what is rhinemaidens?
They are the three water-nymphs ("Rheintöchter" or "Rhine daughters") who appear in Richard Wagner's opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen".
Rhinemaidens
The Rhinemaidens are the three water-nymphs ("Rheintöchter" or "Rhine daughters") who appear in Richard Wagner's opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen".
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Rhinemaidens [SEP] Introduction
The Rhinemaidens are the three water-nymphs ("Rheintöchter" or "Rhine daughters") who appear in Richard Wagner's opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen". Their individual names are Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde (Floßhilde), although they are generally treated as a single entity and they act together accordingly. Of the 34 characters in the "Ring" cycle, they are the only ones who did not originate in the Old Norse "Eddas". Wagner created his Rhinemaidens from other legends and myths, most notably the "Nibelungenlied" which contains stories involving water-sprites (nixies) or mermaids of the Danube (but perhaps where that river meets the Rhine). The key concepts associated with the Rhinemaidens in the "Ring" operas—their flawed guardianship of the Rhine gold, and the condition (the renunciation of love) through which the gold could be stolen from them and then transformed into a means of obtaining world power—are wholly Wagner's own invention, and are the elements that initiate and propel the entire drama.