Richard Wagner

“ Alone ye might deal with the giants,
So without shame Ye promised them Freia, Freia, my beautiful sister,
Proud of playing the thief,
What remains holy Or precious to men Once grown greedy of might?
Wotan
Calmly. From such greed Was Fricka then free Herself when the castle she craved? ”

“ She alone Grows the apples and tends them.
The goodly fruit Gives to her kinsfolk, Who eat thereof, Youth everlasting. Sick and pale, Their beauty would perish, Old and weak, Wasting away, Were not Freia among them. ”

“ Pointing to the castle. There stands What we builded, Shining fair Beneath the sun. Enter in And pay the price!
Wotan Name, Workers, your wage.
What payment will appease you?
Fasolt We made the terms That seemed to us meet. Hast thou forgot so soon?
Freia, the fair one, Holda, the free one— The bargain is We bear her away.
Wotan
Quickly. Ye must be mad To moot such a thing! Ask some other wage;
Freia I will not grant.
Fasolt
Stands for a space speechless with angry
surprise. What is this? Ha! Wouldest deceive?—— Go back on thy bond? ”

“ Seen through it the Gods look more and more worn and aged. All stand in dismay and apprehension regard­ing Wotan, whose eyes are fixed broodingly on the ground. Does a mist mock me? Tricks me a dream? Dismayed and wan, How swiftly ye fade! Lo! the bloom forsakes your cheeks,
And quenched is the light of your eyes!
Courage, Froh! Day’s but begun!
From thy hand, Donner, The hammer is falling! And why frets Fricka ? Sees she with sorrow That Wotan’s hair, growing grey,
Has made him gloomy and old?
The Gods grow wan and aged at the loss of Freia
See p. 34
Fricka Woe’s me! ”

“ He descends after Loge into the chasm. The sulphurous vapour which rises from it spreads over the whole stage and quickly fills it with thick clouds. Those who remain behind are soon hidden. Donner Fare thee well, Wotan! ”

“ The sulphurous vapour darkens till it becomes a black cloud, which rises upwards from below. This then changes to a dark, rocky cavern which keeps rising, so that the stage seems to sink deeper and deeper into the earth. ”

“ He goes in front and vanishes at the side through a cleft, from which, immediately afterwards, sulphurous vapour streams forth. Wotan Ye others wait Till evening here; The golden ransom When got will again make us young. ”