Introduction
Idunn is the goddess who keeps the golden apples that the Aesir gods eat to remain eternally young; her kidnapping by the giant Thjazi, and the gods' rapid ageing in her absence, is one of the clearest demonstrations in Norse myth of how dependent even the gods are on maintaining their sources of vitality.
This article follows Old Norse mythological tradition, chiefly the Poetic Edda and Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, noting where the two sources differ.
Family
- Husband: Bragi
The apples of youth
Idunn keeps a box or chest of golden apples, which the gods eat regularly to prevent themselves from ageing. Without access to them, even the gods begin to grow old and grey.
Kidnapping by Thjazi
Loki, tricked or coerced by the giant Thjazi (who had captured him and threatened his life), lured Idunn out of Asgard on a false pretext, and Thjazi, in the form of a giant eagle, seized her and carried her, with her apples, to his home in Jotunheim. As the gods began visibly to age without the apples, they realized Idunn was missing and, tracing the blame to Loki, forced him to rescue her.
Rescue
Loki, borrowing Freyja's falcon-feather cloak, flew to Jotunheim, transformed Idunn into a nut, and carried her back to Asgard. Thjazi, pursuing in eagle form, was killed by the gods as he crossed into Asgard, his fiery wings set alight by bonfires the gods had prepared.
Marriage to Bragi
Idunn's husband is Bragi, the god of poetry; the story of her rescue is itself preserved in an early skaldic poem, Haustlöng, composed by the poet Thjodolf of Hvinir.