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Siegfried Wields Nothung

Siegfried Wields Nothung
  • Creator: Arthur Rackham September 19, 1867-September 6, 1939
  • Description:
    This scene is from Siegfried in Volume II of Margaret Armour’s translation of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Wagner based his work largely on Old Norse sources preserved in Iceland and, to a lesser extent, on the German heroic poem Nibelunglied.
    Arthur Rackham's watercolour depicts Siegfried’s joy because he has reforged his father’s sword, Nothung, and tested it by breaking Mime’s anvil with a single stroke. Mime cowers in fear because of The Wanderer’s prophecy that whoever succeeds in reforging the sword will kill Mime.
    The text for the illustration states,
    • "Nothung! Nothung!
    • Conquering sword!"
  • Source: Volume II: Siegfried
  • Folio or Page: [1]
  • Medium: watercolour
  • Date: 1939
  • Dimensions (mm): 177 x 125
  • Provenance:
    This illustration is from Special Collections in the MacPherson Library at the University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Call number: ML410 W195A7
  • Rights:
    This illustration from Siegfried is in the public domain.
  • Research notes, early print reviews, etc.:
    Richard Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen is commonly referred to in English as The Ring Cycle. The individual operas are 1) Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), 2) Die Walküre / Die Valküre (The Valkyrie), 3) Siegfried and 4) Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods).
    Árni Björnsson notes in Wagner and the Volsungs: Icelandic Sources of Der Ring Des Nibelungen that "the names and conduct of the gods are largely consistent with the descriptions given in the Prose Edda of Óðinn, Frigg, Freyja, Freyr, Þórr and Loki (SnE G20-35). The names have, however, existed in various different forms in Germanic dialects, and Wagner creates their characters with considerable freedom" (134).
    Árni Björnsson notes in Wagner and the Volsungs: Icelandic Sources of Der Ring Des Nibelungen that in Norse sources, it is Sigurðr’s fosterfather, the smith, Reginn, who is in possession of the shards of the broken sword. In Völsunga Saga, Regin succeeds on his third attempt to remake the sword. However, in Der Ring des Nibelungen, it is Siegfried’s mother who gives the shards to him and Siegfried remakes the sword when the smith, Mime, refuses to even try to do so (185-86).
  • Bibliography:

    Primary Source

    Wagner, Richard. Der Ring des Nibelungen Leipzig: von J. J. Weber, 1863.

    Editions and Translations

    Wagner, Richard. Sigfried & The Twilight of the Gods. Translated by Margaret Armour, London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1911.
    ―. The Rhine Gold & The Valkyrie. Translated by Margaret Armour, London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1912.
    ―. The Rhine Gold & The Valkyrie. Translated by Margaret Armour, London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1939.
    ―. Sigfried & The Twilight of the Gods. Translated by MargaretArmour, London : William Heinemann Ltd. 1939.

    Secondary Sources

    Björnsson, Árni. Wagner and the Volsungs : Icelandic Sources of Der Ring des Nibelungen. London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2003.
  • Identity Number: RngNbLng-V02-001-Plt
  • Download size: 981 KB
  • Source code of this document: [XML]
Der Ring des Nibelungen, The Ring Cycle   Siegfried (opera)   Victorian   Edwardian   Wagner, Richard   Armour, Margaret   Rackham, Arthur   Siegfried, Sigurðr Fáfnisbani, Sigurd the Dragon Slayer   Mime   Nothung   sverð, sword  

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Artifacts

Nothung (Ger.) Siegmund's broken sword that his son, Siegurd, reforges when Mime refuses to reforge it in Die Walküre / Die Valküre (The Valkyrie), the second opera in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. In the Icelandic sources, Volsung's Saga and the Eddas, the sword is called Gram and it is reforged by Regin for Sifried.

Dwarves and Elves

Mime (ger.) The dwarf who is Alberich's brother and Siegfried's foster-father in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Alberich forced Mime to make the Tarnhelm for him. Mime tried but failed to reforge Siegmund's broken sword for Siegurd.

Gods and Goddesses

Wanderer (en.) Váfuðr (non.) The Wanderer is one of Óðinn's many names that are collectively known as Óðins heiti, i.e., Odinn's names. Óðinn often travelled the world disguised as an old man and was known by various aliases. Heiti are poetic synonyms where one word stands for another. There are over two hundred heiti used for Óðinn.

Mythological Persons

Siegfried (ger.) Sigurðr Fáfnisbani (non.) Sigurd the Dragon Slayer (en.)
The legendary hero in Volume II: Siegfried ; & The Twilight of the Gods from Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Siegfried killed the dragon Fafner and rode through the flame wall to awaken Brünnhilde.
Richard Wagner based his hero Siegfried on Sigurðr Fáfnisbani in Völsunga Saga.
Sigurðr Fáfnisbani (non.) Sigurd the Dragon Slayer (en.) Siegfried (ger.)
The legendary hero in Völsunga Saga who killed the dragon Fáfnir, rode through the flame wall to awaken Brynhildr. He promised to marry her but due to sorcery married Guðrún and tricked Brynhildr into marrying Gunnarr.
Richard Wagner based his hero Siegfried in The Ring Cycle on Sigurðr.

Nouns

Edwardian (en.)The Edwardian era began with the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 (January 22, 1901 - July 28, 1914). However, the era's end date is sometimes extended to the beginning of World War 1 (28 July 1914).
Victorian (en.)The Victorian era began with the reign of Queen Victoria and ended with her death (June 20, 1837 – January 22, 1901).
sverð (non.) sword (en.)

Source Materials:

Der Ring des Nibelungen (ger.) The Ring Cycle (en.) A group of four German operas composed by Richard Wagner that is collectively known as Der Ring des Nibelungen and in English as The Ring Cycle. The individual operas are 1) Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), 2) Die Walküre / Die Valküre (The Valkyrie), 3) Siegfried and 4) Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods). Wagner based his work largely on Old Norse sources preserved in Iceland and to a lesser extent on the German heroic poem Nibelunglied.
Siegfried (opera) (ger.): The third of four German operas composed by Richard Wagner that is collectively known as Der Ring des Nibelungen and in English as The Ring Cycle. The individual operas are 1) Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), 2) Die Walküre / Die Valküre (The Valkyrie), 3) Siegfried and 4) Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods). Wagner based his work largely on Old Norse sources preserved in Iceland and to a lesser extent on the German heroic poem Nibelunglied.

Source Persons

Armour, Margaret (en.) b. September 10, 1860
d. October 13, 1943
Nationality: Scottish
Occupation: poet, novelist, and translator
In 1910, Armour translated the four operas comprising Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen into English. Her translation was published in two volumes. 1) Volume One: Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), and Die Walküre / Die Valküre (The Valkyrie) was published in 1910, and Volume Two: Siegfried and Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) was published in 1911. The volumes were illustrated by Arthur Rackham with a total of sixty-four watercolours, as well as black and white vignettes and tailpieces.
Rackham, Arthur (en.) b. 1867
d. 1939
Nationality: English
Occupation: illustrator
Residence: London
One of the most prominent illustrators during the Golden Age of British Book Illustration (c. 1880 - 1930). His illustrations of Norse mythology frequently appeared in "Little Folks" which were collected and published in the Land of Enchantment. Rackham also created 64 watercolours for the English translation of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (1863), known in English as The Ring of the Niblung, and sometimes as The Ring Cycle. Rackham's illustrations first appeared in Volume 1 of Margaret Armour's English translation, The Rhinegold and The Valkyrie, was published (1910), and in Volume 2, Siegfried and The Twilight of the Gods (1911). The images in MyNDIR are from the 1939 edition, with Rackham's illustration, and all four of the operas in one volume.
Wagner, Richard (ger.) b. 16 September 1800
d. 4 December 1886
Nationality: German
Occupation: Author, Teacher and Philologist
Residence: Leipzig, Germany
German composer, theatre director, and conductor who wrote both the music and the libretto for Der Ring des Nibelungen opera.