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Die Walkure is the second of four operas in Wagner's dramatic cycle, The Ring of the Niebelung. In Act 1, Siegmund and Sieglinde, twins separated in early childhood after the murder of their mortal mother, meet each other after years of struggle and deprivation, and almost immediately fall passionately in love. Their father, Wotan, the ruler of the gods, has arranged this meeting as part of his larger plan to secure his dominion over the world. At the end of this act, after consummating their love for each other, Sieglinde leaves Hunding, the domineering husband she had earlier been forced to marry, and flees with Siegmund. Unbeknownst to either of them, Sieglinde is pregnant with Siegmund's child.
Act 2 opens as Wotan and Brunhilde, his daughter by the intuitive earth goddess Erda, are anticipating the upcoming duel between Siegmund and Hunding. It is clear that they have a special and intense relationship, with Brunnhilde the dutiful and beloved daughter who brings slain heroes to defend Wotan's palace Valhalla against any potential enemies. Brunnhilde understands that Wotan favors his son Siegmund in the upcoming battle, and she plans to protect him. But Wotan is beholden to his wife, who is the goddess of the sanctity of marriage, and to the laws that he himself must uphold by virtue of various treaties, and he commands Brunnhilde to allow Hunding to prevail and to kill Siegmund. Brunnhilde conveys to Wotan that she is the agent of his unacknowledged will, that she knows what he secretly still desires and cannot acknowledge, and that she will intervene on Siegmund's behalf. He sternly forbids her from defying his decision to destroy Siegmund and threatens grievous punishment should she disobey. When the duel begins, Brunnhilde is profoundly moved by her love for Siegmund and especially by Siegmund's love for Sieglinde. Initially obeying her father, Brunnhilde summons Siegmund to Valhalla, but he declines to go unless Sieglinde can go with him, which Brunnhilde te