Animals in Wagner's Ring Cycle Quiz

Answer: Snake

Armed with the power of the ring, Alberich has forced his brother, Mime, to make the tarnhelm, a magic helmet that allows the wearer to transform him or herself into any form of living creature. Sadly, Alberich doesn't have it for long, as by the end of the opera it has been seized by Wotan and Loge, along with the ring itself.

Answer: Toad

Luring Alberich into changing himself into something tiny is of course all part of Loge's cunning plan, since the toad is small enough to be captured by himself and Wotan.

The appearance of the toad, however it is portrayed, is generally one of the few moments in the four long operas that elicits a ripple of laughter from the audience.

Answer: Wolf-cub

According to Siegmund, his father was known as "Wolfe" (Wolf), making Siegmund a "wolfing" (wolf-cub). Of course, as the music makes clear, his father was none other than Wotan, king of the gods, in one of his many disguises.

Answer: Rams

The Ring is full of stage directions like this, making it something of a challenge to stage designers. That said, in modern productions of Wagner's opera Fricka is more likely to arrive in a stretch limousine, since it has become something of a truism to regard the gods as representatives of the evils of capitalism.

Answer: Grane

When we first meet Grane, he is an enchanted horse, capable of bearing Brunnhilde through the skies between Valhalla and the realms of mankind. Sadly, he is doomed to share her fate; firstly, by losing his divine status; and secondly by ending up being burnt alive on Siegfried's funeral pyre.

Answer: Bear

Siegfried's defining characteristic is that he does not know what fear is - unlike Mime, who is understandably terrified of the bear. Mime puts up with Siegfried's treatment of him because he hopes that Siegfried will help him to get his hands on the treasure guarded by Fafnir.

Answer: Dragon

The dragon is of course the giant Fafnir from "Das Rheingold", who has transformed himself using the power of the tarnhelm. Like many a fictional dragon (see also Smaug in "The Hobbit") he guards a precious hoard of gold, only to be slain by the hero.

Answer: Woodbird

When Siegfried tastes Fafnir's blood, he finds that he can understand the song of the the woodbird. The bird advises him to take both the tarnhelm and the ring from Fafnir's hoard, and also warns him to beware of Mime, who plans to kill him. After Siegfried has slain Mime, the bird also tells him to seek out Brunnhilde on her rock, waiting for a hero to waken her.

Answer: A lion for Wotan

Wotan, oddly, does not get a specific sacrifice. The other animals are those associated in Norse myths with the particular gods. Froh (normally known as Freyr in Norse mythology) owned a boar named Gullinbursti, and Donner (or Thor) sometimes rode in a chariot pulled by two goats named Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. Fricka's association with sheep or rams has already been noted.

Answer: Ravens

Although Wotan himself does not make an appearance in the last opera of the cycle, he is kept informed of events such as Siegfried's murder and Brunnhilde's immolation by a pair of ravens. Although not named in the opera, the Norse myths give them the names Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory or mind).