Siegfried, the son of Siegmund and Sieglinde, was now a young man. Mime, Alberich's brother, had raised him since he was a baby. Siegfried was vivacious and free-spirited, running around with all sorts of creatures, such as his friend the bear.
Siegfried was also a lot of trouble for Mime. Mime could not make a good sword for Siegfried, because Siegfried always broke whatever had been forged. Mime possessed the fractured pieces of Nothung, but he was totally unable to repair the sword. He wondered if he could ever manage to get Siegfried to slay the dragon and fetch the Ring for him!

Siegfried now wanted to know who he was, since he had seen his reflection, and he knew he was not a Nibelung. Mime explained how he had always taken care of Siegfried, since he was young, teaching him the ways of a blacksmith.
Mime told Siegfried the story of his mother, Sieglinde, and how she had come to him. She died shortly after he was born, so he had raised Siegfried since he was a new born.
[Quibble: Exactly how Mime managed to take care of a newborn baby was not explained, since he, like his brother, did not seem to have any social or parenting skills; he did not even have a wife!]
While Siegfried was away in the forest, Wotan, disguised as the Wanderer, arrived at Mime's camp, with the specific purpose to deduce how close Siegfried was to retrieving the ring.
Mime viewed the Wanderer as an annoying interloper, so he gave the man three impossible questions to get rid of him. Mime explored his knowledge of Nibelungs, his knowledge of Giants and Fafner and the gold, and his knowledge of the gods and Valhalla. The Wanderer in turn, asked Mime to show his knowledge of all the events of the two previous operas, leading up to the arrival of Siegfried into his care.
This was all an exercise so that the Wanderer could emphasize that only Siegfried, who had no fear, had the power to repair Nothung.
Despite the fact that Mime had raised him and cared for him all his life, Siegfried was quite ungrateful; he despised the Nibelung. He was constantly upset over Mime's inability to forge a decent sword for him.
[Quibble: The circumstances of this story do not seem to justify Siegfried becoming a psychotic spoiled brat!]
Finally, after lengthy explanations from Mime, Siegfried finally came to understand that the repair of Nothung was a task that only he could carry out.

Finally, Siegfried began the task of reforging Nothung, which led to one of the longest and most dramatic arias in the opera.
Also, Mime tried to carry out his promise to Sieglinde that he would teach Siegfried the meaning of fear, but this turned out to be an impossible task.
At last, Siegfried had put Nothung back together. As a test of his creation, he deftly swung the shiny blade and cleaved the bulky metal anvil into two halves.

Alberich maintained his constant vigil of Fafner's cave, as he dreamed of getting the Ring back. The Wanderer appeared, whom Alberich immediately recognized to be Wotan, and the two exchanged angry words. Always trying to work his angles, Wotan even tried unsuccessfully to strike a deal with Fafner.
After Alberich and Wotan left, Siegfried and Mime arrived. Fafner came out of his cave and warned Siegfried of treachery. At Seattle Opera, Fafner was an enormous, partially-obscured winged dragon, whose teeth looked like long tusks.
Siegfried plunged Nothung into Fafner's chest and killed him instantly.
Unlike in some versions of the saga, Siegfried did not bathe in the dragon's blood; singers really did not want to be soaked in red-colored liquid. However, Siegfried did manage accidentally to get a taste of the dragon's blood, by which he developed a new ability to understand the language of birds.
High in a tree, a bird explained all about the hoard of the gold, the Tarnhelm, and the Ring to Siegfried.
While Alberich and Mime argued about the hoard, the bird told Siegfried to take everything, and to beware of Mime's plan to kill him. Siegfried declared that he liked Mime less than Fafner, as he plunged his sword into the Nibelung.
[Quibble: This had to be the epitome of ingratitude, especially since Mime was really no longer threat!]
Siegfried did not pause of consider his deed, because the bird lastly told him of Brünnhilde, who would make him a great wife.
The Wanderer awakened Erda, as he sought a way out of his predicament, but Erda was bewildered by Wotan's twisted logic and refused to help him.
As Siegfried climbed the Valkyrie mountain, he was confronted by the Wanderer, who attempted to confuse him and to block his way. Wotan dared Siegfried to pass by his spear, and Siegfried proceeded to cut the spear in two, which ended Wotan's power forever.
Finally, Siegfried passed through the guarding flames and came upon what he thought was a man in armor. As he removed the armor, he realized that it was Brünnhilde, a woman. It was a near-fearful rite of passage, because Siegfried had never gazed upon a woman before.
Brünnhilde awakened with a kiss from Siegfried. She was overjoyed as she realized that Siegfried was the hero for which she had waited so long. Though she still had Grane, she also realized that her former life was now gone. Her new life as a mortal woman had begun.
Brünnhilde and Siegfried jubilantly declared their love for each other. While Siegfried might have momentarily experienced fear when he first saw Brünnhilde, that feeling had now been forgotten.
It was the awakening of sexuality for both of them as they declared their devotion and love. As Brünnhilde fell into Siegfried's arms, her former life forever vanished.
[Quibble: While the goddess Fricka did not physically appear in this opera; one would have to wonder, what her reaction would have been to Siegfried carrying on with Brünnhilde, who was actually his aunt.]

Siegfried Libretto

Götterdämmerung