Richard Wagner's Poem the Ring of the Nibelung

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Before entering upon the study of Wagner's poem, it is necessary to give some attention to those versions of the Nibelung story which form the source of the poet's inspiration. In this connection the author is obliged to refer to one of his former works, entitled The Great Epics of Mediaeval Germany, in which the object was to present an historical and critical account of those poems, and an essay on Wagner's drama was then foreign to the purpose. Yet as the Nibelungen Lied, the greatest of medieval German poems, was one of the important works considered in that volume, special attention was bestowed on the elucidation of the whole Nibelung story. From the nature of the subject, it will be impossible to avoid here a repetition of a few statements made in the Great Epics, particularly as to the early N ibelung traditions, since they throw light on Wagner's great drama. On the other hand, some of the ancient sagas which have no immediate bearing on the Nibelungen Lied, and were therefore omitted in the Great Epics, will be here given because they play a prominent part in Wagner's treatment of the subject.