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

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 09:22:27 -0800, Canyon Rick wrote:

>> > 1. What do the two Ravens represent?
>> 
> As more of an aside rather than the definitive interpretation, in Native
> American culture, ravens are considered the conveyors of souls to "the
> other side".  And actually I've had a couple of experiences with ravens
> which, if nothing else, make me understand why Indians might believe
> that.  I doubt that Wagner, however, had any great understanding of Dine
> or Hopi beliefs.

I suspect that the conveyors of souls in Northern Mythology were the
Norns, although the evidence for this is rather thin.  Our idea of Norns,
which derives from Wagner, is probably rather different from the concept
of "Norn" which would have been familiar to a ninth century Viking.

We should keep in mind that Wagner selected elements that suited his
purposes from contemporary interpretations of the Eddas and discarded
others that did not suit his purposes.  In the case of the Norns, Wagner
was more influenced by the Greek fates (Gk. Moirai) than by any Nordic
tradition; in particular it should be noted that there is no reference
there to the Norns weaving a rope of fate.  Like other important aspects
of Wagner's "mythology", this one was taken from Greek, not Nordic,
sources.


>> 
>> > 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.
>> 
>> He's a lawyer.  Chief counsel to Wotan.
> 
> The consilgnari--like Tom Hagen in The Godfather :-)

Should be sung with a Sicilian accent :-)

>> 
>> 
>> > 3. Why do the Rhinemaidens and the Woodbird have a common motive? (It
>> > shows up when the Rhinemaidens sing, "Weia! Waga! Woge du Welle!")
>> 
>> They are creatures of nature.
>> 
>> 
>> > 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...")
>> 
>> Loge too is natural.  Like Erda, he is elemental.
> 
> By combining 3 + 4 then, the Rhinemaidens, Loge, Forest bird and Ravens
> all have a common motive.  

Or at least, they have music that is build from common musical elements,
such as chromatic scales and trills.  The music of the Rhinemaidens and
the Woodbird is strikingly similar, to my ears.  Perhaps because the music
of the Rhinemaidens developed from an image of the wind making waves on
the surface of the water, while that of the Woodbird developed from an
image of the wind rustling the leaves of the forest.


> As I recall from the Deryk Cooke recorded "An
> Introduction to Wagner's Ring", there was a comment that in Rhinegold,
> Erda sings an ascending scale--a variation of the Nature motif--when
> warning Wotan of the impending doom of the Gods: ". . . but as she comes
> to the point the orchestra changes her rising motive into a falling one.
>  The motive for life and growth becomes the motive for deatn and decay."

The rising form of the motive is heard when Erda appears and therefore,
according to Wagner's own explanation of the Leitmotiven, becomes
associated with Erda (as an image or "Gestalt").  The descending form, or
inversion, accompanies her prophecy that "a dark day dawns for the gods",
which is usually known as the Distress of the Gods or "Götterdämmerung"
motive.

> 
> Cooke also includes, for example, the Sword motive as belonging to "the
> family of motives evolved from the Nature Motive."

Here "the Nature Motive" is rising scale that turns into an arpeggio that
appears in the prelude to "Das Rheingold".  The Sword motive can be seen
as related to this in the same way as can any motive that contains either
a portion of diatonic scale, as in for example the Distress of the Gods
motive, or an arpeggio, as in the Sword motive :-)

-- 
Derrick Everett   (deverett at c2i.net)
==== Writing from  59°54'N 10°36'E ====
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