der ring des nibelungen - Fantasy Castle Books

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(By degrees the waves change into clouds which become gradually clearer, and when at last they have quite disappeared, as it were in fine mist, An Open District on Mountain-Heights Becomes visible, at first still dim with night. The breaking day lightens with growing brightness a castle with shining battlements that stands upon a point of rock in the background; between this castle-crowned rock and the foreground of the scene lies, as is to be supposed, a deep valley, with the Rhine flowing through it. At the side on flowery ground lies Wotan with Fricka beside him; both are asleep.) FRICKA (awakens, her eye falls on the castle; she is surprised and alarmed). Wotan! Husband! Awaken! WOTAN (lightly in his dream) The happy hall of delight Is locked amid gate and guard; Manhood’s worship, measureless might, Mount to unfinishing fame! FRICKA (shakes him). Up from the dreadless drift of thy dreams! Awake, and weigh what thou doest! WOTAN (awakes, and raises himself a little; his eye is immediately caught by sight of the castle). Behold the unwithering work! With heeding towers the height is tipped; Broadly stands the stately abode! As I drew it in my dream— As it was in my will— Safe and fair finds it my sight,— Holy, sheltering home! FRICKA. So meet thou deemest what most is my dread? Thy welcomed walls for Freia beware of. Waken and be not unmindful to what a meed thou art bound! The work is ended and owed for as well; forgettest thou what thou must give? WOTAN. Forgotten not is the guerdon they named who worked at the walls; the unbending team by bargain I tamed, that here the lordly hall might be lifted; they piled it thanks befall them; for the pay fret not thy thought. FRICKA. O light unmerciful laughter! Loveless masterly mischief! Had I but heard of your freak, its fraud would wholly have failed; but boldly you worked it abroad from the women, where safe from sight you were left alone with the giants to juggle. So without shame or shyness you sold them Freia, my flowering sister, and deemed it sweetly was done. What to you men for worship is meet, when your minds are on might? WOTAN. Was Wotan's want from Fricka so far, who sought for the fastness herself ? FRICKA. Of my husband's truth was my heed; I tried, in soundless sorrow, how to find him the fetters fittest to hold him at home; lordly abode and blissful living lightly with bitless reins should bind thee to lingering rest; thy bent for the building leaned on fence and fight alone; worship and might thou mean'st it to widen; that steadier storm may betide thee thou turn'st to its towering strength. WOTAN (smiling). Wert thou to grasp me in guard like a woman, thou yet must yield to my godhood that, in the bulwarks irked and bounded, the world it outwards should win. Freedom and freshness he loves who lives; I part not lightly with pastime. FRICKA. Hard, unmoved The waves have gradually changed into clouds which little by little become lighter, and at length disperse into a fine mist. As the mist disappears upwards in little clouds An Open Space on a Mountain Height Becomes visible in the twilight. – The dawning day lights up with growing brightness a castle with glittering pinnacles which stands on the top of a cliff in the background. Between this cliff and the foreground a deep valley through which the Rhine flows is visible. – At one side, on a flowery bank, lies WOTAN with FRICKA near him, both asleep. Fricka (awakes: her gaze falls on the castle; alarmed). Wotan, give ear! Awaken! Wotan (dreaming). The sacred dwelling of joy Is guarded by gate and door: Manhood’s honour, might without bound, Rise now to endless renown! Fricka (shakes him). Up from thy vision’s blissful deceit! My husband, wake and bethink thee! Wotan (awakes and raises himself a little. His eyes are at once fixed by the view of the castle). Achieved the eternal work! On mountain summit the gods’ abode! Proudly stand the glittering walls! As in dreams ‘twas designed, As by will ‘twas decreed, Strong and fair stand it in sight: Hallowed, glorious pile! Fricka. Wotan. Fricka. Wotan. Fricka. What thee delighteth brings me but dread! Thou hast thy joy, my fear is for Freia! Heedless one, dost thou remember the truly promised reward! The work is finished and forfeit the pledge: forgettest thou what thou must pay? I mind me well of the bargain they made who raised me the walls: by a bond bound were the rebels in thrall, that they this hallowed dwelling might build me; it stands now — thank the workers: — for the wage fret not thyself. O laughing, impious lightness! loveless, cold-hearted folly! Had I but known of thy pact, the trick I then had withstood; but ever ye men kept afar from the women, that, deaf to us and in peace, alone ye might deal with the giants. So without shame ye base ones abandoned Freia, my loveliest sister, pleased right well with your pact! What to our hard hearts is holy and good, when ye men lust for might! Was like greed to Fricka unknown, when she for the building did beg? For my husband's truth aye in care with sorrow must I ponder, how to hold him beside me, lured by his fancy afar: halls fair and stately, joys of the homestead, surely should bind thee in peaceful repose. But thou in this work hast dreamed of war and arms alone: glory and might ever to win thee, and ne'er ending strife to enkindle, were builded the towering walls. Wotan (smiling). Wouldst thou, o wife, in the fortress then fix me, to me, the God, must be granted, that, in the castle prisoned, yet from outside I must win me the world: ranging and changing love all who live; forego that game, then, I cannot! Fricka. Cold, unloving, 8. The Motive of Valhalla The dawn illumines a castle with glittering turrets on a rocky height at the back. Through a deep valley between this and the foreground the Rhine flows. With the opening of the second scene the stately VALHALLA MOTIVE is heard. This is a motive of superb beauty. It greets us again and again in “Rhinegold” and frequently in the later music-dramas of the cycle. Yet often as it occurs, one hears it with ever-growing admiration. Valhalla is the dwelling of gods and heroes, and its motive is divinely and heroically beautiful. Though it is essentially broad and stately it often assumes a tender mood, like the chivalric gentleness which every true hero feels toward woman. Thus it is at the opening of the second scene, for here this motive, which when played forte or fortissimo is one of the stateliest of musical inspirations, is marked piano and molto dolce. In crescendo and decrescendo it rises and falls, as rises and falls with each breath the bosom of the beautiful Fricka, who slumbers at Wotan’s side. (1) The stage gradually brightens, and the castle of Valhalla is disclosed, standing upon a cliff overlooking the Rhine. Wotan and Fricka lie asleep in the foreground. Day is dawning. The Motive of Valhalla is softly intoned by the brass instrument. The motive is one of the most grandiose and imposing of all, and wonderfully expressive of the power and dignity of the gods. It is generally played by the brass choir of the orchestra, which Wagner reinforced by the so-called “Bayreuth tubas,” an instrument devised by him for his Nibelung instrumentation. The relationship of this motive with that of the Ring will appear on examination; but its form is more massive, its harmonies simplified and its intervals made diatonic instead of chromatic. This inter-relation of themes of allied significance will be met with through the whole Trilogy. It is one of the most subtle and potent devices employed by Wagner to enhance their suggestiveness, and to secure coherency and unity in his system. (2) The second scene of the Rheingold introduces us to the world of the Gods; the forms, that is to say, in which the human mind embodies its ideas of the ruling powers of the universe. Wotan, Fricka, and the others, here represent not merely the Northern Divinities, from whom their names are borrowed, but all religious creeds whatsoever that have held sway over the human race; and Wotan himself, as the typical figure, symbolizes the Power of Creed. (3) Then occurs a gradual transformation-scene both to the eye and the ear. The rocks disappear, black waves flow past, the whole all the while appearing to sink. Clouds succeed the water, mist the clouds. This finally clears, revealing a calm and lovely scene on the mountain-heights. The music has during this been painting the change, too: Sounds of running water, above which hovers a moment, a memory of the scene just past and a foreboding of its sorrowful consequences, the strain signifying the renunciation of love; when this dies away, the motif of the ring, to be heard so many times after, its fateful character plainly conveyed by the notes, which also literally describe its circular form. By what magic of modulation the uninitiated cannot discern, the ring-motif, as the water by degrees is translated into mist, slides by subtle changes into a motif which seems, when it is reached, conspicuously different from it, the motif of the Gods' Abode. There in the distance it stands, when the mists have perfectly cleared, bathed in fresh morning light, the tall just-completed castle, with shimmering battlements, crowning a high rocky mountain, at whose base, far down out of sight, flows the Rhine. For the Rhine is the centre of the world we are occupied with: under it, the Nibelungs; above it, the Gods; beside it, the giants and the insignificant human race. The music itself here, while the dwelling of the gods is coming into sight, seems to build a castle: story above story it rises, topped with gleaming pinnacles, one lighter and taller than all the rest, piercing the clouds. (4) As Fricka awakens her eyes fall on the castle. In her surprise she calls to her spouse. Wotan dreams on, the Ring Motive, and later the Valhalla Motive being heard in the orchestra, for with the ring Wotan is finally to compensate the Giants for building Valhalla. As he opens his eyes and sees the castle you hear the “Spear Motive,” which is a characteristic variation of the Motive of Compact”. For Wotan should enforce, if needful, the compacts of the Gods with his spear. (1) In the foreground lie sleeping side by side, on a flowery bank, the god and goddess Wotan and Fricka. He lies dreaming happily of the abode from which the world is to be commanded by him, to the display of immeasurable power and his eternal honour. His wife's sleep is less easy. For the situation is not as free from complications as his untroubled slumbers might lead one to suppose. Wotan has employed to build him this stronghold the giants Fasolt and Fafner, formerly his enemies, but bound to peace by treaties, and has promised them the reward stipulated for, Freia, goddess of beauty and youth, sister of Fricka. And this he has done without any serious thought of keeping his word. "It has never seriously entered my mind," he assures Fricka, when, starting in dismay from her sleep and beholding the completed burg, she reminds him that the time is come for payment, and asks what shall they do. Loge, he enlightens her, counselled the compact and promised to find the means of evading it. He relies upon him to do so. This calm frankness in the god, with its effect of personal clearness from all sense of guilt, suggests the measure of Wotan's distinguishing simplicity. Referring later to the dubious act which so effectually laid the foundation of sorrows, he says, "Unknowingly deceitful, I practised untruth. Loge artfully tempted me." He explains himself to Fricka, when she asks why he continues to trust the crafty Loge, who has often already brought them into straits: "Where frank courage is sufficient, I ask counsel of no one. But slyness and cunning are needed to turn to advantage the ill-will of adversaries, and that is the talent of Loge." (4) 9. The Motive of Compact Wotan sings of the glory of Walhalla. All through his apostrophe resounds the Walhalla Motive. Fricka reminds him that he has made a compact with the Giants to deliver over to them for their work in building Walhalla, Freia, the Goddess of Youth and Beauty. This introduces on the cellos and double basses the MOTIVE OF COMPACT. A theme more expressive of the binding force of law it is impossible to conceive. It has the
and harassing man! For might and lordship's meaningless lure, thou scatter'st in loudness of scorn love and a woman's worth! WOTAN (earnestly), To earn a wife in thee was it my other eye went into pledge when I wooed; how blindly passed is thy blame! Women I worship too far for thy wish; and Freia, the sweet'ner, sell I not forth; I meant not such in my mind. FRICKA. Then shield her to-day; in shelterless dread hither she dashes for help! FREIA (entering hurriedly). Ward me, sister! See to me, Wotan! For Fasolt roars, from the ridge of his fastness, his fist is ready to fetch me. WOTAN. Let him howl! Beheld'st thou not Loge? FRICKA. How besettingly try'st thou his slyness with trust! Though harm we have stood at his hands, he clouds thee still with his cunning. WOTAN. Where manly mood counts I call none of my neighbours; but to find in hate of foes a friendship, cunning only and craft, with Loge to lead them, can aid. He, whom 1 hearkened to, swore to find a safety for Freia; on him my hope I have set. FRICKA. And he leaves thee alone. Here stride instead the giants in storm; where slinks thy slippery stay? FREIA. What hinders my brothers from help they should bring me, when of Wotan's my weakness is bare? Behold me, Donner! Hither! Hither! Haste to Freia, my Froh! FRICKA. In the heartless bargain who bound thee, they hide their best from thee here. (FASOLT and FAFNER enter, both of giants' stature, and armed with strong stakes.) FASOLT. Soft sleep sealed thy sight; we set meanwhile unslumb'ringly the walls. Nameless toil tired us not; strength of stone on high we stowed; deep in towers, tight with doors, holds and seals the slender house its hall. Well stands what we steepened, decked with light of laughing dawn; pass the gate, and give the pay! WOTAN. Name, neighbours, your meed; what like you most to light on? FASOLT. The rate we mean already is marked; I find thy memory faint. Freia, the holder Holda, the freer we have thy word her win we for home. WOTAN. Sick is thy brain with bargain and sale? Think on fitter thanks; Freia I sell not so. FASOLT (for a moment speechless with rage and surprise). What hear I? Ha! Brood'st thou on harm, on hurt to the bond? On thy spear written read'st thou as sport the runes that bound the bargain? FAFNIR (sneering). pitiless heart! For the vain delights of power and sway thou stakest in insolent scorn love and a woman's worth? Wotan (gravely). When I for wife sought to win thee, an eye as forfeit placed I wooing in pledge: how vainly now dost thou chide! Women I worship e'en more than thou wouldst; and Freia, the fair one, will I not grant; in truth, such thought ne'er was mine. Fricka. Then shelter her now: defenceless, in fear, hither she hastens for help. Freia (enters as if in hasty flight). Help me, sister! shelter me, brother! From yonder mountain threatened me Fasolt, he comes now hither to take me. Wotan. Fricka. Wotan. Fricka. Freia. Fricka. Let him threat! Saw'st thou not Loge? That thou still on the trickster bestowest thy trust — ! Much wrong he ever has wrought, yet aye again he ensnares thee. Where simple truth serves, alone I seek no helper. But, to force the spite of foes to serve me, guile and cunning alone, as Loge has learned them, can teach. He who this treaty designed gave promise Freia to ransom: on him I fix now my faith. And he leaves thee alone! — There stride the giants hither in haste: where lurks thy crafty ally? Where linger, then, my brothers, when help they should bring me, now that Wotan abandons the weak! help me, Donner! Hither, hither! Rescue Freia, my Froh! The disgraceful band who betrayed thee, have all now hidden away! Fasolt and Fafner (both of gigantic stature, armed with strong clubs, enter). Fasolt. Soft sleep closed thine eyes; the while we twain unslumb'ring built the walls. Mighty toil tired us not, heavy stones we heaped on high; lofty tower, gate and door guard and keep thy castle halls secure. There stands what we builded, shining bright in day-light's beams: wend ye in, pay us our wage! Wotan. Fasolt. Wotan. Name, workers, your wage; what deem ye fitting guerdon? The price was fixed as fit it was deemed; is all so soon forgot? Freia, the fair one, Holda, the free one, — the bargain holds, we bear her with us. Has, then, your bargain blinded your wits? Other guerdon ask: Freia may I not grant! Fasolt (for a moment stands speechless with angry astonishment). What say'st thou? Ha! Traitor art thou? thy treaty a trick? What thy spear wards serves but for sport, all the runes of weighty bargains? Fafner (mockingly). inherent dignity and power of the idea of justice. (1) The god and the goddess rejoice in the sight of the “eternal work,” but the troubling thoughts of the price to be paid comes speedily. With it we hear in the orchestra the motive of the Compact, by which that price, the person of Freia, goddess of Love and Youth, was agreed upon with the giants. Another suggestion of the forces of Fate that work for destruction through the drama. Those who like may see in the steady downward course of the melody a suggestion of the fall of the gods of which this fatal compact was the starting point. (2) 10. The Fricka Motive (The Enchainment of Love) Fricka upbraids her spouse for his recklessness in entering into it—what had led her to consent was the hope of keeping him with her in these stately halls and thereby curtailing his wanderings; and this she expresses in a motive characteristic of the enchaining power of woman’s love in marriage. (2) And so this powerful clan-chief had had a fancy for a house to live in worthy of their greatness. Fricka had fallen in with his desire, but for reasons of her own. To him the citadel was a fresh addition to his power. But Fricka had been "ill at ease with regard to her consort's fidelity," and had thought the beautiful dwelling might keep him at home. With her words, "Beautiful dwelling, delectable household order," first occurs the winning strain which afterward stands for Fricka in her love of domesticity, or, separate from her, for the pure charm of home. When the giants, however, had been subsidised for the great work of building the house, the narrow-conscienced women had been kept out of the way while an agreement was reached with the builders; a grievance which Fricka remembers, and does not let her spouse forget, when the evil consequences of his act are upon them. Fricka constitutes something of a living reproach to her husband, though a certain tender regard still exists between them through the introductory opera. A thankless part is Fricka's, like that of Reason in opposition to Feeling and Genius. (4) Then follows a little domestic spat between Wotan and Fricka, Wotan claiming that Fricka was as anxious as he to have Walhalla built, and Fricka answering that she desired to have it erected in order to persuade Wotan to lead a more domestic life. At Fricka’s words, “Halls, bright and gleaming,” the FRICKA MOTIVE is heard for the first time. It is a caressing motive of much grace and beauty. It is also prominent in Wotan’s reply immediately following. When Wotan tells Fricka that he never intended to really give up Freia to the Giants, chromatics, like little tongues of fire, appear in the accompaniment. They are suggestive of the Loge Motive, for with the aid of Loge, Wotan hopes to trick the Giants. “Then save her at once!” calls Fricka, as Freia enters in hasty flight. At this point is heard the first bar of the FREIA MOTIVE combined with the FLIGHT MOTIVE. (1) 11. The Flight Motive And now Freia comes running to him in terror, crying that one of the giants has told her he is come to fetch her. With her entrance we first hear the slender sweet phrase, delicately wandering upward, which after for a time denoting Freia, comes to mean for us just beauty. Wotan calms the maiden in distress, and asks, as one fancies, a little uneasily, "Have you seen nothing of Loge?" (4) Disjected chords in the orchestra foreshadow the approach of Freia, fleeing from the giants who are trying to seize her as their promised reward. The Flight Motive is sounded in the orchestra, combined with the first clause of the motive representative of herself, only later appearing in its full and complete form. (2) 12. The Giant Motive (and Compact with the Giants) Fasolt was the giant who had threatened her; and at the mention of his name a suggestion of the Giants’ Motive comes from the orchestra, but not its complete form—only one giant is mentioned! Wotan bids her not to fear—did she see Loge? For upon Loge he relies to free him from his predicament; and his name, too, calls forth a suggestion of his flickering theme, but not yet in well recognizable shape. Come the giants, stamping in clumsily and quite unmistakably. They point to the newly completed burg and ask their pay; Wotan jauntily inquires what they want. The Compact Motive is sounded, as they say that of course it is the fair Freia, as agreed; and her motive, not even yet in its definite form, is heard. The giants are speechless with rage at this treachery. (2) With Freia’s exclamations that the Giants are pursuing her the first suggestion of the Giant Motive appears, and as these “great, hulking fellows” enter, the heavy, clumsy GIANT MOTIVE is heard in its entirety. Fasolt and Fafnir have come to demand that Wotan deliver up to them Freia, according to his promise when they agreed to build Walhalla for him. In the ensuing scene, in which Wotan parleys with the giants, the Giant Motive, the Walhalla Motive, the Motive of the Compact and the first bar of the Freia Motive figure until Fasolt’s threatening words: “Peace wane when you break your compact,” when there is heard a version of the Motive of Compact characteristic enough to be distinguished as the MOTIVE OF COMPACT WITH THE GIANTS. (1) The arrival of the giants is one of the great comedy moments of the play. Their colossally heavy tread, musically rendered, never fails to call forth laughter from some corner in us of left-over childhood. It is like the ogre's Fee-faw-fum. Fasolt is a good giant, his shaggy hair is blond, his fur-tunic white, and his soft big heart all given over to the touchingly lovely Freia. Fafner is a bad giant and his hair and furs are black. He is much cleverer than his brother. They carry as walkingsticks the trunks of trees. They make it known that they have come for their wages. Wotan bids them, with a sturdy aplomb worthy of his godhead, state their wishes. What shall the wages be? Fasolt, a shade astonished, replies, "That, of course, which we settled upon. Have you forgotten so soon? Freia.... It is in the bond that she shall follow us home." "Have you taken leave of your senses... with you bond?" asks Wotan, with a quick flash. "You must think of a different recompense. Freia is far too precious to me." The giant is for a moment still, unable to speak for indignation; but recovering his voice he makes to the "son
Page 2 and 3: DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN (“The Rin
Page 4 and 5: (With merry cries they swim away fr
Page 6 and 7: Be Flosshild’ floated to heaven!
Page 10 and 11: My trusty brother! Tells the blockh
Page 12 and 13: at last who had warred on love; for
Page 14 and 15: Greets she so faintly the grayness
Page 16 and 17: MIME. LOGE. MIME. LOGE. MIME. But,
Page 18 and 19: have fall'n to my might, shall your
Page 20 and 21: Wretched and ravening rogues! (To h
Page 22 and 23: FRICKA (hurrying anxiously to Wotan
Page 24 and 25: Keep not what is cursed! Soon is se
Page 26: What sense is inside it? The name t

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