a's dismay is still greater at the
prospect of parting forever with the fair goddess of beauty
and youth. In her sorrow she bitterly regrets that the promise
has been made and rendered inviolable by being inscribed on
her husband's spear, and reproves him for the joy he shows in
viewing the completion of his future abode:--

'In delight thou revel'st
When I am alarmed?
Thou 'rt glad of the fortress,
For Freya I fear.
Bethink thee, thou thoughtless god,
Of the guerdon now to be given!
The castle is finished,
And forfeit the pledge.
Forgettest thou what is engaged?'

Thus suddenly brought to his senses, Wotan, king of the Northern
gods, protests that he never really intended to part with the
beauty, light, and sweetness of life, and seeks to excuse himself
by urging that Loge, the god of fire and the arch-deceiver,
overpersuaded him by promising to find some way of escape from
the fatal bargain:--

'He whom I hearkened to swore
To find a safety for Freya;
On him my hope have I set.'

They are still discussing the matter, and eagerly wondering
why Loge does not appear, when Freya comes rushing wildly
upon the stage, with fear-blanched face and trembling limbs,
breathlessly imploring the father of the gods to save her from
the two huge giants in close pursuit. In her terror she also
summons her devoted brothers, Donner and Fro. But, in spite of
the strength of these potent gods of the sunshine and thunder,
the giants boldly advance, boasting aloud of their achievement,
and demanding the fulfilment of the stipulated contract.

The gods are almost at their wits' end with anxiety, when Loge,
god of fire, appears. They loudly clamour to him to keep his word
and release them from the consequences of their rash bargain. In
reply to this summons, Loge declares he has wandered everywhere
in search of something more precious than youth and love,
and that he has utterly failed to find it. No one, he says,
is ready to relinquish these blessed gifts,--no one except
Alberich, who has bartered love for the gleaming treasure which
he has just stolen from the Rhine nymphs. Loge concludes his
speech by delivering to Wotan an imploring message from the
defrauded maidens, who summon him to avenge their wrongs and
help them to recover the stolen gold. The description of the
gleaming treasure, of the power of the ring which Alberich has
fashioned out of it, and especially of the immens