ACT II

When Sieglinde and Siegmund had fled and while they were wandering, waiting for the battle which was certain to occur between Siegmund and Hunding, Wotan was preparing to send out his war-maid, Bruennhilde, from the palace of the Gods--Walhall. The warrior-maid had been given him by Erda, and she went forth each day to the ends of the earth, to guard all warriors. When men died in battle, she and her eight sisters, who were called the Valkyries, bore those heroes to Wotan, and they dwelt in Walhall forever. It was on the day of the battle that Bruennhilde and Wotan came to a high rock, armed and prepared for war. Wotan carried a magic spear.

"Listen, Bruennhilde! Thou art to hasten. There is this day to be a great battle between Siegmund, who is of the Waelsung race, and Hunding. As for Hunding, I want him not in Walhall. Yet it is Siegmund whom thou art to shield in the strife. Take thy horse and hurry forth." Bruennhilde, springing upon her beautiful horse, Grane, flew shouting over the rocks, loudly calling her battle-cry:

"Ho-jo-to-ho! Ho-jo-to-ho! Heia-ha, heia-ha, heia-ha!" This loud clear cry, rang from peak to peak, from crag to crag, while the maid on her enchanted horse flew away to summon her sisters. On a far peak she paused, and called back to Wotan:

"Have a care war-father! Thy Goddess, Fricka, comes drawn in her car by rams. She will give thee a great battle I fear; she swings her golden lash, and makes the poor beasts dance. I tell thee, war-father, thy Goddess has some quarrel with thee!" and laughing, Bruennhilde flew on her way. Fricka's rams, scrambling over the rocks, dragging her car behind them, landed her close to Wotan.

"So, Wotan, I must look the world over for thee!" she cried angrily. "I have no time to chide thee, however. The hunter Hunding has called to me for help. He is sorely pressed. Siegmund is his foe, and has taken the magic sword from the ash tree. With that sword he is invincible. He has carried off Hunding's wife, and I, the Goddess of Home and Domesticity, must avenge him. I have come to warn thee not to interfere for Siegmund. I shall help Hunding."

"I know of thy Hunding," Wotan answered, frowning. "And I know no harm of Siegmund. It was the beautiful Spring which united the pair. Am I to overwhelm these two with ruin because thy cruel Hunding has come to thee for help? Spring's enchantment was upon Sieglinde and Siegmund."

"What, ye speak thus to me, Wotan? When those two had been united in holy wedlock----?"

"I do not call so hateful a union, 'holy'," Wotan answered, sternly.

"Thy words are shameful. I have come to tell thee thou shalt take back the magic power thou hast given to Siegmund with the sword. I know well he is thy son, and that thou wandered upon the earth as a wolf, leaving behind thee this sword, invincible, for thy beloved wolf-boy, but I declare to you, I shall give you henceforth no peace till the sword is taken from him. Hunding shall have his revenge! The conduct of these mortals is shameful. But when Gods, such as thou, misbehave, what can be expected of mere mortals?" Fricka sighed. "However thou may seek to free thyself or defend thyself, I am thy eternal bride; thou canst not get away from me, and if thou wouldst have peace, thou wilt heed me. See to it that the wolf-man loses his life in this encounter." Fricka, for all the world like a shrewish, scolding mortal wife, quite overwhelmed the unhappy War-god.

"But what can I do, since I should have to fight against my own enchantments?" Wotan urged, hoping to save his beloved wolf-son.

"Thou shalt disenchant the sword. The magic thou gavest thou canst destroy." The quarrel was at its height, when Bruennhilde's cry could be heard afar.

[Music:

Ho-jo-to-ho! ho-jo-to-ho! heia-ha! heia-ha! ho-jo-to-ho! ho-jo-to-ho! heia-ha! heia-ha! ho-jo-to-ho! ho-jo-to-ho! ho-jo-to-ho! ho-jo-to-ho! heia-ha-ha! ho-jo-ho!]

"Ho-jo-to-ho-ho-to-jo-ho! Heia-ha, heia-ha, heia-ha!" Bruennhilde came leaping down the mountain again, upon her horse, Grane. Seeing a quarrel was in progress between the Goddess and Wotan she became quiet, dismounted, and led her horse to a cave and hid him there.

"There, Wotan, is thy war-maid now. Pledge me thine oath that the magic sword which Siegmund bears, shall lose its virtue! Give thy war-maid instruction." Fricka urged this in a manner calculated to show Wotan there would be no more peace in Walhall if he flouted his wife. He sat down in dejection.

"Take my oath," he said miserably; and thus Sieglinde's and Siegmund's doom was sealed. Fricka triumphantly mounted into the car drawn by rams, and in passing, spoke to Bruennhilde.

"Go to thy war-father and get his commands." Bruennhilde, wondering, went to Wotan.

_Scene II_

"Father, Fricka has won in some encounter with thee, else she would not go out so gaily and thou sit there so dejected. Tell me, thy war-child, what troubles thee!"

At first Wotan shook his head, but presently his despair urged him to speak and he told Bruennhilde the story of the Rheingold and the ring of the Nibelungs.

"I coveted what was not mine," he said. "I got the gold from Alberich and in turn Fafner and Fasolt got it from me. Fafner killed his brother for love of the gold, and then turning himself into a dragon, set himself to watch over the gold forever. It was decreed by the Fates--Erda's daughters--that when Alberich should find a woman to love him, the overthrow of the Gods was at hand. Alberich had bought love with the treasure. Our only hope lay in the victory of some hero in whose life I had no part. I left for such a one a magic sword, so placed that only the strongest could draw it. He had to help himself before I gave him help. Siegmund has drawn the magic sword. If he had won in the battle with Hunding, the Eternals would have been saved; but Fricka demands that Hunding shall win the fight and a God must sacrifice all Walhall if his wife demands it. He had better be dead than browbeaten forever." Wotan almost wept in his anguish. "So must the Eternals face extermination. A wife can crush even a God!"

"What shall I do for thee, Father Wotan?" Bruennhilde cried distractedly.

"Obey Fricka this day in all things. Desert Siegmund and fight on Hunding's side." Wotan sighed heavily.

"Nay, I shall defy thy commands for once," she declared, but at this Wotan rose in wrath.

"Obey me!--or thy punishment shall be terrible. To disobey would be treason to the Gods." He strode away.

Bruennhilde put on her armour once more.

"Why is my armour so heavy, and why does it hurt me so?" she asked of herself. "Alas! It is because I donned it in an evil cause." Slowly she went toward the cave where her enchanted horse, Grane, was hidden.

_Scene III_

Now that the Gods had forsaken them, the two lovers, Sieglinde and Siegmund, were in great danger, and Sieglinde, without knowing why, was filled anew with fright. She hurried painfully along, assisted by Siegmund who was all the time lovingly urging her to stop and rest.

"Nay," she answered always; "I cannot rest because I hear Hunding's hounds who would tear thee in pieces, if they caught thee." At that very moment they heard the blast of Hunding's horn in the distance.

"There he comes with all his kinsmen at his back, and they will surely overwhelm thee," she cried in distress; and fell fainting with fear.

As Siegmund placed her tenderly upon the ground, Bruennhilde came toward them from the cavern, leading her horse.

_Scene IV_

She regarded Siegmund sorrowfully and said in a troubled voice:

"I have come to call thee hence, Siegmund." The youth stared at her curiously.

"Who art thou?" he asked.

"I am Bruennhilde, the Valkyrie; and whoever I look upon must die."

"Not I," Siegmund answered, incredulously. "I fight with the enchanted sword of Wotan. My life is charmed. I cannot die."

"Alas!" she answered, then paused. Presently she spoke again. "Whoever looks upon me must die, Siegmund," she said earnestly.

"When I have died, where do I go?" he asked. He was not sad at the thought of giving up a life so full of strife.

"Thou goest to Walhall to dwell with the Eternals."

"Do I find there Wotan, and the Waelsungs--my kinsmen who have gone before me?"

"Aye," she answered--"And Wish-maidens to fill thy drinking cup and to cheer thee. It is the home where heroes dwell, forever and forever."

Siegmund's face glowed with hope.

"And Sieglinde?" he cried.

"Ah, not she. She must stay yet a while behind thee."

Then a terrible change came upon Siegmund and he frowned at the Valkyrie.

"Begone! Thinkest thou I go to thy Walhall without Sieglinde? Begone! What do you of the Gods know of love such as ours. Walhall is not for me. I carry the enchanted sword given by Wotan. This day I kill Hunding, and live my life in peace with Sieglinde."

Bruennhilde could no longer let him deceive himself.

"The enchantment of thy sword is gone!" Siegmund started. "Wotan deserts thee. To-day thou must go hence with me. Hunding will kill thee." For a moment Siegmund regarded the Valkyrie, then drawing his sword, he turned to where Sieglinde was lying, still unconscious.

"What wouldst thou do?" Bruennhilde cried.

"Kill Sieglinde, to save her from Hunding's wrath."

"Leave her to me," Bruennhilde entreated, moved with pity. "I swear to thee I will preserve her. Leave her with me."

"With thee--when Wotan himself has tricked me? Nay. The Gods are no longer trustworthy," he said, bitterly, turning again to Sieglinde. Bruennhilde, overcome with pity and admiration for such devotion between mortals--a love more steadfast than the promises of the Gods themselves--sprang forward to stay him.

"Do not! I will preserve thee--thee and thy Sieglinde. I am here to guard Hunding, but it shall not be so. I will shield thee in the fight. I will brave the wrath of Wotan for such love as thine and Sieglinde's. If the magic of thy sword is destroyed, the power of my shield is not. I will guard thee through the fight. Up! Renew thy courage. The day is thine, and the fight is at hand." Mounting her horse, Grane, the Valkyrie flew over the mountain tops and disappeared. Siegmund's despair was turned to joy and again hearing Hunding's horn, he turned to go, leaving Sieglinde to sleep till the fight was over. The storm-clouds gathered, and all the scene became hidden.

_Scene V_

Lightning flashed and thunder rolled ominously. Siegmund bent to kiss Sieglinde and disappeared in the blackness of the storm. All the heavens and earth spoke of war and death. The air grew thick with vapours, and lightning cleft the hills. Siegmund called through the darkness to Hunding to face him for the fight, and at the sound of his voice and the horns and the shouting of battle, Sieglinde awoke. She could see naught, but could hear the sounds of war. Her fear for Siegmund returned. She shrieked and ran toward the storm-shrouded mountain. The skies were rent, and high upon the rocky peak, Hunding and Siegmund stood forth in battle.

"The Goddess Fricka is with me!" Hunding shouted.

"Away with thy Goddess! It is the Gods who support me" Siegmund answered, bravely swinging his sword. Instantly Bruennhilde floated above the warriors. She interposed her burnished shield between Siegmund and the sword of Hunding, and cried:

"Thrust, Siegmund! Thy sword shall preserve thee!" Instantly the whole earth was filled with a dazzling fire, in which Wotan appeared, foaming with rage. He thrust his spear to catch the blow of the wolfling's sword, which broke in half upon it; while Hunding's point pierced Siegmund's breast. Bruennhilde fell at Wotan's feet, while with a shriek Sieglinde in the glade below fell as if dead. While Wotan faced Hunding, Bruennhilde rushed down the mountain to save Sieglinde. Taking her in her arms she sprang upon Grane and flew for the rock of the Valkyries.

"Now go, thou miserable being," Wotan thundered at Hunding, and waving his spear at him, the man fell dead.

"Now Bruennhilde, for thee! and for thy punishment!" he cried in an awful voice, and amidst the crashing of Donner's hammer against the sides of the universe and flames from heaven, Wotan disappeared.