The Fredösphere

While driving to work this morning, I noticed a woman at a corner, waiting to cross the street with her bike.  Now, the point of this story is not that she was ugly.  She seemed a bit above average in attractiveness, really, although of course as a married man I never, never notice such things.  Beyond that, however, she was out for a bit of exercise, so her clothes were selected more for comfort than beauty, and she was visibly frustrated by her long wait for the light to change.  Bottom line:  she was nothing special to look at.

However.

I happened to be listening to An Introduction to Der Ring Des Nibelungen, narrated by Derryck Cooke, and at the moment I laid eyes on the woman, the Valhalla Theme from Der Ring broke in.  If you don't know it, let me just say that, with this theme, Wagner found music that communicates all that is sublime, noble, confident, and peaceful.  The theme is positively fruity with grandeur.

Bathed in this milky goodness, my bike woman was transfigured.  She was assumed.  She transcended petty questions of attractiveness.  Even her impatience with the traffic light was beatified, such that she became a heroine striving to achieve some great quest, and invested with tragic nobility in her failure to cross the street.

Indeed, the Valhalla motif can inspire great acts of courage and self-sacrifice.

Later, I couldn't help but perk up my ears when Deryck Cooke closes one section with these words:

This ends the family of motifs associated with the inspiring power of woman.  Although few, they are extremely powerful.

Well, I don't know, Derryck;  I don't think I would say there are few, since there are probably more than 3 billion of them alive on earth right now.  But you're right:  they are extremely powerful -- frighteningly so.