Opera Stories from Wagner
By Florence Akin

Presented by
Authorama
Public Domain Books

A Song of the Future

The third Norn took up the thread.

Twisting and untying, she sang of the future.

She sang of the downfall of the giants.

She sang of the time when Wotan and his family would be no more, and bright Valhalla’s halls would be only a ruin.

“But, Sisters, look!” she cried. “The day is dawning. We must make haste!”

She tugged at the thread. The knots grew tighter.

“Oh, see!” she cried. “I cannot make it reach.”

Another pull, the thread snapped.

The three Norns wailed.

Then, snatching up the broken ends of their thread of fate, they vanished in the gloom.

More About the Stories • The Rhine-Gold • Alberich • The Careless Rhine-Daughters • The Theft • The Sad Rhine-Daughters • A Castle On the Rhine • The Morning • The Payment • Loki • Youth or Age? • Nibelheim • The Best Smith in Nibelheim • The Master • The Boaster • The Wishing-Cap • The Trick • The Curse • The Greedy Fafner • A Slave to Gold • The Beautiful Valhalla • The Walkuere • The Valiant Siegmund • Hunding’s Wife • Hunding • The War-Maidens • Wotan’s Wife • Wotan and Brunhilde • Off to the Battlefield • The Flight • The Punishment • The Sleep • The Magic Fire • Siegfried • The Dragon • A Baby in the Forest • Mimi and the Baby • Siegfried and His Friends • The Broken Sword • A Big Brown Bear • Siegfried and Mimi • Siegfried Mends His Father’s Sword • Siegfried Goes to Fight the Dragon • A Wood-Bird’s Song • Siegfried and the Dragon • A Change Comes Over Siegfried • Mimi Has a Surprise • Mimi and Alberich Stop to Quarrel Too Long • Siegfried Reaches the Mountain • Siegfried Learns What Fear Is • The Awakening • Goetterdaemmerung • A Song of the Present • A Song of the Future • A Pledge of Love • The Doom of Valhalla • Love