Siegfried

The Elder Edda, Prose Edda, and the Saga of the Volsungs all have stories dealing with the life of young Siegfried.  It is primarily from these stories that Wagner creates this opera. 

To read a synopsis of Siegfried click here.

Act I

This act is a combination of the Siegfried stories from the  Eddas, the Saga of the Volsungs and Thidriks Saga.

The character Mime is taken from a variety of sources (Thidriks Saga, Elder Edda, and the Saga of the Volsungs).  In Thidriks Saga, Mime is a crafty smith who finds an abandoned baby and raises him as his own.  The character of Mime is based on Regin in the Saga of the Volsungs and the Elder Edda.  In the Saga, Regin is a smith/king/and the foster-father of Sigurd (Siegfried); while in the Eddas, Regin is also a dwarf/smith/foster-father of Sigurd/and brother of Fafnir (Fafner).  For the Ring, Wagner removed any hint of Mime being related to Fafner and made him the brother of Alberich.

Siegfried is named Sigurd in the Eddas and the Saga of the Volsungs.  The name that Wagner used is actually taken from the Nibelungenlied, where Siegfried is the son of Siegmund and Sieglinde.  The mannerisms of Siegfried are taken from Thidriks Saga and Das Lied vom h¸rnen Seyfrid.  In each of those stories Siegfried is portrayed as an uncontrollable dolt.

The question and answer game that Wotan and Mime undertake is based on "The Lay of Vafthrudnir" in the Elder Edda.  In this lay, the giant (Vafthrudnir)  and Odin engage in a quiz game with the winner taking the other's head as a prize.  Odin also identifies himself as "a weary wanderer."  It is not just this that tale that Wagner uses for identifying Wotan as the wanderer, but also the Saga (chapter 11).

The aspect of Siegfried not knowing fear is based on the Brothers Grimm tale of "The Boy Who Went to Learn Fear".

Act II

Act II is taken from "The Lay of Fafnir" from the Elder Edda and chapters 18-20 from the Saga of the Volsungs.  Wagner does not deviate too much from the sources for this act.  In the Elder Edda and Saga, it is not Siegfried that forges the sword, but Regin.   

The birds from the Elder Edda and the Saga are combined into one woodbird by Wagner.

Act III

The scene where Wotan is awakening Erda is modeled after "Balder's Dreams" from the Elder Edda.  Wotan is awakening Erda because he wants to know the fate of the gods, but the future is cloudy.

The scene where Wotan and Siegfried fight before awakening Brünnhilde was created by Wagner, but in Thidriks Saga Sigfrid (Siegfried) does have to overcome 7 guards. 

The remainder of the act regarding the awakening of Brünnhilde is taken from chapters 21 and 22 of the Saga and the "Lay of Sigrdrifa" from the Prose Edda.  This also does not vary too much from the sources, in fact the dialogue that Brünnhilde speaks upon awakening is extremely similar to what Sigrdrifa says upon being awakened.

Suggested Readings:

Saga of the Volsungs. Chapters 13-25.

Elder Edda. "The Prophecy of Gripir," "The Lay of Regin," "The Lay of Fafnir," and "The Lay of Sigrdrifa."

Prose Edda.

Sabor, Rudolph. Richard Wagner Der Ring Des Nibelungen a companion. Pages 78-107.

McCreless, Patrick. Wagner's Siegfried: Its Drama, Its History and Its Music. Pages 35-50.