We now understand the new tramping strain. We are in the Rhineside hall
of the Gibichungs, in the presence of King Gunther, his sister Gutrune,
and Gunther's grim half brother Hagen, the villain of the piece. Gunther
is a fool, and has for Hagen's intelligence the respect a fool always
has for the brains of a scoundrel. Feebly fishing for compliments, he
appeals to Hagen to pronounce him a fine fellow and a glory to the
race of Gibich. Hagen declares that it is impossible to contemplate
him without envy, but thinks it a pity that he has not yet found a
wife glorious enough for him. Gunther doubts whether so extraordinary
a person can possibly exist. Hagen then tells him of Brynhild and her
rampart of fire; also of Siegfried. Gunther takes this rather in bad
part, since not only is he afraid of the fire, but Siegfried, according
to Hagen, is not, and will therefore achieve this desirable match
himself. But Hagen points out that since Siegfried is riding about
in quest of adventures, he will certainly pay an early visit to the
renowned chief of the Gibichungs. They can then give him a philtre which
will make him fall in love with Gutrune and forget every other woman he
has yet seen.
Gunther is transported with admiration of Hagen's cunning when he takes
in this plan; and he has hardly assented to it when Siegfried, with
operatic opportuneness, drops in just as Hagen expected, and is duly
drugged into the heartiest love for Gutrune and total oblivion of
Brynhild and his own past. When Gunther declares his longing for the
bride who lies inaccessible within a palisade of flame, Siegfried at
once offers to undertake the adventure for him. Hagen then explains
to both of them that Siegfried can, after braving the fire, appear to
Brynhild in the semblance of Gunther through the magic of the wishing
cap (or Tarnhelm, as it is called throughout The Ring), the use of which
Siegfried now learns for the first time. It is of course part of the
bargain that Gunther shall give his sister to Siegfried in marriage.
On that they swear blood-brotherhood; and at this opportunity the old
operatic leaven breaks out amusingly in Wagner. With tremendous exordium
of brass, the tenor and baritone go at it with a will, showing off
the power of their voices, following each other in canonic imitation,
singing together in thirds and sixths, and finishing with a lurid
unison, quite in the manner of Ruy Gomez and Ernani, or Othello and
Iago. Then without further ado Siegfried departs on his expedition,
taking Gunther with him to the foot of the mountain, and leaving Hagen
to guard the hall and sing a very fine solo which has often figured in
the programs of the Richter concerts, explaining that his interest in
the affair is that Siegfried will bring back the Ring, and that he,
Hagen, will presently contrive to possess himself of that Ring and
become Plutonic master of the world.
And now it will be asked how does Hagen know all about the Plutonic
empire; and why was he able to tell Gunther about Brynhild and
Siegfried, and to explain to Siegfried the trick of the Tarnhelm. The
explanation is that though Hagen's mother was the mother of Gunther, his
father was not the illustrious Gibich, but no less a person than our old
friend Alberic, who, like Wotan, has begotten a son to do for him what
he cannot do for himself.
In the above incidents, those gentle moralizers who find the serious
philosophy of the music dramas too terrifying for them, may allegorize
pleasingly on the philtre as the maddening chalice of passion which,
once tasted, causes the respectable man to forget his lawfully wedded
wife and plunge into adventures which eventually lead him headlong to
destruction.
We now come upon a last relic of the tragedy of Wotan. Returning
to Brynhild's mountain, we find her visited by her sister Valkyrie
Valtrauta, who has witnessed Wotan's solemn preparations with terror.
She repeats to Brynhild the account already given by the Norns. Clinging
in anguish to Wotan's knees, she has heard him mutter that were the ring
returned to the daughters of the deep Rhine, both Gods and world would
be redeemed from that stage curse off Alberic's in The Rhine Gold. On
this she has rushed on her warhorse through the air to beg Brynhild to
give the Rhine back its ring. But this is asking Woman to give up love
for the sake of Church and State. She declares that she will see them
both perish first; and Valtrauta returns to Valhalla in despair. Whilst
Brynhild is watching the course of the black thundercloud that marks her
sister's flight, the fires of Loki again flame high round the mountain;
and the horn of Siegfried is heard as he makes his way through them.
But the man who now appears wears the Tarnhelm: his voice is a strange
voice: his figure is the unknown one of the king of the Gibichungs. He
tears the ring from her finger, and, claiming her as his wife, drives
her into the cave without pity for her agony of horror, and sets Nothung
between them in token of his loyalty to the friend he is impersonating.
No explanation of this highway robbery of the ring is offered. Clearly,
this Siegfried is not the Siegfried of the previous drama.