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Götterdämmerung

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Alberich
Mockingly rejected by the Rhinemaidens in Das Rheingold, the dwarf Alberich seized their precious hoard, renounced love and forged from the gold a Ring to make him all-powerful. When Wotan and Loge craftily cheated him out of the Ring, he lay a terrible curse on it: he who possesses it will be plagued by the fear of losing it, while he who doesn’t will be consumed by the desire to possess it! The latter definitely applies to Alberich himself. Throughout the cycle, he never stops trying to recover the jewel. To achieve his ends, he has even fathered a son, Hagen, whose hatred he has been stirring up from very early on, making him swear to recover the Ring.

The name Alberich, which etymologically means ‘master of the elves’, is known in French as Auberon and in English as Oberon. The character appears in the Germanic heroic epic Ortnit and in the Song of the Nibelungs (Nibelungenlied).
Brünnhilde
Brünnhilde is the daughter of Wotan and Erda. Born as one of the nine Valkyries, she lost her immortal powers as a punishment for having disobeyed her father. Further condemned to a deep sleep at the top of a mountain ringed by fire, she is, years later, kissed awake by Siegfried, whom she pledges eternal love. Aware that a hero must fulfil his destiny, she now lets him set off on his adventure, while Siegfried gives her the Ring as a token of his fidelity. Brünnhilde is then visited by her sister Waltraute, who tells her about Wotan’s disturbing actions, as he prepares Valhalla for the inevitable twilight of the gods. Despite this warning, Brünnhilde refuses to return the Ring to the Rhinemaidens, which would be the only way to save the gods. When Siegfried, under the influence of a magic potion, returns in the guise of Gunther to conquer her for the king, the former Valkyrie tries to defend herself but yields to the hero’s strength. Back at court, Siegfried, having regained his true appearance, denies knowing her. Overwhelmed, Brünnhilde rejects Gunther and accuses Siegfried of treachery, revealing him to be her lover. Angered, she accepts Hagen’s help to take revenge and reveals to him Siegfried’s weakness …

Brunhild is one of the most famous Valkyries in Norse mythology and a key character in the Sigurd cycle. In Old Norse, her name literally means ‘breastplate for battle’. This character was inspired by the Visigoth princess Brunhilda, the wife of the Merovingian king Sigebert I. She was famous for her bitter feud with Queen Fredegund. The latter’s son, Chlothar, ordered the queen to be tied by her hair, an arm and a leg to the tail of a wild horse.
Gunther
Gunther, the king of the Gibichungs, lives in a palace on the banks of the Rhine with his sister Gutrune and their half-brother Hagen. Seeking a wife worthy of his noble lineage, he covets the hand of the woman asleep at the top of the rock ringed by fire. When Siegfried comes to meet him at his castle and, under the influence of a love potion, falls under Gutrune’s spell, the young hero promises the king that he will win for him the woman he desires. Brünnhilde is taken to the palace by force and her marriage to Gunther is arranged. But when she discovers Siegfried at Gutrune’s side, she rejects a downcast Gunther. Hagen offers to avenge the honour of his king and his betrothed …

A character in the traditional version of the Song of the Nibelungs (Nibelungenlied) and the Völsunga saga in Germanic and Norse mythology, Gunther was inspired by the historical figure of Gondicaire, the first king of the Burgundians in Roman Gaul. This tribe settled on the banks of the Rhine in the fifth century, where they saw their king die in 437 during a battle against Hun mercenaries in the pay of the Roman general Aetius.
Gutrune
King Gunther’s sister and Hagen’s half-sister, Gutrune despairs of finding a husband. When Siegfried arrives at the Hall of the Gibichungs, Hagen encourages her to serve him a love potion, and the young hero immediately falls in love with her, asking for her hand in marriage. On the evening of a hunting trip that her fiancé has joined, Gutrune, awoken by Brünnhilde’s laughter, is disturbed by unsettling dreams. When Hagen returns with Siegfried’s lifeless body, claiming he was killed by a boar, Gutrune refuses to believe him. Horrified, she realizes that her love potion only made Siegfried forget his true love, Brünnhilde.

Kriemhild or Krimhild, also known as Gudrún in Norse mythology, is one of the main female characters in the Song of the Nibelungs (Nibelungenlied), the Poetic Edda and the Gudrunlied. She also appears as Hilda in Ernest Reyer’s great French opera Sigurd, first performed at La Monnaie in 1884.
Hagen
The son of Alberich and half-brother of King Gunther and of Gutrune, Hagen suggests to his brother and sister, both unmarried, that they should find a spouse to perpetuate the Gibichung dynasty. When Siegfried arrives at their Hall, Hagen cunningly arranges for Gutrune to make the young hero drink a love potion. Under its influence, Siegfried forgets Brünnhilde and promises Gunther to bring her to him if he, in turn, grants Siegfried his sister’s hand in marriage. Left alone, Hagen savours the turn of events. His father Alberich appears to him, stirring up his hatred and making him promise to get the Ring back, whatever the cost. When Brünnhilde denounces Siegfried’s treachery and rejects Gunther, Hagen offers to avenge them both by killing the young hero. The next day, during a hunting party, he kills Siegfried by stabbing him in the back with a spear, exploiting his only weakness. After taking his body back to court, he says the murder was an act of justice to punish the traitor. He demands the Ring as his reward, but fails to get it. When Brünnhilde sacrifices herself and Valhalla is destroyed, Hagen makes one last attempt to seize the Ring, but is carried off by the Rhinemaidens and drowned.

Inspired by the eponymous character in the Song of the Nibelungs (Nibelungenlied), Hagen is also called Högni in Old Norse. In most Norse legends, he plays a direct or indirect role, as in Wagner’s cycle, in the fall of Siegfried/Sigurd. This demanding role is considered one of the most difficult in the repertoire for basses.
The Norns
Gathered near Brünnhilde’s rock, the three Norns, daughters of Erda, spin the threads of fate while singing of the past and present. They evoke the Ash tree that held up the universe before being felled by Wotan to pile up wood around Valhalla, his fortress. If the pyre catches fire, it will signify the demise of the gods. Suddenly, their rope breaks, stripping them of their divinatory powers. They lament their loss and return to their mother’s underworld.

In Norse cosmogony, the Norns are the divinities who govern the destinies of the beings inhabiting the nine worlds. At each birth, a Norn, whether kindly or malicious, appears to determine that newborn’s future. In the Völuspá, one of the most famous poems in Norse mythology, the three most important Norns – Urdr, Verdandi and Skuld – live next to the Well of Destiny, from which they draw water for Yggdrasil, the World tree.
Rhinemaidens
Mischievous and seductive, the water sprites Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde, the three Daughters of the Rhine, were charged with guarding the gold that lies at the bottom of the river and the secret it holds: only he who renounces love will be able to take possession of the treasure and thus control the world. Alberich, after they provoked him, managed to steal the gold to forge a Ring for himself, leaving the Rhinemaidens distraught and weeping at their loss. Years later, they meet Siegfried, who has lost his way during a hunting party. They offer to find his prey in exchange for the Ring he now possesses. When he repeatedly refuses, they reveal to him the danger he runs if he keeps it. When, at the end, Brünnhilde sacrifices herself, the Rhinemaidens finally recover the Ring. Hagen wants to take it, but they drive him into the depths of the Rhine.

Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde are the only characters in the Ring cycle with no direct counterpart in Germanic mythology. Wagner is said to have drawn inspiration for them from female water sprites in the Song of the Nibelungs (Nibelungenlied) and other nymphs from European folklore, among others.
Siegfried
After reforging Nothung, the sword inherited from his father, Siegfried killed the dragon Fafner and seized both the Ring and the magic helmet, Tarnhelm. He then made his way to the rock on which Brünnhilde slept, broke the spear of his grandfather Wotan after he tried to block his path, passed through the flames and woke the former Valkyrie with a kiss. The two pledged each other eternal love. In Götterdämmerung, Brünnhilde encourages Siegfried to pursue his destiny as a hero. As a token of his fidelity, he gives her the Ring. At the court of the Gibichung king Gunther, however, he soon falls victim to the plots and schemes of human society. The perfidious Hagen makes sure he is served a love potion that makes him forget Brünnhilde and fall in love with Gutrune, the king’s sister. Siegfried then makes a pact with Gunther: he will conquer Brünnhilde for him in exchange for Gutrune’s hand. Using the power of the Tarnhelm to take on Gunther’s appearance, Siegfried succeeds in this, and he also takes the Ring from her. Back at the Hall of the Gibichungs, Brünnhilde reveals their love affair and accuses Siegfried of treachery. Taking advantage of her anger, Hagen manages to find out from her what the hero’s only weakness is …

The character of Siegfried draws on several legendary figures, among others Sigurd, the hero of the Völsunga saga and the Thidrekssaga, but also on the main character from The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was, one of the folktales collected by the Brothers Grimm.
Waltraute
Waltraute is one of the Valkyries, the daughters of Wotan who are in charge of selecting the souls of the fallen heroes worthy of being taken to Valhalla. Once Brünnhilde awakens, Waltraute visits her at the top of her rock. She tells her how Wotan, having returned from his wanderings on Earth with his spear broken, has had the Ash tree that holds up the universe felled in order to create a huge pyre around Valhalla. Now silent, he has withdrawn to his fortress, awaiting the end of the world. Waltraute implores Brünnhilde to return the Ring to the Rhinemaidens, the only way to save the gods. When her sister refuses, she flees in despair.

Important figures in Norse mythology, the Valkyries are mentioned in several founding narratives: the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, the Njáls saga and the Kings’ sagas. The Old Norse word valkyrja consists of the noun valr (the slain on a battlefield) and the verb kjósa (to choose).
Grimhilde
Gibich