To  accomplish  this  Wotan,  in  human  guise  as  Walse,
begets  in  wedlock  with  a  woman  the  twins  Siegmund
and  Sieglinde.  How  the  curse  of  Alberich  is  visited  upon
these  is  related  in  "  The  Valkyr."

The  dramatis personcE  in  "  The  Valkyr  "  are  Briinnhilde
and  her  eight  sister  valkyrs,  Fricka,  Sieglinde,  Siegmund ^
Hunding  (the  husband  of  Sieglinde^,  and  Wotan.  The  ac-
tion begins  after  the  marriage  of  Sieglinde  to  Hunding.
The  earlier  events  in  the  lives  of  the  two  Walsings  we
learn  of  in  the  narratives  of  Siegmund  and  Wotan  re-
spectively in  the  first  and  second  acts  of  "  The  Valkyn"


THE  valkyr:


31


Of  course,  the  Walsings  are  in  ignorance  of  the  divinity
of  their  father.    They  know  him  only  as  Walse.
Act  I.
The  introduction  to  "  The  Valkyr  "  is  very  different  in
character  from  that  to  "  The  Rhinegold."  In  that  the
Rhine  flowing  peacefully  toward  the  sea  and  the  inno-
cent gambols  of  the  Rhinedaughters  were  musically
depicted.  But  "The  Valkyr"  opens  in  storm  and  stress.
It  is  as  though  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  first
scene  of  the  cycle  had  vanished  from  the  earth  with
Alberich's  abjuration  of  love,  his  theft  of  the  gold  and
Wotan's  equally  treacherous  crime.  This  vorspiel  is  a
masterly  representation  in  tone  of  a  storm  gathering  for
its  last  infuriated  onslaught.  There  is  majestic  force  in
its  climax.  The  elements  are  unloosed.  The  wind
sweeps  through  the  forest.  Lightning  flashes  in  jagged
streaks  across  the  black  heavens.  There  is  a  crash  of
thunder  and  the  storm  has  spent  its  force.
Two  leading  motives  are  employed  in  this  introduc-
tion. They  are  the  Storm  Motive  and  the  Donner
Motive  (No.  24).  The  Storm  Motive  (page  i,  line  i)
is  as  follows :


\^


27.
