The Ring Cycle

Richard Wagner 's greatest musical effort was his cycle of four operas, Der Ring der Nibelungen which was loosely based on Norse and Teutonic legends.  The four operas include:

Wagner originally intended to write just one opera, Siegfried's Death, but fortunately for us he realized that people would need to know more of the legends in order to understand that opera fully.  He based his cycle of operas on the 12th century epic poem The Nibelungenlied.   However, scholars might have a hard time recognizing it, because Wagner added a number of dramatic elements to flesh out his vision.  For more information, please click on the individual operas above.