(
The Ring of the Nibelung),
WWV 86, is a
cycle of four
epic music dramas by the German composer
Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from the
Norse sagas and the
Nibelungenlied. The composer termed the cycle a "Bühnenfestspiel" (stage festival play), structured in three days preceded by a ("preliminary evening"). It is often referred to as the
Ring Cycle,
Wagner's Ring, or simply
The Ring.