Richard Wagner's Ring of the Niblung

The First Norn



[Fastening the rope again.]



The night wanes,

Dark grows my vision;

I cannot find

The threads of the rope;

The strands are twisted and loose.

A horrible sight

Wildly vexes mine eyes:

The Rhinegold

That black Alberich stole.

Knowest thou more thereof?





The Second Norn



[With laborious haste winds the rope round the jagged rock at the mouth of the cave.]



The rock's sharp edge

Is cutting the rope;

The threads loosen

Their hold and grow slack;

They droop tangled and frayed.

From woe and wrath

Rises the Nibelung's ring

A curse of revenge

Ruthlessly gnaws at the strands:--

Canst thou the end foretell?





The Third Norn



[Hastily catching the rope which is thrown to her.]



The rope is too short,

Too loose it hangs;

It must be stretched,

Pulled straighter, before

Its end can reach to the north!



[She pulls hard at the rope, which breaks.]



It breaks!





The Second Norn



It breaks!





The Third Norn



It breaks!



[They take the pieces of broken rope and bind their bodies together with them.]





The Three Norns



So ends wisdom eternal!

The wise ones

Will utter no more.

Descend to Erda! Descend!



[They vanish. The dawn grows brighter; the firelight from the valley gradually fades. Sunrise; then broad daylight.]