Once, when the Earth was still lingering in its original state, free from any domination, the god Wotan sacrificed one of his eyes to drink from the well of wisdom at the foot of the Yggdrasil, the sacred ash tree in Norse cosmology. He then broke a branch from the tree, made it into a spear and carved into it in runic script the laws by which he would rule over the gods, dwarves, giants and human beings. In
Das Rheingold, Wotan saw his omnipotence both consolidated by the construction of his fortress Walhalla and threatened by the creation of the Ring. Trying to acquire the latter himself would go against his own laws, and so Wotan counts on his progeny: he conceives nine Valkyries, including
Brünnhilde, and in the guise of Wälse, he brings forth the human twins Sieglinde and Siegmund, who, as a free hero, will be able to defeat the dragon
Fafner and thus reclaim the Ring. Or so does Wotan hope. In
Die Walküre, this scheme fails catastrophically: his wife Fricka furiously reminds him of his duties as supreme god and exposes the contradictions of his plans. With merciless logic, she compels Wotan to order the death of his human children. When, on top of that, Brünnhilde disobediently assists them and he is also forced to renounce his favourite daughter, all he longs for is the end... In
Siegfried, when he sees his
fearless grandson at work, he senses that this 'Götterdämmerung' (Twilight of the Gods) is indeed imminent. Under the rock of the sleeping Brünnhilde, he comes face to face with Siegfried in a final, ultimate confrontation...