The Ring of the Niblung Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods Richard Wagner Translated By Margaret Armour With Illustrations by Arthur Rackham Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), WWV 86, is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied. The composer termed the cycle a "Buhnenfestspiel" (stage festival play), structured in three days preceded by a Vorabend ("ante-evening"). It is often referred to as the Ring Cycle, Wagner's Ring, or simply The Ring. Wagner wrote the libretto and music over the course of about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874. The four operas that constitute the Ring cycle are, in sequence: Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold) Die Walkure (The Valkyrie) Siegfried Gotterdammerung (Twilight of the Gods) Although individual operas of the sequence are sometimes performed separately, Wagner intended them to be performed in series. The first performance as a cycle opened the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, beginning with Das Rheingold on 13 August and ending with Gotterdammerung on 17 August.