"Coward," cries _Brünnhilde_ to _Gunther_, "to hide behind another in order to undo me! Has the race of the Gibichungs fallen so low in prowess?"
"Deceiver, and yet deceived! Betrayer, and yet myself betrayed," wails _Gunther_. "Hagen, wise one, have you no counsel?"
"No counsel," grimly answers _Hagen_, "save Siegfried's death."
"Aye, all these things demand his death."
"But, Gutrune, to whom I gave him, how would we stand with her if we so avenged ourselves?" For even in his injured pride _Gunther_ feels that he has had a share in what _Siegfried_ has done.
But _Hagen_ is prepared with a plan that will free _Gunther_ and himself of all accusation. "Tomorrow," he suggests, "we will go on a great hunt. As Siegfried boldly rushes ahead we will fell him from the rear, and give out that he was killed by a wild boar."
"So be it," exclaims _Brünnhilde_; "let his death atone for the shame he has wrought me. He has violated his oath; he shall die!"
At that moment as they turn toward the hall, he whose death they have decreed, a wreath of oak on his brow and leading _Gutrune_, whose hair is bedecked with flowers, steps out on the threshold as though wondering at their delay and urges them to enter. _Gunther_, taking _Brünnhilde_ by the hand, follows him in. _Hagen_ alone remains behind, and with a look of grim triumph watches them as they disappear within. And so, although the valley of the Rhine re-echoes with glad sounds, it is the Murder Motive that brings the act to a close.
Act III. How picturesque the _mise-en-scène_ of this act--a clearing in the forest primeval near a spot where the bank of the Rhine slopes toward the river. On the shore, above the stream, stands _Siegfried_. Baffled in the pursuit of game, he is looking for _Gunther_, _Hagen_, and his other comrades of the hunt, in order to join them.
One of the loveliest scenes of the trilogy now ensues. The _Rhinedaughters_ swim up to the bank and, circling gracefully in the current of the river, endeavour to coax from him the ring of Rhinegold. It is an episode full of whimsical badinage and, if anything, more charming even than the opening of "Rhinegold."
_Siegfried_ refuses to give up the ring. The _Rhinedaughters_ swim off leaving him to his fate.