Of the 34 characters in the Ring cycle, they are the only ones who did not originate in the Old Norse Eddas. Wagner created his Rhinemaidens from other legends and myths, most notably the Nibelungenlied which contains stories involving water sprites nixies or mermaids of the Danube. The key concepts associated with the Rhinemaidens in the Ring operasβtheir flawed guardianship of the Rhine gold, and the condition the renunciation of love through which the gold could be stolen from them and then transformed into a means of obtaining world powerβare wholly Wagner's own invention, and are the elements that initiate and propel the entire drama.
They have been described as morally innocent, yet they display a range of sophisticated emotions, including some that are far from guileless. Seductive and elusive, they have no relationship to any of the other characters, and no indication is given as to how they came into existence, beyond occasional references to an unspecified "father". The various musical themes associated with the Rhinemaidens are regarded as among the most lyrical in the entire Ring cycle, bringing to it rare instances of comparative relaxation and charm.
The music contains important melodies and phrases which are reprised and developed elsewhere in the operas to characterise other individuals and circumstances, and to relate plot developments to the source of the narrative.
It is reported that Wagner played the Rhinemaidens' lament at the piano, on the night before he died in Venice, in Alone of the Ring's characters, the Rhinemaidens do not originate from the Poetic Edda or Prose Edda , the Icelandic sources for most of Norse mythology. Wagner drew widely and loosely from those legends when compiling his Ring narrative, and the probable origin of his Rhinemaidens is in the German Nibelungenlied.
Hagen steals their clothes, and seeking their return, the mermaid called Hadeburg gives false prophecy that Hagen and Gunther will find honor and glory when they enter Etzel 's kingdom. But afterwards another mermaid, Sigelinde a name Wagner would adopt again for use elsewhere , tells Hagen her aunt has lied.
