Tarnhelm

Alberich puts on the Tarnhelm and vanishes; illustration by Arthur Rackham to Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold

Tarnhelm is the name of a magic helmet in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (1848-1874). It is used as a cloak of invisibility by Alberich in Das Rheingold (1869). It also allows one to change one's form:

• Alberich changes to a dragon and then a toad in Das Rheingold, Scene 3
• Fafner changes to a dragon at the end of Das Rheingold and appears thus in Siegfried Act II
• Siegfried changes to Gunther's form in Götterdämmerung Act I, Scene 3.

Finally, it allows one to travel long distances instantly, as Siegfried does in Götterdämmerung Act II, Scene 2.

In popular culture

• It is also an item found in the game Diablo 2.[1]

See also

• Huliðshjálmr (concealing helmet) of Norse dwarves
• Fafnir's helmet Aegis