Iðunn

• 1. Name Etymology And Meaning

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  The name Iðunn appears in the 10th century Landnámabók as a personal name for women in Iceland. Two specific incidents record women named Iðunn Arnardóttir and Iðunn Molda-Gnúpsdóttir, daughters of early settlers during the pagan period. Scholars have proposed that this name means 'ever young', 'rejuvenator', or 'the rejuvenating one'. Jacob Grimm suggested a potential etymological connection to the idisi, stating that the goddess Idunn may possibly be connected with the original form idis. The modern English alphabet lacks the eth character, so the name is sometimes anglicized as Idhunn, Idunn, Idun, or Ithun. An -a suffix is sometimes appended to denote femininity, resulting in forms such as Iduna and Idunna. The 19th century author C.M. Yonge writes that the derivation of Idonea from Idunn is almost certain.

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• 2. Primary Mythological Attestations

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  Iðunn appears in the Poetic Edda poem Lokasenna where she is introduced as Bragi's wife in the prose introduction. In stanzas 16, 17, and 18, dialog occurs between Loki and Iðunn after Loki has insulted Bragi. The Prose Edda describes her as keeper of an eski within which she keeps apples. These apples are bitten into by the gods when they begin to grow old and they then become young again. This process continues up until Ragnarök. Gangleri states that it seems he that the gods depend greatly upon Iðunn's good faith and care. In chapter 55 of Skáldskaparmál, Idunn is mentioned as one of eight ásynjur sitting in their thrones at a banquet in Asgard for Ägir. She appears a final time in chapter 75 of the Prose Edda in a list of ásynjur.

• 3. The Abduction Narrative Arc

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  Loki was once forced by the jötunn Þjazi to lure Iðunn out of Asgard and into a wood with the promise of apples even fairer than her own. Þjazi, in the form of an eagle, abducts Iðunn from the wood, bearing her off to his home. Iðunn's absence causes the gods to grow old and grey, and they realize that Loki is responsible for her disappearance. Under duress, Loki promises to bring her back and setting out in the form of a falcon, eventually finds her alone at Þjazi's home. He turns her into a nut and flies back toward Asgard. When Þjazi returns to find Iðunn gone, he assumes his eagle form once more and flies off in hot pursuit of Loki and his precious burden. The gods build a pyre in the courtyard of Asgard and just as Loki has stopped short of it, kindle it. Unable to halt his frenzied onrush, Þjazi plunges headlong through the fire, falling to the ground with his feathers aflame, whereupon the gods attack and kill him.

• 4. Apples Fertility And Symbolism

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  English scholar Hilda Ellis Davidson links apples to religious practices in Germanic paganism. She points out that buckets of apples were found in the 9th century Oseberg ship burial site in Norway. Fruit and nuts have been found in the early graves of the Germanic peoples in England and elsewhere on the continent of Europe which may have had a symbolic meaning. Nuts are still a recognized symbol of fertility in Southwest England. Davidson notes a connection between apples and the Vanir, citing an instance of eleven golden apples being given to woo the beautiful Gerðr by Skírnir. In chapter 2 of the Völsunga saga when the major goddess Frigg sends King Rerir an apple after he prays to Odin for a child, Frigg's messenger drops the apple in his lap as he sits atop a mound. Rerir's wife's consumption of the apple results in a six-year pregnancy and the caesarean section birth of their son, the hero Völsung.

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• 5. Indo-European Comparative Myths

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  David Knipe theorizes Iðunn's abduction by Thjazi in eagle form as an example of the Indo-European motif of an eagle who steals the celestial means of immortality. A parallel to the theft of Iðunn's apples has been noted in the Celtic myth where Brian, Iuchar, and Icharba assume the guise of hawks in order to steal sacred apples from the garden of Hisberna. Here too there is pursuit, the guardians being female griffins. John Lindow theorizes that the possible etymological meaning of Iðunn would potentially allow her to perform her ability to provide eternal youthfulness without her apples. Richard North comments that Iðunn is probably to be understood as an aspect of Freyja, a goddess whom the gods rely on for their youth and beauty. Lee Hollander opines that Lokasenna was intended to be humorous and that the accusations thrown by Loki are not necessarily to be taken as generally accepted lore at the time it was composed.

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• 6. Artistic Depictions And Legacy

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  Iðunn has been the subject of a number of artistic depictions including Idun statue from 1821 by H.E. Freund and Idun statue from 1843 by C.G. Qvarnström. The 19th century composer Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle features Freia, a version of the goddess Freyja combined with Iðunn. Several publications have been named after the goddess including the United States-based Germanic neopagan group The Troth publication Idunna edited by Diana L. Paxson. The Swedish women's journal Idun depicted Idun with her basket of apples on its banner. An American Swedish-language women's journal New Idun was published from 1906 to 1924. The asteroid 176 Iduna was named after the men's association. In 2024, the Swedish Maritime Administration renamed a recently acquired second-hand icebreaker Idun to reflect how the ship would rejuvenate the aging state-owned fleet.

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