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Freia's Ransom

Freia's Ransom
  • Creator: Arthur Rackham September 19, 1867-September 6, 1939
  • Description:
    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 Wotan and Loge watching Fasolt and Fafner who are inspecting the pile of treasure representing Freia’s ransom to make sure that it completely hides her. Fasolt finds a chink in the pile that needs to be covered to hide Freia to fulfill the terms of the ransom.
    The text for the illustration states,
    • Hey! Come hither,
    • And stop me this cranny!
  • Source: Volume I: The Rhinegold ; & The Valkyrie
  • Folio or Page: [64]
  • Medium: watercolour
  • Date: 1939
  • Dimensions (mm): 172 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).
    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 that "Fafner points out to Fasolt that Freia's apples have more importance than the goddess herself (Ring, 530 - 47). Björnsson also notes that "The Prose Edda' account of Idunn and her apples of youth is here transferred to Freia."(138)
    Árni Björnsson notes in Wagner and the Volsungs: Icelandic Sources of Der Ring Des Nibelungen notes that “gold is not commonly referred to as ‘red’ in German (in that language the word is more often gelb, ‘yellow’), but it was, and is, commonly so in Icelandic...” (141)
    Árni Björnsson notes that "Wagner may have chosen the name [Fasolt] to alliterate with Fafner. In Icelandic sources, Fáfnir’s brothers are named Reginn and Otr" (137).
    In Der Ring Des Nibelungen Freia is covered with gold while in the Prose Edda it is the otter skin that is covered with gold.
  • 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.
  • Identity Number: RngNbLng-V01-064-Plt
  • Download size: 1 MB
  • Source code of this document: [XML]
Der Ring Des Nibelungen, The Ring Cycle   Das Rheingold, The Rhinegold   Victorian   Edwardian   Wagner, Richard   Armour, Margaret   Rackham, Arthur   Wotan   Loge   Fafner   Fasolt   Freyja, Freia  

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Anomalies

Loge (ger.) InThe Ring of the Nibelung, Richard Wagner created Loge by combining the figure of Loki, who is counted to be among the gods in the Prose Edda, with the giant Logi,who is the presonification of fire in the myth concerning Þórr´s Journey to the Court of Útgarða-Loki.

Giants and Giantesses

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.

Gods and Goddesses

Freyja (non.) Freia (ger.)
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.
Wotan (ger.) Richard Wagner based Wotan in The Ring of the Nibelung on Óðinn.

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.