u done?" they questioned.

"Who can shield thee from our father's wrath, Bruennhilde?" one cried.

"I see him not," one who was on the look-out called. "But a fearful
storm gathers."

"It is Wotan. Our father rides upon the storm. Oh, shield this poor
wife," Bruennhilde called.

"Alas! the storm increases."

"Then he is near. His anger increases as he comes," Bruennhilde cried
in terror. "Now who will lend me a horse to put this poor wife upon?"
None dared brave the wrath of the God.

"All of you are silent," she said at last, in despair. Turning to the
fainting Sieglinde, she cried:

"Up! Take the way to the east. There dwells the dragon, Fafner, and
near him Alberich also watches. That is the only place in the world
Wotan avoids. Go thou, and I will detain the Father till thou art far
and safe. Take these pieces of the magic sword. I snatched them when
Siegmund fell. Give them to thy son and Siegmund's, and that son shall
be named Siegfried. With these sword-pieces again made whole, the
sword shall win the world for that son of thine." With these words she
turned Sieglinde's face toward the east, while she herself stood
waiting.

Sieglinde was no sooner gone than the storm grew more fierce, and
Wotan called with a loud voice from the clouds:

"Bruennhilde!" Full of fear she sought to hide herself in the midst of
her sisters.

"He is coming, sister," they shouted. All the forest about them was
lighted up with a lurid fire, and Wotan came raging through the midst
of it.

_Scene II_

Striding from the wood he called again:

"Come forth! Naught can save thee from thy punishment." Without hope,
Bruennhilde came from the company of her sisters and threw herself on
her knees before Wotan. He looked at her in pity because he loved her
dearly.

"For thy treason to the Eternals and to me, I doom thee to roam the
earth as a mortal woman. I take thy glory from thee. Walhall shall
know thee no more. Thou art forever cast out from us. Henceforth thy
fate shall be to spin the flax, to sit by the hearth, a slave to man."
He could not look upon her because he loved her so.

At this, all the Valkyries cried out.

"Away!" he called to them. "Her punishment is fixed and whoever tries
to help her shall share her fate."

At this threat, all fled wildly to their horses, and shrieking, flew
away, leaving behind them a sound of rushing and a streaming light.

_Scene III_

Wotan regarded Bruennhilde mournfully. S