After the midday halt,
Siegfried tells Gunther and his vassals the story of his life. In the
midst of his tale Hagen gives him a potion which restores his faded
memory. He tells the whole story of his discovery of Bruennhilde, and his
marriage with her, to the horror of Gunther. At the close of his tale
two ravens, the birds of Wotan, fly over his head. He turns to look at
them, and Hagen plunges his spear into his back. The vassals, in silent
grief, raise the dead body upon their shields, and carry it back to the
castle through the moonlit forest, to the immortal strains of the
Funeral March.
At the castle Gutrune is anxiously waiting for news of her husband.
Hagen tells her that he has been slain by a boar. The corpse is brought
in and set down in the middle of the hall, amidst the wild lamentations
of the widowed Gutrune. Hagen claims the ring, and stabs Gunther, who
tries to prevent his taking it; but as he grasps at it, Siegfried's hand
is raised threateningly, and Hagen sinks back abashed. Bruennhilde now
comes in, sorrowful but calm. She understands the whole story of
Siegfried's unwitting treachery, and has pardoned him in his death. She
thrusts the weeping Gutrune aside, claiming for herself the sole right
of a wife's tears. The vassals build a funeral pyre, and place the body
of Siegfried upon it. Bruennhilde takes the ring from his finger, and
with her own hand fires the wood.
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