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TWILIGHT OF THE GODS The Ring of the Nibelung

Libretto and music by RICHARD WAGNER

A new production by the Teatro alla Scala

and the Staatsoper unter den Linden, Berlin

in collaboration with the Toneelhuis, Antwerp

PROLOGUE

What is that light shining yonder?

Does dawn approach already?

Loge's hosts encircle the rock with fire.

It is still night.

Why are we not spinning and singing?

Let us spin and sing,

but what will you wind the rope on?

For better or worse

I shall wind the rope and sing.

I once wove at the world-ash tree,

when from its trunk, big and strong,

a forest of noble branches sprouted.

Under its cool shade there bubbled a spring,

its flowing waters whispering wisdom.

There I sang of sacred things.

A bold god came to drink of its waters.

And as an eternal toll he paid with one of his eyes.

Wotan broke off a branch from the world-ash tree.

And from its trunk the mighty one cut a spear shaft.

Over the course of time

the wound made the forest wither.

The leaves faded and fell,

the tree withered and perished,

and sadly the waters of the spring dried up:

my song became a melancholy lament.

So now I no longer weave at the world-ash tree,

and the fir tree serves me to fasten the rope:

sing, sister, I shall cast it over to you.

Do you know what will happen?

Pacts made in good faith, marked with runes,

Wotan carved in the shaft of the spear:

he held it as the custodian of the world.

A bold hero destroyed the spear in battle.

The sacred bearer of the pacts was smashed to pieces.

Then Wotan called on Valhalla's heroes

to chop to pieces the limp branches and trunk of the world-ash.

The ash tree fell

and the spring dried up for ever!

Today I shall fasten the rope to the jagged boulder:

sing, sister, I shall cast it over to you.

Do you know what will happen?

The castle built by the giants rises up still:

With the holy clan of gods and heroes,

Wotan sits in the hall.

The hall is encircled by a towering pile of hewn logs.

This once was the world-ash!

When the wood burns in a ferocious holy blaze,

the flames will searingly scorch the majestic hall:

the eternal gods will then meet their end

for ever and eternity.

If you would know more,

then wind the rope once more.

I cast it back to you from the North.

Spin, sister, and sing!

Is the day dawning? Or is it the glow of the embers?

My sight is clouded, it deceives me.

I cannot clearly remember the sacred past,

when Loge once went up in bright flames.

Do you know what became of him?

Wotan tamed him by the spear's magic.

He gave the god counsel.

To free himself, he gnawed with his teeth

at the runes on the spear's shaft.

With the forceful point of the spear

Wotan compelled him

to set a blaze around Brünnhilde's rock.

Do you know what will become of him?

The jagged splinters of the smashed spear

Wotan will one day thrust deeply into the breast of the passionate one:

A raging inferno will break out,

and this the god will cast

onto the piled logs of the world-ash.

Do you want to know

when that will happen?

Swing the rope to me, sisters!

Night is fading, no more can I discern:

I can no longer find the rope's strands.

the woven braids are tangled.

A terrifying vision in fury perplexes my senses.

Alberich once stole the Rhinegold:

Do you know what became of him?

The jagged edge of the rock cut into the rope.

The webbed strands are no longer taut, the web is tangled.

From need and envy the Nibelung's ring rises before me:

An avenging curse gnaws at my webbed strands.

Do you know what will become of it?

The rope is too loose, it will not reach me.

If I am to pull the end northwards it must be stretched taut!

It has snapped!

It has snapped!

It has snapped!

Our eternal knowledge is at an end!

The wise ones shall inform the world no more.

- Down! - To Mother!

Down!

Dear hero, what would my love for you mean

were I not to let you go forth to new deeds?

One misgiving alone makes me tarry:

that my worth was too meagre as a reward for you!

I have given you what the gods showed me.

The holy runes' precious hoard.

But the strength of my maidenhood clan

was taken by the hero

to whom I now stoop.

Bereft of knowledge

but filled with desire:

rich in love

but lacking strength.

Do not despise the hapless one

who begrudges you nothing

but can give no more!

You gave me more, wondrous woman,

than I know how to keep.

Do not be wrathful if your tutoring has left me untutored!

Yet one thing I know well:

Brünnhilde lives for me!

One lesson I learned with ease:

To always remember Brünnhilde!

If you would give me your love,

think only of yourself, think of your deeds:

think of the furious flames

through which you fearlessly strode when the flames encircled the rock.

To win Brünnhilde!

Think of the shield-bearing woman

whom you found in deepest sleep,

and whose tight-fitting helmet you tore off.

To waken Brünnhilde!

Think of the vows that unite us.

Think of the loyalty we sustain.

Think of the love which we live,

then Brünnhilde will burn eternally

like a sacred fire in your heart!

I must leave you here, my love, protected by the sacred fire.

In return for your runes

I give you this ring.

It contains the virtue of whatever deeds I performed.

I slew a wild serpent that had long guarded it most fiercely.

Now take custody of its power

as a vow of my trust!

I cherish this as my sole property!

Now take my horse too for this ring!

He once used to gallop with me boldly through the air,

and with me lost his mighty power.

Atop the clouds, in thunderstorms,

no more shall he make his courageous way.

But wherever you lead him, be it even through flames,

Grane will follow you dauntlessly.

For you, my hero, he shall obey!

Take good care of him.

He will heed your word.

Give Grane Brünnhilde's greeting often!

Through your virtue alone I shall perform brave deeds?

You choose my battles, my triumphs return to you.

On the back of your steed, in the shelter of your shield,

I no longer see myself as Siegfried, I am merely Brünnhilde's arm.

O would that Brünnhilde were your soul!

Through her my courage is stirred!

Then you would be Siegfried and Brünnhilde?

Wherever I am, both shall be found.

Then my rocky abode will be become desolate?

United, it shall enclose us both!

O sacred gods!

Noble clans!

Feast your eyes on this sacred couple!

Apart, who shall separate us?

Separate, we shall never part!

Hail, Brünnhilde, magnificent star!

Hail, Siegfried, victorious light!

- Hail, radiant love! - Hail, radiant life!

Hail! Hail!

ACT I

Now hear this, Hagen,

tell me, hero:

do I sit in majesty by the Rhine,

does Gunther, uphold Gibich's glory?

Your legitimate title fills me with envy:

she who bore us both as brothers,

Dame Grimhilde, taught me to realize this.

I envy you: do not envy me!

Though I inherited the first-born's right, you alone acquired wisdom.

Half-brother's strife was never better resolved.

I only praise your counsel if I ask you about my glory.

So I reprimand my counsel, since your glory is still slight,

but I know of higher deeds which the Gibichung has not yet won.

Then tell me of them, or I too will rebuke you.

I see Gibich's clan in their ripe strength of summer,

you, Gunther, wifeless,

you, Gutrune, without a husband.

Whom do you advise us to court to enhance our renown?

I know of a woman,

the most wondrous in the world:

She dwells high upon the rocks.

A fire encircles her abode.

He alone who breaches the flames may be Brünnhilde's suitor.

Could my valour withstand this?

For one still stronger alone it is destined.

Who is that man of such valour?

Siegfried, the Wälsung's offspring: The mightiest of heroes.

A pair of twins under love's sway,

Siegmund and Sieglinde begot this truest of sons.

In the forest he grew up strong,

and it is he I would wish for Gutrune's husband.

What brave deed did he perform

to be pronounced the greatest of heroes?

The Nibelung's hoard at Neidhöhle was guarded by a huge serpent:

Siegfried closed the beast's terrifying maw

and with his victorious sword he did slay it.

Such valorous deeds won him heroic glory.

I have heard of the Nibelung hoard:

does it not hold the most coveted treasure?

He who knows how to use it

would truly have the world in his hands.

And Siegfried won it in battle?

The Nibelungs are his servants.

And he alone can win Brünnhilde?

The inferno will yield to no other.

How you stir up doubts and strife!

Why do you rouse my lust for things I cannot attain?

Were Siegfried to bring the bride home to you,

would not Brünnhilde be yours?

What could impel that happy man to court the bride for me?

Your entreaty would sway him soon enough,

if before Gutrune had won his heart.

Mocking one! Wicked Hagen!

How could I win Siegfried?

For if he is the world's most wondrous hero,

the most lovely women on earth have long since won his favour.

Remember the potion in the cabinet. Trust in me, the one who procured it:

it will effect a bond of love

with the hero of your yearning.

Were Siegfried to walk in now

and drink of that spiced potion,

every maid he had ever seen,

and every one he had approached,

would be swept from his memory.

Now speak:

What do you think of Hagen's counsel?

Praise be to Grimhilde for giving us such a brother!

Would that I could see Siegfried!

How could we seek him out?

When he gaily goes in search of new adventures,

the world becomes for him a little wooded grove.

On his ceaseless quest he could well ramble

as far as the Gibich shores along the Rhine.

I would welcome him with joy.

The horn sounds from the Rhine.

In a barque, hero and steed!

He gaily blows his horn!

With a leisurely stroke,

as if with idle hands,

he briskly drives the boat against the current.

Such vigorous strength in the thrust of the oar

must surely herald the one who slew the serpent.

Siegfried it must be, and no other!

Does he rush past us?

Hoiho! Where to, you merry hero?

To Gibich's doughty son.

I bid you, come to his hall.

This way! Moor the boat!

Hail!

Hail, Siegfried, cherished hero!

Who is Gibich's son?

I, Gunther, am the one you seek.

From afar, up the Rhine I heard of your fame:

Now do battle with me or be my friend!

Let the fighting be! You are welcome!

Where can I stable my steed?

I shall find him a resting place.

Siegfried you did call me: Have you seen me before?

By your strength alone did I recognize you.

Take care of Grane for me!

You never held the bridle of a nobler horse.

Greet with gladness, o hero, my father's hall.

Wherever you walk, whatever you see, treat it as your own.

Yours is my inheritance, both land and people,

may my body bear witness to my vow! I offer myself as your man.

Neither land nor people do I offer, nor my father's house and court.

My body alone I was bequeathed,

and that I consume as I live.

All that I own is a sword which I myself forged:

Sword, bear witness to my vow! I offer it and myself in alliance.

But legend has it that you are the lord of the Nibelung hoard?

I almost forgot the treasure, so little do I prize its possession!

I left it lying in a cave where a serpent once guarded it.

And you took none of it?

This chain-mail, though its powers I do not know.

The Tarnhelm I know, the Nibelung's most artful work:

When upon your head, it allows you

to assume any form you wish.

Should you yearn for some far-off place,

it will take you there in a flash.

And you took nothing else from the hoard?

- A ring. - Do you safeguard it well?

- A noble woman safeguards it. - Brünnhilde!

Nothing, Siegfried, shall you give to me:

All my possessions would be mere trifles in exchange for your treasure.

Gladly will I serve you without reward.

Welcome, dear guest, to the house of Gibich!

His daughter offers you this drink.

Even if I were to forget all that you gave me,

there is one lesson I shall never forget:

The first sip of this drink

I drink to you Brünnhilde, in faithful love.

You who have seared my sight with your flashing gaze,

why do you now lower your eyes before me?

Ah, prettiest maiden! Close your eyes!

Your gaze burns the heart within my breast:

It turns the blood in my veins into a burning torrent!

Gunther, what is your sister's name?

Gutrune.

Are these good signs I can read in her eyes?

I offered myself as your brother's man,

but the proud one refused me.

Would you, like he, treat me so haughtily

if I offered myself to you in union?

Do you have a wife, Gunther?

I have not courted yet, and the woman I desire will be hard to win.

I have set my heart on one

that no counsel could ever win for me.

What could be denied you if I am at your side?

- Her abode is high upon a rock. - "Her abode is high upon a rock".

- Her dwelling encircled by fire. - "Her dwelling encircled by fire".

- Only he who can cross the flames... - "Only he who can cross the flames..."

...may be Brünnhilde's suitor.

I may not climb those rocks.

I will never subdue the fire!

I fear no fire, and I will court the woman in your stead.

For I am your man, and my valour is at your disposal

if I may take Gutrune as my wife.

Gutrune I would gladly grant you.

- I shall bring you Brünnhilde. - How do you plan to dupe her?

By the Tarnhelm's magic I shall take on your form.

So, let us swear an oath!

An oath of blood-brotherhood!

Blossoming life's refreshing blood have I dripped into the draught.

May fervent brotherhood, boldly mixed, blossom in our blood-laced drink.

A pledge of loyalty I drink to my friend.

Happy and free, may blood-brotherhood

today blossom from this bond!

Should a brother break his bond,

should a friend betray him...

What we have nobly drunk in droplets today

shall flow in torrents

in atonement for betrayal.

Thus I offer my bond.

Thus...

I drink a pledge to you!

Why did you not partake of the oath?

My blood would defile your drink.

Mine does not flow pure and noble like yours.

Torpid and cold, it falters within me.

It will not cause my cheeks to blush.

Therefore I forebear such hot-blooded bonds.

Let him be, the unhappy one!

Make haste, let's be on our way!

There lies my boat.

It will briskly take us to the rock.

You must spend one night in the boat by the bank,

then you can sail home with your wife.

- Won't you rest first? - I am impatient to return!

You shall guard the palace, Hagen!

Where are they going in such a hurry?

They are taking the boat to court Brünnhilde.

Siegfried?

See how hastily he goes to win you as his wife!

Siegfried... mine!

Here I sit on guard, watching over the court,

defending the hall from the enemy.

The wind sweeps Gibich's son,

he sails off to woo a wife.

At the helm is a mighty hero

who will face any danger for him.

He will bring his own bride

back to the Rhine.

But to me he will bring the ring!

You free sons,

merry companions,

go, sail away joyously!

Though you consider him lowly,

you will yet serve

the Nibelung's son.

Familiar old sounds fall on my ear from the distance.

A horse of the air is galloping this way.

On the clouds it storms towards the rock.

Who is seeking me in my seclusion?

Brünnhilde! Sister!

Do you sleep or are you awake?

Waltraute's call, a heart-warming sound!

Is it you approaching, sister? Have you braved the journey here?

There in the forest that you know so well,

climb down from your horse and grant the swift beast rest!

Have you come to visit me? Are you so bold

that you come, without dread, to greet Brünnhilde?

For your sake alone did I hurry here.

You dared, for the love of Brünnhilde,

to disobey Battle Father's order?

Or was it, do tell,

that Wotan's anger at me has abated?

When, in defiance of the god, I protected Siegmund,

wrongfully, I know, I was yet fulfilling his wish.

That his fury then dwindled, I know too.

For although he locked me in sleep, imprisoned me on this rock,

and ordained that I should wed the man

who should find me and wake me,

he showed mercy in my pitiful pleas:

He set a scorching fire all around the rock,

and barred the way to men of weak spirit.

Thus this punishment

brought me to blissful heights.

The most noble of heroes won me as his wife!

In his love

I laugh today in radiant joy.

Was it my fate that drew you here, sister?

Do you wish to feast on my bliss

and share my fate?

Share the rapture that has gripped you in madness?

Something else impelled me in fear to defy Wotan's order.

Are you gripped by fear and dread, poor thing?

Has the severe god still not forgiven?

You shrink back before his chastening wrath?

If I could but fear it, my terror would be at an end.

Astonished am I, unable to comprehend!

Curb your passions, pay heed to my words!

My fear compels me to return to Valhalla,

as it drove me from Valhalla here to you.

What has befallen the eternal gods?

Listen closely to what I now say!

Since he parted from you,

Wotan no longer sends us out to battle.

Confused and perplexed, we rode in fear to battle.

Battle-Father shunned Valhalla's brave heroes.

Alone on his steed, without rest or repose,

he roamed the world, a wanderer.

He returned home not long ago.

In his hand he held the splinters of his spear:

It had been shattered by a hero.

With a silent wave

he dispatched Valhalla's nobles to the forest

to fell the world-ash.

He told them to pile the logs from its trunk

in towering piles, to encircle the sacred hall.

He called to assembly the council of the gods.

He solemnly sat upon the throne.

He bade them sit, filled with fear, at his side.

in circles and rows the heroes filled the hall.

Thus he sits,

not speaking a word,

silent and grave upon his noble throne,

clutching the splinters of the spear in his hand.

Holda's apples

he does not touch.

Astonishment and fear

hold the gods transfixed.

He sent both his ravens

out on a journey.

if they should return with good tidings,

then once more,

for the last time,

the god will smile eternally.

Clutching at his knees we Valkyries lie:

and blind he remains to our pleading glances.

We are all consumed by anxiety and endless fear.

Weeping, I pressed myself to his breast:

then his gaze softened.

Of you, Brünnhilde, he was thinking!

He gave a deep sigh,

closed his eye,

and as if in a dream

murmured these words:

"If she would give back the ring

to the daughters of the Rhine's depths,

from the curse's burden

would the gods

and the world be freed."

Then I mused awhile:

and I stole away from his side through the silent ranks.

In secrecy and haste I mounted my steed

and rode here at a gallop.

I implore you now, sister:

may your courage accomplish what you might do!

End this eternal torment!

What tales of terrifying dreams do you tell me, sad one!

From the gods' sacred heavenly clouds

I fled, in my madness:

I cannot comprehend what I hear.

Your senses seem confused and wild.

In your eyes, so fatigued,

glows a flickering flame.

With your colourless cheeks, my pale, wild sister,

what do you want of me?

On your hand, the ring, that is it!

Heed my words: For Wotan's sake, cast it away!

- Cast it away? The ring? - Give it back to the Rhinemaidens!

To the Rhinemaidens? I? The ring?

Siegfried's pledge of love?

- Are you quite mad? - Hear my words! Hear my dread!

It is the cause of the world's ills. Cast it away, into the waters!

Cast the cursed thing in the deep to end Valhalla's misery!

Ah! Do you know what it means to me?

How could you grasp it, unfeeling maiden!

More than the bliss of Valhalla,

more than eternal glory, does this ring mean to me:

One glimpse of its shining gold, one flash of its noble lustre,

is worth more to me

than the eternal happiness of all the gods!

For sacredly from it shines

Siegfried's love upon me.

Siegfried's love!

O would that I could describe such bliss!

This... is what the ring means to me.

Go back to the holy council of the gods!

Say the following to them about my ring:

I shall never forsake love,

and they could never take love away from me,

though Valhalla's radiant grandeur may crash down in ruins!

Is this your loyalty? Do you forsake your woeful sister so cruelly?

Depart this place! Take to your horse!

You will not seize the ring from me!

Woe! Woe! Woe betide you, sister!

Woe to Valhalla's gods!

Flashing storm cloud,

borne on the wind,

away with you!

Never pass this way again!

Evening twilight enshrouds the sky.

The guardian flames shine all the brighter.

How the blazing inferno licks furiously up the rocks!

The swell of the fire sweeps up to the rock's peak.

Siegfried!

Siegfried is back?

He is sending out his call!

Up! Up to greet him!

Into my god's embrace!

Betrayal!

Who has forced a way through to me?

Brünnhilde!

A suitor has come

who was not alarmed by the flames.

I have won you for my wife.

You must follow me!

Who is the man who has accomplished

the deed that was destined only for the most mighty one?

A hero who shall tame you

if you will only submit to force.

A fiend has clambered up this rock!

An eagle has swept down to maul me!

Who are you, dreaded one?

Are you a mortal?

Are you from Hella's nocturnal host?

I am a Gibichung,

and Gunther is the hero who you must follow, woman.

Wotan!

Furious, cruel god!

Alas!

Now I understand the meaning of my punishment:

You condemn me to scorn and torment!

Night is falling:

In this chamber you shall be wedded to me!

Keep your distance! Fear this sign!

You shall not force disgrace upon me

so long as the ring protects me.

It grants Gunther a husband's rights, the ring binds you to him in marriage!

Back, you robber! Wicked thief!

Do not be so bold as to approach me!

The ring makes me stronger than steel:

You shall never steal it from me!

You teach me now to take it from you!

Now you are mine, Brünnhilde, Gunther's bride.

Now grant me entry to your chamber!

How could you defend yourself, wretched woman?

Now, Nothung, bear witness

that my courting was chaste.

Remaining faithful to my brother,

separate me from his bride!

END OF ACT I

ACT II

Are you sleeping, Hagen, my son?

You sleep and hear me not, whom rest and sleep betrayed?

I hear you, wicked dwarf:

What do you want to tell me in my sleep?

Remember the power that you command,

if you are as courageous as the mother who bore you for me!

Though my mother gave me courage,

I feel no gratitude to her

for falling prey to your trickery:

prematurely old,

pallid and wan,

I hate the joyful

and I never rejoice!

Hagen, my son, hate the joyful!

And thus love me, cheerless, weighed down with sorrows, as you should.

Be strong, wily and clever:

Those whom we battle at night are already distressed by our envy.

He who once seized the ring from me, Wotan the zealous robber,

vanquished by one of his own kin:

He lost his authority and might to the Wälsung.

In the company of his kindred gods he awaits his end in fear.

I fear him no more: he must fall along with them all!

Are you sleeping, Hagen, my son?

The power of the immortals:

Who will inherit it?

You and I! We will inherit the world.

If your loyalty does not deceive me and you share my grief and gall.

Wotan's spear was shattered by the Wälsung

who slew Fafner the serpent in combat and naively won the ring.

He thus gained supremacy: Valhalla and Nibelheim bow down to him.

Even my curse is powerless against that dauntless hero,

for he knows not the value of the ring, nor makes good use of it magic.

Laughing in love's ardour he lives with burning passion!

The only aim we have now is to destroy him!

Are you sleeping, Hagen, my son?

To his own ruin

he serves me.

The golden ring, that jewel we must acquire!

A wise woman lives for the Wälsung's sake:

If ever she counselled him to return the ring to the Rhinemaidens,

who once bewitched me in the water's depths,

then my gold would be lost and no ruse could ever recover it.

So do not hesitate, aim for the ring!

Bold I created you, that you would aid me against heroes.

Though not strong enough to vanquish the serpent,

which was destined for the Wälsung alone,

to dogged hatred I bred Hagen, and he shall now avenge me

and gain the ring, scorning the Wälsung and Wotan!

Do you swear it, Hagen, my son?

I must have the ring: Wait in patience!

Do you swear it, Hagen, my hero?

To myself I swear it.

Voice not your worries!

Stay true, Hagen, my son!

Dear hero! Stay true!

Stay true!

True!

Hoiho, Hagen, weary man! Do you see me coming?

Hey, Siegfried? Swift hero!

- Where have you dashed in from? - From Brünnhilde's rock!

There I drew the breath with which I cried out to you:

so brisk was my voyage!

The couple are following behind me. By boat they are travelling here.

- Then you won Brünnhilde? - Is Gutrune awake?

Hoiho, Gutrune, come out!

Siegfried is here: Why do you tarry in there?

I'll recount to you both how I attained Brünnhilde.

Bid me welcome, Gibich's child! Good tidings I bring to you.

Freia bids you welcome in honour of all women!

Be mild and kind to me joyous one, for I have won you as my wife today.

Is Brünnhilde following behind my brother?

Easily was she won for him.

Was he not scorched by the fire?

It would not have burned him either, but I strode through it for him

for I wanted to win you.

- And did it spare you? - I relished the smouldering blaze.

- Did Brünnhilde take you for Gunther? - I was his perfect likeness.

The Tarnhelm's magic worked, as Hagen cleverly foretold.

- I gave you good advice. - So you subdued the bold woman?

She submitted... to Gunther's strength.

And was she wedded to you?

Brünnhilde yielded to her husband all through the bridal night.

But you passed for her husband?

Siegfried stayed with Gutrune.

Yet at his side was Brünnhilde?

Between east and west the north lies.

So near was Brünnhilde, and so far.

How did Gunther receive her from you?

Through the dying embers of the fire

she followed from the rock to the valley in the morning mist.

Close to the river bank, Gunther quickly swapped places with me.

By the magic of the Tarnhelm I wished myself swiftly here.

A strong breeze now carries the lovers up the Rhine:

so prepare to receive them now!

Siegfried! Most mighty of men!

I am gripped by fear of you!

In the distance I can see a sail!

Then thank your herald!

Let us welcome her cordially, that she will gladly remain here!

Hagen, be so kind and call the vassals to the wedding at the Gibich court.

Joyful women I'll call to the feast:

Gladly they'll join the happy one!

Would you rest, fearsome hero?

Helping you is my rest.

Hoiho!

Hoihohoho!

Gibich vassals, rouse yourselves!

Woe! Woe!

To arms! To arms!

Take up arms across the land!

Good weapons! Strong weapons! Sharpened for battle!

We are in danger!

Danger! Woe! Woe!

Hoiho! Hoihohoho!

Why the blast of the horn? Why the call to arms?

We come armed, we come with weapons!

Hagen! Hagen! Hoiho! Hoiho!

What danger approaches? What enemy is near?

Who will do battle with us?

Is Gunther in danger?

We come with arms, with sharpened weapons.

Hoiho! Ho! Hagen!

Arm yourselves well, and do not tarry.

You are to receive Gunther:

He has courted a wife.

Does he face danger? Is he pursued by a foe?

He is coming home with a formidable wife.

Is he pursued by her family's warlike clan?

He is travelling alone: no one pursues him.

Then did he resist the danger? Did he prevail in the battle? Speak!

The serpent-slayer triumphed over the danger:

Siegfried, the hero, ensured his safety.

What help is the army to him now? What help is the army?

You are to slaughter mighty steers.

Let their blood flow upon Wotan's sacrificial alter.

What should we do next, Hagen?

You must slaughter a boar for Froh!

Sacrifice a sturdy ram to Donner!

But slaughter sheep for Fricka,

so she will bless the marriage!

Once the beasts are slain, what shall we do then?

Take your drinking-horns

and have your dear wives merrily fill them with mead and wine!

Clasping our drinking-horns, what shall we do next?

Drink untiringly until you are tamed by drunkenness!

All this to honour the gods,

that they will bless the marriage!

Good fortune and good health now smile upon the Rhine

if Hagen, the grim one, can be so jolly!

The hawthorn no longer pricks.

He has been called upon as the bridal herald.

Stop this laughter, you brave vassals!

Bid Gunther's bride welcome!

Brünnhilde is approaching with him.

Be kind to the lady and serve her loyally:

Should she ever be maligned, be quick to avenge her!

Hail! Hail!

Welcome! Welcome!

Welcome, Gunther! Hail!

Hail!

Hail to you, Gunther!

Hail to you and your bride!

Welcome!

Brünnhilde, most sublime woman,

I bring you here to the Rhine.

A more noble wife was never won.

The race of Gibichungs

was favoured by the gods,

now it shall attain the highest glory!

Hail! Hail to you, fortunate Gibichung!

Greetings to you, dear hero.

Greetings to you, fair sister!

How it gladdens me to see you beside the man

who won you as a wife.

Two blissful couples stand before me in resplendence:

Brünnhilde and Gunther,

Gutrune and Siegfried!

What troubles her?

What troubles her?

Is she beside herself?

What darkens Brünnhilde's brow?

Siegfried... here! Gutrune?

Gunther's kind sister: wedded to me, as you to Gunther.

I, to Gunther? You lie!

Everything is going dark!

Siegfried does not recognize me!

Gunther, your wife is unwell!

Rouse yourself, woman! here stands your spouse.

Ah! The ring! On his hand!

He? Siegfried?

What is it?

Now listen well to the woman's lament!

I saw a ring on your hand,

but it does not belong to you.

This man seized it from me!

How did you acquire the ring from him?

I did not acquire the ring from him.

You received from me the ring with which we were wedded.

Now tell him of your right and demand back the pledge!

The ring? I gave him no ring: Yet you too know it well?

Where did you hide the ring that you obtained from me?

Ah! It was he who snatched the ring from me:

Siegfried, the deceitful thief!

I did not receive the ring from a woman.

Nor did I win it from a woman:

I know it well as the reward of the battle

I once fought at Neidhöhle,

when I slew the mighty serpent.

Brünnhilde, bold woman, do you clearly recognise this ring?

If it is the one you gave to Gunther, then it belongs to him

and Siegfried gained it by deception,

for which the traitor must atone!

Treachery!

Treachery!

Disgraceful treachery!

Betrayal!

Betrayal!

It shall be avenged as never before!

- Betrayal? Of whom? - Betrayal? Of whom?

Sacred gods,

rulers of the heavens!

Is this what the gods' council whispered in consultation?

Do you teach me to suffer as none has ever suffered?

Did you ordain for me disgrace that none has ever suffered?

Then counsel me to vengeance such as was never wreaked!

Inflame me with rage such as was never tamed!

Ordain that Brünnhilde break her own heart,

if only to destroy the one who betrayed her!

Brünnhilde, my bride! Calm yourself!

Away from me, traitor! Yourself betrayed!

All of you, know this:

I am not married to him, but to that man there.

- Siegfried? Gutrune's husband? - Gutrune's husband?

From me he wrested gratification and love.

Have you no respect for your own honour?

Must I accuse of lying the tongue that slanders it?

Hear now if I was disloyal!

I swore blood-brotherhood to Gunther:

Nothung, my faithful sword,

safeguarded the loyal vow:

Its blade severed me from this hapless woman.

Treacherous hero, how you lie!

You call upon your sword to bear false witness!

I know its blade well, but I know too the scabbard

in which, hanging leisurely on the wall,

Nothung the loyal friend reposed

when its master wooed his beloved.

What? Did he break the vow? Did he sully Gunther's honour?

Did he break the vow?

I would be disgraced and scorned

if you did not deny her words!

Did you treacherously plan deception, Siegfried?

Say now that this woman denounces you unjustly!

Clear your name if you are blameless! Silence her charge! Swear an oath!

I shall silence her charges and swear an oath:

Which of you here will wager his weapon on it?

I will wager the tip of my spear:

It will uphold the honour of the oath.

Bright spear, hallowed weapon,

help uphold my eternal oath!

By the tip of the spear I take this oath:

Spear point, heed these words!

Where a blade can cut me, you may cut me;

where death can strike me, you may strike me;

If that woman's charge is true

and I broke the oath with my brother.

Bright spear,

hallowed weapon,

help uphold my eternal oath!

By the tip of the spear I take this oath:

spear-point, heed these words!

I bless your power that it may overthrow him!

I bless your blade, that it may slash him:

For he has broken all his oaths

and now has sworn a false oath!

Help, Donner! Summon a tempest!

Help, Donner! Summon a tempest

to silence this savage scorn!

Gunther, silence your wife, who slanders you shamelessly!

Grant her rest and repose, the wild woman of the rock,

so she may calm her bold rage

which the cunning of some fiend has unleashed upon us all.

You vassals, back away! Enough of nagging women!

We'll gladly withdraw when tongues wage war.

Believe me, it enrages me more than you

that I duped her so poorly:

The Tarnhelm, I think, only half concealed me.

But a woman's rage is soon placated:

Your wife will surely be grateful

that I courted her on your behalf.

Be merry, you vassals!

Follow me to the feast!

Help us, you women, gaily to the wedding!

Laugh now, in lusty delight!

At court, in the grove,

today you shall all see me in high spirits!

May those who are happy in love,

be as joyful as I

in my gay spirits!

Which fiend's cunning lies here concealed?

What wizard's cunning has summoned this up?

Where is my wisdom to ward off this confusion?

Where are my runic spells to solve this riddle?

Alas! Alas!

Woe! Woe!

All my wisdom I have granted to him!

He holds the maiden in his power.

In bondage he holds the prey who, though bemoaning her shame,

he, the rich one, now joyfully gives away.

Who will offer me a sword that I may sever these bonds?

Trust me, betrayed wife!

I will take avenge you against your betrayer.

Against whom?

Siegfried, the one who betrayed you.

Siegfried? You?

A single glance of his flashing eyes,

which shone upon me despite his lying face,

would make your boldest spirits cower in fear!

But shall his perjury spare him from my spear?

Oaths and perjury are mere idle words!

Seek something stronger to arm your spear

if you aim to vanquish the mightiest!

Well do I know Siegfried's triumphal might and how hard he is to defeat.

Then give me good counsel that I may conquer the warrior.

O ungrateful, most shameful reward!

Not a single art do I know

that does not safeguard the well-being of his body!

I tamed him, unknowing, with my magic spells,

and now it spares him from wounds.

So no weapon can harm him?

Not in battle.

But if you struck him in the back...

Never, this I knew,

would he shrink from an enemy,

nor turn his back in flight:

so I did not squander my spells on him.

And there shall my spear strike him!

Up, Gunther, noble Gibichung!

Here stands your bold wife: Why do you sit in melancholy?

O dishonour! O shame!

Woe is me, most hapless of men!

You have been disgraced. Would I deny it?

Cowardly man! Treacherous companion!

Behind the hero you hid, that he would win you glory!

Your noble race sank so low

when it gave rise to such cowards!

I was a trickster - and was tricked!

I was a betrayer - and was betrayed!

Crushed me to the marrow! Shatter my heart!

Save me, Hagen! Save my honour!

Save your mother,

who bore me too!

No reason can help you, and no hand:

Siegfried's death alone can save you!

Siegfried's death!

That alone can absolve you of your shame!

We swore blood-brotherhood!

Blood alone can atone for a broken vow.

Did he break the vow?

- Yes, for he betrayed you! - Did he betray me?

He betrayed you, and all of you have betrayed me!

To atone to me, all the blood in the world could not erase your guilt!

But one death alone will suffice me for all:

Siegfried shall fall, to expiate himself and you!

He shall fall - to your good fortune!

Great power will be yours if you gain from him the ring,

which death alone can tear away from him.

Brünnhilde's ring?

The Nibelung's ring.

It would be Siegfried's doom!

His death will benefit us all.

But what of Gutrune, who I granted to him!

If we punished her husband thus, how could we answer to her?

What did my wisdom advise? What did my runic magic instruct me?

In helpless anguish, all becomes clear to me:

Gutrune was the enchantress

who stole my husband away!

May terror strike her!

If his death shall grieve her, may the deed be concealed from her!

Let us merrily go out on the hunt tomorrow:

The noble one will race ahead of us, and a boar will fell him.

So be it! Siegfried shall fall!

So be it! Siegfried shall fall!

- He shall expiate my shame! - He shall die, the radiant hero!

- Mine is the hoard, I must have it! - He has broken his solemn oath.

- He shall pay for his guilt in blood! - Thus will the ring be taken from him!

- All-knowing, avenging god! - Dwarf-father, fallen prince!

- Witness of vows, oath-hoard! - Night guardian, Lord of Nibelungs!

- Wotan, turn to us! - Alberich, pay heed to me!

- Command your dreaded divine hosts, - Command the Nibelung hordes,

- to witness this oath of vengeance! - to obey you, Lord of the ring!

END OF ACT II

ACT III

Lady Sun radiates her beams of light.

Night lies in the depths:

Once they were light,

when, safe and stately, Father's gold still sparkled there.

Rhinegold! Purest gold!

How bright you once shone,

glorious star of the depths!

Weialala leia, wallala leialala.

Lady Sun, send us the hero

who will restore the gold to us!

If he let us have it,

no more would we would envy your bright eyes.

Rhinegold! Purest gold!

How gaily you shone then,

free star of the depths!

I hear his horn.

- The hero is approaching. - Let us hold counsel!

A dwarf led me astray and I have lost my track.

Hey, scoundrel, in which mountain did you so swiftly hide my prey?

Siegfried!

- Why are you moaning down there? - Which dwarf has stoked your wrath?

Has some imp been taunting you?

Tell us, Siegfried, tell us!

Did you lure away the shaggy beast whose trace I lost?

If he is your suitor, giggling maids, I'll gladly leave him to you.

Siegfried, what will you give us if we hand you your prey?

No quarry have I yet caught, so ask for what you desire.

- A golden ring glints on your finger. - Give it to us!

To gain this ring I slew a giant serpent:

Shall I now offer it in exchange for a measly bear's paw?

- Are you so stingy? - Such a miserly merchant?

You should be generous to women.

If I were to squander my riches on you, it would anger my wife.

- Is she so severe? - Does she beat you?

The hero can already feel her blows!

Go ahead and laugh! But I shall leave you sore!

For though you hanker for the ring, I shall never give it to you nymphs!

- So fair! - So strong! - So desirable!

What a shame he is so miserly!

Why do I take such meagre praise? Shall I let myself be derided?

If they came back to the water's edge they could have the ring.

Hey! You joyous water-maids!

Come in haste! I'll give you the ring!

Keep it, hero, and safeguard it well,

until you divine the misfortune that is concealed within the ring.

You will then feel cheered if we free you from its curse.

Then sing what you know!

Siegfried!

Siegfried!

Siegfried!

Of evil we know, that lies in store for you.

You keep the ring at your peril.

The ring was made from the Rhine's gold.

He who cunningly forged it and shamefully lost it

put a curse upon it for time eternal,

to condemn to death he who wears it.

Just as you slew the serpent so you shall be slain,

and this very day:

This we tell you,

if you do not return the ring to us

and plunge it into the Rhine's depths.

Only those waters can cleanse it of the curse!

You cunning women, stop this!

I did not believe your flattery, and your threats frighten me even less!

Siegfried! Siegfried!

What we say to you is the truth. Beware! Beware of the curse!

At night the weaving Norns entwined it in the rope of primal law.

My sword destroyed a spear:

That eternal rope of primal law,

though they wove wild curses into it,

shall be severed from the Norns by Nothung!

I was once warned of the curse by a serpent,

but he did not teach me fear!

A ring would win me all the riches of the world:

If I won love's favours I should gladly forego it.

I would give it to you if you bestowed love upon me.

And though you may threaten life and limb,

even a finger's worth, you shall not take the ring from me!

For life and limb, see now:

I cast them from me thus!

Come, sisters! Let us leave this fool!

The hero thinks himself strong and wise,

yet he is blind and fettered.

He swore oaths, and does not uphold them!

He knows the runes, yet does not heed them!

He was granted a most glorious prize,

yet he knows not that he has rejected it.

The ring that damns him, that ring alone he would keep!

Farewell, Siegfried!

A proud woman shall today become your heir, spiteful man:

She will heed us better.

To her! To her! To her!

Weialala leia, wallala leialala.

In water, as on land, I now learn the ways of women:

He who does not fall for their flattery they terrorize with threats.

He who dares to defy them shall suffer their scolding.

And yet, were I not sworn to Gutrune

I would have gladly taken for myself

one of these pretty maids!

Hoiho!

- Hoiho! - Hoiho!

Hoiho! Hey, hey!

Now we at last learn to where you flew.

Come down!

It is fresh and cool here.

We shall rest here and prepare a meal.

Put aside the prey, and offer the wineskins!

He who frightened off our prey: now you shall hear the wonders

of Siegfried and his hunt.

I am poorly equipped for a meal: I bid you give some of your food.

You caught no prey?

I set out to hunt forest game, but I only saw waterfowl.

Had I been well informed,

I would have easily caught three wild water-birds

who sang for me by the Rhine telling me I will die this very day.

What a terrible hunt that would be,

if the hapless hunter were killed by a lurking beast!

I am thirsty!

I heard tell, Siegfried, that you understand birdsong:

Is this true?

I pay no more heed to their babbling.

Drink, Gunther, drink! Your brother serves you!

You mixed it cloudy and pale:

Your blood alone is in it!

Then I shall mix it with yours!

Now it's mixed, the cup overflows:

May it be a refreshing draught for Mother Earth!

You are overjoyed, hero!

Is Brünnhilde the cause of his disquiet?

If only he understood her

as you understand birdsong!

Since I heard the song of women

I've forgotten all about birds.

But you understood them once?

Hey, Gunther, sullen man!

If it would please you,

I will sing you tales of my younger days.

I would gladly hear them.

Then sing, hero!

There was an ill-tempered dwarf, Mime was his name.

Possessed by envy, he raised me

so that when I grew into a valiant man

I would slay a serpent in the forest who'd long guarded a hoard there.

He taught me how to forge and smelt ore,

but what the craftsman could not do,

his pupil's courage had to accomplish:

To forge the shattered shards of a blade into a sword again.

I forged my father's weapon anew: I made Nothung strong and sturdy.

The dwarf deemed it fit for combat, then he led me to the forest:

There I killed Fafner, the serpent.

But now mark well my tale:

I must tell you of wonders.

The serpent's blood made my fingers burn,

so I stuck them in my mouth to cool them off:

Barely had my tongue touched the moist blood,

and suddenly I could comprehend the song of the birds.

On a branch sat one, and sang:

"Hey! The Nibelung treasure belongs to Siegfried now!

O may he now find the hoard in the cave!

If he would obtain the Tarnhelm, it would help him to great deeds!

Yet if he could gain the ring, he'd become the ruler of the world!"

So did you carry off the ring and Tarnhelm?

Did you ever hear the bird again?

I picked up the ring and Tarnhelm,

and again I listened to the lovely chorister

who sat atop a tree and sang:

"Hey! The helmet and ring belong to Siegfried now!

He shall not trust Mime, the deceitful one!

For him he should just get the treasure, now he lies cunningly in wait.

He is plotting against Siegfried's life. Siegfried shall not trust Mime!"

- Was this good advice? - Did you pay back Mime?

He came to me with a deadly potion:

Stuttering and terrified, he confessed. Nothung slew the rogue!

Mime tasted the blade that he could not forge himself!

What further counsel did the bird give you?

First drink, hero, from my horn:

I have spiced the drink well for you

to awaken you memories as clear as day,

so that the past does not slip away.

In sorrow I turned my ears to the treetops.

The bird sat there, still singing:

"Hey! Siegfried now has slain the evil dwarf!

Now I know the most noble wife for him:

High upon a rock she sleeps, her abode encircled by fire.

He who can brave the inferno

and wake the bride would win Brünnhilde."

And did you heed the bird's counsel?

Quickly, without wavering, I set out

until I reached the fire-ringed rock:

I battled through the blaze and as reward I found,

sleeping there,

a lovely woman

dressed in bright armour.

The helmet I loosened from the lovely maid's head,

and my bold kiss woke her up.

How passionately I was held

in fair Brünnhilde's embrace!

What do I hear?

Can you guess what those ravens are whispering?

They call me to vengeance!

Hagen, what are you doing?

What have you done?

Hagen, what have you done?

I have avenged perjury!

Brünnhilde!

Sacred bride!

Wake up! Open your eyes!

Who enveloped you again in sleep?

Who bound you in troublesome slumber?

Your wakener came,

he kissed you awake,

and again he broke the bride's bonds:

Brünnhilde's desire smiled upon him!

Ah, those eyes, forever open!

Ah, the delightful stirring of her breath!

Sweet passing, sacred dread:

Brünnhilde bids me welcome!

Was that his horn?

No! He does not return home yet.

Terrifying dreams disturbed my sleep!

His horse neighed wildly.

Brünnhilde's laughter woke me up.

Who was the maid I saw strolling to the river bank?

I fear Brünnhilde.

Is she at home?

Brünnhilde! Brünnhilde!

Are you awake?

Her chamber is empty.

Then it was she I saw walking towards the Rhine!

Was that his horn?

No! All is deserted!

If only I could see Siegfried soon!

Hoiho! Hoiho! Wake up! Wake up!

Lights! Lights! Alight the torches! We bring home the hunting spoils!

Hoiho! Hoiho!

Up, Gutrune! Greet Siegfried!

The valiant hero is returning!

What happened? Hagen! I did not hear his horn!

The ashen hero shall blow it no more.

Nevermore shall he go hunting, nevermore into battle,

nor ever court lovely maids.

What are they bringing?

The prey of a wild boar, Siegfried, your dead husband.

Gutrune, dear sister,

raise your eyes,

do not fall silent!

Siegfried! Siegfried is slain!

Away, disloyal brother, murderer of my husband!

O woe! Woe! Alas! Alas!

They have slain Siegfried!

Do not lay your charges on me, but on Hagen:

he is the accursed boar who savaged the noble one.

You condemn me for it?

May fear and torment ever haunt you!

Yes! I slew him.

I, Hagen, struck him dead.

He was destined to fall by my spear,

on which he swore false oath.

I have now gained the sacred right of spoils,

I therefore demand this ring.

Back! You shall never get what was never mine!

Vassals, uphold my right!

You would pilfer Gutrune's inheritance,

shameless son of a dwarf?

Thus is the dwarf's legacy claimed by his son!

Hand over the ring!

Silence the jubilant torrent of your misery!

Since you all betrayed her,

his wife now comes for vengeance.

I have heard children go weeping to their mother when they had spilt sweet milk:

but never did I hear a lament

befitting for this noble hero.

Brünnhilde, furious with envy! You brought this evil upon us:

You who turned the men against him, alas that you ever neared this house!

Silence, wretched one!

Never were you his true wife,

you bound him as a paramour.

I am the rightful wife

to whom Siegfried swore an eternal oath

before ever he set eyes on you.

Accursed Hagen! You prescribed the potion that robbed her of her husband!

Woe is me! How abruptly I comprehend:

Brünnhilde was his beloved,

who the potion made him forget!

Stack sturdy piles of logs for me

there by the banks of the Rhine!

May the flames burn high and bright

which shall consume

the noble hero's body.

Bring his horse here, that it follows, with me, the warrior:

For to share the hero's most sacred honour

requires my own body.

Carry out Brünnhilde's request!

Like pure sunlight his light shines upon me:

He who betrayed me was the purest of heart!

Faithless to his wife, loyal to his friend,

from his own and only dearest beloved,

he parted himself with his sword.

No man more true than he ever swore an oath.

None more loyal than he ever made a pact.

No other

loved more truly.

And yet all oaths and pacts,

truest love,

he betrayed like no other!

Do you know how it came to be?

O divine custodian of vows!

Turn your gaze to my great suffering,

see your eternal guilt!

Hear my lament,

most glorious god!

Through his bravest deed,

which you rightfully desired,

you sacrificed he who did it to the curse that fell upon you.

The man of purest heart had to betray me

so that a woman should gain wisdom.

Do I now know what is your will?

Everything,

everything,

everything I know,

everything is plain to me now!

I hear the sound of your ravens too:

With anxiously-awaited tidings

I now send them both home.

Rest,

rest,

o god!

I now claim my rightful inheritance.

Accursed ring, fearful ring!

I claim your gold and now I pass it on.

Wise sisters of the deep waters,

swimming daughters of the Rhine,

I thank you for your good advice.

I shall grant you what you covet:

Claim it as your own from my ashes!

May the flames that devour me cleanse the ring of the curse!

You in the water, dissolve it in the deep,

and keep true the shining gold

which was stolen from you to wreak misfortune.

Fly home, you ravens!

Go and tell your master what you heard here by the Rhine!

Fly past Brünnhilde's rock!

He who still blazes there: Direct Loge to Valhalla!

For now twilight is falling upon the gods.

Thus I throw this burning torch

into the towering castle of Valhalla!

Grane, my horse!

I greet you!

Do you also know, my friend, to where I am leading you?

There lies your lord, glowing in the fire.

Siegfried, my sacred hero.

Do you joyfully neigh to follow your friend?

Are you drawn to him by the laughing flames?

Feel my breast too, how it burns.

A burning passion grips my heart:

To embrace him,

to be wrapped in his arms,

to be united with him in love!

Heiajoho! Grane! Greet your master!

Siegfried! Siegfried! See!

Your wife greets you with joy!

Stay away from the ring!