Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

symbol of Evil; and in revenge for his contemptuous treatment by the Rhine maidens, he suddenly
makes a dash for the rock, and, snatching away the magic gold, departs once more to Nibeiheim,
leaving the nymphs disconsolate.
In Act 2 Wotan, the father of the gods, is seen with Fricka, his wife, gazing upon the mighty
Castle of Refuge, Valhalla, which he has commanded the giants, Fafner and Fasolt, to build for
him, having agreed to give them in payment Freia, the Goddess of Youth. When the giants come
to claim their reward, however, he endeavours to avoid his contract; but when the cunning builders
tell him of Alberichs newfound treasure, and suggest that he shall seize this for their payment
instead, he angrily refuses to demean himself by such an act. The giants thereupon snatch Freia,
and lead her away; but with her departure the gods immediately begin to grow old and decrepit,
since the Golden Apples of Youth are thus removed from their reach. Wotan therefore commands
the giants to return Freia, and now promises to secure for them instead the wealth of Alberich; and
for this purpose he departs to Nibelheim with Loge, the God of Fire.
Act 3 takes place in the Under-world, where Alberich, having forged his Ring of Power, has
gained mastery of the race of gnomes, whom he has compelled to amass for him mighty treasures
and wealth. His brother, Mimi, too, he has reduced to slavery, and forced to make him a magic
cap, or " Tarnhelm," by means of which he can render himself invisible, and transform himself
into the shapes of beasts. Here Wotan and Loge arrive, the latter using his cunning and persuading
Alberich to show them the powers of his wonderful "Tarnhelm." The Gnome, flattered by the
request, puts on the magic cap, and changes himself into sundry beasts, finally taking on the shape
of a toad, in which form he is seized by the two gods, who convey him to the mountain outside
Valhalla.
Here, in Act 4, on regaining his rightful form, they compel him to yield up all his treasures, even
including the "Tarnhelm" and Magic Ring of Power, as the price of his liberty. Alberich, in his
rage, pronounces a deadly curse upon all who shall afterwards possess the Ring, which shall
always bring them misery and death. The giants now take possession of the coveted treasure; but
Wotan refuses to part with the Ring, until urged to do so by Erda, Goddess of the Earth, who
warns him to let it go, since he is already under the curse, and must endeavour to avoid his fate as
long as possible. He therefore gives up the Ring to the two giants, who immediately fight for its
possession, Fasolt being killed; and Wotan, seeing that the curse is already at work, is filled with
gloom until he realises that a great hero, who will spring from a human race of which he will be
the father, will eventually slay Fafner, the possessor of the Ring, and so delay his own fate further.
Comforted by this thought, he takes Fricka by the hand and leads her into Valhalla, across the
rainbow bridge set up by Donner, after a thunderstorm he has sent; and thither they are followed
by the rest of the gods, whilst the song of the Rhine-maidens comes up from below, imploring the
return of their lost treasure.
PART II. THE VALKYRIE
Music Drama in Three Acts By Richard Wagner
Chief Characters Brünnhilde, Sieglinde, Fricka, Siegmund, Wotan, Hunding