I'm beginning to feel, to quote a private note just received from another
lister, that Wagnerism can clearly become a clinical condition if not
treated with regular doses of Mediterranean sunshine (in order to
re-establish a sense of proportion and balance).

Alberich is a character and not a symbol (mythic or otherwise).  He
renounced sex and love for gold because he was too ugly to get laid.
I suggest that it begins and ends right there.

Observant listers will know that being ugly is the exclusive preserve of
nobody.

John G. Deacon