This movie has many names--Curse of the Ring, Kingdom in Twilight, etc. Perhaps the most famous name is the Ring of Nibelungen composed by Wagner, which is original from an ancient saga of Viking.
When I was playing Valkyrie Profile, a PS2 game published by SQUARE-ENIX, I came into interest with mythology of North Europe; then I ran into the movie. The story is about a cursed ring. Because the power of the ring was so great that would risk Odin's strength, the lord of Gods, Odin wanted to have the ring. To get the ring, Odin managed a plot. He lured a human warrior, called Siegfried, forged an unbeatable sword, Nothung, to slay the dragon Fafner who guarded the treasure; yet, the warrior occupied the ring even though he had been warned. He longed to give the treasure to his lover, Brunnhilde and he had promised Brunnhilde that he would find her in Iceland. However a dark magician wanted this treasure to stay. Meanwhile, he knew his sister, Gutrune, love Siegfried. He persuaded his sister into letting Siegfried drink a magic potion which could make people forget their love one. And Siegfried did and fell in love with Gutrune. In the end, Brunnhilde found Siegfried no longer love her and she swore to revenge. Until she found out Siegfried was poisoned, she realized all of these were no more than a plot directed by Odin...
The fable was so great that it even inspired Tolkien with his the Lord of the Rings, which is also about a powerful ring how to tempt mortals. Well, at least LoTR wasn't as sad as Nibelungen. But the love story inside Nibelungen is impeccable. Nevertheless, there will be new fantasy stories keep coming in the future; no matter how trilling they are, the state of Nibelungen is implacable.
