Appletons' annual cyclopædia and register of important events of the year .. . prelude. Founded on several of theancient Germanic sagas, Wagner has devel-oped the powerful dramatic character of hiswork only by freely altering the connection and final bearing of some of the events, whileat the same time preserving all the main epi-sodes—in one instance even when the story ishideous to the modern sense. In the intro-ductory part, Rheingold, are presented su-pernatural beings only, the three warring racesof Northern mythology, the gods, giants, anddwarfs. Their jealous struggles, plots, andcounte
Appletons' annual cyclopædia and register of important events of the year .. . prelude. Founded on several of theancient Germanic sagas, Wagner has devel-oped the powerful dramatic character of hiswork only by freely altering the connection and final bearing of some of the events, whileat the same time preserving all the main epi-sodes—in one instance even when the story ishideous to the modern sense. In the intro-ductory part, Rheingold, are presented su-pernatural beings only, the three warring racesof Northern mythology, the gods, giants, anddwarfs. Their jealous struggles, plots, andcounterplots for power form the motive of thedrama. The Rhine-gold, the emblem of earthlypower, rests in the depths of the tranquilRhine, faithfully guarded by the Rhine-Daugh-ters, a beautiful race of mermaids. The dwarfAlberich, a Nibelung, from the region of sub-terranean gloom, robs them of the treasureout of which he forges the ring of magic vir-tue, the symbol of earthly power. The godWotan, or Odin, by crafty arts, masters thedwarf in Nibelheim, and extorts from him the. BAIREUTH, BAVARIA. wonder-working ring. This ring he must de-liver to the giants Fasolt and Father, as a ran-som for Freia, the goddess of love and is slain by Fafner, who, in the form ofa dragon, guards the talisman, whose cursethreatens destruction to the god unless it berescued by a spotless mortal hero. In the sec-ond part of the tetralogy, Die Walkiire, thescene of action is transferred to the heroicworld of the old Teutons. The dark legendf Siegmund and Sieglinde, and the protectionof the erring hero against the wrath of Wotanby the Walkiire, Briinnhilde, afford poeticaland musical motives of the highest fruit of the guilty union of the above-named pair was Siegfried, the destined deliv-erer of the ring. The third part, Siegfried, forms the dramatic climax of the well-known legend is faithfully recounted:the human interest is here stronger, the musicsweeter and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidappletonsann, bookyear1876
