The Sun sends down rays of light
Night lies in the depths
Once they were bright ...
... when safe and glorious ...
... our father's gold gleamed there
Rhinegold! Lustrous gold!
How brightly you once shone ...
... majestic star of the deep
Dame Sun, send us the hero ...
... who will give us back the gold
If he were to let us have it ...
... we would no longer envy ...
... your bright eyes!
Rhinegold! Lustrous gold!
How happily you shone then ...
... free star of the deep!
I hear his horn
The hero is coming
Let us take counsel!
An elf has led me astray. I have lost my way
Hey, rascal!
In which mountain did you suddenly conceal my quarry?
Siegfried!
- What are you grumbling about? - With what elf are you angry?
Has a fairy been teasing you?
Tell us, Siegfried!
Did you lure to your lair the beast I lost?
If he is your lover, I willingly leave him to you
Siegfried, what will you give us if we grant you your quarry?
As yet I have nothing in my bag, so ask for what you will
A gold ring gleams on your finger
Give it to us!
I slew a giant dragon for that ring
Shall I give it to you for a paltry bearskin?
Are you so mean? So miserly at the market?
You should be generous to women
Were I to waste what I have on you, my wife would scold me
- Is she harsh? - Does she beat you?
The hero feels her hand!
Well, laugh if you like!
But I will leave you to lament
For though you long for the ring ...
... I will never give it to you
So handsome!
So strong!
So desirable!
What a pity he's a miser!
How can I bear this meagre praise? Shall I let myself be thus abused?
If they came back to the water's edge, they could have the ring
Hey! You merry water-maidens!
Come quickly!
I'll give you the ring!
Keep it, hero
Ward it well until you learn the calamity ...
... that is enclosed in the ring
Glad will you feel if we free you from its curse
Well, sing what you know
We know of evil in store for you
You retain the ring at your peril
From the Rhine's gold the ring was wrought
He who fashioned it and ignominiously lost it ...
... laid on it a curse ...
... to doom whoever wears it
As you slew the dragon so shall you be slain ...
... and this very day
This will be your fate ...
... if you do not restore the ring to us ...
... to hide it deep in the Rhine
Only its waters ...
... can wash away the curse!
You wily women, have done!
If I was wary of your wheedling, your threats frighten me still less
Siegfried! We tell you the truth
Beware! Avoid the curse!
Nightly the Norns twisted it ...
... into the rope of primeval law
My sword shattered a spear
Even if they wove curses into the eternal rope ...
... Notung will sever it!
A dragon once warned me of the curse ...
... but did not teach me to fear it!
A ring would win me the world's wealth
For the gift of love I'd gladly relinquish it
I'd give it to you if you gave me love
But by threatening life and limb ...
... even by less than a finger's worth, you will not win the ring!
For life and limb ...
... see ...
... thus I fling them from me!
Come, sisters! Leave this madman!
Though he considers himself clever and strong ...
... he is like one bound and blind
He swore oaths ...
... and does not keep them!
He knows secrets ...
... and does not heed them!
A glorious gift was granted him
He does not realise he renounced it
Only the ring, which dooms him to death, does he seek to retain
Farewell, Siegfried!
A proud woman ...
... today will inherit your treasure
She will give us a better hearing
To her!
In water and on land ...
... I am now learning women's ways
If their cajolery does not convince ...
... they scare with threats
And if one dares to defy these ...
... they start to scold
And yet ...
... had I not given Gutrune my word ...
... I would cheerfully have chosen one of these pretty women!
Hoiho!
Have we finally discovered you?
Come down!
It is fresh and cool here
Here let us rest ...
... and prepare a meal
Lay down the bag ...
... and bring out the wineskins
He scared away our quarry
Now we must hear the marvels of Siegfried and his hunting
I am ill provided for a meal
I must beg some of your food
You caught nothing?
I set out for wood-game ...
... but only waterfowl showed itself
Had I been forewarned ...
... I would have caught three water-birds ...
... who sang to me on the Rhine ...
... that I should be slain this very day
That would be a sorry hunt ...
... if a lurking beast were to lay low the luckless hunter
I am thirsty!
I heard say, Siegfried ...
... that you could understand birdsong
Is this so?
I have not heeded their chirping for some time
Drink, Gunther! Your brother offers it to you!
Insipid and pale ...
... the mixture has only your blood in it!
Then I will mix it with yours!
Now it is mixed, it overflows
Let it be a refreshment for Mother Earth!
You are too happy, my hero
Is Brunnhilde causing him concern?
If only he understood her ...
... as well as you do birdsong!
Since I heard women's voices ...
... birds have gone from my mind
But once you did understand them?
Hey, Gunther, morose man!
If you like ...
... I will sing you stories of my boyhood
I listen gladly
Sing then, hero!
Mime was a surly dwarf
In the grip of envy he brought me up ...
... so that the child, once grown, would kill for him a dragon ...
... that guarded a treasure in the forest
He taught me to forge ...
... and to smelt metal
But what the craftsman could not do himself ...
... his pupil had to achieve ...
... to weld the pieces of a shattered sword
My father's blade I forged anew
I made Notung hard as nails
The dwarf deemed it fit for the fight
He then led me to the forest
There I killed ...
... Fafner, the dragon
But now take good note
I must tell you of marvels
My fingers were burning from the dragon's blood
I put them in my mouth to cool them
Scarcely had the moisture touched my tongue ...
... than I could understand what the birds were singing
One sat on a bough and sang ...
"Hey! The Nibelung's treasure now belongs to Siegfried!
"Now he will find the hoard in the cave!
"The Tarnhelm will help him perform wondrous deeds
"But the ring would make him ruler of the world"
The ring and Tarnhelm, did you take them away?
Did you hear the bird again?
I gathered up ring and Tarnhelm
I listened again to the songster ...
... who sat in the tree-top and sang
"Hey! The helmet and the ring belong to Siegfried!
"He must not trust the treacherous Mime!
"Only for him is the treasure to be gained. Now he lies in wait
"He has designs on Siegfried's life
"Siegfried must not trust Mime"
Was this good counsel?
Did you repay Mime?
With a deadly draught he came to me
Scared and stammering he confessed his baseness
Notung felled the villain!
What he could not forge he could still feel!
What more did the bird tell you?
First drink, hero, from my horn
I spiced the draught well for you ...
... to waken your memory
The past shall not slip your mind!
Sorrowfully I gazed up into the tree-tops
It still sat there and sang ...
"Siegfried has slain the wicked dwarf!
"Now I know a wife for him
"On a rocky height she is sleeping
"Fire surrounds her
"He who can break through ...
"... and wake the bride ...
"... Brunnhilde would be his!"
Did you follow the bird's advice?
Without hesitation I set forth
I reached the fiery rock
I made my way through the flames ...
... and as reward I found ...
... a wondrous woman asleep ...
... clad in shining armour
I loosened the maid's helmet
My bold kiss awakened her
Oh, how ardently was I enfolded ...
... in fair Brunnhilde's arms!
What do I hear?
Can you also understand these ravens?
To me they cried revenge!
What are you doing?
Hagen, what have you done?
I have avenged perjury!
Brunnhilde!
Holy bride!
Awake! Open your eyes!
Who sank you again to sleep?
Who shackled you in uneasy slumber?
Your wakener came ...
... and kissed you awake ...
... and broke the bride's bondage
Brunnhilde laughed in delight!
Ah, her eyes ...
... forever open!
Ah, the blissful stirring of her breath!
Sweet passing!
Blessed terror!
Brunnhilde ...
... bids me welcome!
Was that his horn?
No! He is not coming home yet
Bad dreams disturbed my sleep
Wildly his horse neighed
Brunnhilde's laughter wakened me
Who was the woman I saw walking to the river bank?
Brunnhilde frightens me!
Is she at home?
Brunnhilde! Are you awake?
Her room is empty
Then it was she that I saw going to the Rhine!
Was that his horn?
No sign of life!
If I could only see Siegfried soon!
Awake!
Light! Bright torches!
We bring the spoils of the hunt
Arise, Gutrune! Greet Siegfried!
The mighty hero is coming home
What has happened, Hagen?
I did not hear his horn!
The pallid hero can blow it no more
No more will he go off hunting or into battle ...
... nor woo lovely women
What do they bring?
A wild boar's prey ...
... Siegfried, your dead husband
Gutrune, dear sister ...
... open your eyes!
Speak to me!
Siegfried slain!
Away, faithless brother, my husband's murderer!
Help! Alas!
They have killed Siegfried!
Do not reproach me! Complain to Hagen!
He is the accursed boar who savaged this noble hero
Do you revile me for it?
May anguish and misfortune dog you for ever!
So be it!
I slew him
I, Hagen, struck him dead
He was forfeit to my spear ...
... on which he swore falsely
I have now exacted the sacred right of reparation ...
... for which I now demand this ring
Stand back! You shall never seize what is my property
Vassals, declare my right!
Would you lay hands on Gutrune's inheritance ...
... shameless son of a gnome?
Thus the gnome's inheritance is demanded by his son!
The ring is mine!
Silence the clamour of your grief!
All of you betrayed his wife ...
... who now comes for vengeance
I have heard children cry to their mother ...
... when milk had been spilled
But no lament reached my ear ...
... fitting for this supreme hero
Brunnhilde, black with jealousy!
You brought this disaster on us
You turned the men against him
Alas that you came near this house!
Silence, poor wretch!
You were never his true wife
You served him but as paramour
I am his rightful spouse ...
... to whom Siegfried swore eternal vows ...
... before ever he set eyes on you
Curse you, Hagen, for suggesting the potion that stole her husband!
Alas! Suddenly I understand
Brunnhilde was his true love ...
... whom the draught drove from his mind!
Stack logs for me in piles there ...
... by the shore of the Rhine!
High and bright ...
... let a fire blaze
It shall consume the noble body of the hero
Lead here his horse ...
... that with me it may follow the warrior
The hero's holiest honour ...
... my own body longs to share
Fulfil Brunnhilde's request!
Like sunlight his radiance shines on me
He was the purest, he who betrayed me!
Deceiving his wife, loyal to his friend ...
... he separated himself from his own true love ...
... with his sword
No man more honest ever took an oath
None more true made a treaty
He was purer ...
... in love ...
... than any other
And yet all oaths ...
... all treaties ...
... his truest love ...
... he betrayed ...
... as no other!
Do you know why this was?
Heavenly custodian of oaths!
Turn your gaze ...
... on my great grief
See your everlasting guilt!
Hear my lament, mighty god!
Through his most doughty deed ...
... that you rightly desired ...
... you sacrificed him to the curse which had fallen on you
This innocent had to betray me ...
... so that I should become a woman of wisdom!
Do I know now what your will is?
Everything ...
... I know everything ...
... all is now clear to me!
I hear your ravens stirring too
With dreaded, desired tidings ...
... I now send them both home
Rest now, o god!
Now I take up my inheritance
Accursed, terrible ring!
I take your gold ...
... and now I give it away
Wise sisters of the water's depths ...
... you daughters of the Rhine ...
... I thank you for your counsel
What you crave ...
... I give to you
From my ashes take it for your own!
The fire that consumes me ...
... shall cleanse the ring from the curse!
You in the water, wash it away ...
... and keep pure the gleaming gold ...
... that was stolen from you
Fly home, ravens!
Recount to your master ...
... what you have heard here by the Rhine!
Pass by Brunnhilde's rock
Direct Loge, who still blazes there, to Valhalla
For the end of the gods is nigh
Thus do I throw this torch ...
... at Valhalla's vaulting towers
Grane ...
... my steed ...
... greetings!
Do you too know, my friend ...
... where I am leading you?
Radiant in the fire ...
... lies your lord ...
... Siegfried, my blessed hero
Are you neighing for joy to follow your friend?
Are you lured to him ...
... by the laughing flames?
Feel my bosom too ...
... how it burns
A bright fire fastens on my heart ...
... to embrace him ...
... enfolded in his arms ...
... to be with him in the intensity of love!
Grane!
Greet your master!
Siegfried! See!
Your wife joyfully greets you!
Keep away from the ring!