SIEGFRIED
Enough, O ye women
Full of wiles!
Was I firm when ye flattered,
I am firmer now when ye threaten!
THE THREE RHINE-MAIDENS
Siegfried! Siegfried!
Our warning is true:
Flee, oh, flee from the curse!
The Norns who weave
By night have entwined it
In the rope
Of Fate's decrees!
SIEGFRIED
My sword once shattered a spear;
And if the Norns
Have woven a curse
Into the strands
Of destiny's rope,
Nothung will cleave it asunder.
A dragon once warned me
Of this dread curse,
But he could not teach me to fear.
[He contemplates the ring.
The world's wealth
Has bestowed on me a ring.
For the grace of love
Had it been yours,
And still for love might it be got,
But by threats to my life and my limbs—
Had it not even
A finger's worth—
The ring ye never shall gain.
My limbs and my life—