Editing Alberich

{{Short description|German legendary dwarf}}
[[File:Alberich verführt die Königsmutter.jpg|thumb|Alberich seduces the king's mother (a scene from ''[[Ortnit]]'', 1480 woodcut)]]
[[File:Rhinegold and the Valkyries p 044.jpg|thumb|Alberich (with whip) drives on the [[Nibelung]] dwarfs, who collect gold and other treasures. ([[Arthur Rackham]], 1910)]]
[[File:Pfizer (1843)-ed-Nibelungen Not-p091-sigfird&alberich-gezwerge.jpg|thumb|[[Sigurd|Siegfried]] wrestles with Alberich ([[Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld]], 1843)]]
In [[Continental Germanic mythology|German heroic legend]], '''Alberich''' ({{IPA|de|ˈalbəʁɪç|lang}}) is a [[Dwarf (mythology)|dwarf]]. He features most prominently in the poems ''[[Nibelungenlied]]'' and ''[[Ortnit]]''. He also features in the [[Old Norse]] collection of German legends called the [[Thidreksaga]] under the name Alfrikr. His name consists of the elements ''alb'' ("[[elf]]") and ''ric'' "power" or "ruler",<ref>{{Cite book |title=Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary |year=1996 |pages=15 |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com |isbn=978-0-8063-0171-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kc60WqxYK4C&pg=PA15 |editor-last=Harrison |editor-first=Henry |orig-date=1912 |editor-last2=Harrison |editor-first2=Gyda Pulling}}</ref> It is equivalent to the [[Old French]] ''Alberon'' or ''Auberon'', from which the English [[Oberon]] is derived.{{sfn|Gillespie|1973|p=4}} and is the source of the [[Norman language|Norman French]] derivation ''[[Aubry]]''.<ref>[[Albert Dauzat]] (préface de [[Marie-Thérèse Morlet]]), ''Noms et prénoms de France'', éditions Larousse 1980, p. 14b.</ref>

The name was later used for a character in [[Richard Wagner]]'s [[opera]] cycle ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]''.

==Mythology==
Alberich plays a prominent role in the ''Nibelungenlied'', where he is the guardian of the Nibelung's treasure and has the strength of twelve men. [[Sigurd|Siegfried]] overpowers him using his [[cloak of invisibility]] (Tarnkappe), after which the dwarf serves the hero. Siegfried later pulls his beard in mock combat when he arrives unannounced to claim the treasure.{{sfn|Gillespie|1973|p=3}}
Ortnit seeks to woo the daughter of the heathen king Machorel, Alberich reveals his paternity to Ortnit and aids him in his quest, playing tricks on the heathen king and even impersonating [[Mohammed]]. When Ortnit sets out on his final fatal adventure against a plague of dragons, Alberich takes back the magic ring and warns Ortnit not to go on his quest.{{sfn|Gillespie|1973|p=3}}

In the ''Thidrekssaga'', Alfrikr makes the swords Eckisax and Nagelringr, giving this last sword to [[Dietrich von Bern|Thidrek]].{{sfn|Gillespie|1973|p=4}}

References to Alberich outside of heroic poetry are rare.{{sfn|Gillespie|1973|p=4}}

==Wagner==
In [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]'s opera cycle ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'', Alberich is the chief of the [[Nibelung]]en race of dwarves and the main antagonist driving events. In ''[[Das Rheingold]]'', the first opera in the cycle, he gains the power to forge the ring after renouncing love and stealing the gold of the river Rhein, of which the ring is made. His brother, the smith Mime, creates the [[Tarnhelm]] for Alberich. News of the gold robbery and ring of power incites gods and giants alike to action.  The giants [[Fafnir|Fafner]] and [[Fasolt]] demand the ring in payment for building [[Valhalla]], and carry off [[Freyja|Freia]] as a hostage.  In ''[[Götterdämmerung]]'' (the fourth opera in Wagner's cycle), [[Hagen (legend)|Hagen]], the murderer of the hero [[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]], is the half-human half-dwarf son of Alberich by Grimhilde, a human woman. This detail of Hagen's origin is Wagner's invention, not taken from the myth or epic poems, in which Hagen is an ordinary human being with human parents.

Wagner's Alberich is a [[composite character]], mostly based on Alberich from the ''Nibelungenlied'', but also on [[Andvari]] from [[Norse mythology]]. He has been widely described, most notably by [[Theodor Adorno]], as a [[anti-Semitism|negative]] [[Jew]]ish stereotype, with his race expressed through "distorted" music and "muttering" speech;<ref>{{cite book |last=Schausten| first=Monika |editor-first=Barbara| editor-last=Kosta |title=Writing against boundaries: nationality, ethnicity and gender in the German-speaking context |publisher=Rodopi |year=2003 |pages=9–27 |chapter="Only Germany raises real men for the world": Richard Wagner's ''Ring des Nibelungen'', Nation, and the Third Reich}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Wagner: Race and Revolution |last=Rose |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Lawrence Rose |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1996 |pages=69–70}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Richard Wagner and the Anti-Semitic Imagination |last=Weiner |first=Mark |pages=135–143 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=1997}}</ref> other critics, however, disagree with this assessment.<ref>See e.g. {{Cite book|title=I Saw the World End: A study of Wagner's ''Ring'' |author-link=Deryck Cooke |last=Cooke |first=Deryck | publisher=Oxford University Press| page=264}}</ref>

Alberich shows up in ''Rheingold,'' not in ''Walküre,'' then again in ''Siegfried,'' and finally in ''Götterdämmerung'' (while Hagen is sleeping, commanding Hagen to regain the Ring).  At the end of the opera, Alberich along with the three Rhine maidens are the only key characters in ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' that remain alive.  Wotan seems to die at the end of ''Götterdämmerung'' when Valhalla goes up in flames, Fasolt from ''Rheingold'' dies in ''Rheingold,'' Sieglinde and Siegmund from ''Walküre'' die in ''Walküre'' (Sieglinde is at least dead by the time ''Siegfried'' begins, some 15–20 years later), Mime (from ''Rheingold'' and ''Siegfried'') dies in ''Siegfried'', Gunther and Hagen from ''Götterdämmerung'' both die at the end of it, and Siegfried (from ''Siegfried'' and ''Götterdämmerung'') and Brunhilde (from ''Walküre'', ''Siegfried'', and ''Götterdämmerung'') both die in ''Götterdämmerung''.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

== Legacy ==
In [[World War I]], the German retreat to fortified positions in the [[Hindenburg Line]], which was officially named after Siegfried despite its common name, was named [[Operation Alberich]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g0NqCAAAQBAJ|title=Vimy Ridge: A Canadian Reassessment|last=Hayes|first=Geoffrey|last2=Iarocci|first2=Andrew|last3=Bechthold|first3=Mike|date=2007-03-23|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|isbn=9781554580958|page=10|language=en}}</ref>

During WWII, Germany developed [[anechoic tile]]s, which were nicknamed Alberich.

In [[Genevieve Cogman]]’s ''Invisible Library'' fantasy book series, Alberich is the primary antagonist to the main character, the [[librarian]] Irene. He is a powerful and mysterious figure whose actions and motives create significant challenges for Irene and her mission to retrieve rare books from alternate worlds

==See also==
* [[Oberon]] (the French translation of Alberich used for the name of the "King of Fairies" in French and English texts)
* [[Elegast]]/Elbegast/Alegast— elf guest, elf spirit (Dutch, German, and Scandinavian texts, respectively)

==Notes==
<references />

==References==
* [[Thomas Bulfinch|Bulfinch, Thomas]]. 1834. ''Bulfinch's Mythology.'' Reprinted by New York: Harper & Row, 1970, p.&nbsp;354–356, 903. {{ISBN|0-690-57260-3}}.
*{{cite book|last1=Gillespie|first1=George T.|title=Catalogue of Persons Named in German Heroic Literature, 700-1600: Including Named Animals and Objects and Ethnic Names|date=1973|publisher=Oxford University|location=Oxford|isbn=9780198157182}}
* [[H.A. Guerber|Guerber, Helene A.]] 1895. ''Myths of Northern Lands - Index.'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20070717071600/http://www.vaidilute.com/books/guerber/guerber-24.html p. 218], [https://web.archive.org/web/20070305165653/http://www.vaidilute.com/books/guerber/guerber-index.html p. 295 index]. File retrieved 7/15/2007.

{{Nibelungenlied}}
{{German folklore}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Norse dwarves]]
[[Category:Elves]]
[[Category:German heroic legends]]
[[Category:Germanic mythology]]
[[Category:Nibelung tradition]]