Three different kinds of creatures fight each other because of the possession of the world: gods, giants and Carls. In the light world of the gods, their lord Wotan reigns; he is married to the goddess Fricka; her sister Freya protects those apples, the eating of which preserves their unfading youth to the gods. The cunning Loge has only a semi-divine nature; he is always busy searching for such difficulties and obstacles, of which only he alone can bring out a host of gods subordinate to Wotan .. Giants live on the surface of the earth among rocks and mountains; their strength is immeasurable, but their mental ability is weak; where you can not get the upper hand with physical power, there giants are always inferior. The opposite of them is the Karls or Nibelungs, living in the bowels of the earth, from which they extract and store metals; they are small, weak, but active and cunning. These three tribes are always at war with each other and try to control each other by force and cunning. P. and . Tchaikovsky (from the essay "Bayreitsky musical celebration")