Simply put, I took the "gotter" out of "Gotterdammerung" and replaced it with my last name. Gotterdammerung is the fourth and final opera of Wagner's magnum opus, the Ring Cycle. Brunhilde is the heroin, and it is after her that I have modeled the lovely illustration for this blog.
Why Gotterdammerung? Am I a big opera fan? I wouldn't put it that way. I've certainly enjoyed the operas I've attended (most recently Lucia de Lamamoor performed by the LA opera. The soprano was exquisite.) but I haven't seen enough to consider myself a "fan".
I fell in love with French and Russian symbolist poetry, and the poets of the French front of that movement, if you can call it that, were big fans of Wagner, mostly because of his revolutionary sound and the synesthetic quality they admired in his work. Like the Symbolists, I attempt to evoke synesthetic qualities in my own writing.
The Ring Cycle also has some themes that resemble those of the Tolkien trilogy that's so popular right now, which I also happen to like. (Who doesn't, really?)
None of that has anything to do with my blog, so there are really two things that drove me to naming it Waltondammerung: I thought "Waltondammerung" had a nice ring to it (no pun intended), and a picture of me as a Valkyrie would have looked pretty nifty, if I had been able to find a picture of a Valkyrie suitable for photoshopping. I may yet. Who knows?
It seems that you're not the only one interested in the Ring Cycle. Harry Dinkle, band director in Funky Winkerbean, has orchestrated it for flute-o-phone today :)
And you do make a wonderful Valkyrie.
Posted by: Mom at February 17, 2004 8:03 PMDid you know that Dr. Rathmell stood for all 16 hours of The Ring? Four hours a day for four days straight, standing room only.
Posted by: Will at February 17, 2004 10:12 PMMy bad. That picture of the valkyrie does not have me in it at all. It was going to, but, as you can see from my edited entry, I couldn't find a picture suitable for the job.
Posted by: Amy Walton at February 18, 2004 12:43 AM