Your gods may not prevail with the dwarfs; but they may go to
these honest giants who will give a day's work for a day's pay,
and induce them to build for Godhead a mighty fortress, complete
with hall and chapel, tower and bell, for the sake of the
homesteads that will grow up in security round that
church-castle. This only, however, whilst the golden age lasts.
The moment the Plutonic power is let loose, and the loveless
Alberic comes into the field with his corrupting millions, the
gods are face to face with destruction; since Alberic, able with
invisible hunger-whip to force the labor of the dwarfs and to buy
the services of the giants, can outshine all the temporal shows
and splendors of the golden age, and make himself master of the
world, unless the gods, with their bigger brains, can capture his
gold. This, the dilemma of the Church today, is the situation
created by the exploit of Alberic in the depths of the Rhine.

Second Scene

From the bed of the river we rise into cloudy regions, and
finally come out into the clear in a meadow, where Wotan, the
god of gods, and his consort Fricka lie sleeping. Wotan, you
will observe, has lost one eye; and you will presently learn
that he plucked it out voluntarily as the price to be paid for
his alliance with Fricka, who in return has brought to him as
her dowry all the powers of Law. The meadow is on the brink of
a ravine, beyond which, towering on distant heights, stands
Godhome, a mighty castle, newly built as a house of state for the
one-eyed god and his all-ruling wife. Wotan has not yet seen this
castle except in his dreams: two giants have just built it for
him whilst he slept; and the reality is before him for the first