Alberich
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Alberich, name of a dwarf who plays a part in Germanic legend. Alberich appears in the Nibelungenlied in aventiure III, where he seeks to avenge Nibelung and Schilbung, is vanquished by Siegfried, and is forced to surrender the Tarnkappe, and in aventiure VIII, where he provides Siegfried with forces for the wooing of Brünhild in Iceland. Alberich also appears in the Dietrich legend (see Dietrichsage) and in Ortnit, where he is the hero's father. In Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, Alberich, who is Hagen's father, steals the gold from the Rhine daughters, only to lose it to Wotan.
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Alberich
For other uses, see Alberich (disambiguation).
In the Middle High German Nibelungenlied, Alberich is a dwarf, who guards the treasure of the Nibelungen, but is overcome by Siegfried. News of the gold robbery and ring of power incited gods and giants alike to action. The giants Fafner and Fasolt demanded the ring in payment for building Valhalla, and carried off Freyja as a hostage. In the border, the gods, Odin, Frigg, Loki, Freyr, and Thor all search despairingly for the hidden treasure. * Oberon is the French translation of Alberich (used for the name of the "King of Fairies" in French and English texts).
- Elegast/Elbegast/Alegast—elf guest, elf spirit (Dutch, German, and Scandinavian texts, respectively)
Wagner
In Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, Alberich is chief of the Nibelungen race of dwarfs and the main antagonist driving events. Wagner's Alberich is a composite character, mostly based on Alberich from the Nibelungenlied, but also on Andvari from Norse mythology. He has been widely described, most notably by Theodor Adorno, as a negative Jewish stereotype, with his race expressed through "distorted" music and "muttering" speech[1][2][3]; other critics, however, disagree with this assessment.[4]
References
- ^ Schausten, Monika (2003). ""Only Germany raises real men for the world": Richard Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen, Nation, and the Third Reich". In Kosta, Barbara. Writing against boundaries: nationality, ethnicity and gender in the German-speaking context. Rodopi. pp. 9–27.
- ^ Rose, Paul (1996). Wagner: Race and Revolution. Yale University Press. pp. 69–70.
- ^ Weiner, Mark (1997). Richard Wagner and the Anti-Semitic Imagination. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 135–143.
- ^ See e.g. Cooke, Deryck. I Saw the World End: A study of Wagner's Ring. Oxford University Press. p. 264.
- Bulfinch, Thomas. 1834. Bulfinch's Mythology. Reprinted by New York: Harper & Row, 1970, p. 354–356, 903. ISBN 0-690-57260-3.
- Guerber, Helene A.. 1895. Myths of Northern Lands - Index. p. 218, p. 295 index. File retrieved 7/15/2007.
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Oxford Companion to German Literature
The Oxford Companion to German Literature. Copyright © 1976, 1986, 1997, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
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