Götterdämmerung

The Twilight of the Gods

Prologue    Act One   Act Two     Act Three

The finale of the cycle, Götterdämmerung is the opera that Wagner first intended to write, originally titled Siegfried's Death.   It is the only opera that bears some resemblance to the epic poem Nibelungenlied, but even here Wagner makes significant changes to the old legends and myths in order to create a more dramatic setting for his opera.

Prologue

It is nighttime, and the three Norns, spinners of the world's destiny, are seated at the Valkyrie Rock, singing as they spin.  The first Norn sings of the beginning of time, when Wotan sacrificed one of his eyes in order to drink at the spring of wisdom and become chief of all the gods.  Wotan broke off a branch of the World Ash tree to make the shaft of his spear, on which all of the contracts of the world would be held bound.  Since that time the spring of wisdom has run dry and the World Ash has died, so that the Norns can no longer fasten the rope of destiny to the tree.

The second Norn sings of the present, about how Siegfried has shattered Wotan' spear, and therefore all of the contracts carved on the shaft have lost their binding force.  Wotan has ordered the Valkyries to collect fallen warriors for his army, and to gather up all the boughs and even the trunk of the World Ash to bring to Valhalla.  Alberich the dwarf is likewise gathering an army in order to regain the Ring of the Nibelung.

The third Norn sings of the future, when the remains of the World Ash will become the funeral pyre of the gods at Valhalla, and bring about the end of the gods.

As the Norns are singing, the rope of destiny breaks, and the Norns realize that this is the end of their powers and that fate is no longer under their control.  They return to Erda's home below the ground to rest with their mother.

At daybreak, Siegfried takes his leave of Brünnhilde, and they exchange love tokens.  Siegfried leaves the Ring of the Nibelung with Brünnhilde, who in return gives her horse Grane to her husband.    They pledge their love to each other and Siegfried goes off in search of heroic deeds, heading for the Rhine River.

Act One

Gunther, king of the Gibichungs, is sitting at table with his sister Gutrune and their half-brother Hagen.  Hagen advises Gunther that his reputation as a great king will only be assured if he takes a powerful wife, and tells them of Brünnhilde waiting for a hero to brave the fires at Valkyrie Rock and take her as his wife.  He tells also of the hero Siegfried who has captured the hoard of the Nibelungs, stating that only Siegfried can win Brünnhilde.  It is his advice that Gunther and Gutrune ally themselves with Siegfried, so that Siegfried will win Brünnhilde for Gunther and marry Gutrune.  Hagen gives them a love potion so that Gutrune will be able to bend Siegfried to her will.

As the three are plotting, a hunting horn is heard in the distance, and they prepare to welcome Siegfried.  Gutrune hands a drinking horn to the hero.  When he has drunk from it, he forgets having ever seen a woman before and falls madly in love with Gutrune.  Siegfried agrees to help Gunther attain Brünnhilde if he may take Gutrune as his wife.  He plans to use the Tarnhelm to appear as Gunther in front of Brünnhilde, and to bring her back as Gunther's wife.  Gunther and Siegfried swear an oath of blood-brotherhood, but Hagen refuses to join in the oath, saying that his blood is not noble enough to join with his king and the great hero.  Gunther and Siegfried hurry off, wanting to sail immediately to the Valkyrie Rock, and leave Hagen to guard the palace.

Brünnhilde is sitting by the mouth of her cave at Valkyrie Rock when her sister, the Valkyrie Waltraute, comes to see her.   Waltraute tells her sister of their father Wotan's great despair.  He no longer sends the Valkyries out to battle.  Instead, he has ordered the heroes to chop apart the withered World Ash and use its wood to build a funeral pyre around Valhalla.   The gods no longer eat the apples of eternal youth, and are gathered in fear, waiting for the curse of the Ring of the Nibelung to bring about their destruction.   Waltraute urges Brünnhilde to return the Ring to the Rhinemaidens in order to break the curse and save the gods from their fate.

Brünnhilde refuses to part with the love token that Siegfried gave to her, no matter what should happen to the gods.  A thunderstorm begins as Waltraute leaves her, and the ring of fire around Valkyrie Rock blazes up with a new fury.  Brünnhilde hears Siegfried's horn in the distance and joyfully prepares to meet him.

However, when Siegfried makes his way through the fire, he appears in Gunther's form, and Brünnhilde tries to protect herself with the Ring that Siegfried gave to her.  She struggles with Siegfried but he pulls the Ring from her finger and is overpowered.  Siegfried commands her to go into the cave, stating that Notung will lie between them to keep Gunther's bride chaste for him.

Act Two

Hagen is seated in the great hall of the palace, sleeping against one of the pillars.  Alberich comes to him in a dream and demands that his son help him to regain the Ring of the Nibelung by killing Siegfried.  Although Hagen feels nothing but hatred for his father, he is powerless to disobey, and swears to win back the ring for Alberich.  Hagen stares out at the Rhine as Alberich disappears.

Siegfried returns, telling Gutrune how he won Brünnhilde for Gunther.  Her brother and his bride are soon to come, they were following Siegfried up the Rhine.  Gutrune tells Hagen to gather all of the vassals for a wedding ceremony.  When Hagen calls the vassals for the wedding, he urges them to welcome Brünnhilde as their lady, and to avenge her should she ever be wronged.

As the wedding party is made ready, Brünnhilde is shocked to see that Siegfried is there, preparing to marry Gutrune.   She begins to faint in Siegfried's arms, asking why he does not know her.   When she sees the ring on Siegfried's finger she is even more bewildered, thinking that it was Gunther who took it from her.  She accuses Siegfried of being a thief and a liar, and Hagen urges the vassals to mark well what they have heard.

Siegfried says that he did not get the ring from any man or woman, he gained it when he killed the dragon Fafner, but Hagen asks Brünnhilde if she recognizes the ring as hers.  When she says that it is her ring, Brünnhilde and Hagen accuse Siegfried of being a traitor.  Brünnhilde calls on the gods to help her revenge this betrayal and tells the crowd that Siegfried took her as wife before giving her to Gunther.  When Siegfried denies this, Hagen offers to champion Brünnhilde's honor.  Siegfried takes Gutrune into the palace, and all the wedding guests follow.

Hagen, Gunther and Brünnhilde are left alone outside the palace.  Hagen vows that he will revenge Brünnhilde's wrong, but Brünnhilde is afraid that Siegfried is too powerful for Hagen.  She tells Hagen of how she used her magic to make Siegfried invulnerable in battle, but she did not protect his back as he would never flee from his enemies.  Hagen promises to aim his spear at Siegfried's back, and Brünnhilde blesses it with her magic.

Gunther realizes that he must share in Brünnhilde's shame, but cannot harm Siegfried because of the blood-brotherhood they have sworn.  He agrees that Siegfried must die, but will not take part in it himself.   He also wants his sister to be protected, and so the three agree to stage a hunting party.  When Siegfried goes in front to kill a boar, Hagen will strike him down, making it look like an accident.  The three conspirators are met by the wedding party carrying Siegfried and Gutrune from the hall, and they join in the celebration.

Act Three

The three Rhinemaidens are singing about the lost Rheingold when they hear Siegfried's horn and know that he is approaching.   He has been separated from the hunting party and is lost in the forest.  The Rhinemaidens flirt with Siegfried and ask him for the ring he is wearing, but he tells them that his wife would be angry should he give it away.  When they tease him for being dominated by his wife, he is ready to give it to them. 

When the Rhinemaidens tell him that he is wise to part with the Ring of the Nibelungs and free himself from its curse, he replaces the ring on his finger and demands to know more about the curse.  They tell him that he will be killed for the ring this very day if he does not part with it.   Siegfried becomes angry, stating that he shattered Wotan's spear and killed the dragon Fafner in spite of the curse, and he is not afraid of the stories they spin.   He will cut the Norn's rope of destiny should there be any danger, and escape the curse.  The Rhinemaidens denounce him for his foolishness and swim away.

The hunting party meets up with Siegfried, and they sit down to rest, eat, and drink.  Gunther is troubled by Siegfried's cheerfulness, so Hagen asks Siegfried about his past.  Siegfried offers to tell Gunther his history to cheer him.  As Siegfried tells how he slew the dragon, and then followed the woodbird's advice and went in search of Brünnhilde, Hagen slips him a potion to restore his memory.  Siegfried sings with joy of awakening Brünnhilde and taking her as his wife.  Hagen then denounces him as a traitor to Gunther and buries his spear in Siegfried's back.  Siegfried dies while singing about his love for Brünnhilde.

The hunting party carries Siegfried back to the palace in a funeral procession as the moon rises. Hagen calls out for Gutrune to come and greet Siegfried, and tells her how he was killed by a wild boar.  When Gunther tries to console his sister, she accuses him of murdering Siegfried and Gunther tells her that it was Hagen who is the killer.  Hagen claims Siegfried's ring as his prize for avenging Brünnhilde, but Gunther says that it is Gutrune's inheritance and they begin to fight.  Gunther is struck dead by a blow from Hagen's sword.

When Hagen reaches for the ring on Siegfried's hand, the hand rises in a threatening gesture.  The entire crowd cringes in fear, but Brünnhilde walks up to Siegfried.  She asks that a funeral pyre be made near the banks of the Rhine, and takes the ring from Siegfried.

As Brünnhilde lights the funeral fires, she invites the Rhinemaidens to take the ring from the ashes once the fire has burned away the curse.  She jumps onto Grane's back and they leap into the blaze.  The flames shoot up, then die back down quite suddenly as the Rhine overflows its banks.  The Rhinemaidens come for the ring, and drag Hagen under the water along with them.  As the Rhinemaidens make off with their prize, the palace collapses into the flood.  As the crowd look on in astonishment, fires appear in the sky as well.  They watch as Valhalla is consumed by flames.

Finis