ck to conclude the bargain with the giants, it
is found necessary that Wotan should give up the ring also. He does so,
after resolving on his grand idea, which will appear presently; and the
gods enter Valhalla while the Rhine maidens below are heard bewailing
the loss of their plaything.

The ring is cursed, and no sooner do the giants begin to share their
treasure than they fall to disputing about it. Fafner kills his brother,
and making off with all, buries it in a cave--"Hate Hole"--and changing
himself into a dragon, by virtue of the Tarnhelm which is amongst the
treasure, he settles down to guard it. At any moment now Wotan's empire
may be taken from him; the ring he must gain somehow, but by the laws
written on his staff he may not perpetrate such an act of injustice as
taking it himself. His position is more tragic than he knows. His
brilliant idea is the sword, and here is its theme, one of the most
important in the work:

[Illustration: Some bars of music]

He will raise up a breed of heroes, let them fend for themselves in the
world--even heap pains and trials upon them; and in the end a fearless
hero will arise, find this sword, and of his own absolute free-will slay
the dragon and take the ring. He is trying to jump out of his own
shadow, as we see immediately in _The Valkyrie_. Siegmund, his son, the
hero, takes the sword, and then commits adultery and incest with
Sieglinda, his sister, the wife of Hunding. Fricka, the punisher of
matrimonial crimes, compels Wotan to let Hunding slay Siegmund. This is
done, though Brunnhilde, the incarnation of love, tries to save the
hero. She has to be punished--the laws that bind Wotan are
inexorable--and he has to put away love; in order to rule, love must
have no place in his thoughts nor influence his actions. Brunnhilde is
put to sleep, and a hedge of fire set blazing round her. There she must
sleep until a hero arrives who has no fear of Wotan or his spear, and
will pass through the fire and take her for bride.

The hero is the son of Sieglinda and Siegmund; he kills the dragon,
takes the ring, shatters Wotan's spear, passes the fiery hedge, and weds
Brunnhilde. The details we shall examine when we deal with the drama of
_Siegfried_. Wotan's part is now ended; he retires to Valhalla to await
the inevitable denouement. He willingly abdicates, and wills his own
destruction and the destruction of Valhalla and all that existed under
his rule. If power involves the