22 h 31 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What would you give up for a ring that grants power over the world—and carries a curse?
At the bottom of the Rhine, gold shines beneath the water. Alberich steals it and gives up love to forge a ring of power. Wotan, ruler of the gods, faces a debt he cannot pay. His bargains draw gods, giants and humans into a struggle where promises bind even those who make them.
Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung spans four music dramas: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, or The Twilight of the Gods. Drawing on Norse sagas and the medieval German Nibelungenlied, it brings family conflict and love into a world ruled by power. Brünnhilde must weigh obedience against compassion, while Wotan seeks a hero beyond his own laws.
What you’ll discover
- Gold beneath the Rhine Enter a river's depths, where guarded treasure becomes the source of a bitter struggle.
- A god's binding bargains Follow Wotan as the contracts supporting his rule trap him within his own promises.
- A daughter's difficult choice Meet Brünnhilde, whose compassion pulls her away from the obedience her father demands.
- A fearless forest youth Discover Siegfried, raised by Mime, eager to forge a sword and see the world.
- Love against power Explore what ambition costs when gaining control means giving up love or betraying trust.
Who will love it
For readers who love myth, epic, family drama and the struggle between love and power, and anyone exploring the Ring before attending an opera, listening to a recording or opening the libretto.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A dwarf steals the Rhine gold
- The gods owe a debt they cannot pay
- Alberich's ring carries a curse
- Twins meet in a forest hut
- Wotan must punish what he planned
- A father's punishment and a ring of fire
- Siegfried grows up fearing nothing
- The dragon, the bird and the sleeping rock
- Love, power and the price of both
- How Wagner builds the story
Who’s who
- WotanRuler of the gods, who builds his power on contracts and now needs a free hero to undo his own bargains.
- AlberichA Nibelung dwarf who gives up love to forge a ring of world power from the Rhine gold.
- BrünnhildeA Valkyrie and Wotan's favourite daughter, who must choose between obeying her father and following her own compassion.
- SiegmundA hunted hero, son of Wotan among humans, who finds a sword and a sister he did not know he had.
- SieglindeSiegmund's twin, trapped in an unhappy marriage, who carries the pieces of a broken sword and a child.
- SiegfriedA fearless young man raised in the forest by Mime, who wants to forge a sword and see the world.
- MimeAlberich's brother, a clever smith who raises Siegfried in the hope of using him to win the ring.
- HagenAlberich's son, a watchful and ambitious man who lives among the Gibichungs and has his own plans for the ring.
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 22 h 31 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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L’Anneau du Nibelung
by Richard Wagner · 1853
A dwarf gives up love to forge a ring that promises power over the world and carries a curse.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 10
A dwarf steals the Rhine gold
The cycle opens in the depths of the Rhine. Three Rhinemaidens, Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde, guard a treasure of gold that shines beneath the water. They play and swim, and they are careless guards. Alberich, a dwarf of the race called the Nibelungs, climbs up from the dark and tries to win one of them.
The maidens tease him cruelly. Each lets him come near and then laughs at his ugliness and swims away. Alberich grows angry and humiliated. Then the sunlight strikes the gold, and the maidens, boasting, give away its secret.
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What is The Ring of the Nibelung about?
It tells of a ring forged from stolen Rhine gold that gives power over the world but demands the giving up of love. Gods, giants, dwarfs and heroes fight over it across four operas.
What are the four operas of the Ring cycle in order?
They are Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. Das Rheingold acts as a prologue to the other three. They are meant to be seen in this order over four evenings.
Is the Ring cycle based on a true story or a myth?
It is based on myth. Wagner drew on Norse sagas, such as the Volsunga saga and the Eddas, and on the medieval German Nibelungenlied, then reshaped them into his own story.
The author
Richard Wagner
1813–1883 · German composer and librettist
Richard Wagner was a German composer born in Leipzig in 1813. He wrote music and librettos for operas, including The Ring of the Nibelung, composed between 1848 and 1874. He lived in Germany and Switzerland, settled in Bayreuth in 1872, and died in Venice in 1883.
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