Idun
Idun is the goddess who keeps the golden apples that ensure the gods' youth in Norse mythology. She is the protagonist of the myth of her abduction by the giant Þjazi, orchestrated by Loki, a central episode recounted in Skáldskaparmál.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-21
Historical fact
Idun is documented in Skáldskaparmál, a section of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, as the keeper of golden apples that the gods eat to remain young. In the central myth involving the goddess, Loki is captured by the giant Þjazi disguised as an eagle and, to save his own life, promises to lure Idun and her apples out of Asgard. Loki convinces Idun to go out with her apples by claiming to have found similar fruit in the forest, and Þjazi abducts her, carrying her and the apples off to his domain. With the apples gone, the gods begin aging rapidly, and force Loki to rescue her — which he does by turning her into a nut and flying back to Asgard in the form of a falcon, pursued by Þjazi (who is then killed by the gods as he tries to fly into Asgard after them).
Interpretation — Eddic Sources (Snorri Sturluson)
In Skáldskaparmál, the myth of Idun's abduction directly demonstrates the gods' own structural dependence on a finite resource vulnerable to theft — divine youth is not a permanent, automatic condition but something actively maintained through Idun's apples, and its temporary absence immediately exposes the Aesir's fragility in the face of aging, a rare theme in the Norse sources, which normally treat the gods as powerful, self-sufficient figures.
Interpretation — Reconstructed Norse Folk Religion (Ásatrú)
In contemporary Ásatrú practice, Idun is usually honored as patron of renewal, vitality, and the preservation of what sustains life over time, a discreet role in the original sources but highlighted in the modern revival as a counterpoint to deities more associated with war and conflict — a reading that emphasizes her functionally indispensable role despite her relatively brief textual presence.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- What are Idun's apples?
- According to Skáldskaparmál, a section of the Prose Edda, they are golden apples kept by Idun that the gods eat to remain young — when the goddess and her apples are abducted by the giant Þjazi, the gods begin aging rapidly.
- What was Loki's role in Idun's abduction?
- According to Skáldskaparmál, Loki was captured by the giant Þjazi disguised as an eagle and, to save his own life, promised to lure Idun out of Asgard with her apples, allowing Þjazi to abduct her — later, forced by the gods, Loki is also the one who rescues her.
Sources
- Snorri Sturluson (trans. Anthony Faulkes). The Prose Edda (c. 1220 (1987 ed.)).
- Anonymous (trans. Carolyne Larrington). The Poetic Edda (13th c. manuscript (2014 ed.)).
- H. R. Ellis Davidson. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (1964).