“My heart is aghast, / my mind’s in a whirl” sings Fricka, goddess of marriage, hearth, home, and family, faced with her husband Wotan’s latest disruption to their family life. In Richard Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen,” the queen and king of the gods struggle over how to manage their and other people’s marriages, unruly children, and the delegation of authority. Fricka sings, “Outrageous, laughable lightness! / Cheerful, hardhearted folly! /…. the men though, in scorn / kept away from the women— / without confiding in us— / to talk all alone with the giants…. What can you menfolk / see holy and good / once you’re greedy for power!”
Queen Of The Gods
An interview with Margarete Joswig
