History Theatre / TheRingOfTheNibelung

Most important, of course, is Wagner's music. In the ''Ring'' Wagner's ''{{Leitmoti|f}}v''[[hottip:* :Wagner invented neither the use of the ''Leitmotiv'' nor the name; the symbolical use of melodies or melodic phrases can be traced back to TheMiddleAges, and the word itself was invented by Wagner's disciple, Hans von Wolzogen, to describe what Wagner himself called "melodic moments of feeling."]] method is used in its most developed and sophisticated form. The score is by no means a simple patchwork, with (say) a "Wotan" motive[[hottip:* :Note that "motive" is the Anglicization of Wolzogen’s „''Motiv''“ preferred by Wagnerian commentators from GeorgeBernardShaw and Ernest Newman up to Deryck Cooke, rather than the Frenchified ''motif'']] 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.

* GeorgeBernardShaw’s ''The Perfect Wagnerite'' is an analysis of the ''Ring'' from a Socialist point of view.

''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' ("The Ring of the Nibelung"[[hottip:* :this is sometimes mistranslated as the plural "Nibelungs," but the singular is correct -- the Nibelung referred to is Alberich. The name "Nibelung" (literally, "mist-descendent") refers to the race of dwarfs to which Alberich belongs. This particular noun is declinated in German, which results in the ending "-en".]]) is a cycle of four operas by RichardWagner (hence the alternative term, the "Ring Cycle," which is sometimes applied to the whole [[hottip:* :Wagner himself eschewed the term "opera" as applied to these works, preferring to refer to them as "Bühnenfestspiele", "stage-festival-plays"; the term "music-drama," though also rejected by Wagner himself, is generally preferred by his followers]]. 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.

* In a MusicalGag, the cavalry [[TheBlacksmith blacksmith]] in JohnFord's ''SheWoreAYellowRibbon'' is named [[RichardWagner Wagner]]; when he appears, the soundtrack plays the [[ForgingScene smithying]] {{Leitmotif}} from the ''Ring''.

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 [[hottip:* : which, oddly enough, despite the cycle's [[TheTimeOfMyths legendary]] setting, can be dated ''historically'' pretty exactly to the year 437 A.D. by the destruction of the Rhine-based kingdom of Gunthaharius (Wagner’s Gunther) by the Huns]]. 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 [[HistoryMarchesOn best knowledge of the time]], were largely based on ceremonial costumes, in some cases extrapolated backward from much later sources [[hottip:* :The effect is somewhat like trying to imagine the civilian costume of George Washington from looking at the dress uniform of George S. Patton)]]. Hence the rather silly looking HornyVikings costumes [[hottip:* :which Wagner’s wife Cosima famously compared to "[[BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins Red Indian chiefs]]"]] 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 [[TheSixteenLandsOfDeutschland Bavaria]], but to Beirut in UsefulNotes/{{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.

* The WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes short, "Film/WhatsOperaDoc" (and its 1945 precursor, ''Herr Meets Hare''), although most of the ''music'' in them is not from the ''Ring''.

* In ''[[TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms The Sleeping Beauty]]'', the little bird warns Siegfried not to take the ring or mess with Bruunhilde, saying it will be his "DOOM!" After a book's length of other adventures, Bruunhilde is awakened by a completely different prince, tells Wotan exactly what she thinks of him and the entire story, and informs him that she took the Ring back to the river maidens herself and put an end to the whole silly misunderstanding.

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 [[NorseMythology Scandinavian sources]], such as the ''Literature/{{Nibelungenlied}}'', the ''Literature/VolsungaSaga'', ''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 TheBrothersGrimm. Wagner composed the text in the style of ancient Germanic poetry, in the alliterative verse form called ''Stabreim'', as, for example, in ''Walküre'':

* HotAmazon: What Brünnhilde (and, indeed, all the Valkyries) were intended by Wagner to be. Too bad most opera singers are (in the words of PGWodehouse) "[[BrawnHilda designed more along the lines of the Albert Hall]]."

* ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest: 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 ArtifactOfDoom...)

** One of the most moving and beautiful scenes ever written, with heartbreaking music to match.

* MoodMotif: One of the basic functions of the ''{{Leitmoti|f}}ve''.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Except for Alberich and Mime, the Nibelung dwarfs are pretty much [[PunchClockVillain Punch-Clock Mooks]].

* RingOfPower: 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.

* {{Ubermensch}}: Nietzsche saw Siegfried (and, indeed, Wagner himself) as the type of the new man who would transcend outworn moralities.

* WomanScorned: 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.

* YouAreWorthHell: Siegmund rejects eternal glory in Valhalla rather than be separated from wife/sister Sieglinde. See above trope, {{Twincest}}.

* The ''YuGiOh'' character, Siegfried von Schroider, is derived from the Wagnerian character, and one of his cards is even called "Nibelung's Ring." Moreover, he has a Valkyrie deck, which is a reference to ''Walküre''.

* In a MusicalGag, the cavalry [[TheBlacksmith blacksmith]] in JohnFord's ''SheWoreAYellowRibbon'' is named [[RichardWagner Wagner]]; when he appears, the soundtrack plays the [[ForgingScene smithying]] {{Leitmotif}} from the ''Ring''.

* In James Herriot's "All Creatures Great and Small" books, Siegfried Farnon got that name because his father was a fan of Wagner.

* BeyondTheImpossible: Where Wagner took opera -- I mean, ''Bühnenfestspiel''.

* AchievementsInIgnorance: Siegfried succeeds in reforging Notung, for the very reason that he ''knows not'' fear. Literally. Never mind that Mimer 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.

* LovePotion: Where it also induces EasyAmnesia in Siegfried

* PopCulturalOsmosis: An astonishing number of Wagnerians have been attracted to his music ''via ApocalypseNow'' and LooneyTunes cartoons.

* The main character of RobertAHeinlein's ''TheCatWhoWalksThroughWalls'' also admits to cribbing the plot for one of his books from ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''.

* DarkAgeEurope / TheLowMiddleAges: Though really more TheTimeOfMyths.

** FridgeBrilliance: 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.'')

* RingOfPower: The central symbol of ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. Wagner's depiction of an inevitably corrupting, incorrigibly evil ring would hugely influence Tolkien's, though Tolkien often disingenuously denied it

* SadlyMythtaken: Or sometimes [[TheyJustDidntCare Willfully Mythtaken]]. Wagner has enraged folklorists from his own time to the present for adapting ancient myths and legends with abandon, and in the process, [[AdaptationDisplacement ousting the originals]] from the minds of most of the public.

Note that it is largely Carl Emil Döpler's costume designs for the [[NorseMythology Valkyries]] in the 1876 Bayreuth production of Wagner's ''Ring'' that has established the popular image of the fat, [[HornyVikings horn-helmeted]], [[ChainmailBikini breast-plated]] operatic soprano, though it may be noted that Döpler's Valkyries actually wear [[NiceHat winged helmets]]. The common expression "The opera ain't over till the [[BrawnHilda 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 [[ClassicVillain 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.)

* BrotherSisterIncest: 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.

* CainAndAbel: In ''Das Rheingold,'' Fafner kills his brother Fasolt, and in ''Götterdämmerung,'' Hagen murders his half-brother Gunther.

* ''{{Valkyrie}}'': Tom Cruise makes the [[{{Anvilicious}} obvious]] invocation.

* TheDoctorDolittle: Siegfried becomes this after tasting the dragon's blood.

* FaceHeelTurn: Alberich does a decidedly abrupt one of these, starting as a [[ExtrovertedNerd inept lover]] but quickly transforming into an EvilOverlord and staying that way for the rest of the cycle. This also sets the entire rest of the plot in motion.

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 [[NorseMythology Scandinavian sources]], such as the ''Literature/{{Nibelungenlied}}'', the ''Volsungasaga'', ''Thridiks saga of Bern'', the ''Elder Edda'', and the ''Younger Edda'', as well as other, lesser works. He also found much suggestive detail in the scholarly writings of antiquarians such as Simrock, Rühs, and TheBrothersGrimm. Wagner composed the text in the style of ancient Germanic poetry, in the alliterative verse form called ''Stabreim'', as, for example, in ''Walküre'':

[[folder:Theater]]
* The great Anna Russell hilariously parodied the ''Ring'' in routines like "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve7wH-k8LgQ The Ring of the Nibelungs: An Analysis]]" [''sic''] and the PoirotSpeak-based "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPhFBE4UGvA Schreechenrauf]]."

* ''ApocalypseNow'': In which, of course, the "Music/{{Walkurenritt}}" provides SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic. For further uses of that piece in films, please see [[Music/RideOfTheValkyries that page]].

* ''ApocalypseNow'': In which, of course, the "Music/{{Walkürenritt}}" provides SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic. For further uses of that piece in films, please see [[Music/RideOfTheValkyries that page]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything?: Wagner's Nibelung dwarves (particularly Mime) have been claimed as {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s of the [[SpaceJews Jews]]. While this is not entirely [[EpilepticTrees 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.

* PopculturalOsmosis: An astonishing number of Wagnerians have been attracted to his music ''via ApocalypseNow'' and LooneyTunes cartoons.
* ThePowerOfLove: In the ''Ring'', though Sieglinde is rescued from Hunding, and Brünnhilde from the [[JohnnyCash 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 ThePowerOfLove before burning herself to death, was deliberately cut by the composer because it no longer represented his philosophical ideas.)

* "Music/RideOfTheValkyries": The TropeNamer comes from ''Die Walküre''.

* SpaceJews: The Nibelungs have been claimed by some to be stand-ins for the Jews. ''See'' DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything?, ''above''.

* [[{{Ubermensch}} Übermensch]]: Nietzsche saw Siegfried (and, indeed, Wagner himself) as the type of the new man who would transcend outworn moralities.

* WreckedWeapon: Happens twice, once when Wotan shatters Siegmund's sword Nothung with his spear, and again when Siegfried symmetrically shatters Wotan's spear with the [[ReforgedBlade reforged]] Nothung.

* One of the planned sequences for WaltDisney's ''{{Fantasia}}'' was the "Music/RideOfTheValkyries."

* ''GiantRobo''
* ''TheLegendOfKoizumi'' features a [[StupidJetpackHitler reincarnated cyborg Wagner]] as one of [[ThoseWackyNazis Those Wacky Nazis]] whom our heroes battle, complete with [[CallingYourAttacks attacks]] based on his operas.
* The ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'' character, Siegfried von Schroider, is derived from the Wagnerian character, and one of his cards is even called "Nibelung's Ring." Moreover, he has a Valkyrie deck, which is a reference to ''Walküre''.

* ''ApocalypseNow'': In which, of course, the "Music/{{Walkürenritt}}" provides a CrowningMusicOfAwesome. For further uses of that piece in films, please see [[Music/RideOfTheValkyries that page]].

* In [[JohnCWright John C. Wright]]'s ''The Chronicles of Chaos'', there is banter mangling together ''TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''.

* Music/GraveDigger's ''Rheingold'', is a ConceptAlbum which is based on ''The Ring of the Nibelung''.

* In ''{{Bionicle}}'', the music played when the Le-Matoran are preparing to attack the Nui-Rama Hive is the "Music/RideOfTheValkyries".
* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', Mr. Burns gets to fight in a tank ("I've been waiting 25 years for this"), and he plays "Music/TheRideOfTheValkyries" as the CrowningMusicOfAwesome. He gets [[RickRoll Rickrolled]].
* The LooneyTunes short, "Film/WhatsOperaDoc" (and its 1945 precursor, ''Herr Meets Hare''), although most of the ''music'' in them is not from the ''Ring''.
* ''TheRealGhostbusters'' had the episode "A Fright at the Opera," in which a performance of Wagner's work gets interrupted by a horde of real (if ghostly) Valkyries. [[/folder]]

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 [[NorseMythology Scandinavian sources]], such as the ''{{Literature/Nibelungenlied}}'', the ''Volsungasaga'', ''Thridiks saga of Bern'', the ''Elder Edda'', and the ''Younger 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 BrothersGrimm. Wagner composed the text in the style of ancient Germanic poetry, in the alliterative verse form called ''Stabreim'', as, for example, in ''Walküre'':

Note that it is largely Carl Emil Döpler's costume designs for the [[NorseMythology Valkyries]] in the 1876 Bayreuth production of Wagner's ''Ring'' that has established the popular image of the fat, [[HornyVikings horn-helmeted]], [[BreastPlate breast-plated]] operatic soprano, though it may be noted that Döpler's Valkyries actually wear [[NiceHat winged helmets]]. The common expression "The opera ain't over till the [[BrawnHilda 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 [[ClassicVillain 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 ''[[{{Leitmotif}} Leitmotiv]]''[[hottip:* :Wagner invented neither the use of the ''Leitmotiv'' nor the name; the symbolical use of melodies or melodic phrases can be traced back to TheMiddleAges, and the word itself was invented by Wagner's disciple, Hans von Wolzogen, to describe what Wagner himself called "melodic moments of feeling."]] method is used in its most developed and sophisticated form. The score is by no means a simple patchwork, with (say) a "Wotan" motive[[hottip:* :Note that "motive" is the Anglicization of Wolzogen’s „''Motiv''“ preferred by Wagnerian commentators from GeorgeBernardShaw and Ernest Newman up to Deryck Cooke, rather than the Frenchified ''motif'']] 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.

* [[AntiHero Anti-Hero]][=/=][[AntiVillain Anti-Villain]]: Wotan. Though he ''is'' trying to establish a world of order and laws, his actions are nearly always self-serving.

* BadToTheBone: The LooneyTunes series is very fond particularly of the Nibelung and Giant [[{{Leitmotif}} motifs]] in heralding any sinister doings.

* BeneathTheEarth: Nibelheim

* TheBlacksmith: This is the normal occupation of the Nibelungs. ''See also'' TheUltimateBlacksmith, ''below''.
* BornWinner: Siegfried

* CoolSword: Nothung ("Born of Need"), Wagner's equivalent to the ''{{Literature/Nibelungenlied}}'' 's "Balmung" ("Destruction") or ''Volsungasaga'''s "Gram" ("Wrath").
* CurbstompBattle: 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.

* [[EverythingsWorseWithBears Everything's Worse With Bears]] As Siegfried demonstrates by letting one loose on Mime.

* FaceHeelTurn: Alberich does a decidedly abrupt one of these, starting as a [[ExtrovertedNerd inept lover]] but quickly transforming into a DarkOverlord 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 ''[[{{Leitmotif}} Leitmotive]]'' (''e.g.'', [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iArAhOIzIRM Siegfried's horncall]]) have the character of fanfares. At Bayreuth, certain motifs are [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXup8Aw4CO4 played as fanfares]] from the balcony of the ''Festspielhaus'' to announce the beginning of an act.

* GermanLanguage: While ''[[{{Leitmotif}} Leitmotiv]]'' was actually coined rather by Hans von Wolzogen rather than by Wagner, the Master did coin the resoundingly Teutonic term, ''Bühnenfestspiel'' mentioned above.

* [[GodsHandsAreTied God's Hands Are Tied]]: Why Wotan cannot just kill the giants and take the Ring for himself.

* HotAmazon: What Brünnhilde (and, indeed, all the Valkyries) were intended by Wagner to be. Too bad most opera singers are (in the words of [[PGWodehouse P.G. Wodehouse]]) "[[BrawnHilda designed more along the lines of the Albert Hall]]."

* [[KillEmAll Kill 'Em All]]: ''Götterdämmerung'' culminates with Siegfried's death, prompting Brünnhilde to make a HeroicSacrifice that burns down Walhall with all the gods and heroes inside.

* TheMaleIngenueMustBeATenor: Invoked Siegmund and Siegfried, though perhaps subverted by Mime.
** There is no world in which Mime could conceivably be called an ingenue.

* DarkAgeEurope / TheLowMiddleAges: Though really more TheTimeOfMyths.
* MoodMotif: One of the basic functions of the ''[[{{Leitmotif}} Leitmotive]]''.

* NiceHat: Those winged (and [[HornyVikings horned]]) helmets.

* TenorBoy: Siegmund and Siegfried -- the more "boyish" Wagnerian rôles.

* ''ApocalypseNow'': In which, of course, the "Music/{{Walkürenritt}}" provides a CrowningMusicOfAwesome. For further uses of that piece in films, please see [[RideOfTheValkyries that page]].

* MusicOfNote: The RideOfTheValkyries is the StandardSnippet.

* RideOfTheValkyries: The TropeNamer comes from ''Die Walküre''.

* SmallReferencePools: The ''RideOfTheValkyries'' is one of a select group of classical pieces known to practically everyone who knows classical music only from PopCulture 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.

* StandardSnippet: The RideOfTheValkyries.

* One of the planned sequences for WaltDisney's ''{{Fantasia}}'' was the "RideOfTheValkyries."

* ''ApocalypseNow'': In which, of course, the ''Walkürenritt'' provides a CrowningMusicOfAwesome for the RideOfTheValkyries. For further uses of that piece in films, please see [[RideOfTheValkyries that page]].

* On ''{{Kingdom}}'' during a ChaseScene involving Peter Kingdom's CoolCar and a guy on a bike. Lyle [[DiegeticSwitch puts on]] the "RideOfTheValkyries."

* In the ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' episode ''The Tomb of Sammun-Mak'', we know that [[LittleMissBadass little]] [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Amelia Earhart]] listens to ''The Ride of the Valkyries'' as a lullaby.

* In ''{{Bionicle}}'', the music played when the Le-Matoran are preparing to attack the Nui-Rama Hive is the ''RideOfTheValkyries''.
* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', Mr. Burns gets to fight in a tank ("I've been waiting 25 years for this"), and he plays "The RideOfTheValkyries" as the CrowningMusicOfAwesome. He gets [[RickRoll Rickrolled]].

* SmallReferencePools: The ''RideOfTheValkyries'' is one of a select group of classical pieces known to practically everyone who knows classical music only from PopCulture references. Likewise, the [[DerRingDesNibelungen opera cycle]] from which it comes appears whenever opera is mentioned, but only if "Viking" helmets are involved, and usually ''without'' any of the Master's music.

''Synopses:''

->''Das Rheingold'': Scene I: The dwarf Alberich renounces love in order to steal the magic Rhine-gold from the three Rhinemaidens. Scene II: The giants Fasolt and Fafner build Walhall for Wotan, king of the gods, in exchange for the goddess of love, Freia, but agree to accept the Ring of Power Alberich has made from the gold as ransom. Scene III: Wotan and Loge capture Alberich. Scene IV: They force Alberich to ransom himself with his treasure and the Ring; which Alberich curses. Wotan reluctantly gives up the treasure and Ring to the giants; Fafner murders Fasolt for it; the gods enter Walhall.

->''Die Walküre'': Act I: Siegmund, son of Wälse (Wotan), falls in love with the wife of Hunding — unknown to him, his twin, Sieglinde. She shows him the magic sword Wälse has left for him; he seizes it, and they elope together. Act II: Wotan reveals to his wife Fricka that he intends Siegmund to slay Fafner (who has turned himself into a dragon) and win the Ring; Fricka, however, horrified by the twins’ adultery and incest, induces him to abandon Siegmund and send the Valkyrie Brünnhilde to ensure that Hunding kill him. Wotan orders her to do so, but discovering that Siegmund prefers perdition with Sieglinde to Walhall, she decides to help him. Wotan appears, shatters Siegmund’s sword, allowing Hunding to kill him; Wotan kills Hunding, and departs in wrath to punish the disobedient Brünnhilde, who has fled with Sieglinde. Act III: The Valkyries gather; Brünnhilde begs them to shelter her and Sieglinde, but they refuse. Brünnhilde dispatches the pregnant Sieglinde to hide. Wotan arrives, dismisses the Valkyries, and punishes Brünnhilde by turning her mortal, abandoning her to whomever may come along. Brünnhilde begs him at least to ensure that no unworthy lover may claim her; he relents to this extent and summons a circle of magic fire to protect her.

->''Siegfried'': Act I: Siegfried, the child of Siegmund and Sieglinde, has been raised by Alberich’s brother, Mime, so that he can slay Fafner (whereupon Mime would take the unguarded Ring), though Siegfried detests the sneakish dwarf. Siegfried re-forges the fragments of his father’s sword. Act II: Siegfried kills Fafner, and does the same to Mime when the dwarf tries to poison him; Siegfried takes the Ring. Act III: Told of the sleeping Brünnhilde by a wood-bird, Siegfried defies Wotan, passes through the fire, and wakes her, claiming her as his lover.

->''Götterdämmerung'': Prologue: The three Norns’ thread of fate snaps. Siegfried leaves Brünnhilde to seek adventure. Act I: Hagen, son of Alberich, suggests to his half-brother Gunther that they use a love-potion to make Siegfried fall in love with their sister Gutrune and induce him to win Brünnhilde for Gunther. He does so, taking back the Ring he had given her. Act II: When the captive Brünnhilde sees Siegfried with Gutrune, she declares that he has been her lover. Siegfried denies the charge, but she, Gunther, and Hagen swear revenge on him, and Brünnhilde reveals his weakness: he can be stabbed in the back. Act III: Hagen spears Siegfried, and then murders Gunther for the Ring. Brünnhilde appears to prevent him taking it, and orders a funeral pyre for Siegfried, on which she immolates herself; the flames rise to kindle Walhall, destroying Wotan and all the gods. The Rhine overflows its banks, and the Rhine-maidens drown Hagen and claim the Rhine-gold from the ashes.

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 [[hottip:* : principally through money, which is why the Ring of Power is forged from the '''Gold''' of the Rhine]] 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 [[NorseMythology Scandinavian sources]], such as the ''{{Literature/Nibelungenlied}}'', the ''Volsungasaga'', ''Thridiks saga of Bern'', the ''Elder Edda'', and the ''Younger Edda'', as well as other, lesser works. He also found much suggestive detail in the scholarly writings of antiquarians such as Simrock, Rühs, and TheBrothersGrimm. Wagner composed the text in the style of ancient Germanic poetry, in the alliterative verse form called ''Stabreim'', as, for example, in ''Walküre'':

* EpicRiff: "The RIDE o' th' VAAALK'-ries, RIDE o' th' VAAALK'-ries, RIDE o' th' VAAAAAAAALK'-ries, RIDE o' th' VAAALK'-ries."
** Or: "Kill da wabbit, kill da wabbit, kill da waabit!"

* MagnumOpus: ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''