Ring Cycle Films - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

jallanite · 05-08-2012, 12:03 AM

The New YorkMetropolitan Opera’s 2011 Wagner’s Ring Cycleis now available on film in one day showings of each of the four operas in Canada and the U.S. and at later dates in Britain. See:
http://www.marketwire.com/press-rele...gx-1648976.htm ,
http://www.gqti.com/metring.aspx , and
http://www.cineworld.co.uk/films/event/ringcycle .

This has nothing to do with Tolkien per se, but Tolkien in Letters (letter 229) remarks on a comment by his Swedish translator Åke Ohlmarks that The Ring is in a certain way ‘der Nibelungen Ring’. Tolkien answers shortly: “Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases.” Tolkien has answered a little too quickly even in respect to the medieval Nibelungenlied where the Ring also resembles Tolkien’s Ring in being made of gold.

But Ohlmarks’ version of the history of the Ring in Germanic literature is correctly called by Tolkien a farrago of nonsense. Tolkien may not have been thinking at all of the tale after that comparative modern Wagner got hold of it. For it is Wagner who first made the Ring into a talisman that bestows supreme power on its possessor. And while the Ring does not bestow invisibility even in Wagner’s tale, Wagner does connect it with a helm of invisibility (the tarnhelm, which would become dernhelm in Old English). In the Nibelungenlied there is instead an invisibility cloak (tarnkappe) and in the Volsungasaga Siegfried (Sigurð) changes shape with Gunther (Gunnar) through the enchantment of Gunther’s (Gunnar’s) mother Grimhild.

But to get back to the films, I posted information on them in a private site viewable only by co-members of the Wellinghall (Toronto) Smial of the Tolkien Society because I thought it was generally of interest Tolkien fans and possibly there might be some desire to get up a party of people to attend. I mentioned I was planning to attend in any case. Barrow-downs’ Bethberry, who is also a member of Wellinghall, was the only one who responded (negatively), but suggested I write short reviews of these films. As far more people would read them at Barrow-downs it seemed more reasonable to post them here and to link to this thread from the private site. And others may join in with comments.

I believe from short clips that these films are to be shown in German only, without English subtitles which may cause difficulties to many potential viewers. See http://ringcycle.metoperafamily.org/ . If you don’t understand German I suggest at least going through an English translation of the operas first.

05-08-2012, 12:03 AM	#1
jallanite Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 479	Ring Cycle Films The New YorkMetropolitan Opera’s 2011 Wagner’s Ring Cycleis now available on film in one day showings of each of the four operas in Canada and the U.S. and at later dates in Britain. See: http://www.marketwire.com/press-rele...gx-1648976.htm , http://www.gqti.com/metring.aspx , and http://www.cineworld.co.uk/films/event/ringcycle . This has nothing to do with Tolkien per se, but Tolkien in Letters (letter 229) remarks on a comment by his Swedish translator Åke Ohlmarks that The Ring is in a certain way ‘der Nibelungen Ring’. Tolkien answers shortly: “Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases.” Tolkien has answered a little too quickly even in respect to the medieval Nibelungenlied where the Ring also resembles Tolkien’s Ring in being made of gold. But Ohlmarks’ version of the history of the Ring in Germanic literature is correctly called by Tolkien a farrago of nonsense. Tolkien may not have been thinking at all of the tale after that comparative modern Wagner got hold of it. For it is Wagner who first made the Ring into a talisman that bestows supreme power on its possessor. And while the Ring does not bestow invisibility even in Wagner’s tale, Wagner does connect it with a helm of invisibility (the tarnhelm, which would become dernhelm in Old English). In the Nibelungenlied there is instead an invisibility cloak (tarnkappe) and in the Volsungasaga Siegfried (Sigurð) changes shape with Gunther (Gunnar) through the enchantment of Gunther’s (Gunnar’s) mother Grimhild. But to get back to the films, I posted information on them in a private site viewable only by co-members of the Wellinghall (Toronto) Smial of the Tolkien Society because I thought it was generally of interest Tolkien fans and possibly there might be some desire to get up a party of people to attend. I mentioned I was planning to attend in any case. Barrow-downs’ Bethberry, who is also a member of Wellinghall, was the only one who responded (negatively), but suggested I write short reviews of these films. As far more people would read them at Barrow-downs it seemed more reasonable to post them here and to link to this thread from the private site. And others may join in with comments. I believe from short clips that these films are to be shown in German only, without English subtitles which may cause difficulties to many potential viewers. See http://ringcycle.metoperafamily.org/ . If you don’t understand German I suggest at least going through an English translation of the operas first.