Previous events:

Fafner has transformed himself into a great dragon and guards the Nibelung hoard, the helmet of invisibility and the Ring, in the forest. Sieglinde has died after giving birth to Siegfried entrusting her child to Mime’s care. She also given him the fragments of Notung, Siegmund’s sword.

Act 1:

Scene 1
Siegfried l ives with h is adoptive father Mime in the forest, cut off from the rest of the world. Mime is in despair because he has tried in vain to forge a sword capable of withstanding Siegfried’s strength. Only Notung could succeed, but Mime is unable to assemble its fragments. His secret plan is to use his supposedly beloved foster son for his own ends: Siegfried must kill Fafner and steal the ring for Mime. Siegfried, who feels very lonely since he knows no one but Mime, has concluded for himself, by observing nature, that Mime cannot be his father, contrary to what Mime claims. Only under pressure does Mime finally reveal Siegfried’s true origins: his father was killed, his motherSieglinde died shortly after his birth. Siegfried demands that Mime reforge Notung so that he can finally set out with the right weapon to conquer the world.

Scene 2
In order to carry out his plan to recover the ring more discreetly, Wotan travels the world incognito as the Wanderer, but continues to behave like a god. He forces Mime to play a devious “knowledge game” in which each stakes his head. Mime asks questions about the Nibelungs, the giants and the gods, but fails to answer the Wanderer’s final question: who can reforge Notung? The Wanderer leaves Mime, in mortal anguish, with the following oracle: only he who has never learned to fear can reforge Notung. That person will also be the master of Mime’s life.

Scene 3
Siegfried returns from the forest, notices Mime’s anguish and now wants to know what fear is. Mime suggests that he could learn about it from the terrible dragon Fafner. In order to succeed in this encounter, Siegfried forges the sword Notung himself. Meanwhile, Mime is already plotting to kill Siegfried once he has slain Fafner. In a fantasy of absolute power, Mime already sees himself as master of the world.

Act 2:

Scene1
In front of Fafner’s “cave of greed”, two former rivals meet in the darkness: Alberich and Wotan, the Wanderer. Alberich knows the power of his curse, Wotan’s contractual entanglements and his strategy to recover the ring through Siegfried. But he sees himself as the future master of the world. For his part, Wotan warns Alberich about his brother Mime and the dragon slayer Siegfried, and awakens the sleeping Fafner. When Alberich tells Fafner about the arrival of the dangerous Siegfried and offers him a deal, Fafner refuses. He is content with what he has.

Scene 2
Mime has led Siegfried to the “cave of greed” and describes the dangers of fighting Fafner. Overcome with fear, Mime flees, hoping that his adopted son and Fafner will kill each other. Alone in the forest, in dialogue with nature, Siegfried reflects on his identity. He yearns for his mother. Seeking companionship, he tries to talk to the forest bird by imitating its song. When Siegfried plays his horn, Fafner awakens. In single combat, Siegfried defeats Fafner, who, with his dying breath, warns him about Mime. Accidentally tasting the dragon’s blood, Siegfried suddenly understands the forest bird’s language. The latter advises him to seize the treasure, the helmet of invisibility and the ring.

Scene3
No sooner have the brothers Alberich and Mime met in front of the “cave of greed” than they immediately argue over who should get the treasure, the helmet and the ring. When Siegfried returns with the helmet and the ring, unaware of their true significance, the forest bird warns him against Mime. Thanks to the dragon’s blood, Siegfried now perceives Mime’s true (murderous) intentions, even though Mime tries to conceal them behind a hypocritical show of concern. Siegfried kills Mime. Feeling alone, Siegfried asks the forest bird for advice. The bird tells him about the “most wonderful of women” and shows him the way to Brünnhilde, whom only Siegfried, who “knows no fear”, can rescue.

Act 3:

Scene 1
The Wanderer summons Erda, the “wise woman of ancient times” and Brünnhilde’s mother, awakening her from her “sleep of knowledge”. How can he, a god, overcome his anxiety? But just as his wife Fricka did in the past, Erda makes him understand that with his plan for Siegfried, he is breaking his own laws and accuses him of perjury. To her, he is no longer a god. The Wanderer then declares that he himself wills the end of the gods. It is now up to Siegfried and Brünnhilde to shape the future.

Scene 2
When Siegfried meets the Wanderer on the path that leads him to Brünnhilde, he shows no respect for the old man. When the Wanderer tries to block his path and forbids him in an authoritative tone from waking Brünnhilde, since this would deprive him “eternally of all power”, Siegfried shatters the Wanderer’s spear. Thus, Wotan, the Wanderer, is definitively stripped of his power. Siegfried sets off in search of love, undaunted by the sea of flames.

Scene 3
Upon reaching Brünnhilde, Siegfried is overwhelmed by his feelings. He suddenly discovers love, a physical desire that deeply disturbs him and inspires “fear” in him. When he awakens Brünnhilde and restores her to a new, human life, she recognises in him the man she has always loved. Torn between fear and desire, attraction and shame, both suddenly feel helpless and vulnerable, but together they overcome their timidity. Brünnhilde turns away from Valhalla for good and already foresees “the twilight of the gods”. Together, Siegfried and Brünnhilde set off towards new horizons: “radiant love, laughing death!”