Wagner's Götterdämmerung

Wagner, taking inspiration from Nordic mythology, wrote the Ring Cycle to tell the epic tale of the magical golden ring of the Nibelung.  Granting its owner the power to rule the world, the ring is coveted by many, including Wotan, the ruler of the Gods.  The saga of the ring is chronicled in four operas--Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung. This final opera opens as morning dawns on the lovers Siegfried and Brünnhilde , continues to his betrayal of her in pursuit of the ring, and finally ends with Brünnhilde’s Immolation, when she casts herself on the fire of Siegfried’s funeral pyre to rid the ring of its curse and return it to the Rhine Maidens, its rightful owners.