The Eye of Odin continues its synopsis of the Ring Cycle as
Thor grows impatient….
Having pledged their love, ex-Valkyrie Brunnhilda encourages Siegfried
to go forth and seek his destiny while she remains atop the mountain; she
bestows on him the gift of invulnerability: no one can harm him in battle
unless Sieg turns his back on his enemy. Sieg gives Brun the Ring of the
Nibelung as a pledge and he descends the mountain and rides off on Grane, Brun’s
ex-winged horse….
Further downstream lies the stronghold of the Gibichung
Clan: Lord Gunther and his sister Gutruna sit in state, listening to their
half-brother Hagen (whose father was the evil dwarf Alberich seen in past issues).
They are unaware that their sib is a villain as he outlines a scheme to gain
the royal couple spouses. Gunther can marry Brunnhilda and Gutruna shall wed
Siegfried and Hagen has a magic love potion that can capture the two. At this point,
Siegfried arrives and fights a handful of guards to enter the castle where Hagen
tell him it was a test to see if he was the real Siegfried. He is brought
before the royals and given the potion to drink, whereupon he falls for Gutruna.
Gunther offers to allow Sieg to wed Gutruna if he can retrieve Brunnhilda from
the fiery mountain and they swear a blood oath upon it. Hagen informs Sieg that
the helmet he took from the Rheingold is a magic one that allows him to change
his appearance at will (and he reveals to the reader his plot to get his hands
on the ring and rule the world, a plan approved by a vision of his father
Alberich)….
Meanwhile on the fiery mount, Valtrauta, Brun’s sister comes
to warn her about the curse on the ring Sieg gave her but Brun won’t listen as
it came from her beloved. Then Sieg arrives, magically transformed into Gunther
and he carries Brun off and returns to the castle. The whole clan gathers for
the double wedding but Brunnhilda balks and pleads with Siegfried to tell the
truth. Confusion ensues in which Gunther comes to believe Sieg had his way with
Brun the night before and orders his guards to kill the betrayer. With the
sword Needful in hand, the hero slashes his way through the assembled guards wreaking
havoc—and then Brun lets slip that Sieg can only be harmed from the back.
Denouncing her brother for his trick with the love potion, Gutruna calls a
truce and intends to go through with her marriage to Siegfried. Hagen suggests
to Gunther that a) the love potion will make Brunnhilda fall for him and b)
Siegfried must die….