History
The Rhinegold was the hammer of a Thor that died in a previous Ragnarök and was thrown to Midgard by his sons Magni the Strong & Modi the Angry. As it passed from the ruins of old Asgard to Earth, it changed into blinding gold rock. Crashing into the earth, it changed the course of the river that would become known as the Rhine.
Some unknown time later, it came to be perched upon a tall rock amid the flowing river, guarded by three mermaids: Flosshilda, Vellgunda, Voglinda. One day, Alberich, a gnome of the Nibelung Clan, came upon it and tricked the mermaids into telling him its secrets. They revealed that world conquest would be the prize for anyone who could forge a ring from that golden horde. However, to gain enough magic to do so, they would have to renounce love in all its myriad forms, and no one would be mad enough to do so since love rules all that lives.
Hearing this, Alberich grabbed the Rhinegold and dashed away before the mermaids could stop him. He claimed that since he had never known love, he could not miss it, going so far as to renounce love and even curse it.[1]