ACT I - Scene 1 - The Hall of the Gibichungs on the banks of the Rhine

[FOR LEITMOTIFS, CLICK HERE TO SEE RJB G-01]

The hall is open at the back; the shore and the swiftly-flowing river can be seen. Gunther and Gutrune, children of Grimhilde, defunct queen of the Gibichungs, are seated in a throne to one side before which is a table with drinking vessels. They are in conference with their half-brother, Hagen, the son fathered by Alberich, through the lure of his riches, upon Grimhilde.   

[SIDE 3] Gunther (Nun hor', Hagen) is inquiring about the standing of the Gibichungs in the world. Hagen thinks their fame is not as brilliant as it could be were bother and sister wedded to suitably splendid partners —Gunther, for instance, to Briinnhilde. Gunther is annoyed to learn that his nerve would not be firm enough to enable him to confront the dangers which must be passed in order to win Brunnhilde for his own. Why has the lure been dangled before his eyes? But the crafty Hagen tells him (Brdchte Siegfried die Braut) Siegfried will undertake the task for him—and he expatiates upon the young hero's deeds and prowess — if the promise of Gutrune for wife is dangled before him, and he silences Gutrune's modest doubting by counseling her to remember a certain magic potion in their possession, which will cause Siegfried to forget that he ever had knowledge of any other woman before Gutrune. Gunther is delighted with the plan and praises his mother Grimhilde for giving him such a clever brother.

[FOR LEITMOTIFS, CLICK HERE TO SEE RJB G-02]

Glancing up the river, Hagen catches sight of Siegfried approaching in a boat, blowing merrily upon his horn. Hailed, the latter says (Zu Gibichs starkem Sohne) he is seeking `Gibich's stalwart son'. So he is bidden welcome to the shore.  Siegfried leads his boat to the shore and disembarks with his horse.  Upon landing, his first thought is for the noble steed Grane, which must be well stabled and tended. When Gunther politely places himself and all he has at Siegfried's service, the latter protests himself poor, yet offers himself and his sword in return. Hagen interrupts to remind Siegfried cunningly of the Nibelung hoard, which the young hero now owns, but which he has held in so little esteem that he has left it in the dead dragon's cave—the monster's corpse blocking the entrance thereto—and only brought away with him a certain object of chain mail, the use of which he does not rightly understand. Hagen (Den Tarnhelm kenn ich) recognizes it, though, as the tarnhelm which, worn upon the head, will change a man into anything he will, or transport him, in the twinkling of an eye, to the ends of the earth. It also confers invisibility. "Did you take nothing more?" asks the crafty Hagen. "A ring," replies Siegfried, "now in the possession of a wondrous woman." At this point, Gutrune appears, bearing a drinking-horn, which she offers to Siegfried. Toasting Brunnhilde, the hero takes a long draught, then, all memory of her wiped clean from his mind, his eye (Die so mit dem Blitz) falls upon Gutrune. Seized by sudden uncontrollable passion, he turns to Gunther and demands to know his sister's name. Learning it is Gutrune, [SIDE 4]  he takes the girl by the hand and makes her an ardent avowal. Gutrune modestly lowers her eyes, bows her head submissively and at a look from Hagen leaves the hall. Siegfried gazes after her as if bewitched and enquires of Gunther if she is wedded. Not yet—and Gunther admits to having set his heart upon a bride who is so hard to come by as to be almost unattainable. The description of the desired woman's abode —a flame-girt rock—fails to draw any sign of recognition from Siegfried.  His demeanor shows that the draught has erased all memory of Brunnhilde from his mind.  He demands to know (Was witr' dir versagt) what could be denied Gunther, were he — Siegfried - by his side? And offers to woo Briinnhilde for him, if Gunther will bestow Gutrune upon him in marriage in return. Donning the tarnhelm, Siegfried will assume Gunther's shape. The bargain struck, the two men agree (Blutbruderschaft schwcre ein Eid) to swear an oath of blood-brotherhood. Hagen fills a drinking horn with wine. Siegfried and Gunther prick their arms with the points of their swords and hold them over the horn so that their blood shall mingle and mix with the wine, and the oath is sworn. Each of them lays two fingers on the empty horn.  They clasp hands whilst Hagen strikes the horn in two with his sword. When Siegfried turns to ask him why he took no part in the oath, Hagen wriggles out of it by saying that his blood is cold and stagnant, not noble and fiery like theirs; it would have chilled and spoilt both oath and enterprise. Impatient to return for his promised bride, Siegfried (Frisch auf die Fahrt) hurries Gunther away on their errand, whilst Hagen, left in charge, informs Gutrune of the purpose of their expedition and tells her that Siegfried is to be her husband. Filled with exultant joy, Gutrune returns to her chamber.  Left alone, Hagen muses (Hier sitz' ich zur Wacht) that, though the two young men  believe themselves to be bent on business of their own devising, they are, in actual fact, fulfilling his —Hagen's - purpose: they will bring him the Ring - his father's magic Ring —for it is to this end that he has engineered the entire undertaking.

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