Das Rheingold

Ink & Watercolor


Das Rheingold ("The Rhine Gold") is the first of the four operas that comprise Der ring Des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Wagner. The Rhinemaidens are the three water nymphs (Rheintöchter or Rhine daughters) who appear in Wagner's opera. Their individual names are Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde (Floßhilde), although they are generally considered as a single entity and act together accordingly. 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.