At first Wotan shook his head, but presently his despair urged him to speak and he told Brünnhilde the story of the Rheingold and the ring of the Nibelungs.
"I coveted what was not mine," he said. "I got the gold from Alberich and in turn Fafner and Fasolt got it from me. Fafner killed his brother for love of the gold, and then turning himself into a dragon, set himself to watch over the gold forever. It was decreed by the Fates—Erda's daughters—that when Alberich should find a woman to love him, the overthrow of the Gods was at hand. Alberich had bought love with the treasure. Our only hope lay in the victory of some hero in whose life I had no part. I left for such a one a magic sword, so placed that only the strongest could draw it. He had to help himself before I gave him help. Siegmund has drawn the magic sword. If he had won in the battle with Hunding, the Eternals would have been saved; but Fricka demands that Hunding shall win the fight and a God must sacrifice all Walhall if his wife demands it. He had better be dead than browbeaten forever." Wotan almost wept in his anguish. "So must the Eternals face extermination. A wife can crush even a God!"
"What shall I do for thee, Father Wotan?" Brünnhilde cried distractedly.
"Obey Fricka this day in all things. Desert Siegmund and fight on Hunding's side." Wotan sighed heavily.
"Nay, I shall defy thy commands for once," she declared, but at this Wotan rose in wrath.
"Obey me!—or thy punishment shall be terrible. To disobey would be treason to the Gods." He strode away.
Brünnhilde put on her armour once more.
"Why is my armour so heavy, and why does it hurt me so?" she asked of herself. "Alas! It is because I donned it in an evil cause." Slowly she went toward the cave where her enchanted horse, Grane, was hidden.
Scene III
Now that the Gods had forsaken them, the two lovers, Sieglinde and Siegmund, were in great danger, and Sieglinde, without knowing why, was filled anew with fright. She hurried painfully along, assisted by Siegmund who was all the time lovingly urging her to stop and rest.