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Table of Contents

Title Page
Dedication Page
General Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations for key references
Guide to abbreviations used in text
Allen Dunning's numbered Guide to the Ring's Musical Motifs
Detailed Table of Contents

The Ring

Introduction


References
Appendix I
Appendix I I

Key Colour Coding

Donations Welcome

I would be grateful for donations of any size, small or large, to help defray the cost (1) of maintaining this website, (2) and to finance my past and present research which produced my book posted here, Volume One of "The Wound That Will Never Heal," and my forthcoming revision of Volume One (to be submitted for publication), and completion of Volume Two on Wagner's six other canonic operas and music-dramas. I sacrificed at least seven years of paid employment and incurred debts to complete this project, and am currently unemployed, so I thank you in advance for any financial help you can provide. Your friend, Paul Heise.

[[#111]] Siegfried’s declaration of independence from Mime

Commonly known as “Siegfried’s Mission” – the fact that #111, which expresses Siegfried’s alleged freedom from Mime and his claims, is derived from Mime’s Starling Song #105, to which Mime sang of all that Siegfried owes Mime, suggests that Siegfried is not as freed from his debt to Mime as Siegfried feels

(#111 is based on Mime’s Starling Song #105; basis of #120?, and #127)

[[#112]] The first “Wanderer Motif”: Wotan accumulates a hoard of knowledge while wandering into and over the earth (Erda)

The god Wotan, Wagner’s metaphor for Feuerbach’s collective, historical, and religious man, gradually accumulates that very hoard of objective knowledge of the world (Erda), through historical experience, which will inevitably undermine man’s belief in the gods in the course of time

(#112’s motival links, if any, not yet ascertained; however, Dunning suggests a possible link with #35; Cooke also suggested a link with Loge motifs such as #33ab. Loge restlessly wanders the heights and depths of the world, as does Wotan.)

[[#113]] The Second “Wanderer Motif” (ascending):

Wotan wanders over the earth (Erda) seeking two kinds of knowledge: (1) objective knowledge, which instills existential fear; and (2) subjective knowledge, aesthetic intuition, through which Wotan can redeem himself from fear, i.e., from the heart’s “Noth” – the legend of the Wandering Jew who seeks, but can never find, redemption

(#113’s motival links, if any, not yet ascertained; however, Dunning suggests a possible basis for #113 in #20b, the second segment of the Valhalla Motif #20)

[[#114ab]] Wotan stakes his head (Mime) in a contest of knowledge with Wotan’s heart (Siegfried)

Mime fails the contest of knowledge, and must lose his (Wotan’s) head to Wotan’s heart, Siegfried, because