Re: Burning questions about the Ring's symbolism and leitmotifs

Hi Ben,

Good questions. My answers are going to be the surface obvious ones,
though.
   
>1. What do the two Ravens represent? 

They are Wotan's eyes on the world. They also traditionally called
Huginn and Munnin, or "Mind" and "Memory", though these names don't
occur in the _Ring_.  I suppose that Huginn (cognate with "Hirn", I
expect) or Mind observes what is going on, but that it is Muninn or
Memory that actually reports to Wotan.

I wonder if Waltraute's description of Wotan, in GD Act I, sitting all
listless and vacant, reflects the idea that while Wotan's ravens are
away, Wotan's thought and memory are away, or considerably diminished.
 (I'm afraid I don't know whether I read that somewhere, or whether I
just made it up. But it seems possible.)

They do minor errands for Wotan, for example seeing off the Woodbird
in _Siegfried_ Act III, but mainly they are his observers of the
world, once he has stopped acting as the Wanderer.


Ravens also have a more general significance as birds of ill omen,
especially as harbingers of death (for example legend has it that
Cicero was warned of his death by a raven). This reputation is because
they are carrion eaters, and "raven" on the corpses after battles. And
their appearance just before Siegfried gets killed is consistent with
that.


There's another legend, a Danish one, in which a particular raven is
consecrated to Odin, though not necessarily Odin's raven. This raven
was on the ancient Danish standard (banner used in battle), and was
woven onto the standard by a daughter of Ragnar Lodbrok. And Ragnar
Lodbrok is a son of Sigurd, of all people.  (Obviously Wagner's
incarnation of the Sigurd figure, Siegfried, did not get to have
children, let alone grandchildren.)  This raven would drop its wings
if things were not going to go well, but spread his wings proudly if
he was leading them to victory.

The only reason I'm mentioning this raven is to clarify that you may
come across it if you start researching about Wotan/Odin and ravens;
but this raven has no connection at all with the ravens in Wagner, in
myth or in symbolism.

>2. What does Loge represent? Aside from the God of Fire, is he the
God
>of Lies, the God of Truth, the God of Thought, a combination of the
>above, or none of the above? What is the connection between any of
>these, if any? I find explanations by Cooke and Donington to be
>implausible.

Well, Donington, sure.  But I don't know why you'd find Cooke
implausible. (That said, I haven't got a copy of Cooke handy; it's
just that I'd be inclined to respect whatever it said.)

But yes, Loge has a combination of meanings. He is at the most surface
level simply an elemental, a god of fire. But he's also a god of lies.
Froh makes a good pun on his name: "Loge heisst du,/Doch nenn ich dich
Lüge!"  I think for Wagner the name is constructed from the two words
Lohe/Fire, and Lüge/Lie, though the form Loge existed before Wagner's
use of it.

Wagner's Loge is not quite the same figure as the character Loki,
though they are aspects of the same figure. But Wagner's Loge seems
less malign than Loki. His advice is one of the threads that leads to
the downfall of the gods, but it was Wotan who wanted Walhall,
demanded that advice, and acted on it. But other advice he gives is
good, for example giving the Ring back to the Rhinemaidens. I suppose
one of the things Loge represents is intellect without conscience. 
While he is an intellectual, he's not the only one in the _Ring_ by
any means.


>3. Why do the Rhinemaidens and the Woodbird have a common motive? (It
>shows up when the Rhinemaidens sing, "Weia! Waga! Woge du Welle!")
 
The motives of the Rhinemaidens and the Woodbird are related, though
not the same, I'd think. Both are figures of the natural world. They
represent both beauty and a kind of amoral innocence.  The music
reflects their similarity, but not sameness. Their motives are in the
same group, but they are not the same.

Side-issue on innocence: The Rhinemaidens seduce and drown people, but
they're not evil, exactly. They're just one of the more attractive but
surprisingly dangerous forces in nature. By the way, it occurs to me
that if the girls hadn't rejected Alberich, they probably would have
drowned him during his pleasures, or afterwards; so he was luckier
than he knew.

>4. Why do Loge, the Woodbird, and the Ravens have a common motive?
>(It's a rising chromatic figure and a series of trills that appear in
>The Rhinegold when Wotan says, "Endlich Loge! Eilest du so...")

I don't think they do. None of the various themes associated with the
Woodbird remind me too closely of the music associated with Loge,
including in his first entrance.

And if I were going to identify anything as a Raven motive, it would
be the rather solemn rising figure that occurs when Waltraute sings,
"Seine Raben beide/Sandt' er aus Reise". Which seems more in the group
of "mystery" motives, like the Tarnhelm, for example.

But I may be wrong on this; someone could perhaps steer me right.   

Cheers!


Laon

PS: And a special hello to Mark, who's either trolling or engaged in a
parody of a certain kind of silliness: stroll on, brother troll,
stroll on.