{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XL/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XL","id":"wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XL","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Fable/Chapter_XL","summary":null,"tags":["Headers_applying_DefaultSort_key","Subpages"],"text":"XL. THE DEATH OF BALDUR \u2014 THE ELVES \u2014 RUNIC LETTERS \u2014 ICELAND \u2014 TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY \u2014 NIBELUNGEN LIED\n\nTHE DEATH OF BALDUR\n\nBaldur the Good, having been tormented with terrible dreams\nindicating that his life was in peril, told them to the assembled\ngods, who resolved to conjure all things to avert from him the\nthreatened danger. Then Frigga, the wife of Odin, exacted an oath\nfrom fire and water, from iron and all other metals, from stones,\ntrees, diseases, beasts, birds, poisons, and creeping things, that\nnone of them would do any harm to Baldur. Odin, not satisfied with\nall this, and feeling alarmed for the fate of his son, determined\nto consult the prophetess Angerbode, a giantess, mother of Fenris,\nHela, and the Midgard serpent. She was dead, and Odin was forced\nto seek her in Hela's dominions. This Descent of Odin forms the\nsubject of Gray's fine ode beginning,\u2014\n\n\"Uprose the king of men with speed\n\nAnd saddled straight his coal-black steed\"\n\nBut the other gods, feeling that what Frigga had done was quite\nsufficient, amused themselves with using Baldur as a mark, some\nhurling darts at him, some stones, while others hewed at him with\ntheir swords and battle-axes; for do what they would, none of them\ncould harm him. And this became a favorite pastime with them and\nwas regarded as an honor shown to Baldur. But when Loki beheld the\nscene he was sorely vexed that Baldur was not hurt. Assuming,\ntherefore, the shape of a woman, he went to Fensalir, the man-\nsion of Frigga. That goddess, when she saw the pretended woman,\ninquired of her if she knew what the gods were doing at their\nmeetings. She replied that they were throwing darts and stones at\nBaldur, without being able to hurt him. \"Ay,\" said Frigga,\n\"neither stones, nor sticks, nor anything else can hurt Baldur,\nfor I have exacted an oath from all of them.\" \"What,\" exclaimed\nthe woman, \"have all things sworn to spare Baldur?\" \"All things,\"\nreplied Frigga, \"except one little shrub that grows on the eastern\nside of Valhalla, and is called Mistletoe, and which I thought too\nyoung and feeble to crave an oath from.\"\n\nAs soon as Loki heard this he went away, and resuming his natural\nshape, cut off the mistletoe, and repaired to the place where the\ngods were assembled. There he found Hodur standing apart, without\npartaking of the sports, on account of his blindness, and going up\nto him, said, \"Why dost thou not also throw something at Baldur?\"\n\n\"Because I am blind,\" answered Hodur, \"and see not where Baldur\nis, and have, moreover, nothing to throw.\"\n\n\"Come, then,\" said Loki, \"do like the rest, and show honor to\nBaldur by throwing this twig at him, and I will direct thy arm\ntowards the place where he stands.\"\n\nHodur then took the mistletoe, and under the guidance of Loki,\ndarted it at Baldur, who, pierced through and through, fell down\nlifeless. Surely never was there witnessed, either among gods or\nmen, a more atrocious deed than this. When Baldur fell, the gods\nwere struck speechless with horror, and then they looked at each\nother, and all were of one mind to lay hands on him who had done\nthe deed, but they were obliged to delay their vengeance out of\nrespect for the sacred place where they were assembled. They gave\nvent to their grief by loud lamentations. When the gods came to\nthemselves, Frigga asked who among them wished to gain all her\nlove and good will. \"For this,\" said she, \"shall he have who will\nride to Hel and offer Hela a ransom if she will let Baldur return\nto Asgard.\" Whereupon Hermod, surnamed the Nimble, the son of\nOdin, offered to undertake the journey. Odin's horse, Sleipnir,\nwhich has eight legs and can outrun the wind, was then led forth,\non which Hermod mounted and galloped away on his mission. For the\nspace of nine days and as many nights he rode through deep glens\nso dark that he could not discern anything, until he arrived at\nthe river Gyoll, which he passed over on a bridge covered with\nglittering gold. The maiden who kept the bridge asked him his name\nand lineage, telling him that the day before five bands of dead\npersons had ridden over the bridge, and did not shake it as much\nas he alone. \"But,\" she added, \"thou hast not death's hue on thee;\nwhy then ridest thou here on the way to Hel?\"\n\n\"I ride to Hel,\" answered Hermod, \"to seek Baldur. Hast thou\nperchance seen him pass this way?\"\n\nShe replied, \"Baldur hath ridden over Gyoll's bridge, and yonder\nlieth the way he took to the abodes of death\"\n\nHermod pursued his journey until he came to the barred gates of\nHel. Here he alighted, girthed his saddle tighter, and remounting\nclapped both spurs to his horse, who cleared the gate by a\ntremendous leap without touching it. Hermod then rode on to the\npalace, where he found his brother Baldur occupying the most\ndistinguished seat in the hall, and passed the night in his\ncompany. The next morning he besought Hela to let Baldur ride home\nwith him, assuring her that nothing but lamentations were to be\nheard among the gods. Hela answered that it should now be tried\nwhether Baldur was so beloved as he was said to be. \"If,\ntherefore,\" she added, \"all things in the world, both living and\nlifeless, weep for him, then shall he return to life; but if any\none thing speak against him or refuse to weep, he shall be kept in\nHel.\"\n\nHermod then rode back to Asgard and gave an account of all he had\nheard and witnessed.\n\nThe gods upon this despatched messengers throughout the world to\nbeg everything to weep in order that Baldur might be delivered\nfrom Hel. All things very willingly complied with this request,\nboth men and every other living being, as well as earths, and\nstones, and trees, and metals, just as we have all seen these\nthings weep when they are brought from a cold place into a hot\none. As the messengers were returning, they found an old hag named\nThaukt sitting in a cavern, and begged her to weep Baldur out of\nHel. But she answered,\n\n\"Thaukt will wail\n\nWith dry tears\n\nBaldur's bale-fire.\n\nLet Hela keep her own.\"\n\nIt was strongly suspected that this hag was no other than Loki\nhimself, who never ceased to work evil among gods and men. So\nBaldur was prevented from coming back to Asgard.\n\nTHE FUNERAL OF BALDUR\n\nThe gods took up the dead body and bore it to the seashore where\nstood Baldur's ship \"Hringham,\" which passed for the largest in\nthe world. Baldur's dead body was put on the funeral pile, on\nboard the ship, and his wife Nanna was so struck with grief at the\nsight that she broke her heart, and her body was burned on the\nsame pile as her husband's. There was a vast concourse of various\nkinds of people at Baldur's obsequies. First came Odin accompanied\nby Frigga, the Valkyrie, and his ravens; then Frey in his car\ndrawn by Gullinbursti, the boar; Heimdall rode his horse Gulltopp,\nand Freya drove in her chariot drawn by cats. There were also a\ngreat many Frost giants and giants of the mountain present.\nBaldur's horse was led to the pile fully caparisoned and consumed\nin the same flames with his master.\n\nBut Loki did not escape his deserved punishment. When he saw how\nangry the gods were, he fled to the mountain, and there built\nhimself a hut with four doors, so that he could see every\napproaching danger. He invented a net to catch the fishes, such as\nfishermen have used since his time. But Odin found out his hiding-\nplace and the gods assembled to take him. He, seeing this, changed\nhimself into a salmon, and lay hid among the stones of the brook.\nBut the gods took his net and dragged the brook, and Loki, finding\nhe must be caught, tried to leap over the net; but Thor caught him\nby the tail and compressed it, so that salmons ever since have had\nthat part remarkably fine and thin. They bound him with chains and\nsuspended a serpent over his head, whose venom falls upon his face\ndrop by drop. His wife Siguna sits by his side and catches the\ndrops as they fall, in a cup; but when she carries it away to\nempty it, the venom falls upon Loki, which makes him howl with\nhorror, and twist his body about so violently that the whole earth\nshakes, and this produces what men call earthquakes.\n\nTHE ELVES\n\nThe Edda mentions another class of beings, inferior to the gods,\nbut still possessed of great power; these were called Elves. The\nwhite spirits, or Elves of Light, were exceedingly fair, more\nbrilliant than the sun, and clad in garments of a delicate and\ntransparent texture. They loved the light, were kindly disposed to\nmankind, and generally appeared as fair and lovely children. Their\ncountry was called Alfheim, and was the domain of Freyr, the god\nof the sun, in whose light they were always sporting.\n\nThe Black or Night Elves were a different kind of creatures. Ugly,\nlong-nosed dwarfs, of a dirty brown color, they appeared only at\nnight, for they avoided the sun as their most deadly enemy,\nbecause whenever his beams fell upon any of them they changed them\nimmediately into stones. Their language was the echo of solitudes,\nand their dwelling-places subterranean caves and clefts. They were\nsupposed to have come into existence as maggots produced by the\ndecaying flesh of Ymir's body, and were afterwards endowed by the\ngods with a human form and great understanding. They were\nparticularly distinguished for a knowledge of the mysterious\npowers of nature, and for the runes which they carved and\nexplained. They were the most skilful artificers of all created\nbeings, and worked in metals and in wood. Among their most noted\nworks were Thor's hammer, and the ship \"Skidbladnir,\" which they\ngave to Freyr, and which was so large that it could contain all\nthe deities with their war and household implements, but so\nskillfully was it wrought that when folded together it could be\nput into a side pocket.\n\nRAGNAROK, THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS\n\nIt was a firm belief of the northern nations that a time would\ncome when all the visible creation, the gods of Valhalla and\nNiffleheim, the inhabitants of Jotunheim, Alfheim, and Midgard,\ntogether with their habitations, would be destroyed. The fearful\nday of destruction will not, however, be without its forerunners.\nFirst will come a triple winter, during which snow will fall from\nthe four corners of the heavens, the frost be very severe, the\nwind piercing, the weather tempestuous, and the sun impart no\ngladness. Three such winters will pass away without being tempered\nby a single summer. Three other similar winters will then follow,\nduring which war and discord will spread over the universe. The\nearth itself will be frightened and begin to tremble, the sea\nleave its basin, the heavens tear asunder, and men perish in great\nnumbers, and the eagles of the air feast upon their still\nquivering bodies. The wolf Fenris will now break his bands, the\nMidgard serpent rise out of her bed in the sea, and Loki, released\nfrom his bonds, will join the enemies of the gods. Amidst the\ngeneral devastation the sons of Muspelheim will rush forth under\ntheir leader Surtur, before and behind whom are flames and burning\nfire. Onward they ride over Bifrost, the rainbow bridge, which\nbreaks under the horses' hoofs. But they, disregarding its fall,\ndirect their course to the battlefield called Vigrid. Thither also\nrepair the wolf Fenris, the Midgard serpent, Loki with all the\nfollowers of Hela, and the Frost giants.\n\nHeimdall now stands up and sounds the Giallar horn to assemble the\ngods and heroes for the contest. The gods advance, led on by Odin,\nwho engages the wolf Fenris, but falls a victim to the monster,\nwho is, however, slain by Vidar, Odin's son. Thor gains great\nrenown by killing the Midgard serpent, but recoils and falls dead,\nsuffocated with the venom which the dying monster vomits over him.\nLoki and Heimdall meet and fight till they are both slain. The\ngods and their enemies having fallen in battle, Surtur, who has\nkilled Freyr, darts fire and flames over the world, and the whole\nuniverse is burned up. The sun becomes dim, the earth sinks into\nthe ocean, the stars fall from heaven, and time is no more.\n\nAfter this Alfadur (the Almighty) will cause a new heaven and a\nnew earth to arise out of the sea. The new earth filled with\nabundant supplies will spontaneously produce its fruits without\nlabor or care. Wickedness and misery will no more be known, but\nthe gods and men will live happily together.\n\nRUNIC LETTERS\n\nOne cannot travel far in Denmark, Norway, or Sweden without\nmeeting with great stones of different forms, engraven with\ncharacters called Runic, which appear at first sight very\ndifferent from all we know. The letters consist almost invariably\nof straight lines, in the shape of little sticks either singly or\nput together. Such sticks were in early times used by the northern\nnations for the purpose of ascertaining future events. The sticks\nwere shaken up, and from the figures that they formed a kind of\ndivination was derived.\n\nThe Runic characters were of various kinds. They were chiefly used\nfor magical purposes. The noxious, or, as they called them, the\nbitter runes, were employed to bring various evils on their\nenemies; the favorable averted misfortune. Some were medicinal,\nothers employed to win love, etc. In later times they were\nfrequently used for inscriptions, of which more than a thousand\nhave been found. The language is a dialect of the Gothic, called\nNorse, still in use in Iceland. The inscriptions may therefore be\nread with certainty, but hitherto very few have been found which\nthrow the least light on history. They are mostly epitaphs on\ntombstones.\n\nGray's ode on the \"Descent of Odin\" contains an allusion to the\nuse of Runic letters for incantation:\n\n\"Facing to the northern clime,\n\nThrice he traced the Runic rhyme;\n\nThrice pronounced, in accents dread,\n\nThe thrilling verse that wakes the dead,\n\nTill from out the hollow ground\n\nSlowly breathed a sullen sound.\"\n\nTHE SKALDS\n\nThe Skalds were the bards and poets of the nation, a very\nimportant class of men in all communities in an early stage of\ncivilization. They are the depositaries of whatever historic lore\nthere is, and it is their office to mingle something of\nintellectual gratification with the rude feasts of the warriors,\nby rehearsing, with such accompaniments of poetry and music as\ntheir skill can afford, the exploits of their heroes living or\ndead. The compositions of the Skalds were called Sagas, many of\nwhich have come down to us, and contain valuable materials of\nhistory, and a faithful picture of the state of society at the\ntime to which they relate.\n\nICELAND\n\nThe Eddas and Sagas have come to us from Iceland. The following\nextract from Carlyle's lectures on \"Heroes and Hero Worship\" gives\nan animated account of the region where the strange stories we\nhave been reading had their origin. Let the reader contrast it for\na moment with Greece, the parent of classical mythology:\n\n\"In that strange island, Iceland,\u2014burst up, the geologists say,\nby fire from the bottom of the sea, a wild land of barrenness and\nlava, swallowed many months of every year in black tempests, yet\nwith a wild, gleaming beauty in summer time, towering up there\nstern and grim in the North Ocean, with its snow yokuls\n[mountains], roaring geysers [boiling springs], sulphur pools, and\nhorrid volcanic chasms, like the waste, chaotic battlefield of\nFrost and Fire,\u2014where, of all places, we least looked for\nliterature or written memorials,\u2014the record of these things was\nwritten down. On the seaboard of this wild land is a rim of grassy\ncountry, where cattle can subsist, and men by means of them and of\nwhat the sea yields; and it seems they were poetic men these, men\nwho had deep thoughts in them and uttered musically their\nthoughts. Much would be lost had Iceland not been burst up from\nthe sea, not been discovered by the Northmen!\"\n\nTEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY\n\nIn the mythology of Germany proper, the name of Odin appears as\nWotan; Freya and Frigga are regarded as one and the same divinity,\nand the gods are in general represented as less warlike in\ncharacter than those in the Scandinavian myths. As a whole,\nhowever, Teutonic mythology runs along almost identical lines with\nthat of the northern nations. The most notable divergence is due\nto modifications of the legends by reason of the difference in\nclimatic conditions. The more advanced social condition of the\nGermans is also apparent in their mythology.\n\nTHE NIBELUNGEN LIED\n\nOne of the oldest myths of the Teutonic race is found in the great\nnational epic of the Nibelungen Lied, which dates back to the\nprehistoric era when Wotan, Frigga, Thor, Loki, and the other gods\nand goddesses were worshipped in the German forests. The epic is\ndivided into two parts, the first of which tells how Siegfried,\nthe youngest of the kings of the Netherlands, went to Worms, to\nask in marriage the hand of Kriemhild, sister of Gunther, King of\nBurgundy. While he was staying with G\u00fcnther, Siegfried helped the\nBurgundian king to secure as his wife Brunhild, queen of Issland.\nThe latter had announced publicly that he only should be her\nhusband who could beat her in hurling a spear, throwing a huge\nstone, and in leaping. Siegfried, who possessed a cloak of\ninvisibility, aided G\u00fcnther in these three contests, and Brunhild\nbecame his wife. In return for these services, G\u00fcnther gave\nSiegfried his sister Kriemhild in marriage.\n\nAfter some time had elapsed, Siegfried and Kriemhild went to visit\nGunther, when the two women fell into a dispute about the relative\nmerits of their husbands. Kriemhild, to exalt Siegfried, boasted\nthat it was to the latter that Gunther owed his victories and his\nwife. Brunhild, in great anger, employed Hagan, liegeman of\nGunther, to murder Siegfried. In the epic Hagan is described as\nfollows:\n\n\"Well-grown and well-compacted was that redoubted guest;\n\nLong were\n\nhis legs and sinewy, and deep and broad his chest;\n\nHis hair, that\n\nonce was sable, with gray was dashed of late;\n\nMost terrible his\n\nvisage, and lordly was his gait.\"\n\n\u2014Nibelungen Lied, stanza 1789.\n\nThis Achilles of German romance stabbed Siegfried between the\nshoulders, as the unfortunate King of the Netherlands was stooping\nto drink from a brook during a hunting expedition.\n\nThe second part of the epic relates how, thirteen years later,\nKriemhild married Etzel, King of the Huns. After a time, she\ninvited the King of Burgundy, with Hagan and many others, to the\ncourt of her husband. A fearful quarrel was stirred up in the\nbanquet hall, which ended in the slaughter of all the Burgundians\nbut Gunther and Hagan. These two were taken prisoners and given to\nKriemhild, who with her own hand cut off the heads of both. For\nthis bloody act of vengeance Kriemhild was herself slain by\nHildebrand, a magician and champion, who in German mythology holds\na place to an extent corresponding to that of Nestor in the Greek\nmythology.\n\nTHE NIBELUNGEN HOARD\n\nThis was a mythical mass of gold and precious stones which\nSiegfried obtained from the Nibelungs, the people of the north\nwhom he had conquered and whose country he had made tributary to\nhis own kingdom of the Netherlands. Upon his marriage, Siegfried\ngave the treasure to Kriemhild as her wedding portion. After the\nmurder of Siegfried, Hagan seized it and buried it secretly\nbeneath the Rhine at Lochham, intending to recover it at a future\nperiod. The hoard was lost forever when Hagan was killed by\nKriemhild. Its wonders are thus set forth in the poem:\n\n\"'Twas as much as twelve huge wagons in four whole nights and days\n\nCould carry from the mountain down to the salt sea bay;\n\nThough to and fro each wagon thrice journeyed every day.\n\n\"It was made up of nothing but precious stones and gold;\n\nWere all the world bought from it, and down the value told,\n\nNot a mark the less would there be left than erst there was, I ween.\"\n\n\u2014Nibelungen Lied, XIX.\n\nWhoever possessed the Nibelungen hoard were termed Nibelungers.\nThus at one time certain people of Norway were so called. When\nSiegfried held the treasure he received the title \"King of the\nNibelungers.\"\n\nWAGNER'S NIBELUNGEN RING\n\nThough Richard Wagner's music-drama of the Nibelungen Ring bears\nsome resemblance to the ancient German epic, it is a wholly\nindependent composition and was derived from various old songs and\nsagas, which the dramatist wove into one great harmonious story.\nThe principal source was the Volsunga Saga, while lesser parts\nwere taken from the Elder Edda and the Younger Edda, and others\nfrom the Nibelungen Lied, the Ecklenlied, and other Teutonic\nfolklore.\n\nIn the drama there are at first only four distinct races,\u2014the\ngods, the giants, the dwarfs, and the nymphs. Later, by a special\ncreation, there come the valkyrie and the heroes. The gods are the\nnoblest and highest race, and dwell first in the mountain meadows,\nlater in the palace of Valhalla on the heights. The giants are a\ngreat and strong race, but lack wisdom; they hate what is noble,\nand are enemies of the gods; they dwell in caves near the earth's\nsurface. The dwarfs, or nibelungs, are black uncouth pigmies,\nhating the good, hating the gods; they are crafty and cunning, and\ndwell in the bowels of the earth. The nymphs are pure, innocent\ncreatures of the water. The valkyrie are daughters of the gods,\nbut mingled with a mortal strain; they gather dead heroes from the\nbattle-fields and carry them to Valhalla. The heroes are children\nof the gods, but also mingled with a mortal strain; they are\ndestined to become at last the highest race of all, and to succeed\nthe gods in the government of the world.\n\nThe principal gods are Wotan, Loki, Donner, and Froh. The chief\ngiants are Fafner and Fasolt, brothers. The chief dwarfs are\nAlberich and Mime, brothers, and later Hagan, son of Alberich. The\nchief nymphs are the Rhine-daughters, Flosshilda, Woglinda, and\nWellgunda. There are nine Valkyrie, of whom Brunhild is the\nleading one.\n\nWagner's story of the Ring may be summarized as follows:\n\nA hoard of gold exists in the depths of the Rhine, guarded by the\ninnocent Rhine-maidens. Alberich, the dwarf, forswears love to\ngain this gold. He makes it into a magic ring. It gives him all\npower, and he gathers by it a vast amount of treasures.\n\nMeanwhile Wotan, chief of the gods, has engaged the giants to\nbuild for him a noble castle, Valhalla, from whence to rule the\nworld, promising in payment Freya, goddess of youth and love. But\nthe gods find they cannot spare Freya, as they are dependent on\nher for their immortal youth. Loki, called upon to provide a\nsubstitute, tells of Alberich's magic ring and other treasure.\nWotan goes with Loki, and they steal the ring and the golden hoard\nfrom Alberich, who curses the ring and lays the curse on all who\nshall henceforth possess it. The gods give the ring and the\ntreasure to the giants as a substitute for Freya. The curse at\nonce begins. One giant, Fafner, kills his brother to get all, and\ntransforms himself into a dragon to guard his wealth. The gods\nenter Valhalla over the rainbow bridge. This ends the first part\nof the drama, called the Rhine-Gold.\n\nThe second part, the Valkyrie, relates how Wotan still covets the\nring. He cannot take it himself, for he has given his word to the\ngiants. He stands or falls by his word. So he devises an artifice\nto get the ring. He will get a hero-race to work for him and\nrecover the ring and the treasures. Siegmund and Sieglinda are\ntwin children of this new race. Sieglinda is carried off as a\nchild and is forced into marriage with Hunding. Siegmund comes,\nand unknowingly breaks the law of marriage, but wins Nothung, the\ngreat sword, and a bride. Brunhild, chief of the Valkyrie, is\ncommissioned by Wotan at the instance of Fricka, goddess of\nmarriage, to slay him for his sin. She disobeys and tries to save\nhim, but Hunding, helped by Wotan, slays him. Sieglinda, however,\nabout to bear the free hero, to be called Siegfried, is saved by\nBrunhild, and hid in the forest. Brunhild herself is punished by\nbeing made a mortal woman. She is left sleeping on the mountains\nwith a wall of fire around her which only a hero can penetrate.\n\nThe drama continues with the story of Siegfried, which opens with\na scene in the smithy between Mime the dwarf and Siegfried. Mime\nis welding a sword, and Siegfried scorns him. Mime tells him\nsomething of his mother, Sieglinda, and shows him the broken\npieces of his father's sword. Wotan comes and tells Mime that only\none who has no fear can remake the sword. Now Siegfried knows no\nfear and soon remakes the sword Nothung. Wotan and Alberich come\nto where the dragon Fafner is guarding the ring. They both long\nfor it, but neither can take it. Soon Mime comes bringing\nSiegfried with the mighty sword. Fafner comes out, but Siegfried\nslays him. Happening to touch his lips with the dragon's blood, he\nunderstands the language of the birds. They tell him of the ring.\nHe goes and gets it. Siegfried now has possession of the ring, but\nit is to bring him nothing of happiness, only evil. It is to curse\nlove and finally bring death. The birds also tell him of Mime's\ntreachery. He slays Mime. He longs for some one to love. The birds\ntell him of the slumbering Brunnhilda, whom he finds and marries.\n\nThe Dusk of the Gods portrays at the opening the three norns or\nfates weaving and measuring the thread of destiny. It is the\nbeginning of the end. The perfect pair, Siegfried and Brunhild,\nappear in all the glory of their life, splendid ideals of manhood\nand womanhood. But Siegfried goes out into the world to achieve\ndeeds of prowess. He gives her the Nibelungen ring to keep as a\npledge of his love till his return. Meanwhile Alberich also has\nbegotten a son, Hagan, to achieve for him the possession of the\nring. He is partly of the Gibichung race, and works through\nGunther and Gutrune, half-brother and half-sister to him. They\nbeguile Siegfried to them, give him a magic draught which makes\nhim forget Brunhild and fall in love with Gutrune. Under this same\nspell, he offers to bring Brunhild for wife to Gunther. Now is\nValhalla full of sorrow and despair. The gods fear the end. Wotan\nmurmurs, \"O that she would give back the ring to the Rhine.\" But\nBrunhild will not give it up,\u2014it is now her pledge of love.\nSiegfried comes, takes the ring, and Brunhild is now brought to\nthe Rhine castle of the Gibichungs, but Siegfried under the spell\ndoes not love her. She is to be wedded to Gunther. She rises in\nwrath and denounces Siegfried. But at a hunting banquet Siegfried\nis given another magic draught, remembers all, and is slain by\nHagan by a blow in the back, as he calls on Brunhild's name in\nlove. Then comes the end. The body of Siegfried is burned on a\nfuneral pyre, a grand funeral march is heard, and Brunhild rides\ninto the flames and sacrifices herself for love's sake; the ring\ngoes back to the Rhine-daughters; and the old world\u2014of the gods\nof Valhalla, of passion and sin\u2014is burnt up with flames, for the\ngods have broken moral law, and coveted power rather than love,\ngold rather than truth, and therefore must perish. They pass, and\na new era, the reign of love and truth, has begun.\n\nThose who wish to study the differences in the legends of the\nNibelungen Lied and the Nibelungen Ring, and the way in which\nWagner used his ancient material, are referred to Professor W. C.\nSawyer's book on \"Teutonic Legends in the Nibelungen Lied and the\nNibelungen Ring,\" where the matter is treated in full detail. For\na very thorough and clear analysis of the Ring as Wagner gives it,\nwith a study of the musical motifs, probably nothing is better for\ngeneral readers than the volume \"The Epic of Sounds,\" by Freda\nWinworth. The more scholarly work of Professor Lavignac is\nindispensable for the student of Wagner's dramas. There is much\nilluminating comment on the sources and materials in \"Legends of the Wagner Drama\" by J. L. Weston.","title":"The Age of Fable/Chapter XL","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":4873}