Das Rheingold, or in English, “The Rhine Gold,” is the first of 4 operas making up Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) by Richard Wagner. It premiered in Munich at the National Theatre on September 22, 1869. Wagner wanted to premiere this opera as part of the whole story, but was forced to grant the performance by his sponsor, King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The opera was premiered as part of the whole cycle on August 13, 1876 in the Bayreuther Festspielhaus.

The opera begins at the bottom of the River Rhine, where the 3 Rhinemaidens are playing near the Rheingold. A Nibelung dwarf, Alberich, comes up from a deep gorge and attempts to woo them. They mock him because of his ugliness and make him angry. They tell him about the Rheingold that their father told them to guard: it can be made into a magic ring that allows the wearer to rule the world, but the wearer must forsake love first. They believe they have nothing to fear from the dwarf, but Alberich is bitter because of their mockery and curses love; he then takes the gold and goes back to the depths and the Rhinemaidens go off in despair. Wotan, the ruler of the gods, is sleeping on a mountaintop with his wife, Fricka. Fricka wakes up to see a grand castle behind them and wakes Wotan to point out their new home is finished.

Two giants, Fasolt and Fafner, built the castle and Wotan offered to give them Fricka’s sister, Freia, the goddess of love. Fricka is worried about Freia, but Wotan doesn’t think they’ll have to give her away. Freia comes in frightened and followed by the giants. Fasolt demands payment for their work and he tells Wotan that his rule is upheld by the treaties carved on his spear, which includes his contract with them. Freia’s brothers show up to defend her, but Wotan stops them; he knows he can’t stop the giants with force and go back on their agreement. To Wotan’s relief, Loge, the god of fire, walks in. Loge announces that Alberich has taken the Rheingold and made a powerful ring out of it. Fafner demands the ring as payment instead of Freia; the giants leave and take Freia with them as hostage. Wotan follows Loge down into the earth to get the ring and win back Freia. In Nibelheim, Alberich has enslaved the rest of the dwarves and forced his brother, Mime, the most proficient smith, to make a magic helmet, the Tarhelm. Alberich comes back and wants his slaves to pile up a giant mound of gold. When they finish, he dismisses them and turns to the 2 gods. Loge tricks him into demonstrating the Tarnhelm’s magic by asking him to transform into a snake.

Then Loge says it might be better for him to transform into something small to escape danger, so Alberich turns himself into a toad. The gods grab him and bring him to the surface. They then force him to give up his wealth for his freedom. He has his slaves bring the gold to the mountaintop; once the gold is delivered, he asks for the Tranhelm back, but Loge says it’s part of his ransom. Wotan tells him to give up the ring, which he refuses to do, but Wotan grabs it off his finger and puts it on. Alberich, crushed by the loss, curses the ring and leaves. The giants come up with Freia, but don’t want to release her. Fasolt tells the gods there must be enough gold to hide her from view, so they pile it up and Loge is forced to give up the Tarnhelm to help cover her..

Fasolt finds a crack and demands Wotan give up the ring. Wotan refuses; all of a sudden, Erda, the earth goddess, shows up and warns Wotan of future ruin and begs him to give up the cursed ring. He does and Freia is set free. The giants then start to divvy up the treasure and they argue over the ring. Fafner kills Fasolt and takes everything. The gods all go to the castle, which Wotan has named Valhalla and the Rhinemaidens grieve their loss.