Art & Prose (5/7). Wotan’s Farewell to Brünnhilde
"The Ring of the Nibelung" in the paintings of Marina Podgaevskaya
Marina Podgaevskaya. Wotan’s Farewell to Brünnhilde (Die Walküre)
Wotan longs to take the cursed Ring of the Nibelung back from the giant Fafner but cannot—he is bound by contract. His hope in his son, Siegmund, has proven vain, and Wotan now awaits the twilight of the gods with quiet humility.
His beloved daughter, the Valkyrie Brünnhilde, defied her father’s will: she tried to save Siegmund from death and fulfill Wotan’s secret, unspoken wishes. For this, she must be harshly punished. Wotan will strip her of her divine essence—let her belong to the first man who finds her… But an unexpected piece of news softens his anger: Siegmund’s child, the hero Siegfried, is soon to be born. Perhaps he will break the curse of the Ring?
And so, Wotan places Brünnhilde into a deep sleep on an unreachable rock, surrounded by flames. Only her half-nephew Siegfried, once grown, will be able to pass through the fire, awaken the maiden, and take her as his wife. And she will guide him on what must be done with the Ring.
Brünnhilde’s white garments in Marina Podgaevskaya’s painting foreshadow the coming wedding. In heated creative debates with Marina, I insisted: for the sake of aesthetics—despite the laws of zoology—Brünnhilde’s horse must be sleep lying down! :-)
More scences are coming soon:
16.05.2025 – Siegfried and Brünnhilde (Siegfried)
23.05.2025 – Twilight of the Gods (Götterdämmerung)
You can find the links to earlier scences in this publication:
Art & Prose, Season II Announcement
See you!
Viacheslav