Dr. J. Michael Stitt
phone: 702 895-3909
fax: 702 895-4801
e-mail:
jmstitt@unlv.nevada.edu
In LOTR Tolkien is drawing most directly on Wagner's Ring Cycle of four operas. Wagner himself was freely modifying a large and eclectic body of Germanic mythic and historical material. Where, when and how this disparate material was drawn together remains unclear. The oldest sources are a group a poems from Iceland that are preserved in the Poetic Edda. Another important source is the Middle High German poem, Das Nibelungenlied. In broad outline, we can discern four elements that constitute the tradition. One is the tale of a cursed treasure -- a tale that prominently features a single ring. Even in the earliest versions, this tale is merged with a Germanic version of the Indo-European dragonslayer tradition. The Germanic dragonslayer is Sigurð (in Old Norse) or Siegfried (in Modern High German). Having won the cursed treasure, he wins himself an otherworld bride. At this point the mythic material merges with historical legendry involving a Germanic tribe called the Burgundians. While some of the legendary material is preserved in poems of the Icelandic Poetic Edda, the entire fusion is most elegantly and famously told in Das Nibelungenlied. In the nineteenth century, Wagner imaginatively used these sources and more to forge his operatic masterpiece involving a sinister ring of power
Reginsmal, an Old Norse poem in the Poetic Edda, tells the story of a cursed treasure. The gods Oðinn, Þorr, and Loki come across an otter and slay it. Unknown to them, it is a dwarf in animal form. That evening they ask for shelter at the nearest steading, which happens to be a dwarf home. They proudly display their otter pelt. The horrified dwarf recognizes the corpse of his son and immediately demands were-gild. They must fill the otterskin with gold, stand it upright, and then completely cover the animal with gold. Loki magically captures another being, Andvari, who is in the form of a pike, and compels it to give up its treasure. It holds back a single gold ring, which Loki demands. It gives up the last ring, and curses the entire treasure. The treasure proves just sufficient. The last ring covers the otter's whisker. After the were-gild is paid Loki tells of the curse, but the dwarf downplays its significance. He is wrong. Greed drives his two sons, Regin and Fafnir, to demand their share of the gold. The money belongs to the father, but adult children often asked for and received their inheritance before the father's death. He cannot part with the gold. Fafnir kills his father, and thus the curse begins.
Now a dragonslayer tradition enters the picture, and the story continues in Fafnismal. Fafnir, having slain his father for the cursed gold, refuses to share the treasure with his brother, Regin. Further, Fafnir's greed has transformed him into a dragon. Regin fosters the young, orphaned hero, Sigurð, in hopes that he will slay Fafnir. Sigurð's moral sense demands that he first avenge his father's death, then he agrees to help his foster-father, Regin. While Regin stands well back, Sigurð slays the dragon. Regin claims the heart, and asks Sigurð to roast it. (Eating the flesh of a slain beast was thought to impart the positive qualities of that beast.) While Regin sleeps, Sigurð cooks. When he thinks the heart is done he pokes it, and the hot juice burns his finger. He instinctively puts the finger in his mouth, and immediately he can understand the conversation of the birds in the bushes. (Dragons were believed to be polyglots.) The birds discuss the fact that Regin plans to kill Sigurð and keep all the treasure for himself. Instead, Sigurð kills Regin. The birds then advise Sigurð to win his bride. In the final scene, Sigurð loads the heavy treasure on his horse, Grani, and tries to lead him away. The great-hearted horse refuses to budge until Sigurð mounts.
Marriage to the Otherworld Bride is widespread in Indo-European tradition (and elsewhere), but is scarcely studied and poorly understood. The several Eddic poems and fragments that refer to the tradition are unclear and sometimes contradictory. In general, they suggest that Sigurð's bride is a valkyrja, sometimes named Brunhilda. Apparently, she defied Oðinn when he ordered her to fetch a doomed warrior to Valhollr. Fascinated by the man, she spared him and took another in his place. Oðinn punished her by casting a sleep spell on her and placing her within a ring of flame. She was doomed to remain there until rescued by someone brave enough to cross the barrier. On the other hand, in the previously mentioned Fafnismal, the poem places Sigurð's bride in the land of the Buðlings -- that is, the Burgundians.
The Burgundians were a Germanic tribe. Their original homeland was in northeastern Germany. In the fifth century they migrated into the southern Rhine valley in the area around Worms. Several centuries later they migrated again to the area of France that now bears their name. In 437 the Burgundians suffered a major defeat at the hands of "Huns," probably not forces led by Attila, but rather Hunnish mercenaries in the employ of Rome. A sixth century Latin document, the Lex Burgundoniom, lists the names of several leaders who were killed. Most of the names are attested to in the literature, and in particular the name Gundaharius stands out. The cognates Gunnar and Gunther occur in several major poems. One other historical fact exists. In 453 Attila married a Germanic princess named (H)ildico; the name looks as if it is Burgundian. Attila died on his wedding night.
A number of historical legends weave their way among these scant facts. In the Atlakviða, a powerful poem from the Poetic Edda, Guðrun is married to Attila. He covets the great Niflung treasure possessed by his two brothers-in-law, one of whom is Gunnar. No mention is made of Sigurð, and no explanation is offered for how the Niflung treasure came into Burgundian hands. The curse continues, though, because Attila murders his brothers-in-law. They die without turning over the treasure's location, and it is consigned to the Rhine, where it can do no further harm. Guðrun, driven for revenge against the deaths of her brothers, kills her own sons and serves them to Attila and the Huns. When she tells them what they have eaten, they drink themselves into a stupor. Guðrun stabs the sleeping Attila with a sword, then burns down the hall.
The Middle High German poem, Das Nibelungenlied, is quite complex, but we can mention a few salient points. Siegfried is the possessor of the cursed Nibelung treasure. He wants to marry the Burgundian princess Kriemhild. Her brother agrees to the marriage if Siegfried will use his cloak of invisibility and strength to win the supernatural Brunhild as a wife for Gunther. Siegfried does so, and both men marry their brides. The relationship between Siegfried and Brunhild is uncertain. It creates tensions among all four, and especially between Brunhild and Kriemhild. From a combination of jealousy and greed, Gunther follows the counsel of his advisor Hagen, and kills Siegfried. Kriemhild knows who killed her husband; her thirst for revenge grows. Fearing the loyalty the treasure could buy her, Hagen takes the treasure and sinks it in the Rhine while her brothers distract her. The remainder of the poem chronicles Kriemhild's inexorable strides toward vengeance. He marriage to Etzel (Attila) is just one of many steps.
You can find synopses at the following sites. As you read them keep in mind Wagner's negative view of religion. The ring's power arises from the rejection of love. The gods bring about the possibility of their destruction in taking the ring by force. It is Brunnhilde's selfless act of love, however, that seals their doom and returns the ring to the depths of the Rhine.