Idun: Norse Goddess of Youth

Idun is one of the most interesting goddesses in Norse mythology for two reasons. First, she is responsible for maintaining the eternal youth, strength, and immortality of the gods, suggesting something about the Norse conception of divinity.

Secondly, Idun clearly demonstrates that Norse beliefs don’t draw clear lines between the different types of beings – gods, giants, elves, dwarves, and spirits – but see them all as very similar beings, though all super-human.

Goddess of Youth

Idun is best characterized as the goddess of youth, and her name in Old Norse means “ever young” or “rejuvinator”. Her role in Norse mythology is as caretaker of the divine orchards of Asgard. There grow magical golden apples, which Idun harvests and keeps in a box made of ash called eski.

The fruits that she collects are usually called apples, but the Old Norse word for apple, epli, was often used to refer to any fruits or nuts. But these aren’t just any apples, they have the power to bestow eternal youth and vigor upon anyone who eats them.

And these apples seem to be the secret of the youthfulness of the Norse gods. When they don’t eat the fruit for a period, they age, and then Idun must provide them with more magical apples so that they can rejuvenate themselves.

A Superhuman Being

Very little is recorded about Idun in the surviving sources for Norse mythology. This is common for Norse goddesses, as the male author who recorded their stories often treated them like supporting characters. But the scraps of information that we do have about Idun are revealing about the nature of the various beings that inhabited the Norse cosmos.

As well as containing mankind, the Vikings believed in the existence of a variety of different supernatural beings. There are the Aesir gods, the principal deities in Norse mythology including Thor and Odin. There are also the Vanir gods, which are very similar to the Aesir but more associated with nature, such as Freya. Then there are the giants, who again seem very similar to the gods in terms of their power, but rather than pursuing peace and order, they like to sew chaos. The similarity between the gods and the giants is highlighted by the many cases of the two interbreeding. For example, Thor is the son of Odin with the giantess Jord.

In addition to this, there are also light elves, who seem to be superhuman beings of light, and dark elves, often called dwarves because they are characterized as living underground in darkness and being master blacksmiths.

But, while all of these beings are clearly different from human beings, it is entirely unclear how they are different from one another.

What we know about Idun reflects the blurriness of the lines between these different beings.

The Norse goddess lives in Asgard and clearly counts among the Aesir gods. She is one of the many deities that was present at a great feast in Asgard when Loki shows up and decides to insult everyone, recorded in the Lokasenna recorded in the Poetic Edda.

However, she is also described in the Poetic Edda as one of Ivaldi’s elder children. We know that the sons of Ivaldi are a group of dwarves that fashioned a variety of magical objects for the Aesir, including Odin’s spear Gungnir.

She is also described as a Dis, which is an open term for spirits, ghosts, and gods associated with fate.

In the same source, she is described as being of the Alfen race, which is a term often used to refer to light elves. They are often closely linked with the Aesir gods as well, with many references to Aesir ok Alfar (Aesir and Elves). But in the sagas, the Alfar are often associated with honored ancestors of men.

This brings us to Idun’s husband Bragi, referred to in the Prose Edda. He is also a being whose nature is unclear. He seems either to be the god of poetry or a deceased poet who was elevated to be the poet of Valhalla, the hall of Odin in Asgard where the souls of brave warriors are taken. This creates another link between Idun and the idea of honored ancestors.

So, while we can’t pin down the nature of Idun, she reveals much about why exactly that is so difficult.

The Kidnapping of Idun

Only one story survives about Idun recorded in the Prose Edda and it relates to her kidnapping. We are tantalized in the Lokasenna about another story as Loki accused Idun of being man crazy and embracing the man who killed her brother. But no further information survives about this.

The story starts with Odin, Hoenir (who helped Odin create human beings), and Loki hiking through a mountainous region of Asgard. On their way, they come across some Oxen and decide to slay one to eat. But when they try and light a fire to cook the meat, they find that they are unable to do so.

An eagle sitting far above them in a tree laughs at them and tells them that they will be unable to light the fire unless they agree to give it a fair portion of the food. Presumably, it is the eagle that is preventing them from being able to light the fire. So, the group agrees and the eagle flies down.

But it seems that they had no intention of sharing the food, as when the eagle descends Loki tries to hit it with a stick. But the eagle is too fast, and it takes the stick in its talons and flies off, with Loki still hanging on to the stick and begging to be let down.

After a time, the eagle reveals to Loki that it is in fact that giant Thjazi who, like Loki himself, is a shapeshifter. He agrees to let Loki down only in return for a favor. He wants Loki to bring him Idun and her golden apples of youth.

To fulfill his promise, Loki lures Idun away from her orchard and into the dark forest by telling her that he has encountered amazing fruits there even more impressive than her magical apples. She decides to take her box with her as well, either to protect her golden apples or to collect a sample of this fantastic fruit.

But once in the forest, Idun is delivered to Thjazi, again in eagle form. He takes he in his talons and flies away with her to his home in Jotunheim, the land of the giants.

It is unclear how much time passes before Idun is missed, but when the other gods start to feel the pains of old age and do not have access to the golden apples to rejuvenate themselves, they start to wonder what has happened to Idun. As Loki was the last person seen with her, the other gods questioned him.

Under duress, Loki reveals what happened and says that he will retrieve Idun if only the Norse gods will lend him the use of Freya’s falcon cloak to fly there. This is an interesting addition considering that in many other stories, Loki is described as a shapeshifter. He turns himself into a woman and a horse, so surely he could also become a bird.

Nevertheless, Loki flies to Thjazi’s hall in Jotunheim where he finds Idun. He is then able to turn her into a nut so that she is small enough for him to carry back to Asgard. But the escape is soon discovered, and Thjazi chases Loki back to Asgard in eagle form.

Seeing Loki approaching, the gods create a giant fire over the walls of Asgard that reaches up to the heavens. Loki, presumably aware of the plan, turns at the last minute to avoid the fire. But Thjazi flies right into it. His brunt body falls to the ground, and he is killed by the Aesir gods.

Idun is restored to her normal form and is again able to provide the gods with her special golden apples to maintain their eternal youth.

The Secrets of Idun

The stories that we have about Idun tell us very little about the Norse goddess herself. This is largely a result of the nature of the sources, written by male hands and only concerned with the deeds of male deities. For similar reasons, we know very little about most of the Norse goddesses, such as Frigg, Sif, and Sigyn.

But Idun does raise significant questions about the nature of the gods within Norse beliefs. Their immortality seems to have been far from absolute, and the lines between the gods and the other supernatural beings that exist in Norse mythology seem to be very blurred. It is not always easy to distinguish between gods, giants, elves, and spirits.