Part 1
# Siegfried & The Twilight of the Gods: The Ring of the Niblung, part 2 ### By Wagner, Richard
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SIEGFRIED & THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS
BY RICHARD WAGNER
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
BY ARTHUR RACKHAM
TRANSLATED BY MARGARET ARMOUR
LONDON WILLIAM-HEINEMANN
NEW YORK DOUBLEDAY PACE & Co
1911
[Illustration: "Nothung! Nothung! Conquering sword!"]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"Nothung! Nothung! Conquering sword!"
Mime at the anvil
Mime and the infant Siegfried
"And there I learned What love was like"
Siegfried sees himself in the stream
Mime finds the mother of Siegfried in the forest
"In dragon's form Fafner now watches the hoard"
Mime and the Wanderer
The forging of Nothung
Siegfried kills Fafner
"The hot blood burns like fire!"
The dwarfs quarrelling over the body of Fafner
"Magical rapture Pierces my heart; Fixed is my gaze, Burning with terror; I reel, my heart faints and fails!
"Sun, I hail thee! Hail, O light! Hail, O glorious day!"
Brünnhilde throws herself into Siegfried's arms
The three Norns
The Norns vanish
Siegfried leaves Brünnhilde in search of adventure
Siegfried hands the drinking-horn back to Gutrune, and gazes at her with sudden passion
Brünnhilde kisses the ring that Siegfried has left with her
The ravens of Wotan
"The ring upon thy hand-- ... ah, be implored! For Wotan fling it away!"
The wooing of Grimhilde, the mother of Hagen
"Swear to me, Hagen, my son!"
"O wife betrayed, I will avenge Thy trust deceived"
"Though gaily ye may laugh, In grief ye shall be left, For, mocking maids; this ring Ye ask shall never, be yours"
"Siegfried! Siegfried! Our warning is true: Flee, oh, flee from the curse!"
Siegfried's death
Brünnhilde on Grane leaps on to the funeral pyre of Siegfried
The Rhine-Maidens obtain possession of the ring and bear it off in triumph
[Illustration]
SIEGFRIED
CHARACTERS
SIEGFRIED MIME THE WANDERER ALBERICH FAFNER ERDA BRÜNNHILDE
SCENES OF ACTION
## ACT I. A CAVE IN A WOOD
## ACT II. DEPTHS OF THE WOOD
## ACT III. WILD REGION AT THE FOOT OF A ROCKY MOUNTAIN;
AFTERWARDS: SUMMIT OF "BRÜNNHILDE'S ROCK"
[Illustration]
THE FIRST ACT
_A rocky cavern in a wood, in which stands a naturally formed smith's forge, with big bellows. Mime sits in front of the anvil, busily hammering at a sword._
MIME
[_Who has been hammering with a small hammer, stops working._
Slavery! worry! Labour all lost! The strongest sword That ever I forged, That the hands of giants Fitly might wield, This insolent urchin For whom it is fashioned Can snap in two at one stroke, As if the thing were a toy!
[_Mime throws the sword on the anvil ill-humouredly, and with his arms akimbo gazes thoughtfully on the ground._
There is one sword That he could not shatter: Nothung's splinters Would baffle his strength, Could I but forge Those doughty fragments That all my skill Cannot weld anew. Could I but forge the weapon, Shame and toil would win their reward!
[_He sinks further back his head bowed in thought._
Fafner, the dragon grim, Dwells in the gloomy wood; With his gruesome and grisly bulk The Nibelung hoard Yonder he guards. Siegfried, lusty and young, Would slay him without ado; The Nibelung's ring Would then become mine. The only sword for the deed Were Nothung, if it were swung By Siegfried's conquering arm; And I cannot fashion Nothung, the sword!
[_He lays the sword in position again, and goes on hammering in deep dejection._
Slavery! worry! Labour all lost! The strongest sword That ever I forged Will never serve For that difficult deed. I beat and I hammer Only to humour the boy; He snaps in two what I make, And scolds if I cease from work.
[_He drops his hammer._
SIEGFRIED
[_In rough forester's dress, with a silver horn hung by a chain, bursts in boisterously from the wood. He is leading a big bear by a rope of bast, and urges him towards Mime in wanton fun._
Hoiho! Hoiho!
[_Entering._
Come on! Come on! Tear him! Tear him! The silly smith!
[_Mime drops the sword in terror, and takes refuge behind the forge; while Siegfried, shouting with laughter, keeps driving the bear after him._
[Illustration: Mime at the anvil. See p. 2]
MIME
Hence with the beast! I want not the bear!
SIEGFRIED
I come thus paired The better to pinch thee; Bruin, ask for the sword!
MIME
Hey! Let him go! There lies the weapon; It was finished to-day.
SIEGFRIED
Then thou art safe for to-day!
[_He lets the bear loose and strikes him on the back with the rope._
Off, Bruin! I need thee no more.
[_The bear runs back into the wood._
MIME [_Comes trembling from behind the forge._
Slay all the bears Thou canst, and welcome; But why thus bring the beasts Home alive?
SIEGFRIED [_Sits down to recover from his laughter._
For better companions seeking Than the one who sits at home, I blew my horn in the wood, Till the forest glades resounded. What I asked with the note Was if some good friend My glad companion would be. From the covert came a bear Who listened to me with growls, And I liked him better than thee, Though better friends I shall find. With a trusty rope I bridled the beast, To ask thee, rogue, for the weapon.
[_He jumps up and goes towards the anvil._
MIME
[_Takes up the sword to hand it to Siegfried._
I made the sword keen-edged; In its sharpness thou wilt rejoice.
[_He holds the sword anxiously in his hand; Siegfried snatches it from him._
What matters an edge keen sharpened, Unless hard and true the steel?
[_Testing the sword._
Hei! What an idle, Foolish toy! Wouldst have this pin Pass for a sword?
[_He strikes it on the anvil, so that the splinters fly about. Mime shrinks back in terror._
There, take back the pieces, Pitiful bungler! 'Tis on thy skull It should have been broken! Shall such a braggart Still go on boasting, Telling of giants And prowess in battle, Of deeds of valour, And dauntless defence?-- A sword true and trusty Try to forge me, Praising the skill He does not possess? When I take hold Of what he has hammered, The rubbish crumbles At a mere touch! Were not the wretch Too mean for my wrath, I would break him in bits As well as his work-- The doting fool of a gnome!-- And end the annoyance at once!
[_Siegfried throws himself on to a stone seat in a rage. Mime all the time has been cautiously keeping out of his way._
MIME
Again thou ravest like mad, Ungrateful and perverse. If what for him I forge Is not perfect on the spot, Too soon the boy forgets The good things I have made! Wilt never learn the lesson Of gratitude, I wonder? Thou shouldst be glad to obey him Who always treated thee well.
[_Siegfried turns his back on Mime in a bad temper, and sits with his face to the wall._
Thou dost not like to be told that!
[_He stands perplexed, then goes to the hearth in the kitchen._
But thou wouldst fain be fed. Wilt eat the meat I have roasted, Or wouldst thou prefer the broth? 'Twas boiled solely for thee.
[_He brings food to Siegfried, who, without turning round, knocks both bowl and meat out of his hand._
SIEGFRIED
Meat I roast for myself; Sup thy filthy broth alone!
MIME [_In a wailing voice, as if hurt._
This is the reward Of all my love! All my care Is paid for with scorn. When thou wert a babe I was thy nurse, Made the mite clothing To keep him warm, Brought thee thy food, Gave thee to drink, Kept thee as safe As I keep my skin; And when thou wert grown I waited on thee, And made a bed For thy slumber soft. I fashioned thee toys And a sounding horn, Grudging no pains, Wert thou but pleased. With counsel wise I guided thee well, With mellow wisdom Training thy mind. Sitting at home, I toil and moil; To heart's desire Wander thy feet. Through thee alone worried, And working for thee, I wear myself out, A poor old dwarf!
[_Sobbing._
And for my trouble The sole reward is By a hot-tempered boy
[_Sobbing._
To be hated and plagued!
[Illustration: Mime and the infant Siegfried See p. 8]
SIEGFRIED
[_Has turned round again and has quietly watched Mime's face, while the latter, meeting the look, tries timidly to hide his own._
Thou hast taught me much, Mime, And many things I have learned; But what thou most gladly hadst taught me A lesson too hard has proved-- How to endure thy sight. When with my food Or drink thou dost come, I sup off loathing alone; When thou dost softly Make me a bed, My sleep is broken and bad; When thou wouldst teach me How to be wise, Fain were I deaf and dumb. If my eyes happen To fall on thee, I find all thou doest Amiss and ill-done; When thou dost stand, Waddle and walk, Shamble and shuffle, With thine eyelids blinking, By the neck I want To take the nodder, And choke the life From the hateful twitcher. So much, O Mime, I love thee! Hast thou such wisdom, Explain, I pray thee, A thing I have wondered at: Though I go roaming Just to avoid thee, Why do I always return? Though I love the beasts All better than thee-- Tree and bird And the fish in the brook, One and all They are dearer than thou-- How is it I always return? Of thy wisdom tell me that.
MIME
[_Tries to approach him affectionately._
My child, that ought to show thee That Mime is dear to thy heart.
SIEGFRIED
I said I could not bear thee; Forget not that so soon.
MIME
[_Recoils, and sits down again apart, opposite Siegfried._]
The wildness that thou shouldst tame Is the cause, bad boy, of that. Young ones are always longing After their parents' nest; What we love we all long for, And so thou dost yearn for me; 'Tis plain thou lovest thy Mime, And always must love him. What the old bird is to the young one, Feeding it in its nest Ere the fledgling can flutter, That is what careful, clever Mime To thy young life is, And always must be.
SIEGFRIED
Well, Mime, being so clever, This one thing more also tell me:
[_Simply._
The birds sang together So gaily in spring,
[Illustration: "And there I learned What love was like" See p. 11]
[_Tenderly._
The one alluring the other; And thou didst say, When I asked thee why, That they were wives with their husbands.
They chattered so sweetly, Were never apart; They builded a nest In which they might brood; The fluttering young ones Came flying out, And both took care of the young. The roes in the woods, too, Rested in pairs, The wild wolves even, and foxes. Food was found them and brought By the father, The mother suckled the young ones. And there I learned What love was like; A whelp from its mother I never took. But where hast thou, Mime, A wife dear and loving, That I may call her mother?
MIME [_Angrily._
What dost thou mean? Fool, thou art mad! Art thou then a bird or a fox?
SIEGFRIED
When I was a babe Thou wert my nurse, Made the mite clothing To keep him warm; But tell me, whence Did the tiny mite come? Could babe without mother Be born to thee?
MIME [_Greatly embarrassed._
Thou must always Trust what I tell thee. I am thy father And mother in one.
SIEGFRIED
Thou liest, filthy old fright! The resemblance 'twixt child and parent I often have seen for myself. I came to the limpid brook, And the beasts and the trees I saw reflected; Sun and clouds too, Just as they are, Were mirrored quite plain in the stream. I also could spy This face of mine, And quite unlike thine Seemed it to me; As little alike As a fish to a toad: And when had fish toad for its father?
MIME [_Very angrily._
How canst thou talk Such terrible stuff?
SIEGFRIED [_With increasing animation._
Listen! At last I understand What in vain I pondered so long: Why I roam the woods And run to escape thee, Yet return home in the end.
[_He springs up._
I cannot go till thou tell me What father and mother were mine.
MIME
What father? What mother? Meaningless questions!
SIEGFRIED
[_Springs upon Mime, and seizes him by the throat._
To answer a question Thou must be caught first; Willingly Thou never wilt speak; Thou givest nothing Unless forced to. How to talk I hardly had learned Had it not by force Been wrung from the wretch. Come, out with it, Mangy old scamp! Who are my father and mother?
[Illustration: Siegfried sees himself in the stream. See p. 12.]
MIME
[_After makings signs with his head and hands, is released by Siegfried._
Dost want to kill me outright! Hands off, and the facts thou shalt hear, As far as known to myself. O ungrateful And graceless child, Now learn the cause of thy hatred! Neither thy father Nor kinsman I, And yet thou dost owe me thy life! To me, thy one friend, A stranger wert thou; It was pity alone Sheltered thee here; And this is all my reward. And I hoped for thanks like a fool!
A woman once I found Who wept in the forest wild; I helped her here to the cave, That by the fire I might warm her. The woman bore a child here; Sadly she gave it birth. She writhed about in pain; I helped her as I could. Bitter her plight; she died. But Siegfried lived and throve.
SIEGFRIED [_Slowly._
My poor mother died, then, through me?
MIME
To my care she commended thee; 'Twas willingly bestowed. The trouble Mime would take! The worry kind Mime endured! "When thou wert a babe I was thy nurse...."
SIEGFRIED
That story I often have heard. Now say, whence came the name Siegfried?
MIME
'Twas thus that thy mother Told me to name thee, That thou mightst grow To be strong and fair. "I made the mite clothing To keep it warm...."
SIEGFRIED
Now tell me, what name was my mother's?
MIME
In truth I hardly know. "Brought thee thy food, Gave thee to drink...."
SIEGFRIED
My mother's name thou must tell me.
MIME
Her name I forget. Yet wait! Sieglinde, that was the name borne By her who gave thee to me. "I kept thee as safe As I keep my skin...."
SIEGFRIED
[_With increasing urgency._
Next tell me, who was my father?
MIME [_Roughly._
Him I have never seen.
[Illustration: Mime finds the mother of Siegfried in the forest. See p. 13]
SIEGFRIED
But my mother told it thee, surely.
MIME
He fell in combat Was all that she said. She left the fatherless Babe to my care. "And when thou wert grown I waited on thee, And made a bed For thy slumber soft"...
SIEGFRIED
Still, with thy tiresome Starling song! That I may trust thy story, Convinced thou art not lying, Thou must produce some proof.
MIME
But what proof will convince thee?
SIEGFRIED
I trust thee not with my ears, I trust thee but with mine eyes: What witness speaks for thee?
MIME
[_After some thought takes from the place where they are concealed the two pieces of a broken sword._
I got this from thy mother: For trouble, food, and service This was my sole reward. Behold, 'tis a splintered sword! She said 'twas borne by thy father In the fatal fight when he fell.
SIEGFRIED [_Enthusiastically._
And thou shalt forge These fragments together, And furnish my rightful sword! Up! Tarry not, Mime; Quick to thy task! If thou hast skill, Thy cunning display. Cheat me no more With worthless trash; These fragments alone Henceforth I trust. Lounge o'er thy work, Weld it not true, Trickily patching The goodly steel, And thou shalt learn on thy limbs How metal best should be beat! I swear that this day The sword shall be mine; My weapon to-day I shall win!
MIME [_Alarmed._
What wouldst thou to-day with the sword?
SIEGFRIED
Leave the forest For the wide world, Never more to return. Ah, how fair A thing is freedom! Nothing holds me or binds! No father have I here, And afar shall be my home; Thy hearth is not my house, Nor my covering thy roof. Like the fish Glad in the water, Like the finch Free in the heavens, Off I will float, Forth I will fly, Like the wind o'er the wood Wafted away, Thee, Mime, beholding no more!
[_He runs into the forest._
MIME [_Greatly alarmed._
Stop, boy! Stop, boy! Whither away? Hey! Siegfried! Siegfried! Hey!
[_He looks after the retreating figure for some time in astonishment; then he goes back to the smithy and sits down behind the anvil._
He storms away! And I sit here: To crown my cares Comes still this new one; My plight is piteous indeed! How help myself now? How hold the boy here? How lead the young madcap To Fafner's lair? And how weld the splinters Of obstinate steel? In no furnace fire Can they be melted, Nor can Mime's hammer Cope with their hardness.
[_Shrilly._
The Nibelung's hate, Need and sweat Cannot make Nothung whole, Never will weld it anew.
[_Sobbing, he sinks in despair on to a stool behind the anvil._
WANDERER (WOTAN)
[_Enters from the wood by the door at the back of the cave. He wears a long dark blue cloak, and, for staff, carries a spear. On his head is a round, broad-brimmed slouched hat._
All hail, cunning smith! A seat by thy hearth Kindly grant The wayworn guest.
MIME [_Starting up in alarm._
Who seeks for me here In desolate woods, Finds my home in the forest wild?
WANDERER [_Approaching very slowly step by step._
Wanderer names me the world, smith. From far I have come; On the earth's back ranging, Much I have roamed.
MIME
If Wanderer named, Pray wander from here Without halting for rest.
WANDERER
Good men grudge me not welcome; Many gifts I have received. By bad hearts only Is evil feared.
MIME
Ill fate always Dwelt by my side; Thou wouldst not add to it, surely!
WANDERER [_Slowly coming nearer and nearer._
Always searching, Much have I seen; Things of weight Have told to many; Oft have rid men Of their troubles, Gnawing and carking cares.
MIME
Though thou hast searched, And though much thou hast found, I need neither seeker nor finder. Lonely am I, And lone would be; Idlers I harbour not here.
WANDERER [_Again coming a little nearer._
There were many Thought they were wise, Yet what they needed Knew not at all; Useful lore was Theirs for the asking, Wisdom was their reward.
MIME
[_More and more anxious as he sees the Wanderer approach._
Idle knowledge Some may covet; I know enough for my needs.
[_The Wanderer reaches the hearth._
My own wits suffice, I want no more, So, wise one, keep on thy way.
WANDERER [_Sitting down at the hearth._
Nay, here at thy hearth I vow by my head To answer all thou shalt ask. My head is thine, 'Tis forfeit to thee, Unless I can give Answers good, Deftly redeeming the pledge.
MIME
[_Who has been staring at the Wanderer open-mouthed, now shrinks back; aside, dejectedly._
Now how to get rid of the spy? The questions asked must be artful.
[_He summons up courage for an assumption of sternness; aloud._
Thy head for thy Lodging pays: 'Tis pawned; now seek to redeem it. Three the questions Thou shalt be asked.
WANDERER
Thrice then I must answer.
MIME [_Pulls himself together and reflects._
Since, far on the back Of the wide earth roving, Thy feet have ranged o'er the world, Come, answer me this: Tell me what race Dwells in the earth's deep gorges.
WANDERER
In the depths of earth The Nibelungs have their home; Nibelheim is their land. Black elves they all are; Black Alberich Once was their ruler and lord. He subdued the busy Folk by a ring Gifted with magical might; And they piled up Shimmering gold, Precious, fine-wrought, To win him the world and its glory.
Proceed with thy questions, dwarf.
MIME
[_Sinks into deeper and deeper meditation._
Thou knowest much, Wanderer, Of the hidden depths of earth. Now, answer me this: Tell me what race Breathes on earth's back and moves there.
WANDERER
On the earth's broad back The race of the giants arose; Riesenheim is their land. Fasolt and Fafner, The rude folk's rulers, Envied the Nibelung's might. So his wonderful hoard They won for themselves, And with it gained the ring too. The brothers quarrelled About the ring, And slain was Fasolt. In dragon's form Fafner now watches the hoard.
One question threatens me still.
MIME [_Quite lost in thought._
Much, Wanderer, Thou dost know Of the earth's back rude and rugged. Now answer aright: Tell me what race Dwells above in the clouds.
WANDERER
Above in the clouds Dwell the Immortals; Walhall is their home. They are light-spirits; Light-Alberich, Wotan, rules as their lord. From the world-ash-tree's Holiest bough once Wotan made him a shaft. Though the stem rot, The spear shall endure, And with that spear-point Wotan rules the world. Trustworthy runes Of holy treaties Deep in the shaft he cut. Who wields the spear Carried by Wotan The haft of the world Holds in his hand. Before him kneels The Nibelung host; The giants, tamed, Bow to his will. All must obey, and for ever, The spear's eternal lord.
[_He strikes the ground with the spear as if by accident, and a low growl of thunder is heard, by which Mime is violently alarmed._
Confess now, cunning dwarf, Are not my answers right, And is not my head redeemed?
MIME
[_After attentively watching the Wanderer with the spear, becomes very frightened, seeks in a confused manner for his tools, and looks timidly aside._
Both thou hast won, Wager and head; Thy way now, Wanderer, go.
WANDERER
Knowledge useful to thee Thou wert to ask for; Forfeit my head if I failed. Forfeit be thine, Knowest thou not The thing it would serve thee to know. Greeting thou Gavest me not; My head into thy hand I gave That I might rest by thy hearth. By wager fair Forfeit thy head, Canst thou not answer Three things when asked; So sharpen well, Mime, thy wits!
[Illustration: "In dragon's form Fafner now watches the hoard" --See p. 21]
MIME
[_Very much frightened, and after much hesitation, at last composes himself with timid submission._
Long it is Since I left my land; Long it seems to me Since I was born. I saw here the eye of Wotan Shine, peering into my cave; His glance dazes My mother-wit. But well were it now to be wise. Come then, Wanderer, ask. Perhaps fortune will favour The dwarf, and redeem his head.
WANDERER [_Comfortably sitting down again._
Then first, honest dwarf, Answer this question: Tell the name of the race That Wotan treats most harshly,
[_Very softly, but audibly._
And yet loves beyond all the rest.
MIME [_With more cheerfulness._
Though unlearnèd In heroes' kinship, This question I answer with ease. The Wälsungs are Wotan's Chosen stock, By him begotten And loved with passion, Though they are shown no grace. Siegmund and Sieglinde Born were to Wälse, A wild and desperate Twin-born pair; Siegfried had they as son, The strongest shoot from the tree. My head, say, is it Still, Wanderer, mine?
WANDERER [_Pleasantly._