The Keeper of Youth
The goddess Idun guarded the most precious treasure in all Asgard: a store of golden apples that kept the gods forever young. Without them the Æsir would age like any mortal, and so Idun and her fruit were the quiet secret of the gods' enduring strength.
Trouble began when Odin, Loki, and Hœnir were travelling far from home. As they tried to cook an ox, a great eagle perched above them spoiled the meal again and again. The eagle was the giant Thjazi in disguise, and he offered to let them eat only if they shared their food. When Loki struck at him in anger, he found himself stuck fast to the bird and carried helplessly into the sky.
To win his freedom, Loki swore a reckless oath: he would lure Idun and her apples out of Asgard and deliver them into Thjazi's hands. It was a promise that would nearly cost the gods everything.
Key Events of the Tale
Loki's Forced Oath
Caught fast to the eagle Thjazi, Loki agrees to lead Idun and her apples out of Asgard in exchange for his release.
The Luring of Idun
Loki tells Idun he has found apples finer than her own in a wood beyond the walls. Trusting him, she carries her fruit out to compare, straight into Thjazi's waiting talons.
The Gods Grow Old
With Idun and her apples gone, the Æsir begin to wither. Their hair greys and their strength fails. In alarm they trace her disappearance back to Loki and demand he set it right.
The Rescue from Thrymheim
Loki borrows Freyja's falcon cloak and flies to Thjazi's hall of Thrymheim. Finding Idun alone, he changes her into a nut and carries her in his claws back toward Asgard.
The Burning of Thjazi
Thjazi gives chase as an eagle. As Loki clears the walls, the gods light a great fire that catches the giant's wings. He falls inside Asgard and is slain.
The Vengeance of Skadi
Thjazi's daughter Skadi came to Asgard armed for vengeance. To make peace, the gods offered her compensation. She was allowed to choose a husband from among them by looking only at their feet, and hoping for the fair Baldr she chose Njörðr instead. The gods also had to make her laugh, which Loki managed with an undignified tug-of-war against a goat, and Odin set Thjazi's eyes in the sky as stars.
Sources and Related Tales
The tale is told in the Prose Edda, in the section called Skáldskaparmál, and the poem Haustlöng preserves an older skaldic version of the same events.
Quick Facts
Key Participants
Idun
Keeper of the apples that hold back age from the gods.
Thjazi
The eagle-giant who seizes Idun and pays for it with his life.
Skadi
Thjazi's daughter, whose grief earns her a place among the gods.
The Golden Apples
The apples are the source of the gods' agelessness. Only Idun may give them out, which makes her one of the most quietly vital figures in all of Asgard.
Themes & Symbolism
Fragile Immortality: Even the gods' youth depends on a single guardian and her fruit.
Loki as Cause and Cure: The trickster creates the disaster and is forced to undo it.
Debt and Reconciliation: Skadi's grievance is settled through marriage, laughter, and the stars.