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jallanite · 05-15-2012, 12:56 PM

Siegfried: Commentary

Wagner now jumps to the early history of Siegfried. Wagner mostly builds his story from Norse elements, although rendering the names in German form.

Here is a table of the cast members of Siegfried in order of appearance, omitting only the forest bird, along with the Norse names of the characters and some notes on the names.

Characters:

German/Wagnerian Name
Norse Name
Commentary

Mime
Reginn (Regin)
Wagner uses the name Mime derived the German-influenced Þiðreks saga where Mímir is Sigurð/Siegfried’s foster father and Mímir’s brother Reginn is the dragon as opposed to the standard Norse story in which Reginn is Sigurð’s foster father and his dragon brother is Fáfnir.

Siegfried
Sigurð (Sigurd)
Seigfried < sieg ‘victory’ + fried‘power’, Old English Sigefriþ. Sigurð < sigi ‘victory’ + weard ,‘guard’; Old English Sigeweard (Siward). These are two separate names which have been anciently confused in stories.

Wotan
Óðinn (Odin)
< Proto-Germanic *Wōđanaz ‘Ecstasy’.

Alberich
Andvari
albe ‘elf’ + rich ‘king’; andvari ‘careful’

Fafner
Fáfnir

Erda
Jǫrd (Jörd)
‘Earth’

Brünnhilde
Brynhildr
The Valkyrie in sleep on the mount is named Sigrdrifa in the earliest Norse account and later retellings only dubiously identify her with Brynhildr.

For the text of the opera in English and German, see
http://home.earthlink.net/~markdlew/shw/Ring.htm

For an English-only version of the lebretto illustrated by the incomparable Arthur Rackham, see http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ron/index.htm

For the main Norse source in English, see http://www.marxists.org/archive/morr...ters/index.htm , chapters XII to XXIV. This goes a little past the opera.

For Tolkien’s recreation of this material, see The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún, “Völsungakviða en nýja (‘The New Lay of the Völsungs’)”, chapters V to VI. This also goes a little past the opera.

Wagner here follows mostly the Norse version, adding only appearances of Wotan/Óðinn and Alberich/Andvari which connect to the Ring plot he has invented.

Wagner follows the Þidreks saga in which a fatherless and motherless Siegfried is brought up only by Mímir/Mime/Regin, although in the Þidreks saga Mímir does have other apprentices. In the Norse version of Sigurð/Siegfried’s meeting with the Valkyrie, Siegfried is uniquely presented as a boy who does not understand what fear is and Wagner increases that element in his presentation.

Much of this tale reappears in Tolkien’s story of Túrin, in which the elements he uses are greatly reshuffled. In The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two, “Turambar and the Foalókë”, Tolkien writes:

A great cunning and wisdom have they [drakes and worms], so that it has been long said amongst Men that whosoever might taste the heart of a dragon would know all tongues of Gods or Men, of birds or beasts, and his ears would catch whispers of the Valar or of Melko such as never had he heard before.

Only in the Norse version of the story of Sigurð story of his conflict with the dragon is anything like this told in surviving medieval tales.

Túrin also is held in converse with the dragon and in his later battle in which Túrin slays the dragon, he does so from underneath, in both cases resembling Sigurð. Túrin also becomes involved with a particular dwarf named Mîm.

Film review on Thursday.

05-15-2012, 12:56 PM	#9
jallanite Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 479	Siegfried: Commentary Wagner now jumps to the early history of Siegfried. Wagner mostly builds his story from Norse elements, although rendering the names in German form. Here is a table of the cast members of Siegfried in order of appearance, omitting only the forest bird, along with the Norse names of the characters and some notes on the names. Characters: German/Wagnerian Name Norse Name Commentary Mime Reginn (Regin) Wagner uses the name Mime derived the German-influenced Þiðreks saga where Mímir is Sigurð/Siegfried’s foster father and Mímir’s brother Reginn is the dragon as opposed to the standard Norse story in which Reginn is Sigurð’s foster father and his dragon brother is Fáfnir. Siegfried Sigurð (Sigurd) Seigfried < sieg ‘victory’ + fried‘power’, Old English Sigefriþ. Sigurð < sigi ‘victory’ + weard ,‘guard’; Old English Sigeweard (Siward). These are two separate names which have been anciently confused in stories. Wotan Óðinn (Odin) < Proto-Germanic Wōđanaz ‘Ecstasy’. Alberich Andvari albe* ‘elf’ + rich ‘king’; andvari ‘careful’ Fafner Fáfnir Erda Jǫrd (Jörd) ‘Earth’ Brünnhilde Brynhildr The Valkyrie in sleep on the mount is named Sigrdrifa in the earliest Norse account and later retellings only dubiously identify her with Brynhildr. For the text of the opera in English and German, see http://home.earthlink.net/~markdlew/shw/Ring.htm For an English-only version of the lebretto illustrated by the incomparable Arthur Rackham, see http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ron/index.htm For the main Norse source in English, see http://www.marxists.org/archive/morr...ters/index.htm , chapters XII to XXIV. This goes a little past the opera. For Tolkien’s recreation of this material, see The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún, “Völsungakviða en nýja (‘The New Lay of the Völsungs’)”, chapters V to VI. This also goes a little past the opera. Wagner here follows mostly the Norse version, adding only appearances of Wotan/Óðinn and Alberich/Andvari which connect to the Ring plot he has invented. Wagner follows the Þidreks saga in which a fatherless and motherless Siegfried is brought up only by Mímir/Mime/Regin, although in the Þidreks saga Mímir does have other apprentices. In the Norse version of Sigurð/Siegfried’s meeting with the Valkyrie, Siegfried is uniquely presented as a boy who does not understand what fear is and Wagner increases that element in his presentation. Much of this tale reappears in Tolkien’s story of Túrin, in which the elements he uses are greatly reshuffled. In The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two, “Turambar and the Foalókë”, Tolkien writes: A great cunning and wisdom have they [drakes and worms], so that it has been long said amongst Men that whosoever might taste the heart of a dragon would know all tongues of Gods or Men, of birds or beasts, and his ears would catch whispers of the Valar or of Melko such as never had he heard before. Only in the Norse version of the story of Sigurð story of his conflict with the dragon is anything like this told in surviving medieval tales. Túrin also is held in converse with the dragon and in his later battle in which Túrin slays the dragon, he does so from underneath, in both cases resembling Sigurð. Túrin also becomes involved with a particular dwarf named Mîm. Film review on Thursday.