Götterdämmerung

In Germanic mythology, a great battle in which the ancient warrior gods (the Aesir) were destroyed by the forces of evil, allowing a new order to come into existence (see also Ragnarök) . It was the basis of Wagner's opera Götterdämmerung (1874).

Götterdämmerung

Opera by Richard Wagner (libretto by composer), first produced at Bayreuth, Germany, on 17 August 1876. Following the conclusion of Siegfried, this fourth and final opera of the Ring des Nibelungen cycle opens with the awakening of Brünnhilde. Siegfried, having inadvertently drunk a magic potion, betrays her to Gunther; Gutrune hopes to acquire Siegfried. Meanwhile Hagen, Alberich's son, has conspired to try to gain power and the Ring. Hagen murders Siegfried, but Brünnhilde takes the Ring, returning it to the Rhine-maidens as Valhalla burns.