Der Ring Des Nibelongen - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Aylwen Dreamsong · 05-03-2003, 03:38 PM

In General Music class, we are going through the Romantic Era of music. Yesterday my teacher talked to us about Richard Wagner, a German composer who had to flee his country after taking part in an unsuccessful revolution. One of his operas was the Der Ring Des Nibelongen, or, The Ring of the Nibelongs.

She said it was about a city 'surrounded by mist and darkness', and occupied by elves or dwarves. They had a huge amount of treasure, which was protected by a dragon. A knight slays the dragon and gets the gold etc. I'm not certain on all the details and there are several variations, but my teacher says that this has a lot to do with Tolkien.

She asked the class, "Does any of this sound familiar to you?" A few heads bob up and down, and a few people begin mumbling something. "That's right! It sounds like The Hobbit!" My tacher exclaims.

When I thought about it...it did kinda sound like The Hobbit. Smaug and Erebor and Bilbo. Then she asked us to remember the title; Der Ring Des Nibelongen.

She claims that J.R.R. Tolkien "Must have had access to this. The similarities are too many to be a simple coincidence!" I'm not sure what to make of it though. Tolkien claims to not be influenced by Christianity, as has often been argued in the Books section. But do you think this old Norse/Scandinavian folk tale is the basis of The Lord of the Rings?

Then, She goes on to compare 'The Ride of the Valkyries' to one track on the TTT soundtrack, 'The Riders of Rohan'. What do you all think?

Aylwen

[ May 03, 2003: Message edited by: Aylwen Dreamsong ]

05-03-2003, 03:38 PM	#1
Aylwen Dreamsong The Melody of Misery Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: The Island of Conclusions (You get there by jumping!)... Posts: 1,147	Der Ring Des Nibelongen In General Music class, we are going through the Romantic Era of music. Yesterday my teacher talked to us about Richard Wagner, a German composer who had to flee his country after taking part in an unsuccessful revolution. One of his operas was the Der Ring Des Nibelongen, or, The Ring of the Nibelongs. She said it was about a city 'surrounded by mist and darkness', and occupied by elves or dwarves. They had a huge amount of treasure, which was protected by a dragon. A knight slays the dragon and gets the gold etc. I'm not certain on all the details and there are several variations, but my teacher says that this has a lot to do with Tolkien. She asked the class, "Does any of this sound familiar to you?" A few heads bob up and down, and a few people begin mumbling something. "That's right! It sounds like The Hobbit!" My tacher exclaims. When I thought about it...it did kinda sound like The Hobbit. Smaug and Erebor and Bilbo. Then she asked us to remember the title; Der Ring Des Nibelongen. She claims that J.R.R. Tolkien "Must have had access to this. The similarities are too many to be a simple coincidence!" I'm not sure what to make of it though. Tolkien claims to not be influenced by Christianity, as has often been argued in the Books section. But do you think this old Norse/Scandinavian folk tale is the basis of The Lord of the Rings? Then, She goes on to compare 'The Ride of the Valkyries' to one track on the TTT soundtrack, 'The Riders of Rohan'. What do you all think? Aylwen [ May 03, 2003: Message edited by: Aylwen Dreamsong ] __________________ ...Come down now, they'll say. But everything looks perfect from far away - Come down now! But we'll stay.