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Alberich and Friends

by Ian Runcie

149 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-0456; ISBN 1-4120-2628-8; US$16.50, C$21.00, EUR13.50, £10.00

The novel to enlighten newcomers to Wagner's Ring and to provide experienced Wagner fans with new insights.

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about the book      about the author      excerpts      catalogue info

About the Book The characters in Wagner's Ring Cycle each have their own lives, histories, philosophies and psychology. Each may also be a different part of a single entity: struggling to gain the gold of a rounded and contented maturity. In youth, Wotan, chief of the Gods, is interested only in power. In order to obtain absolute power he must fight against the evil Alberich who would steal his crown but there exists an even greater threat to Wotan's supremacy. Together can Wotan and Alberich gain greater riches? The answer lies in the hearts of men. This book takes a character in the operas of Wagner as the subject of each chapter. Characters are expanded and the action discussed. Using strong allegorical connotations, the intention is to allow the reader to get to know the characters and the story whilst absorbing the background introduction to Wagner's psychology and philosophy. By taking Wagner's Ring Cycle as the basis of a novel this book is an important addition to the large body of literature about Wagner's greatest work. As well as acting as a pleasurable introduction to the work it presents experienced Wagnerites with food for thought by presenting Robert Donnington's Jungian exploration in a highly readable and enjoyable form: presenting the operas as a personal journey but with a global message.

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About the Author Ian Runcie was born in Birkenhead in 1952 and was educated at Park High School Birkenhead and the Welsh National School of Medicine in Cardiff. He lives with his wife, who is also a doctor and has two daughters. On Writing about Wagner's Ring This novel became necessary on the day I realised that the characters in the Ring had their own lives and aspirations. They were just unfortunate enough to have been caught up in a Wagnerian opera and their stories were crying out to be told in novel form. Take Brunnhilde for instance. As far as we are concerned she goes to sleep and is out of the action for a generation or two and an opera and a half. Things may not be the same from her point of view. She goes to sleep with Wotan and wakes up with Siegfried; therein hangs a tale, surely. I was already familiar with Robert Donnington's work and the application of Wagner's psychological traits and his massive philosophical knowledge to the novel was obviously the way ahead. The ramifications were endless: dragons for example. How did they reach the top of the mythical food chain? Why are they so universal? Why is a fully formed dragon to be found in the art of the Mayan people of Central America from around the time of Christ and how was it possible for this dragon to be adjacent to a God with the face of an Indian elephant? The answer, for me, came during a coincidental visit to the Hill Tribes of Bangladesh. Here were a hill people with woven striped cloth, musical pipes and blowpipes and the similarities to the hill tribes of Peru were striking. These were the people who crossed the Pacific Ocean, or the Bearing Straits, taking with them their memories of real elephants and mythical dragons. All this is nothing to do with Wagner, of course, and it is with regret that I needed to confine the extensive notes to the matter in hand. To visit the author's own website, please Click Here

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Excerpts

Mime could not remember a time when he was not afraid. His first memories were of being both frightened and fascinated by the sounds, smells and bustle of the Smithy. He could recall his childish shock on meeting the living, breathing bellows. The glowing charcoal suddenly erupting into a roaring flame that might singe his face at any time. The huge chimney that he could walk right into, gaping black like the entrance to another, even darker, world. The vat of placid water, with its mirror-like sheen at the level of his eyes, which would suddenly boil and hiss in protest as the glowing sword blades violated its surface. The massive horses backing into the yard with their huge clumping feet able to crush him with a single misplaced step. The shouts and the sweat of the ostlers and master smiths of his childhood and the comforting rhythmic ring of hammering on the anvil. And finally the magic transformation of hard grey metal into a soft and completely different substance, pliable to the hammer, but glowing red for danger.

Soon he was pumping the bellows himself and watching in awe the transformation of metal from a base shape into tools, ornaments or weapons. At a young age he lost interest in the activities of his fellows, preferring the slow predictable pumping of the bellows to their wild unstable play and the violence of his brother. Although he was useful to the smiths, they were concerned about his complete obsession with their activities to the exclusion of all else. They did not like nor trust him, for he was unable to look them in the eye and was reluctant to talk. The boy was demanding and their work might be disrupted by his need for regularity and predictability. They never knew when he might fly into a rage if the pattern of work was altered. Often he would listen to the clink of the hammer on the anvil and appear to be hypnotised by the sound. He would pump the bellows in time but he might suddenly throw himself on the floor screaming if the smith who was hammering changed his rhythm. On such occasions he would be thrown out of the smithy but was always allowed back a few days later, being far too useful to be rejected permanently. Sometimes he could be heard muttering the same word over and over again or putting together some rhyming words that he would use as a rhythmic chant: a habit that he put to more poetic use in later life. During his apprenticeship, which in human terms was long indeed, he learnt his trade rapidly and soon surpassed his teachers in his abilities to produce the hardest alloys, the tightest chain mail and the finest jewellery. His fellow dwarf-smiths found it odd that, once he had produced an article to a level of perfection that might make them gasp, he immediately became disinterested in its subsequent use or disposal. At first he was interested in hard iron and weapon manufacture but, as this work came easier to him, he turned to the softest of metals. That metal which is the easiest to work but is most difficult to perfect. His skill with gold became legendary. He could beat out the thinnest gold leaf, and produce the most intricate ornaments, hammering away for many hours in his own characteristic perfect rhythm.

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Mime muses on how he can get the gold without forfeiting his head. He considers that with the sword Siegfried will be able to kill the dragon but the dragon will surely teach him fear. Mime decides that the way to get the ring is to kill Siegfried with a poisonous potion after the battle. He starts cooking and, while Siegfried sings of forging the sword, Mime sings of cooking up a strong soup. He goes on to boast of the power he will wield, how he will be Prince of the Nibelung and of his forthcoming revenge on Alberich.

In the midst of Mime's gloating, Siegfried suddenly raises up the newly forged sword and brings it crashing down on the anvil. The anvil splits into two and Mime is afraid once more.

REVIEWS

a well researched, considered text, that would reward any new Wagnerite.
Chris Williams

To read Chris Williams' full review Click Here

To read Frank Behrens' full review Click Here

To see John Leeman's intellectual review at musicweb international Click Here

NB this was a review of the first edition and the printing errors etc mentioned in this review have now been corrected.

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Catalogue Information

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