Siegfried

Siegfried with Notung Siegfried is as close to comedy as Wagner ever gets in the Ring cycle. While not broad comedy like a Rossini or Mozart opera, there are a number of rather funny moments. Siegfried is a hero, but he is one who stumbles across his heroism, rather than finding it within himself. The third opera in the cycle provides a much needed bit of levity after the heartbreaking finale of Die Walküre.

If I were to compare Siegfried to any character in pop culture, it would be to the cartoon character Dudley Doright. They both have the same tendency to bumble themselves into a sticky situation and then manage to come out as the hero with very little thought involved.

Act One

The opera begins with the dwarf Mime hammering away at his anvil while muttering and complaining to himself. He is trying to mend the shattered sword Notung, but each time he makes it whole Siegfried breaks it with ease. It is Mime's hope that Siegfried will use the magic of the sword to defeat the dragon Fafner and gain the Ring of the Nibelung and the hoard of gold for him.

Siegfried comes into the cave from the forest, leading a bear, and threatening Mime to mend his father's sword before the bear eats him. Siegfried releases the bear when Mime shows him that the sword has been made whole, but as soon as Siegfried takes the sword he easily shatters it once more.

Mime complains that he has raised Siegfried since infancy, but is repaid for all his cares with contempt and hatred. Siegfried replies that all of the animals in the forest resemble their parents, and that Mime cannot possibly be his father, as Mime is repulsive to look at, unlike him in every way. He demands that Mime tell him about his parents.

Mime tells how he discovered Sieglinde in the forest, struggling to give birth to her child. In spite of all of Mime's efforts to help her, she dies giving birth to Siegfried. With her last breath, she names the child and entrusts both the baby and the fragments of the sword to the dwarf. Siegfried then demands that Mime repair the shattered sword and leaves the cave again.

While Mime is wondering how he will ever succeed in mending Notung and convince Siegfried to kill the dragon, a Wanderer comes into his home asking for hospitality. The Wanderer is willing to trade his wisdom for shelter but the dwarf is not interested and tries to send him away. So the Wanderer challenges Mime to a riddle contest, wagering his head against the answers to three questions, stating that he can resolve the problems which he knows the dwarf is struggling to answer by himself.

Mime does engage in the riddle contest, but never asks how to reforge Notung. When it is the Wanderer's turn to ask three questions, he leads up to the question of the broken sword, and Mime is unable to tell who can repair the sword, and therefore his life is forfeit to the Wanderer. Instead of killing the dwarf, however, the Wanderer tells him that Notung will be forged anew by one who has never known fear, and that individual will be the one to take Mime's life.

As the Wanderer leaves, Mime notices light flickering outside his cave, and hides from the dragon he thinks is approaching. Siegfried enters the cave and asks for his sword.

Mime replies that rather than forging the sword, he learned about fear so that he might teach it to his ward. He tells the youth about the dragon Fafner and tries to instill fear into the young hero. Siegfried is unimpressed and decides to try his hand at mending the sword since the dwarf has proved to be incapable of doing so. As Siegfried takes over the forge, Mime plots to regain the Nibelungs' treasure. Should Siegfried mend the sword, Mime will take him to face the dragon Fafner. Once the dragon is dead, Mime plans to drug him and steal the treasure for himself.

Mime leaves Siegfried at the forge in order to brew up the sleeping potion. Rather than trying to join the broken bits together, Siegfried shatters the fragments even more and then melts them down. Mime tries to tell him that he cannot mend a sword that way, but Siegfried succeeds in molding a new sword from the molten metal.

Act Two

Alberich, Mime's brother and the creator of the Ring of the Nibelung, is lurking in the forest near the dragon Fafner's cave, waiting for the moment when he can try to get his ring back again. The Wanderer approaches, and Alberich recognizes him to be Wotan. He warns Wotan that if he tries to take the Ring of the Nibelung, it will break the contract with the giants which is inscribed on the shaft of his spear, and therefore the spear and Wotan's power would be destroyed. But should Alberich succeed in regaining the Ring, he will use its power to bring down Valhalla and take the power of the gods for himself. No matter who gains the Ring, Wotan is destined to be destroyed.

Wotan replies that Siegfried is on his way to slay the dragon, led by Mime. The chief of the gods does not intend to interfere,and is there merely to watch the battle. He suggests that if Alberich warns the dragon of impending doom perhaps Fafner will reward the dwarf with the Ring, and calls to awaken the sleeping beast. Fafner is not concerned by Alberich's warning and goes back to sleep.

When Mime and Siegfried approach the dragon's cave. Mime tries one last time to instill fear in the young hero, but Siegfried is confident that he can kill the dragon. Mime hides himself away while Siegfried waits for the dragon to come out of the cave. When Fafner appears and threatens to eat Siegfried, the young hero plunges Notung deep within the dragon's heart and watches him die.

When Siegfried unthinkingly puts his finger in his mouth, the blood of the dragon enables him to understand the song of a bird singing nearby. The bird warns him not to trust Mime, and to keep the dragon's treasure for himself.

Meanwhile, Alberich meets his brother Mime, and they plot to separate Siegfried from the treasure. Mime thinks that Siegfried is sure to have met the Wanderer, who will have warned him not to trust the dwarf. He therefore tells the true story of how he has plotted to drug the youth and take the treasure. Siegfried hears the bird warning him about Mime's treachery and kills him, while Alberich looks on and laughs triumphantly.

While Siegfried is resting against a tree, he hears the voice of the bird once again, telling him about Brünnhilde trapped in her rock surrounded by fire. Siegfried vows to free the maiden, perhaps learning about fear in the process.

Act Three

The Wanderer is seeking a way to prevent the downfall of the gods, and wakes Erda, the all-wise Earthmother, looking for her advice. Erda does not recognize Wotan and tells him to seek advice from either the Norns who spin out fate, or from her wise daughter Brünnhilde. Wotan reveals himself, and tells Erda how their daughter betrayed his commands and how he has banished her to sleep in the rock until she is awakened by a hero. He warns Erda that her wisdom is drawing to an end, and that he is now resolved to let Siegfried win both the Ring and Brünnhilde, even if it brings about the destruction of Valhalla.

However, when Wotan sees Siegfried approaching the Valkyrie's rock, he makes one last effort to deter Siegfried. When Wotan bars Siegfried's path, Siegfried strikes at his spear and Notung shatters it. Wotan retreats and Siegfried continues on his way.

Siegfried braves his way through the fire that surrounds the rock and finds Brünnhilde asleep there. He cuts open her breastplate and removes her helmet, and is then struck by her beauty. Although he begins to feel fear stirring within him at the sight of Brünnhilde, he is resolved to awaken her and kisses the Valkyrie.

Brünnhilde awakens, and despite herself, falls in love with Siegfried. The opera ends with a duet between the two lovers.