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The Rhinemaidens are the three water-nymphs (Rheintöchter or Rhine daughters) who appear in Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring Des Nibelungen. Generally referred to collectively as the Rhinemaidens, their individual names are Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde. Of all the 34 characters in the Ring cycle, they are the only ones who do not originate in the Scandinavian Eddas. Other legends and myths on which Wagner drew, notably the Nibelunglied, include stories involving water-sprites (nixies) or mermaids, and it is likely that he created his Rhinemaidens from these sources. The key concepts associated with them in the Ring operas—their flawed guardianship of the Rhine gold, and the condition (renunciation of love) through which the gold could be stolen from them and transformed into a means of world power—are wholly Wagner's own invention, and are the elements that initiate and propel the entire drama.

The Rhinemaidens are the first and the last characters to be seen in the opera sequence, appearing both in the opening scene of Das Rheingold, and in the final climactic spectacle of Götterdämmerung when they rise from the Rhine waters to reclaim the ring from Brünnhilde’s ashes. They have been described as the drama’s "most seductive but most elusive characters", and in one analysis as representatives of "seduction by infantile fantasy". They have been ascribed moral innocence, yet display a range of sophisticated emotions, including some far from innocent. They have no relationship to any of the other characters, and no indication is given as to how they came into being, beyond occasional references to an unspecified "father".

The various musical themes associated with the Rhinemaidens are regarded as among the most lyrical in the whole Ring cycle, bringing to it rare instances of comparative relaxation and charm. It is reported that Wagner played their famous lament at the piano on the night before he died, in Venice.

Origins

Water-sprites, male or female (mermen, mermaids, nix or nixe) occur in many European myths and legends, often but not invariably in a form of disguised malevolence. Wagner drew widely from such legends when compiling his Ring narrative, and the most likely origin of his Rhinemaidens is in the German Nibelunglied. In one part of the Nibelunglied narrative Hagen and Gunther encounter certain "wise women" (thereafter described as water-sprites), bathing and refreshing themselves in the waters of the Danube. Hagen creeps softly towards them, but is seen, whereupon the sprites retreat and mock him from a distance. Hagen then steals their clothes. To obtain the return of these, one of the sprites, Hadeburg, promises falsely that Hagen and Gunter will find honour and glory when they enter Etzel's kingdom. After the clothes are returned another sprite, Sigelinde (a name Wagner would for adapt use elsewhere), tells Hagen that her sister has lied, and that if they go to Etzel’s land they will die there.

This story, itself unrelated to the Ring drama, has clear pre-echoes both of the opening Das Rheingold scene and of the first scene in Act III of Götterdämmerung. Wagner first adapted the story for use in his early libretto of Siegfried's Death (which eventually became Götterdämmerung), introducing three un-named water-maids (Wasserjungfrauen), and locating them in the Rhine, where they warn Siegfried of his impending death. Later these water-maids became Rhinemaidens (Rheintöchter), and were given individual names: Flosshilde, Wellgunde and "Bronnlinde". Later still, as Wagner continued his reverse chronology from Siegfried's death, he arrived at what he determined was the initial act of the drama—Alberich's theft of the Rhine gold. Believing that a simple abduction of the unguarded gold would lack dramatic force, he made the Rhinemaidens the guardians of the gold, and introduced the "renunciation of love" condition. Bronnlinde became Woglinde, probably to avoid confusion with Brünnhilde.

Wagner may also have been influenced by the Rhine-based German legend of Lorelei, the lovelorn young maiden who drowns herself in the river and becomes a siren, luring fishermen on to the rocks by her singing. A further possible source lies in a quite different mythology—the Greek myth of the Hesperides, which has three maidens guarding the golden apples of Arcadia. This scenario is clearly reminiscent of the core Rheingold themes of guardianship and gold.

Within the story told in the operas, the background of the Rhinemaiden characters is undisclosed. Nobody knows where they come from. Whereas virtually all the other characters in the cycle are inter-related, through birth, marriage or sometimes both, the Rhinemaidens are seemingly independent. The identity of the father who entrusted them with their guardianship of the gold is never hinted at. He may be a "Supreme Being", father of Wotan, all the gods and all creation. Whatever is surmised, the Rhinemaidens are in a different category from Wotan and the other gods, who are destroyed by fire at the end of Götterdämmerung, while the maidens swim happily away in the Rhine, bearing their recovered treasure.

Nature and attributes

The Rhinemaidens act essentially as a unity, with a composite yet elusive personality. Apart from Flosshilde’s implied seniority, demonstrated by occasional light rebukes and illustrated in the opera by awarding the role to a contralto or mezzo, their characters are undifferentiated. However, this collective personality is not easy to pin down—the veneer of child-like simplicity is misleading. The attributes most apparent initially are charm and playfulness, combined with a natural innocence; their joy in the gold they guard derives from its beauty alone, even though they know its latent power. That is not, however, the whole picture. Aside from proving themselves irresponsible as guardians, they are also provocative, sarcastic and cruel in their interaction with Alberich. Fricka, goddess of marriage, complains of how they have seduced many a man in the past after Loge says they want Wotan to help them regain the gold. They are beguiling and flirtatious with Siegfried, and finally wise, in the undisclosed counsel which they give to Brünnhilde.

Their sorrow in the loss of the gold is heartfelt, and not to be trifled with. This is demonstrated when Loge humorously suggests, as the gods are crossing the rainbow bridge into Valhalla at the end of Das Rheingold that, in the absence of the gold, the maidens should "bask in the gods’ new-found radiance". Their lament becomes a stern reproof: "Tender and true are only the depths", they sing; "False and cowardly is all that rejoices up there". In the final Götterdämmerung scene they show ruthlessness as, having recovered the ring, they drag the hapless Hagen down into the waters of the Rhine.

They are the ultimate survivors, the only prominent characters seen definitely alive at the end of the drama; the fates of a few others are ambiguous, but most have certainly perished. Despite the relative brevity of their roles in the context of the four-opera cycle, they are key figures, whose actions in provoking Alberich to the theft of the gold are responsible for all that follows. The fact that only its return to their care, in the waters of the Rhine, will lift the curse from the ring provides a unifying "thematic consistency" to Wagner’s complex story.

Role in the Ring Operas

Summaries drawn from Wagner's libretti as translated into English by William Mann, 1964

Das Rheingold, Scene 1

As the musical prelude climaxes, Woglinde and Wellgunde are seen at play in the depths of the Rhine. Flosshilde joins them after a gentle reminder of their responsibilities as guardians of the gold. They are observed by the Nibelung dwarf Alberich who calls out to them: "I'd like to draw near if you would be kind to me". The wary Flosshilde cries: "Guard the gold! Father warned us of such a foe". Alberich begins his rough wooing and the maidens relax: "Now I laugh at my fears, our enemy is in love", says Flosshilde, and a cruel teasing game ensues. First, Woglinde pretends to respond to the dwarf's advances but swims away as he tries to embrace her. Then Wellgunde takes over, and Alberich's hopes rise until her sharp retort: "Ugh, you hairy hunchbacked clown!" Flosshilde pretends to chastise her sisters for their cruelty and feigns her own courtship, by which Alberich is quite taken in until she suddenly tears away and joins the others in a mocking song. Tormented with lust, Alberich furiously chases the maidens over the rocks, slipping and sliding as they elude him, before he sinks down in impotent rage. At this point the mood changes: a bright light penetrates the depths and a magical golden light reveals, for the first time, the Rhinegold on its rock. The maidens sing their ecstatic greeting to the gold, and Alberich's curiosity is aroused. In response to his question Woglinde and Wellgunde reveal the gold's secret: measureless power would be his who could forge a ring from it. Flosshilde scolds them for giving this secret away, but her concerns are dismissed—only someone who has foresworn love can obtain the gold, and Alberich is clearly so besotted as to present no danger. But their confidence is misplaced; in his humiliation Alberich decides that world mastery is more desirable than love. As the maidens continue to jeer his antics he scrambles up the rock and, uttering a curse on love, seizes the gold and disappears, leaving the Rhinemaidens in the darkness, bewailing their loss.

Das Rheingold, Scene 4

As Wotan, Fricka and the other gods start to cross the rainbow bridge leading to Valhalla, they hear a melancholy song from the depths of the Rhine - the maidens, mourning the loss of the gold. Wotan is embarrassed and irritated; he tells Loge to silence the maidens, but as the gods continue across the bridge the sweet lament rises again, now with bitter words of reproach to the gods for their heartlessness, until their song is drowned out by the thunderous ostinato of the Entry of the Gods.

Götterdämmerung, Act 3 Scene 1

Much time and many generations have passed. In a remote wooded valley where the Rhine flows, the ageless Rhinemaidens continue to mourn for the gold, pleading with the "Sun-woman" to send them a champion who will give them back the gold. Siegfried's horn is heard, and he soon appears, having lost his way whilst hunting. The maidens greet him with their old playfulness and offer to help him, for the price of the ring on his finger. After a flirtatious exchange Siegfried offers, facetiously, to give them the ring, but their mood becomes solemn as they warn him he will be killed that very day unless he delivers the ring to them. Siegfried, however, will not submit to threats, and declares:"By threatening my life and limb, even if it weren't worth as much as a finger you won't get the ring from me!" The maidens are scornful of his folly: "Farewell, Siegfried. A proud woman will today become your heir, scoundrel! She'll give us a better hearing". Siegfried is not aware that it is to Brünnhilde that they refer. They swim off, leaving a puzzled Siegfried to ponder their words and to admit to himself that he could happily have seduced any one of them.

Götterdämmerung, Act 3 Scene 3

In her final soliloquy, Brünnhilde thanks the Rhinemaidens for their "good advice". We can presume that they have told her the full story of Siegfied's ensnarement and betrayal, and that only the return of the ring to the waters of the Rhine can lift its curse. Brünnhilde sings: "What you desire I will give you: from my ashes take it to yourselves. The fire...will cleanse the curse from the ring"—and she exhorts them to "carefully guard it" in future. She leaps into the flames of Siegfied's pyre, and as the Rhine overflows its banks the Rhinemaidens appear and make for the ring. Hagen shouts "Get back from the ring!" but is seized by Woglinde and Wellgunde and dragged into the Rhine's depths. Flosshilde grabs the ring, holds it aloft, and joins her sisters "swimming in circles on the calm waters of the Rhine which is gradually returning to its bed".

Rhinemaidens on stage and in the studio

It is usual for the Rhinemaidens to be depicted in conventional human form, rather than as mermaids with fishtails or other supernatural features. The staging of their scenes is a test of ingenuity and imagination, since Wagner's original stage directions include much swimming and diving and other aquatic gymnastics, which are difficult to execute literally in a normal theatre. Traditionally, therefore, much use has been made of backdrops and lighting to achieve the necessary watery effects.

At the first complete production of the Ring, at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1876, the singers were wheeled around on stands behind semi-transparent screens. The innovative centenary Bayreuth Ring, directed by Patrice Chéreau, addressed the water problem by placing the Rhinemaiden scenes in the lee of a large hydro-electric dam, as part of a 19th century Industrial Revolution setting for the operas. The next Bayreuth Ring, 1983–86, directed by Peter Hall, took the natural innocence aspect of the Rhinemaidens literally, by presenting them naked, a feature shared with the current London Royal Opera House Ring cycle, first shown 2004–06. In the 1996 Lyric Opera of Chicago Ring cycle, repeated 2004–05, the Rhinemaidens were suspended on bungee cords anchored in the fly above the stage, enabling them to dive up and down, as directed by Wagner. The Rhinemaidens were played on-stage by gymnasts, mouthing words sung by singers stood in a corner of the stage.

Although the roles of the Rhinemaidens are relatively small, they have been sung by notable singers, better known for performing major roles in Wagnerian or other repertory. The first person to sing the part of Woglinde completely was Lilli Lehmann at Bayreuth in 1876. When the Bayreuth Festival re-opened in 1951, the same part was taken by Elisabeth Schwartzkopf. Helga Dernesch sang Wellgunde there between 1965 and 1967. Hanna Schwarz made her Bayreuth debut as Flosshilde in 1975. Recorded Rhinemaidens have included Sena Jurinac for Furtwängler and RAI, Lucia Popp and Dame Gwyneth Jones for Solti, Helen Donath and Edda Moser for Karajan and Schwarz and Popp again for Janowski.

See also

• Der Ring des Nibelungen
• Das Rheingold
• Götterdämmerung

Notes and References

1. ^ Holman, p. 174 Cite error: The named reference "Holman_173–75" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. Cooke, p. 7, quoting Robert Donington from his Jungian analysis of the Ring cycle.
3. Osborne, p. 253
4. Gutman, p. 453
5. ^ Cooke, p. 139 Cite error: The named reference "Cooke_138–40" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
6. Mowat translation, stanzas 1528–54, pp. 142–43
7. The number of sprites in the Nibelunglied story is not specified. Two are named, and the text suggests the possibility of a third.
8. ^ Newman, p. 464
9. Exceptions are Fasolt and Fafner who are only related to each other, and the Woodbird who is alone.
10. "Father ordered us cleverly to guard the bright treasure…": Flosshilde in Das Rheingold, Scene 1 (p. 26)
11. Das Rheingold, Scene I
12. Das Rheingold, Scene II
13. Götterdämmerung, Act III Scene I
14. Götterdämmerung, Act III Scene III
15. Cooke, p. 244
16. Das Rheingold, Scene IV
17. Götterdämmerung, Act III Scene III finale
18. Holman, pp. 399–402
19. All the direct speech quotations are from Mann's translation
20. This quotation is from Wagner's stage directions, translated by Mann
21. See libretto, Das Rheingold, Scene 1, Götterdämmerung, Act III Scene I
22. Holman, p. 381
23. Henahan
24. Alleyne
25. Holman, p. 390
26. Weber, W.
27. Weber, H.

Sources

• Alleyne, R.: "Rhinemaidens in the nude make Wagner a sell-out at the ROH" Daily Telegraph 18 December 2004Accessed 9 April 2008
• Cooke, D.: I Saw The World End OUP, 1979 ISBN 0 19 315318 1
• Donnington, R. Wagner's 'Ring' and its Symbols Faber and Faber, London, 1963 ISBN 0 571 04818 8
• Gutman, R. W. Richard Wagner:The Man, His Mind, and His Music Harcourt Brace Jovanovitch, San Diego 1967
• Henahan, D. "Opera: 'Das Rheingold' at festival in Bayreuth, New York Times 27 July 1983 Accessed 29 April 2008
• Holman, J.K.: Wagner's Ring: A Listener's Companion and Concordance Amadeus Press, Portland, 2001 ISBN 1 57467 070 0
• Mann, W.: English Translations of Wagner's libretti for Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung Friends of Covent Garden, 1964
• Mowatt, D.G.: The Niebelunglied (translation) J M Dent, 1962
• Newman, E.: Wagner Nights Putnam, London 1949
• Osborne, C.:The Complete Operas of Wagner Victor Gollancz, London 1992 ISBN 0 575 05380 1
• Weber, H.: "Opera at Bayreuth" subsite Accessed 29 April2008
• Weber, W.: "Rhinemaidens Turn Bungee Jumpers" New York Times2 October 2004 Accessed ] 2008

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• European mythology
• Legendary creatures
• Richard Wagner