| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/siegfried_kills_fafnir_by_arthur_rackham.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:Siegfried slaying Fafner, by Arthur Rackham, 1911.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"Rheingold! Rheingold! reines Gold!\ |
| 5 | Wie lauter und hell\ |
| 6 | leuchtest hold du uns..."\ |
| 7 | ("Rhine-gold! Rhine-gold! Refinéd Gold!\ |
| 8 | How shining and clear\ |
| 9 | On us thou graciously glowed...")'' |
| 10 | -->-- '''The three Rhine-daughters, lamenting the theft of the Rhine-gold''' |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' ("The Ring of the Nibelung"[[labelnote:Translation note]]this is sometimes mistranslated as the plural "Nibelungs", but the singular is correct -- the Nibelung referred to is Alberich. The name "Nibelung" (literally, "mist-descendant") refers to the race of dwarfs to which Alberich belongs. Since German is an inflected language, the possessive singular of this particular noun requires in the ending "-en".[[/labelnote]]) is an [[TheEpic epic]] cycle of four {{opera}}s by Music/RichardWagner (hence the alternative term, the "Ring Cycle," which is sometimes applied to the whole).[[note]]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.[[/note]] The cycle premiered at the Wagner Festival Theater in Bayreuth, August 13th-17th, 1876, though the first two sections of the work had already appeared at the Munich Court Opera in 1869 and 1870. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' consists of: |
| 15 | |
| 16 | * Prologue: ''Das Rheingold'' (''The Rhine-Gold'') |
| 17 | * Day I: ''Die Walküre'' (''The Valkyrie'') |
| 18 | * Day II: ''Siegfried'' |
| 19 | * Day III: ''Götterdämmerung'' (''Twilight of the Gods'')[[note]]this is sometimes stated, especially in older references, as '''''Die''''' ''Götterdämmerung'', "'''The''' Twilight of the Gods", but Wagner never used the article in his references to the work.[[/note]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | For a recap of the plot, consult our [[Recap/TheRingOfTheNibelung synopsis page.]] |
| 22 | |
| 23 | The [[CentralTheme fundamental theme]] of ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' is the opposition of Power to Love. Wagner's original intention in the work was suggesting that the plutocratic society of 19th century Europe could be fundamentally improved by rejecting the desire for the domination of others[[note]]principally through money, which is why the Ring of Power is forged from the '''Gold''' of the Rhine[[/note]] and embracing instead redemption through universal love. As for the means of achieving this, Wagner originally leaned towards anarchism and social revolution (Siegfried's single-handedly bringing down the rule of the gods and burning Valhalla is a barely disguised metaphor for the anarchist destruction of the feudal/capitalist establishment in Europe); however, as his philosophy developed, he 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." |
| 24 | |
| 25 | 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 [[Myth/NorseMythology Scandinavian sources]], such as the ''Literature/{{Nibelungenlied}}'', the ''Literature/VolsungaSaga'', ''Thridiks saga of Bern'', the ''Literature/PoeticEdda'', and the ''Literature/ProseEdda'', as well as other, lesser works. He also found much suggestive detail in the scholarly writings of antiquarians such as Simrock, Rühs, and Creator/TheBrothersGrimm. Wagner composed the text in the style of ancient Germanic poetry, in the alliterative verse form called ''Stabreim'', as, for example, in ''Walküre'': |
| 26 | |
| 27 | -->''Waffenlos fiel' ich'' |
| 28 | -->''in Feindes Haus! '' |
| 29 | -->''Seiner Rache Pfand’'' |
| 30 | -->''raste ich hier! '' |
| 31 | |
| 32 | -->Defenseless, I found |
| 33 | -->my foeman’s house! |
| 34 | -->Fall’n to his revenge, |
| 35 | -->remain I here! |
| 36 | |
| 37 | 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 [[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage 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. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | 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.[[note]]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[[/note]] 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 [[DatedHistory best knowledge of the time]], were largely based on ceremonial costumes, in some cases extrapolated backward from much later sources.[[note]]The effect is somewhat like trying to imagine the civilian costume of George Washington from looking at the dress uniform of George S. Patton.[[/note]] Hence the rather silly looking HornyVikings costumes[[note]]which Wagner’s wife Cosima famously compared to "[[BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins Red Indian chiefs]]" [[/note]] 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 [[UsefulNotes/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. |
| 40 | |
| 41 | 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, [[HornyVikings horn-helmeted]], [[ChainmailBikini 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 [[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 is generally... ''junoesque'', because the huge soprano voice required to sail over a Wagnerian orchestra is not often found in petite women.) [[spoiler: In both operas, the hero has died in the previous scene, so an uninformed audience member might well have assumed the opera would be over at that point.]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | Most important, of course, is Wagner's music. In the ''Ring'' Wagner's ''{{Leitmoti|f}}v''[[note]]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."[[/note]] method is used in its most developed and sophisticated form. The score is by no means a simple patchwork, with (say) a "Wotan" motive[[note]]Note that "motive" is the Anglicization of Wolzogen’s „''Motiv''“ preferred by Wagnerian commentators from Creator/GeorgeBernardShaw and Ernest Newman up to Deryck Cooke, rather than the Frenchified ''motif''[[/note]] 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 the preeminence of harmony, making rich use of chromaticism in the service of mood-setting and picture painting -- hence his importance as a dramatic composer, and his influence on later composers, particularly for the cinema, which has lasted to this day. |
| 44 | ---- |
| 45 | !! Tropes occurring in ''The Ring of the Nibelung'': |
| 46 | |
| 47 | * AbsurdlySharpBlade: After reforging Nothung, Siegfried demonstrates its sharpness and power (and his own strength) by chopping the anvil used to forge the blade in half. |
| 48 | * AccentAdaptation: Of Germanic (thus including Norse) mythology. Except for "Erda," Wagner adapted attested German names for the gods rather than using any of the various actual historic forms: thus Wotan (Wodan, Wuotan, Odin -- possibly meaning "the stirring, the furious, the tempest, the wind"); Fricka and Freia (Frea, Fria, Frouwa, Frikka, Frigg and Freyja -- "the Free Woman, the Lady" -- originally doublets for each other) (Wagner also uses her alternative name "Holda," (modern German ''holde'') -- "the Gracious Woman"); Froh (Fro, Frao, Frawaz, Frey -- "the Lord," originally a masculine doublet of Frigg/Freyja), which means "glad" in modern German (though the older meaning is fossilized in words like ''Frohnleichnam,'' "the Lord's Body," ''i.e., Corpus Christi''); and Erda (Jörð) is Old High German (Modern German "''Erde''") -- "earth." |
| 49 | * AchievementsInIgnorance: 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. |
| 50 | * AdaptedOut: In the older versions of the story Gunther and Hagen are killed fighting Attila the Hun. Attila the Hun doesn't at all appear, the latter part of the story excised save for Gunther, Gutrune and Hagen all dying. |
| 51 | * AdaptationalNiceGuy: Siegfried and Mime in the 2006 Copenhagen Ring are fond of each other deep down, and their quarrels are laced with AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther moments. For instance, in the first act’s finale, when Siegfried shows he has forged the sword, Mime [[SoProudOfYou absolutely beams with pride]]. Mime's wish to murder Siegfried and Siegfried killing him are a spur-of-the-moment fight gone out of control rather than the logical outcome of mutual hatred that has been sizzling for years, and Siegfried [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone is devastated]] when he realises Mime is dead. |
| 52 | * AdaptationalVillainy: Hagen in his original appearances. He may have killed Siegfried (in the ''Nibelungenlied'', though in the ''Volsung Saga'' he and Gunther seem equally responsible for telling their younger brother to do so), but he is ultimately loyal to Gunther. In Wagner, Hagen is acting out of desire for the Ring and ends up killing Gunther. |
| 53 | * AddedAlliterativeAppeal: The libretto of the ''Ring'' is written in ''Stabreim'', the ancient Germanic verse-form that was based on alliteration. Thus the opening of ''Rheingold'': |
| 54 | -->„''Weia! Waga! Woge, du Welle! Walle zur Wiege! Wagalaweia! Wallala weiala weia!''" |
| 55 | * AmazonBrigade: The Valkyries. |
| 56 | * AncestralWeapon: In ''Walküre'', Brünnhilde gives the fragments of Siegmund's sword to Sieglinde; Siegfried duly forges them anew into a sword in his eponymous opera. |
| 57 | * AntiHero: Wotan ''is'' trying to establish a world of order and laws, his actions are nearly always self-serving. |
| 58 | * ArtifactOfDoom: 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 [[PoweredByAForsakenChild renunciation of Love]] (in the broader sense that includes ''all'' affections). Further, it may be assumed that 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. |
| 59 | * AssholeVictim: Mime used Siegfried as a pawn to get Fafner's treasure, originally the treasure of Mime's brother Alberich, and intended to poison Siegfried once the boy had killed the dragon. Naturally, very few feel anything for evil-hearted Mime once he has been killed by noble Siegfried. |
| 60 | * AsYouKnow: Every single opera contains all the relevant exposition which makes it possible for them to be performed separately. Interestingly, this was not Wagner's intention: he was adamant that the four operas should be performed on four successive nights. |
| 61 | * AttackItsWeakPoint: |
| 62 | ** How Siegfried defeats Fafner, going straight for the heart. |
| 63 | ** And how Hagen kills Siegfried, after Brünnhilde told him that she didn't protect his back, knowing that Siegfried would never turn his back on a foe. |
| 64 | * AtTheOperaTonight: The ''Ring'' operas rank among the favorites for characters to attend, as in Nicholas Meyers' Literature/SherlockHolmes novel, ''The Seven Per Cent Solution'' (''Siegfried''). |
| 65 | * AvianFlute: In ''Siegfried'', the eponymous hero realizes he can understand a bird (represented by the flute) after tasting the blood of the dragon Fafner, and they have a conversation. The interlude "Forest Murmurs" from that same opera also includes birdcalls on flutes. |
| 66 | * BadToTheBone: The WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes series is very fond particularly of the Nibelung and Giant [[{{Leitmotif}} motifs]] in heralding any sinister doings. |
| 67 | * BaritoneOfStrength: Or Bass-baritone. Alberich, Wotan, Fasolt, Fafner, Donner, Hunding, Hagen -- Gunther is the only weakling at the deep end of the pool. |
| 68 | * BatmanGambit: 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. |
| 69 | * BastardBastard: Scheming Hagen, murderer of Siegfried and his own half-brother Gunther. |
| 70 | * BattleCry: |
| 71 | ** The Valkyries' "Hojotoho! Hojotoho! Heiaha! Heiaha!" |
| 72 | ** To a lesser extent: Hagen's "Hoiho" in ''Götterdämmerung''. |
| 73 | * BavarianFireDrill: How Hagen summons the vassals in ''Götterdämmerung'' |
| 74 | * BearsAreBadNews: As Siegfried demonstrates by letting one loose on Mime. |
| 75 | * BedTrick: 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. |
| 76 | * BeneathTheEarth: Nibelheim. |
| 77 | * BigScrewedUpFamily: 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.'" |
| 78 | * TheBlacksmith: This is the normal occupation of the Nibelungs. ''See also'' UltimateBlacksmith, ''below''. |
| 79 | * BookEnds: ''Das Rheingold'' begins with the Rhinemaidens singing their chorus as they guard the gold at the bottom of the Rhine. Guess how ''Götterdämmerung'' ends. |
| 80 | * BornWinner: Siegfried. |
| 81 | * BrawnHilda: Brünnhilde is the TropeNamer -- but not InUniverse; the trope naming came from stage performances. The part is so physically demanding that generally only a robust woman of strong constitution can perform it. |
| 82 | ** On the other hand, the Prunhilt of the ''Nibelungenlied'' is decidedly a woman of tremendous athletic attainments, though it is implied that [[AmazonianBeauty these have made her only more attractive.]] |
| 83 | * BrotherSisterIncest: |
| 84 | ** 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. |
| 85 | ** And then there are multiple productions that include chemistry between Froh and Freia in ''Das Rheingold'' (for which there is a basis in Norse mythology) and/or Hagen and Gutrune in ''Götterdämmerung'' (for which there is not). |
| 86 | * BSODSong: Notably, "''Als junge Liebe''" in ''Walküre''. |
| 87 | * ButtMonkey: Mime is victimized by both Alberich and Siegfried. |
| 88 | * CainAndAbel: |
| 89 | ** In ''Das Rheingold'', Fafner kills his brother Fasolt, and in ''Götterdämmerung'', Hagen murders his half-brother Gunther. |
| 90 | ** Then there is the rivalry between Mime and Alberich. |
| 91 | * ChasteSeparatingSword: In ''Götterdämmerung'', Siegfried is to have spent one night with Brünnhilde before delivering her to Gunther, to whom she is now betrothed. In accordance with this custom, he placed his sword Nothung between himself and her as "between East and West [lies] the North." |
| 92 | * TheChessmaster: |
| 93 | ** Wotan likes to ''think'' he is this, but actually is easily outgambitted by Fricka and even (in a way) Siegfried. |
| 94 | ** At least one contemporary production (the spectacular Copenhagen Ring, for this and other reasons nicknamed "the Feminist's Ring") plays it straight with ''Brünnhilde'' of all people: she not only manipulated Wotan into accepting her terms of punishment, but chose her future husband in doing so -- who is not even born at this point, but has already been named by her. Talk about long-term thinking. |
| 95 | * {{Chickification}}: Threatened by Wotan as a horrible fate for the Valkyries; Brünnhilde comes to embrace it. |
| 96 | * TheChosenOne: Siegfried is the hero destined to recover the Ring and rescue Brünnhilde from the ring of magic fire. |
| 97 | * CleverCrows[=/=]CreepyCrows: A pair of these are intelligence gatherers for Wotan, and bird-watching them proves fatal to Siegfried. |
| 98 | * CompositeCharacter: |
| 99 | ** Wotan and his mortal guise Wälse are a combination of Odin and Volsung. |
| 100 | ** Freia is a combination of Freyja (the goddess of love and beauty) and Iðunn (the goddess of youth who had the magical apples). |
| 101 | ** Loge is a combination of Loki (god of cunning) and Logi (personification of fire), in which Wagner was following the scholarship of his time. His name further drives the point home: it is a {{Main/Portmanteau}} of the [[{{UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage}} German words]] ''Lüge'' (lie) and ''Lohe'' (flame), both of which are expressly used to refer to him in the drama. |
| 102 | ** Fasolt is a composite of Hreiðmar, the dwarf king whose son Loki killed (resulting in Loki stealing Andvari's treasure and ring to pay the weregild) and the unnamed giant who built Valhalla's walls but wanted Freyja in payment (in the myths, Loki stopped him from finishing his work, he wasn't paid, and Thor beat the crap out of him when he got mad about it). |
| 103 | ** Alberich, the dwarf guardian of the Nibelung hoard in the ''Nibelungenlied'', is combined with the dwarf Andvari, the original possessor of the magic ring. (Here again, Wagner was following the scholarship of his time.) |
| 104 | ** Sieglinde is a combination of Signy, sister of Sigmund with whom he had incestuous relations, and Hjördis, wife of Sigmund and mother of Sigurd. |
| 105 | %% * ConceptAlbum: The ''Ring'' |
| 106 | * ConflictingLoyalty: What the Ring cycle is all about. The characters are divided and scattered between their desires and duties. ''Die Walküre'' especially tackles this well, since Brünnhilde states that she is serving Wotan's deepest desires of his heart (helping Siegmund and Sieglinde) while disobeying his commands (kill Siegmund) which he is forced to do by Fricka. Wotan is forced to punish Brünnhilde and remove her from the Valkyries, even if she is his favorite daughter. |
| 107 | * TheConsigliere: Hagen in ''Götterdämmerung'' pretends to be this, but he's actually TheChessmaster who suffers from ChronicBackstabbingDisorder -- or, at least, makes ''others'' suffer from it. |
| 108 | * CoolHelmet: As a result of Döpler's costume designs, in which helmets are adorned by various varieties of horns and wings. |
| 109 | * CoolHorse: The Valkyries ride magical horses who can run across the sky. |
| 110 | * CoolSword: Nothung ("Born of Need"), Wagner's equivalent to the ''Nibelungenlied'' 's "Balmung" ("Destruction") or ''Volsungasaga'''s "Gram" ("Wrath"). |
| 111 | * 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. |
| 112 | * CursedItem: Alberich uses the Rhine-gold's own power to curse the ring he made out of it before surrendering it along with other treasures Loge and Wotan force him to give to Fasolt and Fafner as payment for building Walhall. The {{curse}} immediately takes effect as Fafner murders Fasolt to take the ring and riches for himself. Then, years later, Siegfried slays Fafner (who had turned himself into a dragon), takes the ring and ends up betrayed and killed himself. |
| 113 | * DarkAgeEurope: Though really more TheTimeOfMyths. The "Centennial Ring" averted this by updating the setting to the UsefulNotes/IndustrialRevolution. The forges and dark mines of the Nibelungs became a mine-shaft and factory setting, based on the fact that the Ring cycle was written in the 19th century Industrial Age. |
| 114 | * DeathByFlashback: Happens to Siegfried in ''Götterdämmerung''. |
| 115 | * DespairEventHorizon: Wotan hits his when he realizes he'll be forced to abandon Siegmund to be killed by Hunding. |
| 116 | * DecompositeCharacter: Fasolt and Mime both take the role of Regin, the former as Fafner's brother and the latter as Siegfried's evil-hearted foster father. |
| 117 | * DidNotThinkThisThrough: Wotan promised Freia to Fasolt and Fafner as payment for constructing Valhalla. Not only did he apparently fail to ask Freia what she thought about this, he also didn't account for Freia providing the enchanted apples that give the gods their immortality. Or he ''was'' aware of all this, and was simply hoping that Loge could find some way to get him out of his agreement. |
| 118 | * DirtyCoward: Mime, though some directors try to soften his character considerably in modern productions. |
| 119 | * TheDitz: Freia in ''Das Rheingold'' has her ditzy moments. When she is redeemed from the giants, she is touched and says, "May I hope for it? Do you think Holda really worth all the ransom?" Evidently she doesn't realize that Wotan mostly just wants to keep her for her magical apples, and she also missed Erda's long speech about how Wotan should give up the Ring. |
| 120 | * DivineDate: Siegfried and Brünnhilde, since the latter is a daughter of Wotan. |
| 121 | * 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. |
| 122 | ** Others have pointed to the noticeable physical resemblance between Mime and Richard Wagner himself. |
| 123 | ** Ironically, in the Decca Ring (the first complete recording of the cycle), Gerhard Stolze's snarling delivery of some of Mime's verses sometimes sounds as if UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler were singing. |
| 124 | * DragonHoard: Fafner kills his hitherto-bro Fasolt for the Rhine-Gold and is later found transformed into a dragon lying on the gold, until Siegfried kills him and takes the treasure. |
| 125 | * EasyAmnesia: Brünn-''who''-lde? |
| 126 | * EndOfAnAge: Or you could even call it a ''Götterdämmerung''. |
| 127 | * EntitledToHaveYou: Siegfried shows flashes of this attitude when he first meets Brünnhilde; when the latter is upset about having her breastplate and helmet removed (which [[{{Depower}} deprives her of her Valkyrie powers]] and leaves her as defenseless as a mortal), Siegfried pays her distress no mind, repeatedly attempting to embrace her (which she rebuffs) and demanding that she "''sei mir ein Weib''" ("be my woman"), stating "''Durch brennendes Feuer fuhr ich zu dir!''" ("Through blazing fire I forced my way to you!") |
| 128 | * TheEpic: ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. Performances range between 13 1/2 (Böhm & Boulez) to 17 hours (Goodall). |
| 129 | * EverybodyDiesEnding: ''Götterdämmerung'' culminates with Siegfried's death, prompting Brünnhilde to make a HeroicSacrifice that burns down Walhall with all the gods and heroes inside. |
| 130 | * EvilCounterpart: |
| 131 | ** 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. |
| 132 | ** Siegfried and Hagen are both illegitimate and both being used to recover the ring, Siegfried by his grandfather Wotan and Hagen by his father Alberich. |
| 133 | * EvilLaugh: Alberich gets one when he steals the Rhine-gold from the maidens. |
| 134 | * EvilSoundsDeep: 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. |
| 135 | * EvilVersusEvil: Alberich and Mime. However, Mime can easily come across as too pathetic to be evil. |
| 136 | * EyepatchOfPower: Wotan. |
| 137 | * FaceHeelTurn: Alberich does a decidedly abrupt one of these, starting as a 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. |
| 138 | * FaintInShock: Sieglinde; first in guilt and fear over her {{Twincest}} with her brother Siegmund, and again after [[spoiler:Siegmund is killed.]] |
| 139 | * {{Fanfare}}: Several of Wagner's ''{{Leitmoti|f}}ve'' (''e.g.'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iArAhOIzIRM Siegfried's horncall]]) have the character of fanfares. At Bayreuth, certain motifs are [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXup8Aw4CO4 played as fanfares]] from the balcony of the ''Festspielhaus'' to announce the beginning of an act. |
| 140 | * FearlessFool: Siegfried has never learned what fear is until he meets Brünnhilde. (No, you're ''not'' supposed to laugh.) |
| 141 | * FireWaterJuxtaposition: In the finale of ''Götterdammerung'', Siegfried's body is burned and Brunnhilde commits suicide by jumping into the funeral pyre (which eventually destroys both the Palace of the Gibichungs and Valhalla), while Hagen dies by drowning as he tries to get the ring back from the Rhinemaidens in the flooding river. |
| 142 | * FlamesOfLove: Siegfried and Brünnhilde meet and fall in love against a backdrop of fire (the RingOfFire in which she had been enclosed) and their story also ends in fire, with them being reunited in death on a funeral pyre. |
| 143 | * ForgedByTheGods: The magic sword Nothung, created by Wotan [[note]] or, at least, appropriated by him[[/note]] and wielded first by Siegmund and then Siegfried. |
| 144 | * ForgingScene: In ''Siegfried'', the eponymous hero reforges his father's shattered sword Nothung, while singing an address to the weapon, „''Nothung! Nothung! Neidliches Schwert!''" |
| 145 | * ForWantOfANail: Wotan spends the whole saga trying to keep the ring from falling back into Alberich's hands -- except that all he had to do was return the ring to the Rhinemaidens, which he couldn't do, because he had to pay Fasolt and Fafner for building Valhalla by giving them the ring; and the main reason he built Valhalla was because Fricka hounded him into it; and the only reason she did that was to keep him home and hopefully stop him from running around cheating on her -- so, in the final analysis, the whole mess could have been avoided if Wotan had just kept his dick in his pants. |
| 146 | * FromBadToWorse: Combined with NiceJobBreakingItHero. Siegmund tries to help a girl who's forced into marriage. In doing so, he kills her brothers, breaking her heart, and then the girl, still weeping over the bodies, is in turn killed by vengeful clansmen. |
| 147 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: Alberich is just a lovesick dwarf until he gets hold of the Rheingold and makes a ring which makes him [[TookALevelInBadass a threat]] [[BigBad to the gods themselves]]. |
| 148 | * FullPotentialUpgrade: Siegfried has a habit of contemptuously snapping Mime's swords in two until Siegfried finally reforges the invincible Nothung. |
| 149 | * GambitRoulette: In ''Götterdämmerung'', it is unclear to what extent Hagen has a masterplan and to what extent he is winging it. If we are meant to understand that he has masterminded the whole affair, then it is definitely this trope. |
| 150 | * GigglingVillain: Mime is often played this way in ''Siegfried''. |
| 151 | * GodsHandsAreTied: Why Wotan cannot just kill the giants and take the Ring for himself. It is often thought this is a deconstruction of the idea of divine laws. |
| 152 | * GiveMeASword: 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. |
| 153 | %% * {{Main/Gotterdammerung}}: TropeNamer. |
| 154 | * GreekChorus: |
| 155 | ** The leitmotives work as the equivalent of the Greek chorus of old. Advances in composition and music during the {{Main/Romanticism}} era lead Music/RichardWagner to develop this musical technique. Wagner was a FanBoy of old Greek dramas, especially those of {{Creator/Aeschylus}}. Thus, he devized a way to make his operas a seamless and endless flow of music, in which commentary about the events happening on stage (much like in the Greek chorus of old) was done by recurring musical phrases: the leitmotives. |
| 156 | ** In a more literal way, the Norns at the prologue of the final opera (''Götterdämmerung'') work as a traditional Greek chorus: they mention events that so far have happened in the Ring cycle, and they don't interact with any other character in the operas. |
| 157 | * HatOfPower: The Tarnhelm, which grants the wearer invisibility, shape-shifting, and teleportation. |
| 158 | * HeavyMithril: It may be classical music and OlderThanRadio, but it's still a textbook example. |
| 159 | * HenpeckedHusband: Wotan feels this way with his wife Fricka. Their introductory scene is Fricka waking him up while he's fast asleep. This aspect is closer to Greek Myth (Zeus and Hera) than Norse myth. |
| 160 | * HeroicBastard: Siegfried, presumably; his father Siegmund however refers to Sieglinde as his "wife", though Fricka, Goddess of Marriage, refuses to recognize it. |
| 161 | * HistoricalDomainCharacter: Oddly enough, Gunther, who is based on an actual 5th century Burgundian ruler, Gunthahari. |
| 162 | * HopeSpot: Occurs notably in ''Walküre'', when Siegmund sees the gleam of the sword that his father has promised him. The hope proves delusive, of course. |
| 163 | * HotBlooded: Siegfried is rather... excitable. |
| 164 | * HuntingAccident: Hagen claims that Siegfried has been slain by a wild [[FullBoarAction boar]]. It lasts about five seconds before Gutrune unmasks him. |
| 165 | * IAmBecomingSong: Siegfried's song while reforging anew Nothung, the shattered sword of his dead father, is a climactic piece in the whole cycle and taken as his rite of passage from boy to man. |
| 166 | * IconicOutfit: Brunnhilde's look from the original production-- a [[BrawnHilda large woman]] in [[HornyVikings Viking-like armor]] with a helmet, a round shield, and a spear-- has become visual shorthand for the entire genre of {{Opera}}, especially in a ShallowParody. |
| 167 | * IdiotHero: Siegfried ain't the sharpest sword in the armory. |
| 168 | * IgnoredConfession: In the final act of ''Götterdämmerung'', Gutrune confesses that [[spoiler: she created the LovePotion that made Siegfried forget Brünnhilde.]] However, Brünnhilde doesn't seem to hear this ([[HeroicBSOD or be able to register it]]) and continues wondering why [[spoiler: Siegfried had betrayed her.]] |
| 169 | * IllegalGuardian: Mime serves as this to Siegfried, in the hope that the boy will kill Fafner for him. |
| 170 | * IneffectualSympatheticVillain: When Mime is first seen his brother Alberich is tormenting him. Then Mime raises Siegfried to kill Fafner so he can get the ring; however, Siegfried is such a jerk to him you can easily feel sorry to him. Mime does try to kill Siegfried, but this certainly seems understandable. |
| 171 | * InTheBack: Hagen kills Siegfried by spearing him in the back. |
| 172 | * InvisibleJerkass: Alberich uses the magic of the Tarnhelm to turn invisble, and the first thing he does is start beating Mime. |
| 173 | * 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...) |
| 174 | * JealousRomanticWitness: |
| 175 | ** In some stagings of ''Das Rheingold'', such as the 2006 Copenhagen production, Wotan openly flirts with Erda and kisses her in front of his long-suffering wife Fricka. In the Copenhagen production, Fricka breaks down crying at the sight, and even the return of her sister from captivity (which was arranged thanks to Erda's prompting) can't console her at first. |
| 176 | ** In ''Twilight of the Gods'', Brünnhilde is dumbfounded when she sees her adored husband Siegfried happily preparing to marry Gutrune. Siegfried has been brainwashed, but she doesn't know that at the moment. |
| 177 | * JewishMother: Mime actually tries some of the guilt-tripping this trope is associated with on Siegfried ("And for my worry is this all my wage,/that the passionate boy only hates me/and scolds?"), though it doesn't work. This may be the most benevolent Jewish stereotype Wagner invokes. |
| 178 | * KarmaHoudini: The Rhinemaidens, who are generally treated by the story as good guys and innocent victims even though it was their cruel taunting of Alberich that drove him evil. |
| 179 | * {{Kiai}}: The Valkyries use the well-known cry „''Hojotoho! Hojotoho! Heiaha! Heiaha!''"Naturally, their cry is a significant musical {{Leitmotif}}. |
| 180 | * KickTheDog: |
| 181 | ** Alberich's cruel mistreatment of the enslaved Nibelungs in ''Das Rheingold'' is probably there to convince the viewer that Alberich is evil, so we don't feel sorry for him when the gods steal his ring. |
| 182 | ** Hagen's mockery of Gutrune after Siegfried's death (in ''Götterdämmerung'') seems pretty uncalled for. |
| 183 | * LadyOfWar: The Valkyries, particularly Brünnhilde. |
| 184 | * LaserGuidedAmnesia: 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. |
| 185 | * LaserGuidedTykebomb: Mime raised up Siegfried to be his champion, to kill Fafner and win for him Fafner's treasure. |
| 186 | * LastKiss: Wotan [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKgYLDDkIek memorably]] gives this to Brünnhilde in ''Walküre''. |
| 187 | * {{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. |
| 188 | * LightIsNotGood: 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''" ("Black-Alberich"). |
| 189 | * LoveAtFirstSight: Plenty of examples in the ''Ring'': |
| 190 | ** Long lost siblings Siegmund and Sieglinde quickly fall in love in Act I of ''Die Walküre.'' |
| 191 | ** Siegfried instantly falls in love with Brünnhilde after he braves the magic fire and awakens her with a kiss. |
| 192 | * LovePotion: Where it also induces EasyAmnesia in Siegfried. |
| 193 | %% * TheLowMiddleAges |
| 194 | * LyricalDissonance: After tasting Fafner's blood grants Siegfried the ability to see through Mime's lies, he (and the audience) hear Mime describe his plans to murder Siegfried, sung in a friendly manner. |
| 195 | * MacGuffin: The Ring itself (based on the mythological ''Andvaranaut'', which merely had the power to find gold), which has vast but vaguely-defined powers, and to make which one must renounce love. Unfortunately, its wearers tend to have it stolen from them for various reasons before they can do much with it, and Alberich makes things worse by cursing it, so that disaster comes to any who own it. |
| 196 | * MeaningfulName: As when Siegmund ("Victorious Protection") calls himself „''Wehwalt der Wölfing'' -- ("Sorrow-ruled, son of Wolfe"). |
| 197 | * MoodMotif: One of the basic functions of the ''{{Leitmoti|f}}ve''. |
| 198 | * MyHorseIsAMotorbike: In [[https://detroitopera.org/granes-transformation/ a Detroit Opera production]], Brünnhilde's horse Grane was [[StealthPun played by]] a Ford Mustang. |
| 199 | * NamedWeapons: The principal sword in the ''Ring'' is named Nothung, meaning 'Born of Need'. |
| 200 | * NeverMyFault: After Fricka criticizes Wotan for his bargain, to give Freia to Fasolt and Fafner in exchange for building Walhall [[note]]Freia grows the golden apples that give the gods their immortality; without her, they will grow old and weak[[/note]] Wotan criticizes Loge for giving him bad advice, even though the bargain was entirely Wotan's idea, and Loge is only there to get him out of it. |
| 201 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Rhinemaidens explain to Alberich that the power of the Rheingold may only be won by renouncing love, and then mercilessly tease him. Yeah, thanks a lot. |
| 202 | * NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: Early in the composition of ''Siegfried's Todt'', which eventually became ''Götterdämmerung'', Wagner intended for the opera to be performed three times in a temporary wooden theatre. Then, all the music and the theatre would be burned. Thankfully, this didn't happen. |
| 203 | * [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Demigod]]: Loge stands out as the only character in ''Rheingold'' who doesn't immediately pick up the [[IdiotBall Idiot-]] and/or [[VillainBall Villain Ball]] upon coming into proximity of the ring, instead trying to convince his master to return it to the Rhinemaidens and break the curse. |
| 204 | * OnlyTheChosenMayWield: The sword in the ash tree, which can be only pulled out by Siegmund, as he does in ''Die Walküre'' Act I. |
| 205 | * OrchestralBombing: The ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92OBNsQgxU Walkürenritt]]''. |
| 206 | * OurDragonsAreDifferent: As a matter of fact, the dragon (Fafner) is a transformed giant, possibly through use of the magical Tarnhelm. Alberich briefly becomes a dragon using the Tarnhelm, too. |
| 207 | * OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Except for Alberich and Mime, the Nibelung dwarfs are pretty much [[PunchClockVillain Punch-Clock Mooks]]. |
| 208 | * PlayingWithFire: Loge is the God of Fire (and [[TheTrickster Trickery]]) and Wotan summons him to create the enchanted flames to surround Brünnhilde. |
| 209 | * PopCulturalOsmosis: An astonishing number of Wagnerians have been attracted to his music via ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' and WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes cartoons. |
| 210 | * ThePowerOfLove: In the ''Ring'', though Sieglinde is rescued from Hunding, and Brünnhilde from the [[Music/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.) |
| 211 | * PublicDomainArtifact: Averted; the Ring (or rather, any of its prototypes) was not a well-known artifact before Wagner. |
| 212 | %%* PunchClockVillain: Wotan starts out full of passionate hunger for power but gradually moves more and more into this trope later in the cycle. %% Zero Context Example |
| 213 | * ThePunishment: Alberich, in the ''Ring'', must renounce all love in order to steal the [[MacGuffin magical Rhine-Gold]] that will make him [[EvilOverlord ruler of the world]]. |
| 214 | * RapidAging: Freia tends the orchard that grows the Golden Apples, which give the gods their immortality. When she is dragged off by Fasolt and Fafner, the remaining gods grow visibly older (except for the demi-god Loge, who comments on what is happening). |
| 215 | * ReforgedBlade: Nothung, in ''Siegfried''. |
| 216 | * ReluctantGift: Wotan is hesitant to give away Alberich's Ring as payment to the giants for the building of Valhalla. Erda has to convince him to do this. |
| 217 | * "Music/RideOfTheValkyries": The {{Trope Namer|s}} comes from ''Die Walküre''. |
| 218 | * RingOfFire: Brünnhilde is imprisoned in one at the climax of ''Die Walküre''. |
| 219 | * RingOfPower: The central symbol of ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' is an inevitably corrupting, incorrigibly evil ring inscribed with flaming runes. |
| 220 | * RoyalBastard: Hagen is the illegitimate son of Alberich and queen Grimhild, the mother of king Gunther. |
| 221 | * SacredHospitality: 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!") Despite realising Siegmund is the man who was hunting for killing members of his clan he says he will let him stay the night. Then Siegmund elopes with Hunding's Wife. |
| 222 | * SadlyMythtaken: Or sometimes 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. |
| 223 | ** The greatest example is how the cycle is a composite of three entirely unrelated myths -- the building of Valhalla's walls (with Fafner and Fasolt being composites of Fafnir and Hreiðmar, the original recipients of the Ring, with the unnamed giant who built the walls and didn't get paid in the original story), the story of the ''Andvaranaut'' (which originally only had the power to help the wearer find gold, and was stolen by Loki as reparations for accidentally killing Hreiðmar's son in the form of an otter), a part of the ''Volsunga Saga'', and Ragnarök (the Norse apocalypse, which was ''not'' caused by Siegfried's death or Odin's carving a spear off the World Tree). |
| 224 | * ScrewDestiny: The plot of ''Walküre'' is based around an attempt to do so by first Wotan and then Brünnhilde which ultimately fails due to the characters' fundamental dysfunction and the toxic influence of the Ring. |
| 225 | * SelfImmolation: Brünnhilde. |
| 226 | * SerialEscalation: Where Wagner took opera -- I mean, ''Bühnenfestspiel''. |
| 227 | * ShockAndAwe: Donner, god of Thunder and Lighting. |
| 228 | * SmallReferencePools: The "Music/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. |
| 229 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Freia, for all her literally vital importance in ''Das Rheingold'', only has six lines (most of them cries for help). However, since the part isn't that demanding vocally, this allows Freia to be sung by young, slender and beautiful women as demanded by the libretto. |
| 230 | * SpaceJews: The Nibelungs have been claimed by some to be stand-ins for the Jews. ''See'' DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything ''above''. |
| 231 | * SpeaksFluentAnimal: Siegfried can do this after tasting the dragon's blood. |
| 232 | * SpiritAdvisor: Alberich seems to fulfill this function for Hagen in ''Götterdämmerung''. |
| 233 | * StandardSnippet: The "Music/RideOfTheValkyries". "Siegfried's Funeral March" from ''Götterdämmerung'' has also been used for funerals in the real world. |
| 234 | * StarCrossedLovers: Falling in love is generally not a good idea in a Wagner opera: |
| 235 | ** Siegmund is killed by Hunding (after Wotan shatters Siegmund's sword), Sieglinde dies in child-birth. |
| 236 | ** Siegfried is speared in the back, Brünnhilde burns herself to death on his funeral-pyre. |
| 237 | ** Gutrune apparently dies of grief. |
| 238 | * TheStarscream: Mime, in his relationship with Alberich. |
| 239 | * StealingFromThieves: Alberich steals the Rhine-gold, but is robbed of it soon afterwards by Loge and Wotan. Wotan is eager to get the Rhine-gold but wouldn't want to renounce love (which is the necessary condition for stealing the gold from its original place in the Rhine). |
| 240 | -->'''Loge''': What a thief stole, steal thou from the thief: couldst better gain aught for thine own? |
| 241 | * UsefulNotes/StockholmSyndrome: In some versions of ''Das Rheingold'', Freia is shown to develop sympathy for the love-stricken Fasolt. |
| 242 | * TenorBoy: Invoked with Siegmund and Siegfried -- the more "boyish" Wagnerian rôles, though perhaps subverted by Mime. |
| 243 | * ThemeSongReveal: 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. |
| 244 | * ThreadsOfFate: ''Götterdämmerung'' opens with the Three Norns, the Nordic equivalent of the Fates weaving and braiding their rope atop a mountain. The rope frays and snaps, and they proclaim it a sign of impending disaster. |
| 245 | * TheTimeOfMyths: The setting for the ''Ring'' Cycle. |
| 246 | * TrashTheSet: If everything went according to one of Wagner's original plans, before the single opera expanded into a four-part cycle, it was meant to be staged in a temporary wooden building that was to be set ablaze at the story's end. |
| 247 | * TrickingTheShapeshifter: Loge captures Alberich by daring him to transform into something small, whereupon Alberich becomes a toad. |
| 248 | * {{Twincest}}: Siegmund and Sieglinde in ''Die Walküre''. |
| 249 | * UltimateBlacksmith: Alberich, Mime, and Siegfried all have claims on the part. |
| 250 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The Rheinmadens not only let slip to Alberich that the power of the Rheingold can be unlocked by swearing a curse against love, they then tease and mock him until he is so distraught and angry that he does exactly that. |
| 251 | * {{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 just plain fat. |
| 252 | * VerbalBackpedaling: In ''Siegfried'', the dragon's blood acts as a reverse TruthSerum, 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 [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness He Has Outlived His Usefulness]]. |
| 253 | * VoiceOfTheLegion: 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. |
| 254 | * WeaponsBreakingWeapons: This happens twice. In ''Die Walküre'', Wotan intervenes in the duel between Siegmund and Hunding by destroying Siegmund's sword Notung with his spear, allowing Hunding to kill the disarmed Siegmund. In ''Siegfried'', Siegfried uses his reforged sword Notung to break Wotan's spear as he attacks Wotan in revenge for his father's death, foreshadowing the doom of the gods in the following opera. |
| 255 | * WeAreNotGoingThroughThatAgain: Hagen survives the fire and flood in the final act of 'Gotterdämmerung''-- and when he tries to get the Ring the Rhinemaidens drown him. |
| 256 | * WeCanRuleTogether: 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. |
| 257 | * TheWeirdSisters: |
| 258 | ** In ''The Rhine-Gold'', the Rhine-Maidens are three water-women who guard the magical Rhine-Gold, but lose it to Alberich who forges it into a magical ring. In Act 3 of ''Götterdämmerung'', Siegfried, the present owner of Alberich's ring, accidentally encounters the Rhine-Maidens who warn him about the curse of the ring and urge him to return it to the river. When Siegfried dismisses the warning, they predict Siegfried's death, which comes to pass. |
| 259 | ** In the beginning of ''Götterdämmerung'', the three Norns are seen weaving the thread of Destiny, and sing a song which predicts the burning of Valhalla and the end of the gods. The thread snaps suddenly, foreshadowing that their prophecy will come true by the end of the opera. |
| 260 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: At the end Alberich is still around; however, this is appropriate as only he and the Rhinemaidens survive and the Ring Cycle started with them. Some versions don't make it clear what happened to Gutrune, though she is supposed to face DeathByDespair. |
| 261 | * 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. |
| 262 | * WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: The first step in bringing forth the fall of gods and man? Three beautiful women scorning poor, ugly Alberich until he is so bitter that he renounces love. |
| 263 | * WorldOfHam: "Wagnerian" has become practically a synonym for this. |
| 264 | * TheWorldTree: 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. |
| 265 | * YouAreWorthHell: Siegmund rejects eternal glory in Valhalla rather than be separated from wife/sister Sieglinde. See above trope, {{Twincest}}. |
| 266 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Mime raised Siegfried for the purpose of defeating Fafner and gaining him the treasure. After Siegfried's success, Mime plans to kill him. |
| 267 | ---- |
| 268 | !!Works that adapt ''The Ring of the Nibelung'': |
| 269 | |
| 270 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 271 | |
| 272 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 273 | * Creator/LeijiMatsumoto wrote a manga titled ''Harlock Saga: The Ring of the Nibelung'' that retells the story using characters from ''Anime/CaptainHarlock'' and his other works. |
| 274 | [[/folder]] |
| 275 | |
| 276 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 277 | * In ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' #294-299 (1980) Roy Thomas and Keith Pollard adapt the Ring as an event that happened in the past with Thor as both Siegmund and Siegfried in addition to himself and Valkyrie and Brunhilda. It is the only adaptation in this folder that is rated for everyone. Each opera was told over the course of two issues, sometimes ending in the middle of an issue where the next one would then begin. |
| 278 | * Roy Thomas and Gil Kane produced a direct comic adaptation of the tetralogy, the four-part graphic novel ''The Ring of the Nibelung'' (DC, 1990). Each opera got one issue to tell the story resulting in this being a CompressedAdaptation. Due to nudity and violence this is for mature readers. |
| 279 | * A sumptuous complete adaptation based on the translation by Patrick Mason, ''The Ring of the Nibelung'', was produced by P. Craig Russell (Dark Horse Press, 2000-2001). "The Rhine-gold" and "Twilight of the Gods" were told over the course of four issues while "The Valkyrie" and "Siegfried" were told over the course of three. This adaptation is for readers aged sixteen and up. |
| 280 | [[/folder]] |
| 281 | |
| 282 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 283 | * Music/GraveDigger's ''Rheingold'' is a ConceptAlbum which is based on ''The Ring of the Nibelung''. |
| 284 | [[/folder]] |
| 285 | |
| 286 | [[folder:Theater]] |
| 287 | * The great Creator/AnnaRussell hilariously parodied the ''Ring'' in routines like "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve7wH-k8LgQ The Ring of the Nibelungs: An Analysis]]" [''sic''] and the PoirotSpeak-based "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPhFBE4UGvA Schreechenrauf]]." |
| 288 | [[/folder]] |
| 289 | |
| 290 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 291 | * There exists two [[PointAndClickGame Point and Click]] AdventureGame adaptations of the opera, both of which are {{Abandonware}}. The first game, ''Ring: The Legend of the Nibelungen'', covers the first half of the opera and was released in 1998 while its sequel, ''Ring II: Twilight of the Gods'', covered the second half and was released in 2003. While there are many differences between the games and the opera, the main difference from the opera is that these adaptations are set in a ScienceFiction setting. |
| 292 | [[/folder]] |
| 293 | |
| 294 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 295 | * The third episode of Operavox is an adaptation of "Das Rheingold". Due to a thirty-minute run time, Donner, Froh, Mime, and Erda were all omitted. |
| 296 | [[/folder]] |
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