Theology of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Vol. 1: The Genesis and Development of the Tetralogy and the Appropriation of Sources, Artists, Philosophers, and Theologians. Vol. 2: Theological and Ethical Issues. By Richard H. Bell
A mere fleeting knowledge of Richard Wagner’s music drama The Ring of the Nibelung and of (Christian) theology may suggest that the two make strange bedfellows. The opera’s background based on Icelandic sagas—albeit used only sparingly—has the Norse gods Donner, Froh, Freia, and the philandering fat...
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| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2020
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
Year: 2020, Volume: 71, Issue: 2, Pages: 963-965 |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | A mere fleeting knowledge of Richard Wagner’s music drama The Ring of the Nibelung and of (Christian) theology may suggest that the two make strange bedfellows. The opera’s background based on Icelandic sagas—albeit used only sparingly—has the Norse gods Donner, Froh, Freia, and the philandering father-figure, Wotan, dominate Rhinegold, which forms its Vorabend. This is followed by a storyline that has Wotan’s twin children Siegmund and Sieglinde in The Valkyries incestuously produce a son, Siegfried, who in the eponymous third opera falls in love with his aunt, Brunnhilde—yet another of Wotan’s offspring. None of this suggests any concern with topics considered to be the normal subject matter of religion. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/flaa046 |