In Northern Europe, Alberich, the king of the Nibelungs, renounced all love, and forged a ring from the stolen Rheingold. The ring granted the user immeasurable power, in exchange for their renouncement of all that made them. With the many artefacts he had accrued, such as the Tarnhelm, Alberich claimed total dominion over the Nibelungen, and some limited domain over the men of Midgard.