Idun's Apples
Which kept the gods young
In a similar vein to my previous nut tale, I wanted to find a nice story about apples this week, as I’ve been enjoying lots of free ones left out by neighbours who have an over-abundance. The flavour has been amazing compared to the nondescript sweetness of supermarket apples and has felt very nostalgic of how apples used to taste when I was a child!
There are quite a few apple legends and folktales, but I think my favourite is this one from Norse mythology:
Idun, the Norse goddess of youth, renewal, and eternal life, is known as the keeper of the golden apples - magical fruits that grant the gods their immortality and prevent them from aging. Without these apples, the gods would grow old and lose their strength.
One day Loki, the trickster companion to the gods, got into a quarrel with a giant named Thiazi, in which he was in danger of death. He pleaded for mercy, but Thiazi would not let him go easily.
“If you wish to live, you will bring me Idun and her golden apples,” the giant demanded. “Fail, and you will never set foot in the land of the gods again!”
Desperate and fearful, Loki had no choice but to agree. He sought out Idun in her orchard, where the golden apples glowed with an otherworldly radiance. “Idun, dear keeper of youth, I have discovered apples even more wondrous than your own,” he said to her with a smile. “Come, let me show you.”
Curious, Idun followed Loki out of the realm of the gods into that of humans, but as they entered the human lands, a dark shadow fell upon them. From the sky descended the giant Thiazi in the form of an eagle, his great wings blotting out the sun. He seized Idun in his talons and carried her away to his fortress.
Days passed and, in the absence of Idun’s apples, the gods began to age. Their skin grew wrinkled, their hair turned grey and their strength faded. With fury, they looked for the culprit behind Idun’s disappearance. Under their wrathful gaze, Loki confessed his treachery, but vowed to make amends.
Loki borrowed the goddess Freya’s falcon cloak to transform himself into a swift bird and soared across the vast expanse to Thiazi’s castle. There, he found Idun trapped in a cold stone chamber, her golden apples locked away. Loki cast a spell and transformed Idun into a small nut, then, clutching her in his talons, he fled.
Thiazi, discovering what had happened, gave chase in his eagle form. Over mountains and across frozen rivers they raced, the winds howling with the giant’s fury. But the gods were prepared - as Loki neared the gates, they lit a great fire, its flames reaching high into the heavens. Thiazi, flying too fast to stop, was engulfed in the blaze and fell to his doom.
Idun was restored, and with her return the apples of youth grew once more in the land of the gods. The gods became strong and youthful again and so, the cycle of renewal continued, as it always would, thanks to Idun, the keeper of youth and the guardian of life’s eternal bloom.
There are lots of versions of this Norse myth and I cobbled together mine from a few different sources, but predominantly used this one here.