WOTAN

What nonsense is this?
The ring I won so hardly,
Undismayed I hold and will keep.

LOGE

Broken then
Must be the promise
I gave the maidens who grieved.

WOTAN

By thy promise I am not bound;
As booty mine is the ring.

FAFNER

Not so. The ring
Must go with the ransom.

WOTAN

Boldly ask what ye will:
It shall be granted;
But not for all
The world would I give you the ring.

FASOLT [Furious, pulls Freia from behind the hoard.

All is off!
The bargain stands:
Fair Freia ours is for ever!

FREIA

Help me! Help me!

FRICKA

Heartless God,
Grant it! Give way!

FROH

Keep not the gold back!

DONNER

Give them the ring too!

WOTAN

Let me alone!
I hold to the ring.

[Fafner stops Fasolt as he is hastening off. All stand dismayed; Wotan turns from them in anger. The stage has grown dark again. From a cleft in the rock on one side issues a bluish flame in which Erda suddenly becomes visible, rising so that her upper half is seen.

ERDA [Stretching out a warning hand towards Wotan.

Yield it, Wotan! Yield it!
Flee the ring's dread curse!
Awful
And utter disaster
It will doom thee to.

WOTAN

What woman woe thus foretells?

ERDA

All things that were I know,
And things that are;
All things that shall be
I foresee.
The endless world's
Ur-Wala,
Erda, bids thee beware.
Ere the earth was,
Of my womb born
Were daughters three;
And my knowledge
Nightly the Norns tell to Wotan.
Now summoned by
Danger most dire,
I myself come.
Hearken! Hearken! Hearken!
All things will end shortly;
And for the Gods
Dark days are dawning!
Be counselled; keep not the ring!

[Erda sinks slowly as far as the breast, while the bluish light grows fainter.

WOTAN

A mystic might
Rang in thy words.
Tarry, and tell me further.

ERDA [Disappearing.

Thou hast been warned;
Enough dost know;
Weigh my words with fear!

[She vanishes completely.

WOTAN

If thus doomed to foreboding—
I must detain thee
Till all is answered!

[Wotan is about to follow Erda in order to detain her. Froh and Fricka throw themselves in his way and prevent him.

FRICKA

What meanest thou, madman?

FROH

Go not, Wotan!
Fear thou the warner,
Heed her words well!

[Wotan gazes thoughtfully before him.

DONNER [Turning to the giants with a resolute air.

Hark, ye giants!
Come back and wait still!
The gold we give you also.

FRICKA

Ah, dare I hope it?
Deem ye Holda
Worthy of such a price?

[All look at Wotan in suspense; he, rousing himself from deep thought, grasps his spear and swings it in token of having come to a bold decision.

WOTAN

To me, Freia,
For thou art free!
Bought back for aye,
Youth everlasting, return!
Here, giants, take ye the ring!

[He throws the ring on the hoard. The giants release Freia; she hastens joyfully to the Gods, who caress her in turns for a space, with every manifestation of delight.

FASOLT [To Fafner.

Hold there, greedy one!
Grant me my portion!
Honest division
Best for both is.

FAFNER

More on the maid than the gold
Thou wert set, love-sick fool,
And much against
Thy will the exchange was.
Sharing not, Freia
Thou wouldst have wooed for thy bride;
Sharing the gold,
It is but just
That the most of it should be mine.

FASOLT

Infamous thief!
Taunts? And to me!

[To the Gods.

Come judge ye between us;
Halve ye the hoard
As seems to you just!

[Wotan turns away in contempt.

Let him have the treasure;
Hold to what matters: the ring!

FASOLT

[Falls upon Fafner, who has meanwhile been steadily packing up the treasure.

Back, brazen rascal!
Mine is the ring.
I lost for it Freia's smile.

[He snatches haply at the ring.

Off with thy hands!
The ring is mine.

[There is a struggle. Fasolt tears the ring from Fafner.

FASOLT

I hold it. It is mine now!

FAFNER

Hold fast, lest it should fall!

[Lunging out with his stave, he fells Fasolt to the ground with one blow; from the dying man he then hastily tears the ring.

Now feast upon Freia's smile:
No more shalt thou touch the ring!

[He puts the ring into the sack and tranquilly continues to pack up the rest of the hoard. All the Gods stand horrified. A solemn silence.

WOTAN

Dread indeed
I find is the curse's might.

LOGE

Unmatched, Wotan,
Surely thy luck is!
Great thy gain was
In getting the ring;
But the gain of its loss
Is gain greater still:
There thy foemen, see,
Slaughter thy foes
For the gold thou hast let go.

WOTAN

Dark forebodings oppress me!
Care and fear
Fetter my soul;
Erda must teach me,
Tell how to end them:
To her I must descend.

FRICKA [Caressing and coaxing him.

Why linger, Wotan?
Beckon they not,
The stately walls,
Waiting to offer
Welcome kind to their lord?

WOTAN [Gloomily.

With wage accurst
Paid was their cost.

DONNER [Pointing to the background, which is still
enveloped in mist.

Heavily mists
Hang in the air;
Gloomy, wearisome
Is their weight!
The wan-visaged clouds
Charged with their storms I will gather,
And sweep the blue heavens clean.

[Donner mounts a high rock on the edge of the precipice, and swings his hammer; during what follows the mists gather round him.

Hey da! Hey da! Hey do!
To me, O ye mists!
Ye vapours, to me!
Donner, your lord,
Summons his hosts!

[He swings his hammer.

To my hammer's swing
Hitherward sweep
Vapours and fogs!
Hovering mists!
Donner, your lord, summons his hosts!
Hey da! Hey da! Hey do!

[Donner disappears completely in a thunder-cloud which has been growing darker and denser. The stroke of his hammer is heard falling heavily on the rock. A vivid flash of lightning comes from the cloud, followed by a loud clap of thunder. Froh has also disappeared in the cloud.

DONNER [Invisible.

Brother, to me!
Show them the way by the bridge!

[Suddenly the clouds roll away. Donner and Froh become visible. A rainbow of dazzling radiance stretches from their feet across the valley to the castle, which is gleaming in the light of the setting sun.

FROH

[Who, with outstretched hand, indicates to the Gods that the bridge is the way across the valley.

Lo, light, yet securely,
Leads the bridge to your halls.
Undaunted tread;
Without danger the road!

[Wotan and the other Gods stand speechless, lost in contemplation of the glorious sight.

WOTAN

Smiling at eve
The sun's eye sparkles;
The castle ablaze
Gleams fair in its glow.
In the light of morning
Glittering proudly,
It stood masterless,
Stately, tempting its lord.
From dawn until sundown
No little toil
And fear have gone to the winning!
From envious night,
That now draws nigh
Shelter it offers us.

[Very firmly, as if struck by a great thought.

So greet I my home,
Safe from dismay and dread.

[He turns solemnly to Fricka.

Follow me, wife!
In Valhall sojourn with me.

FRICKA

What means the name Valhall?
I never seem to have heard it.

WOTAN

That which, conquering fear,
My fortitude brought
Triumphant to birth—
Let that explain the word!

[He takes Fricka's hand and walks slowly with her towards the bridge. Froh, Freia, and Donner follow.

LOGE [Remaining in the foreground and looking
after the Gods.

They are hasting on to their end,
They who dream they are strong and
enduring.
I almost blush
To be of their number;
A fancy allures me
And wakes in me longing
Flaming fire to become:
To waste and burn them
Who tamed me of old,
Rather than perish,
Blind with the blind—
Yes, even if godlike the Gods were—
More wise were it, perhaps!
I must consider:
The outcome who knows!

[With a show of carelessness he goes to the Gods.

THE THREE RHINE-MAIDENS [From the valley. Invisible.

Rhinegold!
Rhinegold!
Rhinegold pure!
How radiant and clear
Once thou didst shine on us!
For thy lost glory
We are grieving.
Give us the gold!
Give us the gold!
O give us the Rhinegold again!

WOTAN [About to set his foot on the bridge, pauses and turns round.

What wailing sound do I hear?

LOGE [Looks down into the valley.

The Rhine's fair children,
Bewailing their lost gold, weep.

WOTAN

Accursèd nixies!
Bid them tease us no more!

LOGE [Calling down towards the valley.

Ye in the water,
Why wail ye to us?
List to Wotan's decree.
Ye have seen
The last of the gold;
In the Gods' increase of splendour
Bask and sun yourselves now.

[The Gods laugh and cross the bridge during what follows.

THE THREE RHINE-MAIDENS

Rhinegold!
Rhinegold!
Rhinegold pure!
Oh, if in the waves
There but shone still our treasure pure!
Down in the deeps
Can faith be found only:
Mean and false
Are all who revel above!

[As the Gods cross the bridge to the castle the curtain falls.

SIEGMUND

[Deeply moved, remains standing; he looks searchingly at Sieglinde, who, ashamed and sad, lowers her eyes. Returning, he leans against the hearth, his gaze fixed on Sieglinde, who continues silently embarrassed.

Wehwalt named I myself:
Hunding here will I wait for.

Sieglinde starts, listens and hears Hunding outside leading his horse to the stable. She hurries to the door and opens it. Hunding, armed with shield and spear, enters, but, perceiving Siegmund, pauses on the threshold. Hunding turns with a look of stern inquiry to Sieglinde.

SIEGLINDE [In answer to Hunding's look.

On the hearth
Fainting I found
One whom need drove here.

HUNDING

Hast succoured him?

SIEGLINDE

I gave him, as a guest,
Welcome and a drink.

SIEGMUND [Regarding Hunding firmly and calmly.

Drink she gave,
Shelter too:
Wouldst therefore chide the woman?

HUNDING

Sacred is my hearth:
Sacred hold thou my house.

[To Sieglinde, as he takes off his armour and hands it to her.

Set the meal for us men!

[Sieglinde hangs up the arms on the stem of the ash-tree, fetches food and drink from the store-room and sets supper on the table. Involuntarily she turns her gaze on Siegmund again.

HUNDING

[Examining Siegmund's features keenly and with amaze, compares them with Sieglinde's. Aside.

How like to the woman!
In his eye as well
Gleams the guile of the serpent.

[He conceals his surprise, and turns with apparent unconcern to Siegmund.

Far, I trow,
Must thou have fared;
The man who rests here
Rode no horse:
What toilsome journey
Made thee so tired?

SIEGMUND

Through wood and meadow,
Thicket and moor,
Chased by the storm
And peril sore,
I ran by I know not what road.
I know as little
What goal it led to,
And I would gladly be told.

HUNDING [At table, inviting Siegmund to be seated.

'Tis Hunding owns
The roof and room
Which have harboured thee.
If to the westward
Thou wert to wend,
In homesteads rich
Thou wouldst find kinsmen
Who guard the honour of Hunding.
May I ask of my guest
In return to tell me his name?

[Siegmund, who has taken his seat at the table, looks thoughtfully before him. Sieglinde, who has placed herself beside Hunding and opposite Siegmund, gazes at him with evident sympathy and suspense.

HUNDING [Watching them both.

If thou wilt not
Trust it to me,
To this woman tell thy secret:
See, how eagerly she asks!

SIEGLINDE [Unembarrassed and interested.

Gladly I'd know
Who thou art.

SIEGMUND [Looks up and, gazing into her eyes, begins gravely.

Not for me the name Friedmund;
Frohwalt fain were I called,
But forced was I to be Wehwalt.
Wölfe they called my father;
And I am one of twins:
With a sister twin I was born.
Soon lost were
Both mother and maid;
I hardly knew
Her who gave me my life,
Nor her with whom I was born.
Warlike and strong was Wölfe,
And never wanting for foes.
A-hunting oft
Went the son with the father.
One day we returned
Outworn with the chase
And found the wolf's nest robbed.
The brave abode
To ashes was burnt,
Consumed to dust
The flourishing oak,
And dead was the mother,
Dauntless but slain.
No trace of the sister
Was ever found:
The Neidungs' heartless horde
Had dealt us this bitter blow.
My father fled,
An outlaw with me;
And the youth
Lived wild in the forest
With Wölfe for many years.
Sore beset and harried were they,
But boldly battled the pair of wolves.

[Turning to Hunding.

A Wölfing tells thee the tale,
And a well-known Wölfing, I trow.

HUNDING

Wondrous and wild the story
Told by thee, valiant guest:
Wehwalt—the Wölfing!
I think that dark rumours anent
This doughty pair have reached me,
Though unknown Wölfe
And Wölfing too.

SIEGLINDE

But tell me further, stranger:
Where dwells thy father now?

SIEGMUND

The Neidungs, starting anew,
Hounded and hunted us down;
But slain by the wolves
Fell many a hunter;
They fled through the wood,
Chased by the game:
Like chaff we scattered the foe.
But trace of my father I lost;
Still his trail grew fainter
The longer I followed;
In the wood a wolf-skin
Was all I found;
There empty it lay:
My father I had lost.—
In the woods I could not stay;
My heart longed for men and for women.—
By all I met,
No matter where,
If friend I sought,
Or woman wooed,
Still I was branded an outlaw;
Ill-luck clung to me;
Whatever I did right,
Others counted it wrong;
What seemed evil to me
Won from others applause.
Grim feuds arose
Wherever I went;
Wrath met me
At every turn;
Longing for gladness,
Woe was my lot:
I called myself Wehwalt therefore,
For woe was all that was mine.

[He looks at Sieglinde and marks her sympathetic gaze.

HUNDING

Thou wert shown no grace by the Norns
That cast thy grievous lot;
No one greets thee as guest
With gladness in his home.

SIEGLINDE

Only cowards would fear
A weaponless, lonely man!—
Tell us, O guest,
How in the strife
At last thy weapon was lost!

SIEGMUND

A sorrowful child
Cried for my help;
Her kinsmen wanted
To wed the maiden
To one whom her heart did not choose.
To her defence
Gladly I hied;
The heartless horde
Met me in fight:
Before me foemen fell.
Fordone and dead lay the brothers.
The slain were embraced by the maid,
Her wrongs forgotten in grief.
She wept wild streams of woe,
And bathed the dead with her tears;
For the loss of her brothers slain
Lamented the ill-fated bride.
Then the dead men's kinsmen
Came like a storm,
Vowing vengeance,
Frantic to fall on me;
Foemen on all sides
Rose and assailed me.
But from the spot
Moved not the maid;
My shield and spear
Sheltered her long,
Till spear and shield
Were hewn from my hand.
Standing weaponless, wounded,
I beheld the maid die:
I fled from the furious host—
She lay lifeless on the dead.

[To Sieglinde with a look of fervent sorrow.

The reason now I have told
Why none may know me as Friedmund.

[He rises and walks to the hearth. Pale and deeply moved, Sieglinde looks on the ground.

HUNDING [Rises.

I know a wild-blooded breed;
What others revere
It flouts unawed:
All hate it, and I with the rest.
When forth in haste I was summoned,
Vengeance to seek
For my kinsmen's blood,
I came too late,
And now return home
To find the impious wretch
In haven under my roof.—
My house holds thee,
Wölfing, to-day;
For the night thou art my guest.
But wield to-morrow
Thy trustiest weapon.
I choose the day for the fight:
Thy life shall pay for the dead.

[To Sieglinde, who steps between the two men with anxious gestures; harshly.

Forth from the hall!
Linger not here!
Prepare my draught for the night,
And wait until I come.

[Sieglinde stands for a while undecided and thoughtful. Slowly and with hesitating steps she goes towards the store-room, There she pauses again, lost in thought, her face half averted. With quiet resolution she opens the cupboard, fills a drinking-horn, and shakes spices into it out of a box. She then turns her eyes on Siegmund, in order to meet his gaze, which he never removes from her. She perceives that Hunding is watching, and proceeds immediately to the bed-chamber. On the steps she turns once more, looks yearningly at Siegmund, and indicates with her eyes, persistently and with speaking plainness, a particular spot in the stem of the ash-tree. Hunding starts, and drives her off with a violent gesture. With a last look at Siegmund, she disappears into the bed-chamber, and shuts the door behind her.

HUNDING [Taking his weapons from the tree-stem.

With weapons man should be armed.
We meet to-morrow then Wölfing.
My word thou hast heard;
Ward thyself well!

[He goes into bed-chamber. The shooting of the bolt is heard from within.

[Siegmund alone. It has grown quite dark. All the light in the hall comes from a dull fire on the hearth. Siegmund sinks down on to a couch beside the fire and broods forsome time silently in great agitation.

SIEGMUND

My father said when most wanted
A sword I should find and wield.
Swordless I entered
My foeman's house,
As a hostage here
I remain.
I saw a fair
Woman and sweet,
And bliss and dread
Consume my heart.
The woman for whom I long—
She whose charm both wounds and
delights—
In thrall is held by the man
Who mocks a weaponless foe.
Wälse! Wälse!
Where is thy sword?—
The trusty sword
To be swung in battle,
When from my bosom should burst
The fury that fills my heart?

[The fire collapses. From the flame which leaps up a bright light falls on the spot in the ash-tree's stem indicated by Sieglinde's look, and on which the hilt of a sword is now plainly visible.