David Dickens's “Rings, Belts, and a Bird’s Nest” Outline

1) Invisibility Ring/Belt (Claim)

a) Iwein uses invisibility ring to escape being trapped in his enemy’s castle after he
has killed Ascalon
b) Fails to use invisibility when needed to slip away unnoticed
c) Invisibility is referenced in Plato’s Republic when the stone of the ring faces
inwards
d) Gyges gives king a ring as a gift and king wants to reciprocate gift by allowing
him to see his wife’s beauty
i) Rhodope doesn’t want Gyges to see, so he decides to look at her while
invisible and he sighs from admiration ad she hears
ii) Rhodope demands Kandaules to duel Gyges, but Gyges kills him and
Rhodope must marry Gyges to restore honor
iii) Gyges buries ring with king’s body to end its tragic nature that always
leads to evil
e) Das Rheingold - a dwarf Alberhich steals treasure and makes a ring and a helmet
i) Helmet has invisibility, instantaneous transportation and transformation
powers
ii) Alberich forced to return treasure to Wotan, so he places curse on ring
f) Siegfried uses invisibility and transformation to win Bruhild
i) Results in jealousy, vengeful murder, conflagration
g) Neverending Story
i) Balthassar gets a magic belt that gives invisibility
ii) Uses it to eavesdrop on others to learn about plans against him
iii) Sets out on vengeful pursuit of Atreyu
iv) Loses belt and a bird comes and carries it to her nest
2) Invisibility Cloak (Claim)
a) Gyges employs an invisibility cloak to seduce the queen and gain power and
authority for himself
b) Siegfried first uses the cloak of invisibility to help Gunther overcome Brunhild in
3 traditional contests of strength
c) Invisibility is a supernatural power employed in a good cause for the purpose of
equalizing unequal forces
i) Malice or personal gain is not the motivating force in the epics with
Gyges, in the case of Iwein
ii) Siegfried uses the Tarnkappe to aid someone else
3) Invisibility Cap (Claim)
a) Cap of invisibility leads to the death of Ampedo and Andolosia
i) Many enemies came from Andolosia possessing the cap
ii) Reason and wisdom are more desirable than all the treasures of the world
 iii) Would not have led to their death if they had more wisdom
4) Invisibility Bird’s Nest (Claim)
a) Gives invisibility to whoever carries or wears the bird’s nest
b) Wife gives husband a few coins she’s stolen from a wealthy man using the
invisibility
c) Uses invisibility for mischief in other situations
(1) Playing ghost at parties to cause commotion
(2) Pranks the prioress
d) Wife ends up being burned for being a witch, caught and betrayed by a young
baker’s assistant
e) Grimmelshausen use of a bird’s nest was a way to express opinions about his age
and the world as he saw it
f) Michael Rechulin is the new nest owner
i) Knows the significance of it
ii) Reflects upon Fortunatus, serves as a demonstration that human vanities
and dreams of the sort will lead to sadness and illusions
iii) Originally uses nest for mischief and pranks
iv) Then started exposing dishonesty and deceit
v) Realizes it won’t bring him happiness or peace of mind and decides to get
rid of it; knows misfortunes it could cause in the wrong hands
(1) Anthill breaks it down
vi) Two men come; one knows about Michael and invisibility powers, other
man chooses invisibility and scrape together enough from the anthill to
recreate bird’s nest’s power
g) New owner is the once-wealthy man that Springinsfeld’s wife first stole money
i) Uses it for criminal and sinful fashion
ii) Eventually repents for his life, surrenders nest to confessor and the priest
throws it in the river
5) Motif of Invisibility (Claim)
a) Chamisso writes a story that comes close to the motif of invisibility
i) Peter Schlemihl sells his shadow to a devil-like figure in return for a
bottomless purse of Forunatus
b) Erasmus Spikher surrenders his mirror image to Giullietta to free himself from her
influence
i) Became restless wanderer
c) Kaspar gets a clock with a bird that sings hourly
i) Randomly turns invisible
ii) Deals with invisibility applied to an object, not an object that makes
someone invisible