immediately, they tell us that when Siegfried leaves the Ring in Bruennhilde’s hands so she can keep safe its power, Bruennhilde, Siegfried’s unconscious mind, will effectively become his surrogate Rhine. By leaving his newly won Ring with Bruennhilde, Siegfried’s unconscious mind, he is able to temporarily end Alberich’s curse of consciousness, temporarily heal man’s unhealing wound, just as throwing it back into the Rhine where the Rhinedaughters can dissolve it will end Alberich’s curse permanently (more or less!). Figuratively speaking, by temporarily healing (or seeming to heal) the unhealing wound that Wotan suffers as a victim of Alberich’s curse on his Ring (the wound caused by man’s inherent nature, the existential fear and futile longing for transcendent value that according to Feuerbach are two of man’s distinguishing characteristics), Bruennhilde’s inspiration of Siegfried’s art will temporarily give religion a new lease on life, as feeling, in the context of inspired secular art, the new religion (new Valhalla).
[S.2.3: D]
Having seen Siegfried act upon its instructions to take possession of the Hoard (figuratively, at least), Tarnhelm, and Ring, the Woodbird now delivers the second of its three messages: having tasted the dead Fafner’s blood, Siegfried not only grasps the meaning of the Woodbird’s music, its true source of inspiration, but can also divine the treachery behind Mime’s hypocritical protestations of sympathy for Siegfried:
(Once again Siegfried involuntarily becomes aware of the bird.)
Voice of the Woodbird: (#129/#11 >>:) Hey! Siegfried now owns the helm and the ring! Oh let him not trust the treacherous Mime! Were Siegfried to listen keenly to the rogue’s hypocritical words, (#128b or #98?:) he’d be able to understand what Mime means in his heart (:#128b? or #98?); thus the taste of blood was of use to him.
(Siegfried’s expression and gestures show that he has understood the meaning of the Woodbird’s song. He sees Mime approaching and remains where he is on the knoll, resting motionlessly on his sword, observant and self-contained, until the end of the following scene. Mime creeps back and watches Siegfried from the front of the stage. #66)
Mime: (#11 >>:) He ponders and broods on (#66 >>:) the booty’s worth: - (#66:) has some wily Wanderer been loitering here, (#?: [possible hint of other music associated with Siegfried’s ruminations on his mother, i.e., what she may have looked like, and her having died to grant him birth, in S.2.2?]) roaming around and beguiling the child with his counsel of cunning runes?
