The Rudolf Steiner Archive

5. Siegfried and “Götterdämmerung”

[ 1 ] The legends of the Siegfried cycle] were rediscovered in the eighteenth century. They contain important spiritual truths. Wagner sensed this; he wanted to give art something of what lies deep within human nature, something that leads to the superhuman. Science, art, and a gap in the transcript] must embody a spirit.

[ 2 ] Siegfried was raised in secret by a superhuman figure. Ludwig Laistner] examined the legend from a theosophical perspective and interpreted it. Professor Volkelt] wrote Traumphantasie in Leipzig. The belief that these legends arose from the collective consciousness of the people is based on a mistaken conception of that collective consciousness; anyone who understands it would never make such a claim.

[ 3 ] A legend that is widely known among the people is that of the Noon Woman. The Noon Woman comes to the workers in the fields who have not gone home during their lunch break and asks them all sorts of questions during that time. If anyone is unable to answer these questions, she beheads them or harms them in some other way. If they are able to answer the questions until the other workers return, the Noon Woman must depart. Likewise, anyone who can recite the Lord’s Prayer backward is safe from her power.

[ 4 ] Schubert’s “Nachtzeit des Lebens” explores folk legends.

[ 5 ] Our current ability to dream is a rudimentary remnant of our ancestors’ dream-like clairvoyance; the symbols are experiences from a higher world. Our ancestors could see in astral light. Their consciousness was twilight-like. Dreams and legends are echoes of an astral consciousness; they are experiences in higher worlds. In the past, people interacted with the gods in a spiritual state of consciousness. Humanity originates from the spiritual realm, from the gods. The lower nature was impregnated by the higher. The world of the giants represents the lower nature of humankind—namely, the physical nature with its passions. The world of the dwarves represents the higher nature—namely, that which was grafted onto it; the spiritual human being with the senses. Humankind emerges from these two natures. The dwarves have sunk into the depths; they belong to the past. The gods are summoned by the giants to retrieve the gold from the dwarves. The gods must go to the dwarves and use the gold they guard to stuff the skin of the slain giant. The lower nature of humankind (giants) is based on blood kinship; they form small communities and live in a family-like manner. Their consciousness was dull—there was no egoism, no individual ownership.

[ 6 ] The dwarves represent the senses, rational consciousness, and the power of judgment; they have renounced sensual love, and gold is the power that grants the power of judgment. When rational consciousness arose, names, laws, and titles followed.

[ 7 ] Wodan is bound by contracts. Sigmund (Siegfried’s father) marries Sieglinde, his sister. The dwarves possess the gold; they represent spiritual consciousness. Humans acquire possessions, are selfish, and possess the gold. The soul that immerses itself in the higher spiritual worlds is feminine. The external world, which descends, is the masculine. The initiate already lives here in the world where humans live after death. After death, the Valkyrie comes to meet the hero; she is his own soul, which sets him free; Siegfried unites with Brunhilde (the most beloved Valkyrie).

[ 8 ] The Valkyrie represents the higher soul with which a person unites after death or during initiation. Siegfried slays the dragon, the Lindworm, which symbolizes the lower nature. Siegfried must pass through blazing fires to find Brunhilde. A person must go through many trials before becoming an initiate. One becomes an initiate by uniting in life with the Valkyrie, with Brunhilde. The initiate attains higher consciousness. The initiate wears the cloak of invisibility; he is invisible to the world around him, which does not recognize him. “The light shone in the darkness, but the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5)

[ 9 ] Siegfried (Sigurd) marries Krimhilde; she offers him—and he accepts—the potion of forgetfulness, and he can no longer remain connected to the higher consciousness; and when this higher consciousness is forgotten, it destroys human nature.

[ 10 ] The gods have abandoned the people—the twilight of the gods. In place of blood ties comes Christian love, a transition to a higher perspective: loving people as human beings. The emergence of egoism. Everything first had to be plunged into darkness.

[ 11 ] Love, in its spiritual sense, is the driving force of life; love is like the world of fire, and only that which can understand and experience true spiritual love can be saved.

[ 12 ] Hagen is to kill Siegfried; he is sent by Brunhilde (when higher consciousness falls into oblivion, it destroys). Siegfried is vulnerable between his shoulders, where the cross is fastened. This is the prophetic reference to Christianity—the spot that later becomes invulnerable because Jesus bears the cross there. Love must take precedence over opinion. The ancient truth always flows through humanity in new forms.