h it, tell him of
your right to it; and make him give it back to you." Gunther stammers,
"The ring! I gave him no ring--er--do you know him?" The rejoinder is
obvious. "Then where are you hiding the ring that you had from me?"
Gunther's confusion enlightens her; and she calls Siegfried trickster
and thief to his face. In vain he declares that he got the ring from no
woman, but from a dragon whom he slew; for he is manifestly puzzled;
and she, seizing her opportunity, accuses him before the clan of having
played Gunther false with her.

Hereupon we have another grandiose operatic oath, Siegfried attesting
his innocence on Hagen's spear, and Brynhild rushing to the footlights
and thrusting him aside to attest his guilt, whilst the clansmen call
upon their gods to send down lightnings and silence the perjured. The
gods do not respond; and Siegfried, after whispering to Gunther that the
Tarnhelm seems to have been only half effectual after all, laughs his
way out of the general embarrassment and goes off merrily to prepare for
his wedding, with his arm round Gutrune's waist, followed by the
clan. Gunther, Hagen and Brynhild are left together to plot operatic
vengeance. Brynhild, it appears, has enchanted Siegfried in such a
fashion that no weapon can hurt him. She has, however, omitted to
protect his back, since it is impossible that he should ever turn that
to a foe. They agree accordingly that on the morrow a great hunt shall
take place, at which Hagen shall thrust his spear into the hero's
vulnerable back. The blame is to be laid on the tusk of a wild boar.
Gunther, being a fool, is remorseful about his oath of blood-brotherhood
and about his sister's bereavement, without having the strength of mind
to prevent the murder. The three burst into a herculean trio, similar
in conception to that of the three conspirators in Un Ballo in Maschera;
and the act concludes with a joyous strain heralding the appearance of
Siegfried's wedding procession, with strewing of flowers, sacrificing to
the gods, and carrying bride and bridegroom in triumph.

It will be seen that in this act we have lost all connection with the
earlier drama. Brynhild is not only not the Brynhild of The Valkyries,
she is the Hiordis of Ibsen, a majestically savage woman, in whom
jealousy and revenge are intensified to heroic proportions. That is the
inevitable theatrical treatment of the murderous heroine of the Saga.
Ibsen's aim in The Vikings was purely the