When Brunhilde promised to become Siegfried's wife she well knew what it would cost her. She would no longer be of the family of the gods, nor would she have strength and wisdom beyond other mortal women. Yet she now had no regrets. Her love for her hero eclipsed every other thing, and she knew only that she was entirely happy in the present.
Long the lovers sat and talked, forgetful of all the outside world. Siegfried told Brunhilde of his adventures; his fight with the dragon; his possession of the Ring; and finally his encounter with the mysterious stranger whose spear he had shattered.
Brunhilde started up at this. She had recognised Wotan at once from the description.
"The spear was broken, you say?" she exclaimed questioningly. "Are you sure it was broken?"
"It fell shivered upon the ground beneath my sword."
"What did the stranger do?"
"He looked sadly at me, saying that he was powerless to hinder me further. Then he vanished suddenly."
"Ah, woe to the gods!" ejaculated the maiden. "Their doom is indeed coming upon them! Siegfried, the spear you broke was the dread Spear of Authority with which great Wotan ruled the world. Now, all the old order of things shall pass away. Walhalla itself must fall, because of the curse of the Ring."
"The curse of the Ring?" asked Siegfried in an astonished voice. "What is that?"
"It is the sad fate which has followed upon the heels of a bad deed," she answered. "King Wotan himself told me the tale upon that day so long ago when I disobeyed him." She shuddered slightly at the memory, then went on; "It is bound up in your own fate, so I will tell you also the story."