The First Norn
[Fastening the rope again.]
The night wanes,
Dark grows my vision;
I cannot find
The threads of the rope;
The strands are twisted and loose.
A horrible sight
Wildly vexes mine eyes:
The Rhinegold
That black Alberich stole.
Knowest thou more thereof?
The Second Norn
[With laborious haste winds the rope round the jagged rock at the mouth of the cave.]
The rock's sharp edge
Is cutting the rope;
The threads loosen
Their hold and grow slack;
They droop tangled and frayed.
From woe and wrath
Rises the Nibelung's ring
A curse of revenge
Ruthlessly gnaws at the strands:--
Canst thou the end foretell?
The Third Norn
[Hastily catching the rope which is thrown to her.]
The rope is too short,
Too loose it hangs;
It must be stretched,
Pulled straighter, before
Its end can reach to the north!
[She pulls hard at the rope, which breaks.]
It breaks!
The Second Norn
It breaks!
The Third Norn
It breaks!
[They take the pieces of broken rope and bind their bodies together with them.]
The Three Norns
So ends wisdom eternal!
The wise ones
Will utter no more.
Descend to Erda! Descend!
[They vanish. The dawn grows brighter; the firelight from the valley gradually fades. Sunrise; then broad daylight.]
