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jallanite · 05-18-2012, 05:59 PM

Götterdämmerung: Commentary
This opera name sounds in English like profanity: the Damning of the Gods. But Dämmerung in German means only ‘twilight’. See http://dictionary.reverso.net/german...d%C3%A4mmerung . It may be related to the English word dim. Compare Tolkien’s Lake Evendim, a name which means ‘Lake of Evening Twilight’.

Wagner translates German Dämmerung from Old Norse ragnarǫk (from ragna ‘of the gods’ + rǫk ‘fate’ with a glance at stanza 39 of the Poetic Edda poem Lokasenna and at the Prose Edda where the form ragnarøk(k)r appears instead, røk(k)r there meaning ‘twilight’.
Here is a table of the cast members of Götterdämmerung in order of appearance, omitting only those that do not have distinctive Old Norse names. The table includes the Old Norse names of the characters and some notes on the names.

Characters:

German/Wagnerian Name
Norse Name
Commentary

Brünnhilde
Brynhildr
The Valkyrie in sleep on the mount is named Sigrdrifa in the earliest Norse account and later retellings only dubiously identify her with Brynhildr whom Gunther/Gunnarr marries in place of Siegfried/Sigurð.

Siegfried
Sigurð (Sigurd)
Seigfried < sieg ‘victory’ + fried‘power’, Old English Sigefriþ. Sigurð < sigi ‘victory’ + weard ,‘guard’; Old English Sigeweard (Siward). These are two separate names which have been anciently confused in stories.

Gunther
Gunnarr (Gunnar)
Based on the historical Gundahari, King of the Burgundians in the city of Worms who were crushed in battle in 436 by Huns called in by the Roman general Aetius. In 437 Gundahari perished and his kingdom was destroyed by another onslaught of Huns. In one account one of his legs is cut off early in his career. In Old English texts he is Guðhere.

Hagen
Hǫgni (Högni)
Hagen/Hǫgni is connected to Gunther/Gunnarr in legends. In German accounts he is a vicious, grim, uncontrollable but cunning brute. He is sometimes a full brother of Gunther/Gunnarr; sometimes his half-brother, being fathered by an elf (whom Wager identifies with Alberich); and sometimes is apparently not closely related to Gunther/Gunnarr. In two accounts he is one-eyed. In Old English texts he is named Hagen.

Gutrune
Guðrún (Gudrún)
In tales of German origin she is named Kriemhild or Grímhild. The form Gutrune is Wagner’s own.

Alberich
Andvari
albe ‘elf’ + rich ‘king’; andvari ‘careful’

For the text of the opera in English and German, see
http://home.earthlink.net/~markdlew/shw/Ring.htm .

For an English-only version of the libretto illustrated by the incomparable Arthur Rackham, see http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ron/index.htm .

For the main Norse source in English, see http://www.marxists.org/archive/morr...ters/index.htm , chapters XXV to XXXII.

For a German medieval source see the The Nibelungenlied, http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/nblng/index.htm , Adventures I to XIX.

For Tolkien’s recreation of this material, see The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún, “Völsungakviða en nýja (‘The New Lay of the Völsungs’)”, chapters VII to IX.

For the independent tale of Walter of Aquataine see http://www.asatru.es/paginas/Walthar...%20Goth%20.htm . This relates how Walter lost an arm, Hagen lost an eye, and how Gunther lost a leg.

The Norse and German versions are not very far apart here. Wagner chooses the version in which Hagen is the slayer of Siegfried. The Norse versions here introduce a half-brother of Gunnarr and Hǫgni named Gutþormr who physically kills Sigurð instead of Hǫgni. Wagner adopts the version in which Hagen is the son of an elf and identifies the elf with Alberich.

In all the medieval versions the Ring is only jewel that Siegfried/Sigurð takes from Brünhilde/Brynhildr and then gives to his legal wife, giving rise to the quarrel between the two women over whether Siegfried/Sigurð had lain with Siegfried/Sigurð, a quarrel which by becoming open impugns the king’s reputation and leads to Siegfried/Sigurð’s death. The Ring has no other significance. The Norse versions add the detail of a curse on the Ring but nothing more.

Wagner alone is responsible for the idea that the Ring bestows supreme power, although he does not carry this through with rigid logic. In the original medieval accounts it is never said what became of the Ring after Brünnehilde/Brynhildr learned that Siegfried/Sigurð’s wife had it. Wagner adds the detail that Hagen kills Gunther, which renders void the many medieval accounts of the subsequent fall of Gunther and Hagen at the hands of the husband of the person corresponding to his Gutrune or of that person herself.

Wagner instead has Hagen slain by Rhine maidens, characters he himself has introduced into the story. The medieval accounts tell his Gunther/Gunnarr and Hagen/ Hǫgni sank their ancestral treasure, including the treasure that came from Siegfried, into the Rhine to prevent the Huns from getting their hands on it. By identifying the Rhine with Andvari’s stream in the Norse version, Wagner adapts different elements of the original stories into a coherent, but unique, plot structure.

05-18-2012, 05:59 PM	#11
jallanite Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 479	Götterdämmerung: Commentary This opera name sounds in English like profanity: the Damning of the Gods. But Dämmerung in German means only ‘twilight’. See http://dictionary.reverso.net/german...d%C3%A4mmerung . It may be related to the English word dim. Compare Tolkien’s Lake Evendim, a name which means ‘Lake of Evening Twilight’. Wagner translates German Dämmerung from Old Norse ragnarǫk (from ragna ‘of the gods’ + rǫk ‘fate’ with a glance at stanza 39 of the Poetic Edda poem Lokasenna and at the Prose Edda where the form ragnarøk(k)r appears instead, røk(k)r there meaning ‘twilight’. Here is a table of the cast members of Götterdämmerung in order of appearance, omitting only those that do not have distinctive Old Norse names. The table includes the Old Norse names of the characters and some notes on the names. Characters: German/Wagnerian Name Norse Name Commentary Brünnhilde Brynhildr The Valkyrie in sleep on the mount is named Sigrdrifa in the earliest Norse account and later retellings only dubiously identify her with Brynhildr whom Gunther/Gunnarr marries in place of Siegfried/Sigurð. Siegfried Sigurð (Sigurd) Seigfried < sieg ‘victory’ + fried‘power’, Old English Sigefriþ. Sigurð < sigi ‘victory’ + weard ,‘guard’; Old English Sigeweard (Siward). These are two separate names which have been anciently confused in stories. Gunther Gunnarr (Gunnar) Based on the historical Gundahari, King of the Burgundians in the city of Worms who were crushed in battle in 436 by Huns called in by the Roman general Aetius. In 437 Gundahari perished and his kingdom was destroyed by another onslaught of Huns. In one account one of his legs is cut off early in his career. In Old English texts he is Guðhere. Hagen Hǫgni (Högni) Hagen/Hǫgni is connected to Gunther/Gunnarr in legends. In German accounts he is a vicious, grim, uncontrollable but cunning brute. He is sometimes a full brother of Gunther/Gunnarr; sometimes his half-brother, being fathered by an elf (whom Wager identifies with Alberich); and sometimes is apparently not closely related to Gunther/Gunnarr. In two accounts he is one-eyed. In Old English texts he is named Hagen. Gutrune Guðrún (Gudrún) In tales of German origin she is named Kriemhild or Grímhild. The form Gutrune is Wagner’s own. Alberich Andvari albe ‘elf’ + rich ‘king’; andvari ‘careful’ For the text of the opera in English and German, see http://home.earthlink.net/~markdlew/shw/Ring.htm . For an English-only version of the libretto illustrated by the incomparable Arthur Rackham, see http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ron/index.htm . For the main Norse source in English, see http://www.marxists.org/archive/morr...ters/index.htm , chapters XXV to XXXII. For a German medieval source see the The Nibelungenlied, http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/nblng/index.htm , Adventures I to XIX. For Tolkien’s recreation of this material, see The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún, “Völsungakviða en nýja (‘The New Lay of the Völsungs’)”, chapters VII to IX. For the independent tale of Walter of Aquataine see http://www.asatru.es/paginas/Walthar...%20Goth%20.htm . This relates how Walter lost an arm, Hagen lost an eye, and how Gunther lost a leg. The Norse and German versions are not very far apart here. Wagner chooses the version in which Hagen is the slayer of Siegfried. The Norse versions here introduce a half-brother of Gunnarr and Hǫgni named Gutþormr who physically kills Sigurð instead of Hǫgni. Wagner adopts the version in which Hagen is the son of an elf and identifies the elf with Alberich. In all the medieval versions the Ring is only jewel that Siegfried/Sigurð takes from Brünhilde/Brynhildr and then gives to his legal wife, giving rise to the quarrel between the two women over whether Siegfried/Sigurð had lain with Siegfried/Sigurð, a quarrel which by becoming open impugns the king’s reputation and leads to Siegfried/Sigurð’s death. The Ring has no other significance. The Norse versions add the detail of a curse on the Ring but nothing more. Wagner alone is responsible for the idea that the Ring bestows supreme power, although he does not carry this through with rigid logic. In the original medieval accounts it is never said what became of the Ring after Brünnehilde/Brynhildr learned that Siegfried/Sigurð’s wife had it. Wagner adds the detail that Hagen kills Gunther, which renders void the many medieval accounts of the subsequent fall of Gunther and Hagen at the hands of the husband of the person corresponding to his Gutrune or of that person herself. Wagner instead has Hagen slain by Rhine maidens, characters he himself has introduced into the story. The medieval accounts tell his Gunther/Gunnarr and Hagen/ Hǫgni sank their ancestral treasure, including the treasure that came from Siegfried, into the Rhine to prevent the Huns from getting their hands on it. By identifying the Rhine with Andvari’s stream in the Norse version, Wagner adapts different elements of the original stories into a coherent, but unique, plot structure.