3

The Apples of Iduna

In the early days of the world there came a boat sailing over the sea in the fair summer weather. In it sat a handsome youth who played upon a golden harp and sang sweetly to the white gulls who flew around him. Presently the boat touched the shore as near to Asgard as the bright sea came, and the minstrel stepped on to the land.

As he went forward green grass sprang up out of the bare earth all round him, and after the grass came flowers. Then the birds sang, and the small animals frisked and frolicked on either side.

As he drew nearer to Asgard the Æsir heard the sweet strains of his harp and hastened across the Bridge Bifrost to meet him.

But before they came, the earth shook and opened beside him, and out stepped a lovely maiden, as fair as the spring itself, carrying in her hands a casket of gold.

The minstrel seemed to expect her, for he held out his hand, and she took it in hers, so that when they came to the foot of Bifrost they were walking hand in hand.

‘Welcome to you, great lords of Asgard!’ cried the minstrel. ‘I come to you out of Jotunheim where the Giants dwell, yet I am one of yourselves. Gunnlod the beautiful is my mother, she who guarded the Mead of Inspiration made from the blood of Kvasir. Odin is my father, for he wedded her in the treasure vault of Suttung. The blood of Kvasir flows in my veins, and I am here to sing and play for you in Asgard.’

‘Welcome to you, my son Bragi, Lord of Poesy and sweet Music,’ said Odin. ‘My wisdom told me that you would come, and with you great joy to the Æsir.’

‘I bring you joy indeed,’ answered Bragi, and he led forward the lovely Earth-maiden who walked beside him. ‘This is my bride to be, Iduna the Beautiful, the daughter of Ivaldi the Earth Dwarf.’

‘Welcome to Asgard, Iduna, Lady of Youth,’ said Odin. ‘Now tell us, I pray, what you carry with you in your casket of gold?’

‘I bring you the Apples of Youth,’ answered Iduna in a voice as soft and sweet as water tinkling into a mountain pool. ‘Of these you shall eat and be young and strong for ever.’

‘Welcome, thrice welcome to Asgard!’ cried Odin, his face shining with joy. ‘Even the gods grow old, and we have need of youth and strength if we are to fight against the Giants and bring fair gifts to the dwellers in Midgard.

‘Now come both of you into Asgard, and tonight we shall hold your wedding feast with rejoicing such as we have never known before.’

So the wedding of Bragi and Iduna took place that night, and ever afterwards they dwelt among the Æsir. And at the ending of a feast Iduna would glide softly about the banquet hall and give to each of them an apple from her golden casket, and they would eat and feel youth course through their veins more strongly than ever. And however many apples were given by Iduna to the Æsir, her casket remained always full.

Of course the Giants, when they heard of this wonder, were anxious to steal the apples for themselves. But for a long time they strove in vain: for none of them could creep into Asgard, and Iduna never took her apples down into the plains of Midgard.

One day, however, Odin and his brother, Honir the shining one, set out through Midgard disguised as ordinary travellers, observing the joys and sorrows, the labours and pastimes of mortal men.

They went fast and far, and on their journey they came to the mountains not far from the borders of Jotunheim.

As they wandered through the valleys and pine forests, a young man met them, fair to look upon, with twinkling, mischievous eyes.

‘Greetings to you, Odin and Honir, mighty Æsir, sons of Borr and Bestla!’ he cried.

Odin frowned, and answered severely:

‘Young sir, how comes it that you are so familiar with our names and state? Surely some magic of the Giants is in this?’

‘No magic at all,’ answered the stranger. ‘For I am your cousin, and my name is Loki. True, the Giant blood is in my veins, but it runs in yours also, I believe. For Bestla’s father was Bælthorn the Giant, and his brother Bergelmir was father to my father Farbauti … So I beg you, my cousins, let me join you on your wanderings and prove if I am worthy to stand with the Æsir in their struggle against the evil Giants who dwell in Jotunheim.’

So Loki went with Odin and Honir, and helped them in their work. And he soon proved that he would be useful to the guardians of Asgard, for his cleverness and cunning were very great; he was always ready with some plan to help them out of a difficulty. Also he had, like Odin, the power of changing himself into any shape he wished.

One day, however, he met with a power greater than his own, and showed that he was by no means free from the evil of the Giant race.

With Odin and Honir, he had been wandering over mountains and waste places, where food was hard to find. But when they came down into a certain lonely valley they saw a herd of oxen grazing there.

One of these oxen they took and killed, and clever Loki kindled a fire by means of two sticks rubbed together, and set about cooking them a huge dinner.

After a time Loki thought that the meat must be cooked, so he took the spit from the fire and was about to carve the great piece of meat when, to his amazement, he saw that it was still completely raw.

He set it back over the fiercest part of the fire, and left it there for half an hour more.

At the end of that time Honir exclaimed:

‘Surely the ox must be cooked by now! Where is your usual skill, Loki?’

Then Loki told them what had happened: ‘And I think there is something strange about this,’ he ended, ‘so will both of you examine the fire before I take off the meat – and the meat as soon as it is clear of the fire?’

Loki scattered the fire and lifted off the beef.

‘Look!’ he exclaimed. ‘It’s as raw as when we had just flayed the beast! Yet it has been over the fire for nearly two hours!’

The two Æsir examined it, and saw to their surprise that Loki was quite correct.

‘There must be evil magic at work here,’ said Odin.

‘Ha! ha!’ cried a harsh voice in the great tree above them. ‘You will never cook that meat without my help!’

They looked up in surprise, and there sat a great eagle.

‘Will you help us, then?’ said Loki, who was the first to recover from his surprise.

‘Yes, I’ll help you!’ cried the eagle. ‘But you must promise that when the ox is cooked you will let me eat as much as I want before you start.’

The Æsir agreed, for they were very hungry, and the eagle flew down and fanned the fire into a blaze with his big wings.

When Loki pushed away the burning branches and took the ox from its skewer, it was beautifully cooked right through.

‘Now I’ll take my portion,’ said the eagle, ‘and then you can begin your meal!’

So saying, he helped himself to all four legs, hams, loins and shoulders.

‘Stop!’ shouted Loki, springing up in a rage. ‘You’ve taken far more than your share, and not left enough for the three of us. Why, I myself could easily eat all that remains!’

The eagle paid no attention, but sat back gorging the roast beef and chuckling to itself.

Then Loki lost his temper completely. He picked up a branch which lay near by and struck the eagle with it, shouting:

‘Give us back some of the meat, you greedy brute!’

At once the eagle rose into the air and flew away. But the branch had stuck to his feathers, and Loki was stuck to the branch. Struggle as hard as he could, neither would come loose.

Down swooped the eagle as soon as they drew near to a mountain-side, and Loki was dragged over sharp stones and rocks, through trees and thorn bushes and brambles, till he was in a sorry state. He felt as though his arms would be torn from their sockets at any moment.

So he began to beg for his life, and offer the eagle any reward he chose to name.

‘Bring Iduna out of Asgard, with her casket of apples, and I will take you back to your friends and restore your dinner,’ answered the eagle.

Loki refused indignantly. ‘I could not do that even if I wanted to,’ he ended. ‘I am not yet one of the Æsir, and I doubt if they would even let me into Asgard.’

‘Then I’ll drag you from end to end of Midgard and back again,’ screamed the eagle fiercely. ‘Know that I am Thiassi the Storm Giant – and what I have done is nothing to what I am able to do!’

Loki was very frightened when he heard this, and he at once promised to do everything in his power to bring Iduna and her apples out of Asgard.

So Thiassi carried him back to where Odin and Honir were still waiting by the fire, released him from the branch, and returned both hind legs of the ox to the hungry Æsir.

Loki did not tell Odin and Honir of the bargain he had made, nor even that the eagle was in reality a Storm Giant. He said only that he had been justly punished for striking the eagle – to whom, he added, the ox they had killed really belonged – and that it had forgiven him and returned some of the meat to make up for the punishment it had given him.

Odin suspected nothing, and indeed seemed so pleased with Loki that when they returned to Asgard he gave him a dwelling-place in Midgard near the foot of Bifrost Bridge, and often went down there to consult him.

Loki worked hard and well for the Æsir. But he did not forget his promise to Thiassi the Storm Giant, and his crafty mind was busy with schemes for luring Iduna out of Asgard by herself – with her magic apples.

One day she and Bragi came to walk in the pleasant meadows and woods of Midgard, and when she became separated from Bragi for a few moments Loki met her in disguise and said:

‘Lady Iduna, I have heard much of the wonderful apples you keep in Asgard. Not far from here is a little wood where grow just such apples as yours, only these I am sure both look and taste far fairer than yours.’

‘I cannot believe that,’ answered Iduna. ‘But if it could be true, then it is my duty to pluck these apples of which you speak. For only the Æsir must eat of them.’

‘If only you had your own apples with you,’ said Loki, ‘you could compare them with the apples which I have found.’

‘I have not brought them,’ answered Iduna, suspecting no evil. ‘But I shall come back tomorrow, and bring my casket with me from Asgard. I cannot rest until I know what apples these are which you have found … For I believed that kind Mother Earth had yielded only the one crop of the Apples of Youth – that crop which she entrusted to me.’

When Iduna had gone back to find Bragi, Loki made haste to inform the Giant Thiassi of the chance which he would have on the morrow.

And next day he was waiting in the same disguise near the foot of Bifrost from the moment when the bright Sun chariot set out across the sky.

Early in the afternoon Iduna came down the shining rainbow bridge, as young and lovely as the spring itself, and carrying the golden casket in her hands.

Loki lost no time in taking her out of sight under the trees, and as soon as they were well away from Asgard, he begged her to wait a moment, then slipped quickly back by the path they had come. As soon as he reached the edge of the wood, he cast off his disguise, and for the rest of the day walked in the plain below Asgard hoping that Odin or one of the Æsir might see him.

Meanwhile the great eagle had swooped down upon Iduna and carried her away – away over Midgard and deep into Jotunheim, until he came to Thrymheim, the Kingdom of the Winds.

There he set her down in a mighty castle built on the top of a bare rocky mountain round which the tempests raged and wailed day and night without ceasing.

Then he cast off his eagle disguise and stood before poor, trembling Iduna in his own terrible Giant form.

‘I am Thiassi the Storm Giant!’ he cried. ‘And this is my stronghold, far from Asgard, far from any help that the Æsir could render you. Here you must stay, and if you will give me to eat of your magic Apples of Youth, I will make you my wife and Queen of Thrymheim.’

‘Never, never!’ cried Iduna bravely. ‘These apples are for the Æsir alone, and no Giant lips shall ever touch them. Nor can I ever be your queen, for I am the wife of Bragi the divine minstrel, master of all sweet songs.’

At that Thiassi roared with rage until the very castle shook beneath his hurricane breath.

‘Here you shall stay!’ he shrieked. ‘Here, alone, until you grant what I wish!’ So saying he shut Iduna into the highest room of the tower above the castle, and went raging away, spreading havoc through Jotunheim, and over Midgard.

Meanwhile in Asgard the Æsir began to miss the nightly visits of Iduna to the banqueting hall with her golden casket of magic fruit.

‘Where is Iduna?’ they asked, and Bragi could only shake his head sadly and strike a melancholy tune from the strings of his golden harp.

‘She has gone from me, and I know not whither,’ he sighed. ‘Out of the earth she came to me: perhaps she has returned into the earth … But surely she will come again.’

Age now began to touch the Æsir. There came a streak of silver even into Baldur’s golden hair; Odin’s limbs grew stiff, and Thor himself felt the weight of years upon his mighty shoulders.

Odin could learn nothing of Iduna: even from Lidskialf he could not see what had become of her, nor would Mimir’s Head prophesy of her return.

But Hugin and Munin, Odin’s ravens, flew fast and far: over all Midgard and day by day deeper into Jotunheim. And at last they brought back news:

‘Iduna is in the tall tower above the castle of Thiassi the Storm Giant in windy Thrymheim,’ they croaked. ‘She keeps the Apples of Youth safely in their golden casket, and Thiassi cannot touch them. But she grows pale and wan as she sits in the high window gazing, gazing towards Asgard and calling in vain upon Bragi to come to her aid.’

Then Odin gathered the Æsir in council, and told them what he had learnt.

‘We must attack Jotunheim and kill every Giant in it!’ shouted Thor in his voice of thunder. ‘There is not a moment to be lost, for we grow old already!’

Odin smiled and shook his head.

‘You were ever in a hurry, my son,’ he said. ‘You have always believed that strength will accomplish everything, and patience nothing. Even as a babe your kindly mother Jord could not control you – and I well remember how you first showed your mighty strength by lifting ten loads of bearskins which she had piled upon you in a vain effort to keep you in your cradle. No, this time cunning is our only chance … But I do not know who can help us, for the Giants are on guard, and I cannot slip into Jotunheim in disguise as easily as I did when I won the Mead of Inspiration out of Suttung’s treasure vault.’

Then Honir the shining one spoke, for he was in Asgard on a visit from the Vanir with whom his home now was.

‘I remember when last we went through the world,’ he said, ‘that a certain Loki, who seemed half a Giant, and yet more like one of us Æsir, came with us. And whatever trouble we met, he got us out of it easily by his cunning.’

‘Well remembered, my brother,’ cried Odin. ‘Loki is the person we want. He lives now in Midgard, not far from the foot of Bifrost, and I visit him from time to time to seek advice from him.’

So Odin and many of the Æsir went down over Bifrost Bridge and found Loki in his wood nearby.

When they told him about the theft of Iduna and her apples, and asked him if he could help to get her back, Loki looked very grave.

‘I might be able to rescue the Lady Iduna,’ he said at length, ‘but it will be hard and dangerous … My greatest difficulty is that I am not one of the Æsir and, being of the Giant kin myself, I cannot enter Asgard.’

‘If you can bring back Iduna safely, and with her the Apples of Youth, we will make you one of ourselves,’ said Odin. ‘But you must also swear to be loyal and faithful in our war against the Giants.’

Loki agreed to this, binding himself by terrible oaths which would bring upon him the most dreadful punishments if he broke them. Then Odin solemnly made him his blood-brother, and said:

‘Now the blood of the Æsir flows in your veins, and you may enter Asgard as one of ourselves. Nevertheless, swift and terrible shall be your doom if you enter it and do not bring back Iduna the beautiful and her magic apples.’

‘I go to fetch her from Thrymheim,’ answered Loki triumphantly. ‘Meanwhile make ready a great fire of shavings and resinous pine in the very gateway of Asgard. But do not kindle it until the moment arrives … Remember that I can change into any shape I wish, but Thiassi the Storm Giant can take only the form of a monstrous eagle.’

Loki set out, walking swiftly. But as soon as he was out of sight of the Æsir he turned himself into a falcon and flew off in the direction of Thrymheim. When he reached the castle, he flew round it for some time, listening to what the Giant warriors and servants were saying. From their conversation he learnt that Thiassi had gone out fishing, and that Iduna was quite alone up in her prison in the tower.

So he flew boldly in through the window, and found Iduna sitting sadly there with her beautiful face resting on her hands, gazing, ever gazing out towards the bright spring lands beyond wintery Jotunheim.

‘Lady Iduna!’ he cried. ‘Quickly! I have come from Asgard to rescue you – to carry you back to your husband! Take the golden casket with the Apples of Youth in it, hold it firmly whatever happens, and trust to me.’

Iduna sprang up eagerly, wrapped her cloak about her, snatched up the golden casket, and, clasping it firmly to her breast, she exclaimed:

‘O blessed bird out of the world of light and summer, I am ready! Only take me in safety to Asgard, and the falcon shall be for ever the friend of the Æsir and of the dwellers in Midgard – the bird whom no man would hurt.’

Then Loki the falcon turned Iduna into the shape and size of a nut, seized her in his claws, and flew swiftly out of the window.

In a little while the Giant Thiassi returned home, and went up to the room in the tower-top. When he found that both Iduna and her apples were gone, his rage was so violent that the very tower came tumbling down into the courtyard.

‘No one has been here!’ cried the trembling servants. ‘And no creature either, save for a falcon which hovered about for some time. Then it flew in through the tower window, and a few moments later flew out again carrying what looked like a sparrow – for on such small birds these hawks delight to feed. It flew away not long ago, over the mountains towards Midgard.’

Then Thiassi took upon himself the shape of a mighty eagle, so great that his wings seemed to stretch across the sky. He leapt into the air, and the winds went shrieking after him as he soared up and away. With a mighty rushing sound he tore across Jotunheim and over Midgard; and beneath his flight the trees were wrenched from the ground and the yellow corn was beaten flat; great castles fell, houses and haystacks were scattered and ships at sea were tossed upon the rocks or overwhelmed by the mountainous waves.

In Asgard the Æsir waited by the great gateway, looking anxiously out over Midgard towards Jotunheim.

Suddenly Heimdall the far-sighted cried:

‘I see a falcon flying from Jotunheim, and it holds in its claws a nut! It is flying fast in this direction … Now, far behind it I see an eagle: never was there so great an eagle in Midgard. The eagle flies faster than the falcon and it is overtaking it!’

Now the Æsir themselves could see the valiant falcon with the nut in its claws flying towards them. And they saw the black eagle, growing bigger and bigger as it tore through the air behind it. They could see the forests bowing beneath the wings of the eagle and the corn lying flat as it passed over Midgard, and they knew that it was Thiassi the Storm Giant.

Watching eagerly, the Æsir took lighted torches and stood on either side of the great heap of shavings and resinous wood in the gate where Bifrost Bridge entered Asgard.

Nearer and nearer came the falcon, but it was almost spent, and nearer too drew the giant eagle. There were only a few yards of space between them when the falcon swooped through the gateway and down into the shadow of the wall.

Instantly the Æsir flung their torches into the heap, and the flames roared up suddenly as the eagle, unable to stop in his flight as he missed the falcon, plunged in through the gateway.

Straight into the flames went the eagle, and the feathers of his wings caught fire so that he fell in the gate of the Æsir, and died there beneath the sharp blades of swords, and spears, and battle-axes.

The Æsir turned from the dead Giant Thiassi, and saw Loki standing in the shadow of the wall. Beside him stood Iduna with the golden casket in her hands, and with a glad cry she ran forward and Bragi clasped her in his arms.

That night Loki took his place among the Æsir at the great feast, and ate with them of the Apples of Youth at the feast’s ending. And ever afterwards they accepted him, even as they had accepted Niord, King of the Vanir, as one of themselves.

But although Thiassi was dead and Iduna with her apples was once more in Asgard, the danger from the Storm Giants was not yet over.

Next day there came striding across Midgard a Giant maiden dressed in glittering armour and waving a spear in her hand.

‘I am Skadi, daughter of Thiassi the Storm Giant!’ she cried. ‘And I come to demand vengeance for the death of my father. If you do not grant it, I can take it easily, for Thiassi had two brothers, Idi and Gang, each as strong and as mighty as he was!’

Then Odin, standing in the gate of the Æsir, replied:

‘Skadi, we do not wish to fight with you. So we offer you recompense for the death of your father. And we offer friendship to you and your kin. Say now how much gold the blood-price must be.’

Then Skadi cried out: ‘We have more gold than there is in all Asgard. Do you not know that when the Giant Olvaldi died and his three sons, Thiassi, Idi, and Gang, came to measure his gold, there was so much that no scales in the world would hold a tithe of it, so they had to divide it out in mouthfuls? No, you must give me a husband from among the Æsir, and you must make me laugh – a thing which I have never done.’

The Æsir discussed her offer among themselves, and it seemed to them wise to fall in with her wishes: for Skadi was very beautiful, and an alliance with the Storm Giants necessary, if Midgard and Asgard were not to be destroyed by them.

So Odin made answer: ‘We agree to your terms, warrior maiden. But you must choose your husband by the feet only, seeing no more of him until after your choice is made.’

Skadi agreed to this, and Odin led her up into Asgard where she stood in her shining armour seeming little taller than anyone there. Then he led her on, into the great hall, and showed her a curtain behind which all the Æsir stood, with only their feet visible.

Skadi examined their feet, and when she came to one pair far more fair than any of the rest, she exclaimed:

‘I choose this husband: I could not have a better mate than Baldur!’

But when the curtain was drawn aside, she saw that it was not Baldur but Niord of Vanaheim whom she had chosen.

Nevertheless both of them were content, and the wedding feast was held that night, and Loki played such merry antics with a goat that Skadi laughed aloud, and so the compact was sealed.

Trouble came between them very soon, however, for Niord wished to dwell in his castle of Noatun near the sea, while Skadi longed for her windy home in Thrymheim. They made an agreement then that they should dwell nine nights in Thrymheim, and the next nine in Noatun. But when Niord returned to his castle, he cried:

‘Oh, how I loathed the hills! How horrible the wailing of the wolves sounded after the song of the birds!’

Skadi, however, said just the opposite: ‘Here, I can never sleep on account of the wailing of the sea-birds. And if I do fall asleep, the sea-mew wakes me before the morning.’

So she spent more and more of her time up in the mountains, speeding about on her snowshoes, shooting bears with her swift arrows. But nevertheless in lovely Noatun by the sea two wondrous children were born to Skadi and Niord: a son called Frey and a daughter called Freya.

When they were grown they went to live in Asgard, and none were more loved and honoured among the Æsir than Frey, the Lord of Fruitfulness and bounteous Peace, and Freya, Lady of Love and Beauty – who nevertheless would go forth to battle at Odin’s side driving her golden chariot drawn by two cats.