uh...yeah.
 * Orchestral Bombing: The Walkürenritt.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: As a matter of fact, the dragon (Fafner) is a giant transformed by the magical Tarnhelm.
 * Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Except for Alberich and Mime, the Nibelung dwarfs are pretty much Punch-Clock Mooks.
 * Pacing Problems: It has been opined that some scenes, such as Wotan's recap of previous events to Brünnhilde (in Walküre), go on way too long.
 * Fridge Brilliance: On the other hand, the fact that every single act contains all the relevant exposition makes it possible for them to be performed/broadcast separately, for the benefit of short modern attention spans. (Interestingly, this is the exact opposite of Wagner's intentions: he was adamant that the four operas should be performed on four successive nights. Ideally, this performance should take place in a temporary wooden structure that would be burned down at the end of Goetterdaemmerung.)
 * Playing with Fire: Loge.
 * Popcultural Osmosis: An astonishing number of Wagnerians have been attracted to his music via Apocalypse Now and Looney Tunes cartoons.
 * The Power of Love: In the Ring, though Sieglinde is rescued from Hunding, and Brünnhilde from the Ring of Fire, Sieglinde's love does not save Siegmund, and Brünnhilde's actually leads to Siegfried's death, and both the ladies (like everyone except the Rhine-daughters, and possibly the Nibelungs) die under rather unpleasant circumstances. (A monologue in an early version of the text, in which Brünnhilde specifically invoked The Power of Love before burning herself to death, was deliberately cut by the composer because it no longer represented his philosophical ideas.)
 * Public Domain Artifact: Averted; the Ring (or rather, any of its prototypes) was not a well-known artifact before Wagner.
 * Ravens and Crows: A pair of these are intelligence gatherers for Wotan, bird-watching whom proves fatal to Siegfried.
 * Reforged Blade: Nothung, in Siegfried.
 * "Ride of the Valkyries": The Trope Namers comes from Die Walküre.
 * Ring of Power: The central symbol of Der Ring des Nibelungen. Wagner's depiction of an inevitably corrupting, incorrigibly evil ring inscribed with flaming runes would hugely influence Tolkien's, though Tolkien often disingenuously denied it.
 * Sacred Hospitality: Invoked by Hunding in Walküre with the words „Heilig ist mein Herd -- heilig sei dir mein Haus!" ("Sacred is my hearth -- sacred to thee be my house!")
 * Sadly Mythtaken: Or sometimes Willfully Mythtaken. Wagner enraged folklorists from his own time to the present for adapting ancient myths and legends with abandon, and in the process, ousting the originals from the minds of most of the public.
 * Self-Immolation: Brünnhilde.
 * Sequel First: Das Rheingold was actually the last of the plays to get an American production.
 * Serial Escalation: Where Wagner took opera -- I mean, Bühnenfestspiel.
 * Shock and Awe: Donner.
 * Sleeping Beauty: After she disobeys his orders, Wotan condemns Brünnhilde to sleep on a rock surrounded by magic fire. She will not awake until she a hero comes who does not know the meaning of fear, i.e., Siegfried.
 * Small Reference Pools: The "Ride of the Valkyries" is one of a select group of classical pieces known to practically everyone who knows classical music only from Pop Culture references. Likewise, the Ring of the Nibelung itself appears whenever opera is mentioned, but only if "Viking" helmets are involved, and usually without any of the Master's music.
 * Space Jews: The Nibelungs have been claimed by some to be stand-ins for the Jews. See Does This Remind You of Anything? above.
 * Speaks Fluent Animal: Siegfried can do this after tasting the dragon's blood.
 * Spirit Advisor: Alberich seems to fulfill this function for Hagen in Götterdämmerung.
 * Standard Pre-Ass-Kicking Snippet: The Looney Tunes series is very fond particularly of the Nibelung and Giant motifs in heralding any sinister doings.
 * Standard Snippet: The "Ride of the Valkyries".
 * Star-Crossed Lovers: Siegmund is killed by Hunding (after Wotan shatters Siegmund's sword), Sieglinde dies in child-birth; Siegfried is speared in the back, Brünnhilde burns herself to death on his funeral-pyre. Falling in love is generally not a good idea in a Wagner opera.
 * Tenor Boy: Invoked with Siegmund and Siegfried -- the more "boyish" Wagnerian rôles, though perhaps subverted by Mime.
 * There is no world in which Mime could conceivably be called an ingenue.
 * Theme Song Reveal: One of the basic uses of the Leitmotif, as for instance when the Walhall motif plays when Sieglinde describes the old man who thrust the sword into Hunding's roof-tree.
 * The Time of Myths: The setting for the Ring Cycle.
 * Trash the Set: If everything goes according to Wagner's plans, the cycle is meant to be staged in a temporary wooden building that is to be set ablaze at the story's end.
 * Twincest: Siegmund and Sieglinde in Die Walküre.
 * Ubermensch: Nietzsche saw Siegfried (and, indeed, Wagner himself) as the type of the new man who would transcend outworn moralities.
 * Ultimate Blacksmith: Alberich, Mime, and Siegfried all have claims on the part.
 * Valkyries: It is Wagner's version that most people think of when imagining these mythological "Gatherers of the Slain" -- however, it is worth noting that unlike the popular conception, Wagner's original Valkyries did not wear horned helmets, but winged ones; did not ride winged horses, though they were aerial ones; and, though intended to be rather manly, ungentle women, were intended to be statuesque in the 19th century manner, rather than grossly obese.
 * Verbal Backpedaling: In Siegfried, the dragon's blood acts as a reverse Truth Serum, allowing Siegfried (and the audience) to hear through Mime's lies. Several times, Mime lets his malicious intent slip; Siegfried questions him; he objects that he didn't say anything untoward, then continues in a soothing tone telling Siegfried He Has Outlived His Usefulness.
 * Voice of the Legion: Fafner, after he becomes a dragon, is subject to various kinds of technological vocal amplification -- originally just a speaking trumpet, but using higher and higher tech ever since.
 * We Can Rule Together: Hagen asks his father Alberich who will inherit the "eternal power" (ewige Macht) of the Ring if he gets it back from Siegfried. Alberich says: "I... and you!" He can't fool his son though.
 * Woman Scorned: For Brünnhilde, it is not enough that her husband, Siegfried, completely forgot her due to a love potion and married Gutrune, he also kidnapped her in the form of Gunther, and took her wedding Ring.
 * World of Ham: "Wagnerian" has become practically a synonym for this.
 * The World Tree: The ash tree trunk in Hunding's house (which older sources call an oak or apple tree) may be an attempt to invoke a connection to Yggdrasil.
 * Wrecked Weapon: Happens twice, once when Wotan shatters Siegmund's sword Nothung with his spear, and again when Siegfried symmetrically shatters Wotan's spear with the Reforged Blade Nothung.
 * You Are Worth Hell: Siegmund rejects eternal glory in Valhalla rather than be separated from wife/sister Sieglinde. See above trope, Twincest.