Ebook: Wagner and the Volsungs: Icelandic Sources of "Der Ring des Nibelungen"

This volume contains a translation, made partly by Anna Yates and partly by Anthony Faulkes, of a revised version of my Icelandic book "Wagner og Völsungar: Niflungahringurinn og íslenskar fornbókmenntir", published in Reykjavík in 2000 by "Mál og menning", who have kindly made available the digital reproductions for the illustrations. The quotations in the original German from Wagner's librettos and those from medieval sources, and many of the English translations of them, have been added by Anthony Faulkes, who has also edited the entire book and is responsible for the layout.

In "Wagner and the Volsungs" the sources Wagner used for his great work, "Der Ring des Nibelungen", are detailed scene by scene through all four operas of the cycle. Many people will be surprised to learn that no more than 5% of his material is derived solely from medieval German books such as "Das Nibelungenlied", while at least 80% is from Old Icelandic writings. The concept of 'Götterdämmerung', for example, in which the world is consumed by fire, as well as the flickering flame surrounding Brünnhilde's rock, were known to Wagner from Icelandic sources alone.

The book also contains a brief account of Wagner's life, and tells how he came to know Icelandic literature through the spread of knowledge of Old Icelandic texts in the German-speaking world. It examines the reasons why Germanic mythology was almost exclusively preserved in Iceland in the Middle Ages, but became so popular in Germany in the nineteenth century.

In the scene by scene analysis of the "Ring" and its sources, all the texts are quoted in their original languages with full English translations.