The
Rhinemaidens are the three water-nymphs who appear in
Richard Wagner's opera cycle
Der Ring Des Nibelungen. Their individual names are Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Flosshilde, although they are generally considered as a single entity and act together accordingly. Of the 34 characters in the
Ring cycle, they are the only ones who do not originate in the Scandinavian
Eddas. Other legends and myths on which Wagner drew, notably the
Nibelungenlied, include stories that involve water-sprites
(nixies) or mermaids, and it is likely that he created his Rhinemaidens from these sources. The key concepts associated with them in the
Ring operas—their flawed guardianship of the Rhine gold, and the condition (renunciation of love) through which the gold could be stolen from them and transformed into a means of world power—are wholly Wagner's own invention, and are the elements that initiate and propel the entire drama. The Rhinemaidens are the first and the last characters to be seen in the operas, appearing both in the opening scene of
Das Rheingold, and in the final climactic spectacle of
Götterdämmerung when they rise from the Rhine waters to reclaim the ring from
Brünnhilde's ashes. They have no relationship to any of the other characters, and no indication is given as to how they came into being, beyond occasional references to an unspecified "father". (
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06-04-2009, 08:53 PM
The Rhinemaidens 
