Brünnhilde is a character in Richard Wagner's opera, "The Twilight of the Gods" (Der Ring des Nibelungen). She is the daughter of the god Wotan and the giantess Erda, and is a Valkyrian warrior who leads the souls of dead warriors to Valhalla. She falls in love with Siegfried, a mortal hero, and disobeys Wotan's orders by protecting him from a fight to the death. As a result, Wotan punishes her by putting her into a state of deep sleep on a rock surrounded by flames, where only true love could wake her.
Siegfried is the heir to the magic sword Gram and the son of Sieglinde, who is Brünnhilde's sister. Siegfried is a mortal hero who falls in love with Brünnhilde, the Valkyrian warrior who leads the souls of dead warriors to Valhalla. He uses the magic sword to defeat the dragon Fafnir and seize his treasure. Later, he is betrayed and killed by Hagen, the son of the god Wotan. His death brings the end of the golden age of the gods and the beginning of the era of man.
What is Sigurd's story?
According to this epic, Sigurd is a heroic warrior who acquires a magic sword, Gram, capable of cutting through anything. He kills the dragon Fafnir, who was guarding a treasure, and uses the treasure to buy the freedom of his beloved, Brünnhilde. Later, he is betrayed and killed by his friends. Brünnhilde falls in love with Sigurd and disobeys the orders of her father, the god Wotan, by protecting him from a fight to the death. As a result, Wotan punishes her by putting her into a state of deep sleep on a rock surrounded by flames, where only true love could wake her.
When was "Twilight of the Gods" written?
"The Twilight of the Gods" (Der Ring des Nibelungen) is a cycle of operas by Richard Wagner, which was written between 1848 and 1874. It consists of four operas: "The Rhinegold" (Das Rheingold), "The Valkyrie" (Die Walküre), "Siegfried" and "The Twilight of the Gods" (Götterdämmerung). These operas are based on elements from the Norse epic "The Song of the Nibelungenlied" and other mythological and literary sources. They tell the story of the quest for the Nibelung Ring, which grants its possessor unlimited power, as well as the struggles for its possession and the consequences of its use.
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