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Æsir

Iðunn

The goddess who keeps the apples that keep the gods young. When the giant Þjazi carried her off, the gods began to age, and Loki had to steal her back.

Loki and Idun - John Bauer
Loki and Idun - John Bauer, John Bauer (1911). Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Iðunn is the wife of Bragi and the keeper of the gods' youth. Snorri says "she guards in her chest of ash those apples which the gods must taste whensoever they grow old; and then they all become young, and so it shall be even unto the Weird of the Gods" Gylfaginning 26. See Iðunn's apples.

Her one story shows what that means. The giant Þjazi, in eagle shape, forced Loki to promise to bring her out of Asgard. Loki lured her into a wood by telling her he had found apples as good as hers, and Þjazi carried her off to Þrymheimr Skáldskaparmál 1. Without her, "speedily they became hoary and old". The gods traced her last sighting to Loki and threatened him with death, so he borrowed Freyja's hawk-shape, flew to Þjazi's house, turned Iðunn into a nut and carried her home in his claws Skáldskaparmál 1. The older poem Haustlöng, which Snorri quotes, describes the gods grown "Hoary and old" and "ugly" while she was gone Skáldskaparmál 22. See The theft of Iðunn and her apples.

In Lokasenna, where the name is spelled Ithun, she tries to keep the peace between Bragi and Loki and says she wants no fight Lokasenna 16 Lokasenna 18. Loki answers that she is "Of women most lustful in love" and once embraced her own brother's killer Lokasenna 17. No other text tells that story. Snorri lists her among the goddesses at Ægir's feasts Skáldskaparmál 1 Skáldskaparmál 33, and the poets call her "Wife of Bragi, and Keeper of the Apples" and "Spoil of the Giant Thjazi" Skáldskaparmál 22. Beyond this the sources say almost nothing about her.

In the sources

Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.

His wife is Idunn: she guards in her chest of ash those apples which the gods must taste whensoever they grow old; and then they all become young
Gylfaginning 26 Snorri introduces Iðunn as Bragi's wife and keeper of the apples.
But the Æsir became straitened at the disappearance of Idunn, and speedily they became hoary and old.
Skáldskaparmál 1 What happens to the gods without her.
How should Idunn be periphrased? Thus: by calling her Wife of Bragi, and Keeper of the Apples
Skáldskaparmál 22 The poetic names for Iðunn.
Be silent, Ithun! thou art, I say, Of women most lustful in love, Since thou thy washed-bright arms didst wind About thy brother's slayer.
Lokasenna 17 Loki's insult alludes to a story that is otherwise lost.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • Who Iðunn's brother was and who killed him; Loki's taunt in lokasenna 17 is the only reference.

In modern culture

Not from the medieval sources.

Iðunn and her apples are a staple of children's retellings. In Wagner's Das Rheingold the apples belong to Freia, a figure who merges Freyja with Iðunn.

Myths with Iðunn

Loki's flyting at Ægir's feast Thrown out of the sea-giant Ægir's feast for killing a servant, Loki walks back in and insults every god and goddess in turn, until Thor comes home and threatens him with the hammer. Skaði chooses a husband Þjazi's daughter Skaði comes armed to Asgard for vengeance and accepts a settlement instead: a husband chosen by his feet, and a laugh. She picks Njörðr, hoping for Baldr, and the marriage of mountain and sea does not last. The theft of Iðunn and her apples Caught by a giant in eagle's shape, Loki buys his freedom by luring Iðunn and her apples out of Asgard. The gods grow old, and Loki must steal her back as a falcon, with Þjazi beating after him.

Related

Bragi The god of poetry and eloquence, husband of Iðunn. In Snorri's Skáldskaparmál he is the storyteller who explains the art of poetry to the sea-giant Ægir. Iðunn's apples epli Iðunnar The fruit Iðunn keeps in an ash-wood box, which the gods eat when they grow old to become young again. When Þjazi stole Iðunn, the gods aged. Þjazi A giant who, in the shape of an eagle, forced Loki to lure Iðunn and her apples out of Asgard. The gods burned his wings at their walls and killed him; his eyes became stars. Loki The giant-born trickster counted among the Æsir: father of Fenrir, the Midgard Serpent and Hel, contriver of Baldr's death, bound until Ragnarök. Þrymheimr The mountain home of the giant Þjazi, and later of his daughter Skaði, who returned there to ski and hunt after leaving Njörðr. Skaði A giantess who came to Asgard armed to avenge her father Þjazi, accepted a husband instead, and went back to the mountains to hunt on skis when the marriage to Njörðr failed.