This scene is from The Rhinegold in
Volume I of Margaret
Armour’s translation of
Richard
Wagner's Der Ring des
Nibelungen. Wagner based his work largely on Old
Norse sources preserved in Iceland and to a lesser extent on the
German heroic poem Nibelunglied.
Arthur Rackham's
watercolour depicts Freia
who Wotan has promised to give to the giants,
Fasolt and Fafner, as payment for
building Walhalla.
The text for the illustration states,
Freia, the fair one
Source: Volume I: The Rhinegold ; & The
Valkyrie
Folio or Page: [22]
Medium: watercolour
Date: 1939
Dimensions (mm): 180 x 125
Provenance:
This illustration is from Special
Collections in the MacPherson
Library at the University of Victoria, Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada. Call number: ML410 W195A7
Rights:
This illustration from The Rhinegold
is in the public domain.
Research notes, early print reviews, etc.:
Richard Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen is
commonly referred to in English as The Ring Cycle.
The individual operas are 1) Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), 2) Die
Walküre / Die Valküre (The Valkyrie), 3) Siegfried and 4)
Götterdämmerung (The Twilight
of the Gods). Wagner based his work largely on Old Norse sources
preserved in Iceland and to a lesser extent on the German heroic poem Nibelunglied.
Árni Björnsson notes in Wagner and the Volsungs: Icelandic
Sources of Der Ring Des Nibelungen that
"the names and conduct of the gods are largely consistent with the
descriptions given in the Prose Edda of Óðinn,
Frigg, Freyja, Freyr, Þórr and Loki (SnE G20-35). The names have, however,
existed in various different forms in Germanic dialects, and Wagner creates
their characters with considerable freedom" (134).
Árni Björnsson notes in Wagner and the Volsungs: Icelandic
Sources of Der Ring Des Nibelungen that "the name Fasolt is
derived from the Fasold of Þiðreks
saga...Fasolt/Fasold was a man of great strength, and not a giant...
Wagner may have choosen the name to alliterate with woth Fafner. In
Icelandic sources, Fáfnir's brothers are named Reginn and Otr
(137).
In the Prose Edda, Freyja was promised as payment
to a builder if he managed to build a wall around Valhalla in three seasons.
Wagner based Freia on the Old Norse godesses Freyja and Iðunn. In Der Ring Des Nibelungen it is Freia who owns the Apples of Immortality that she
gives to the gods so that they will not age.
Bibliography:
Primary Source
Wagner,
Richard. Der Ring Des
Nibelungen
Leipzig: von J. J. Weber
1863.
Editions and Translations
Wagner,
Richard. The Rhine Gold & The Valkyrie
Translated by
Margaret
Armour,
London: William Heinemann
Ltd.
1939.
Secondary Sources
Björnsson,
Árni. Wagner and the Volsungs : Icelandic Sources of Der Ring Des
Nibelungen. London: Viking
Society for Northern Research, 2003.
Fafner (ger.)
one of the giants in Richard Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen, who built the fortress Walhalla
for the gods and were promised that they would have the goddess Freia as
payment. Wotan persuades to the giants to give back Freia in exchange
for the Rhinegold. Fafner and Fasolt argue about how to divide the gold
between them. Fafner kills Fasolt and later changes himself into a
dragon in order to guard the gold. Fafner is eventually killed by the
hero Sigfried.
Fasolt (ger.)
one of the giants in Richard Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen, who built the fortress Walhalla
for the gods and were promised that they would have the goddess Freia as
payment. Wotan persuades to the giants to give back Freia in exchange
for the Rhinegold. Fafner and Fasolt argue about how to divide the gold
between them. Fafner kills Fasolt and later changes himself into a
dragon in order to guard the gold.
A fertility goddess and one of the Vanir. She is the daughter of
Njörðr and the twin sister of Freyr.
Richard Wagner based
Freia in The Ring Cycle on the Old Norse
goddesses Freyja and Iðunn.
Plants
Apples of ImmortalityIn Norse
mythology, Iðunn keeps the golden apples in a casket and gives them to
the gods to keep them young. In Richard Wagner's Der
Ring Des Nibelungen, it is Freia who gives the apples to the
gods.
Nouns
Edwardian (en.)The
Edwardian era began with the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910
(January 22, 1901 - 28 July, 1914). However, the era's end date is
sometimes extended to the beginning of World War 1 (28 July
1914).
Victorian (en.)The
Victorian era began with the reign of Queen Victoria and ended with her
death (June 20, 1837 – January 22, 1901).
Source Materials:
Das Rheingold (ger.)
The Rhinegold (en.)
Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold): the first opera in
Volume One of Richard Wagner's Der Ring
Des Nibelungen.
Der Ring Des Nibelungen (ger.)
The Ring Cycle (en.)
A group of four German operas composed by Richard Wagner that is
collectively known as Der Ring Des
Nibelungen and in English as The Ring Cycle.
The individual operas are 1) Das Rheingold (The
Rhinegold), 2) Die Walküre / Die Valküre (The
Valkyrie), 3) Siegfried and 4) Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) Wagner based his
work largely on Old Norse sources preserved in Iceland and to a lesser
extent on the German heroic poem Nibelunglied.
Source Persons
Armour,
Margaret (en.)
b. September 10, 1860
d. October 13, 1943
Nationality: Scottish
Occupation: poet, novelist and translator
In 1910, Armour translated the four operas comprising Richard Wagner's
Der Ring Des Nibelungen into
English. Her translation was published in two volumes. 1) Volume One:
Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), and Die Walküre / Die Valküre (The
Valkyrie) was published in 1910, and Volume Two: Siegfried and
Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) was published in 1911. The
volumes were illustrated by Arthur Rackham with a total of sixty-four
colour plates, as well as black and white vignettes and
tailpieces.
Rackham,
Arthur (en.)
b. 1867
d. 1939
Nationality: English
Occupation: illustrator
Residence: London
One of the most prominent illustrators during the Golden Age of
British Book Illustration (c. 1880 - 1930). His illustrations of Norse
mythology frequently appeared in "Little Folks" which were collected and
published in the Land of Enchantment. Rackham
also created 64 coloured plates for the English translation of Richard
Wagner's Der Ring des
Nibelungen, The Ring of the Niblung. The
Rhinegold and the Valkyrie bound with Siegfried and the Twilight of
the Gods.
Wagner,
Richard (ger.)
b. 16 September 1800
d. 4 December 1886
Nationality: German
Occupation: Author, Teacher and Philologist
Residence: Leipzig, Germany
German composer, theatre director, and conductor who wrote both the
music and the libretto for Der Ring Des
Nibelungen opera.
