Die Walkure is the second of
the four operas that make up the Ring Cycle, the first being Das Rheingold. A
summary of the plot is given here.
Wagner does not tell the whole
story on stage, so for a full understanding of what is going on it is necessary
to know a little background detail.
Wotan is concerned that the
gods are under threat, because they have lost control of the ring made from the
Rhine maidens' gold (see Das Rheingold). He has therefore created an elite
defence force of Valkyrie, who are warrior maidens whose duty is to convey to
Valhalla, on their winged steeds, the bodies of the noblest warriors who have
been slain in battle. There they will live again to fight on behalf of the
gods.
Oh, and another thing you
should know; in the interval since Das Rheingold (probably about half an hour
if you're doing the full cycle at Bayreuth) Wotan has begotten two kids of his
own, brother and sister Siegmund and Sieglinde, who have grown into adulthood
in ignorance of each other's existence.
Act 1. A forest hut, built around the trunk of a giant ash tree
Hunding, a warrior, lives here
with his wife Sieglinde, whom he carried away from her home in childhood,
against her will. However, a mysterious stranger has promised her that a
protector will turn up one day. The stranger has driven a sword, up to its
hilt, into the ash tree, and the protector will be the only person who can
withdraw it (a touch of the King Arthurs here, methinks).
As the scene opens, Hunding is
away and Sieglinde opens the door to an exhausted stranger. This is Siegmund, a
mortal enemy of Hunding. When Hunding returns he challenges Siegmund to combat,
but grants him hospitality for the night before the fight.
Siegmund and Sieglinde find
themselves attracted to each other, and Sieglinde prepares a sleeping draught
for Hunding when he retires for the night. As they converse, the pair find out
that they are brother and sister, and Siegmund discovers that he can withdraw
the sword from the tree trunk. You only get one guess as to who it was who put
the sword there in the first place. The couple leave the hut and flee into the
forest.
Act 2. A mountain pass
Wotan's master plan had been
that his two earth children should meet and mate, but his plan does not meet
the approval of Fricka, who is Mrs Wotan. She points out that this is ever so
slightly immoral. She gets her way in the argument and Wotan feels constrained
to send Brunnhilde, his favourite Valkyrie maiden, to deliver Siegmund to his
enemy, Hunding. Brunnhilde does not like the idea but has no choice but to
obey, although she also knows that it is not what Wotan really wants.
As the scene opens, Brunnhilde
finds the lovers and warns Siegmund of his fate. She finds that she cannot obey
Wotan and resolves to shield them at any cost, so when Hunding arrives and
engages Siegmund in battle, she protects the latter. However, Wotan himself
then turns up and shatters Siegmund's sword. Hunding kills Siegmund, but is
himself killed by Wotan. Brunnhilde appreciates that she is in trouble and
escapes, taking Sieglinde with her.
Act 3. The haunt of the Valkyries
Brunnhilde begs her sister
Valkyrie to protect her from the wrath of Wotan, but they are understandably
reluctant to stand up against the mightiest of the gods. They do, however,
promise to watch over Sieglinde. Brunnhilde comforts Sieglinde and tells her
that she will have a son who will be the greatest of heroes. It would appear
that Siegmund and Sieglinde had found something to do to pass the time while
waiting for Act 2 to begin. Sieglinde is instructed to look after the pieces of
Siegmund's broken sword, which Brunnhilde had presumably collected after the
fight with Hunding, but before escaping from Wotan.
When Wotan arrives, he
pronounces sentence on Brunnhilde (for doing what he would have done himself
had it not been for the missus, remember). After a bit of pleading on
Brunnhilde's part, her fate is to be imprisoned on an almost inaccessible
mountain peak hedged about by magic flames. She can only be freed by a hero,
who will claim her for his bride.
© John Welford
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