Table of Contents
Tradition: Norse (primarily the Prose Edda)
Main Figures: Loki, Idunn (Iðunn), Thjazi (Þjazi), Odin, the Æsir, Skaði
Themes: Coercion and reluctant betrayal • The fragility of divine youth • Cunning as both problem and solution • Consequences that outlast the original crime • Negotiation after violence
Setting: Asgard (home of the gods) and Jötunheimr (the realm of the giants)
Among the stories preserved in the Prose Edda there is a tale in which the gods nearly lose their youth forever. It begins with Loki flying over the wilderness, continues with the abduction of the goddess who keeps the apples of immortality, and ends with a desperate rescue and a giant’s death. The episode is sometimes called the theft of Idunn’s apples. It shows how easily the security of Asgard can be threatened, and how the same god who creates the danger is forced to repair it. What follows is a retelling based mainly on the account in Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda, with explanations in brackets to help readers who are new to the material.
The narrative belongs to Norse mythology as written down in medieval Iceland. It is presented here as a traditional story, not as a claim of historical or religious fact.
The Story
The Eagle in the Wilderness
One day Odin, Loki, and Hœnir were travelling together through mountains and barren country where food was scarce. They found a herd of oxen and killed one, but every time they tried to cook the meat it remained raw. Sitting on an oak tree above them was a great eagle. The eagle spoke and said that the meat would cook if they allowed him a share. The gods agreed. The eagle then took the best portions—the two hindquarters and both shoulders.
Loki, angry at the loss, struck at the eagle with a long pole. The pole stuck fast to the bird’s body, and Loki’s hands stuck fast to the other end. The eagle rose into the air, dragging Loki with him. He flew low enough that Loki’s feet banged against stones and trees, and he refused to release the trapped god until Loki swore an oath to lure Idunn out of Asgard with her apples.
The eagle was the giant Thjazi (also called Þjazi) in shape-shifted form. Once Loki gave his word, the eagle released him and he returned to the other gods, shaken and already bound by a promise he had no wish to keep.
The eagle flew up with Loki dragging behind... Loki’s feet banged against rocks and trees, and he thought his arms would be torn from his shoulders. He cried out, begging for peace, but the eagle said he would never be free unless he gave his oath to bring Idunn and her apples out of Asgard.
Prose Edda, Skáldskaparmál (adapted)
The Luring of Idunn
Idunn (Iðunn) was the goddess who kept the apples that the gods ate to maintain their youth and vigour. Without those apples they would age like mortals. She is described as the wife of Bragi, the god of poetry, and as careful with her charge.
Loki went to her and told her that he had found apples of even better quality growing in a wood beyond Asgard. He urged her to bring her own apples so they could compare them. Trusting him, or at least not suspecting the depth of the danger, Idunn left the safety of the stronghold with her apples. At once Thjazi arrived in eagle form, seized her, and flew off to his home in Thrymheimr, high in the mountains of Jötunheimr.
The Aging of the Gods
Time passed and Idunn did not return. The gods began to notice the effects. Their hair greyed, their faces grew lined, and the strength of youth left them. They met in council and asked one another who had last seen Idunn. It became clear that she had left with Loki. The gods seized him and threatened him with death and prolonged torment unless he recovered her.
Loki, facing the united anger of the Æsir, promised to bring Idunn back if Freyja would lend him her falcon shape (the feather-cloak that allowed its wearer to fly). Freyja agreed. Loki put on the falcon skin and flew north to Jötunheimr.
The Rescue
He found Idunn alone in Thjazi’s halls; the giant had rowed out to sea. Loki turned her into a nut (or in some tellings a seed or a similar small object), grasped her in his claws, and flew back toward Asgard as fast as the falcon shape would carry him.
Thjazi returned, discovered the loss, and set off in pursuit, once more in eagle form. The eagle’s wings beat harder and faster than the falcon’s. The gods, watching from the walls of Asgard, saw the two birds approaching and realised that Thjazi was gaining. They stacked a great pile of wood shavings and kindling against the fortification and set it alight the moment Loki flew over the wall. The falcon dropped safely inside. The eagle, unable to stop, plunged into the flames. His feathers caught fire, he fell to the ground, and the gods killed him.
With Idunn safely returned and the apples once more available, the gods regained their youth. The immediate crisis was over, but the death of Thjazi created a new obligation that would have to be settled by negotiation and compensation.
The Aftermath: Skaði’s Demand
Thjazi’s daughter Skaði (a giantess associated with skiing, mountains, and hunting) put on her helmet and coat of mail and came to Asgard seeking vengeance for her father. The gods preferred to offer settlement rather than open war. They offered her compensation and, as part of the terms, the right to choose a husband from among them—but she had to choose by looking only at their feet.
She chose the most beautiful pair of feet, believing they must belong to Baldr. They belonged instead to Njord (Njörðr), the Vanir god of the sea and seafaring. The mismatched marriage that followed—Skaði longing for the mountains, Njord for the sea—became its own story of compromise and eventual separation. As a further part of the settlement, the gods took Thjazi’s eyes and cast them into the sky as stars.
Loki’s part in the original theft was not forgotten, but the rescue and the death of the giant closed the immediate episode. The apples of Idunn remained in Asgard, and the gods continued to rely on them for their lasting youth.
Variations of the Myth
The Prose Edda Account
The fullest version appears in Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda (mainly in Skáldskaparmál, with related material in Gylfaginning). It provides the continuous narrative of the coercion, the abduction, the aging of the gods, the rescue in falcon form, and the settlement with Skaði.
Poetic Allusions
Several poems in the Poetic Edda and in skaldic verse allude to Idunn, her apples, and the giant Thjazi without retelling the whole story. These references confirm that the episode was well known and could be evoked by brief kennings and images.
Later Retellings
Modern summaries sometimes compress or rearrange details, but the core sequence—Loki’s forced oath, Idunn’s abduction, the gods’ aging, the falcon rescue, and Thjazi’s death in the fire—remains stable across careful retellings.
The Mythological Background
Idunn’s apples function in Norse myth as the practical means by which the gods maintain their youth. Unlike the Greek gods, who are immortal by nature, the Æsir of the Norse tradition appear to depend on a renewing food. The theft of Idunn therefore threatens not just one goddess but the entire divine order.
Loki’s role is characteristic. He is both the cause of the crisis (under coercion) and the only one who can resolve it. The pattern of Loki creating a problem and then being compelled to fix it appears in several other myths, including the story of the building of Asgard’s wall and the tale of Thor’s journey to Útgarða-Loki.
The Meaning of the Myth
The story illustrates the vulnerability of the gods. Their youth is not an unassailable given; it can be removed by the loss of a single figure and her apples. The narrative also shows the limits of force. The gods cannot simply storm Jötunheimr and take Idunn back; they need Loki’s ability to fly in disguise and to transform the goddess into something small enough to carry.
At the same time the myth is clear-eyed about consequences. The death of Thjazi does not end the matter. His daughter arrives with legitimate claims, and the gods must pay compensation and accept an awkward marriage alliance. Actions, even those taken under duress or in self-defence, continue to generate further obligations.
For modern readers the episode remains compelling because it combines suspense, transformation, and a vivid picture of the gods facing the ordinary human fear of aging—before the crisis is reversed and the unusual settlement with Skaði begins.
Symbols & Motifs
| Symbol | Role in the Story |
|---|---|
| Idunn’s Apples | The source of the gods’ continuing youth; their absence produces immediate aging |
| The Eagle Form | Thjazi’s shape for both the initial coercion and the final pursuit |
| The Falcon Cloak | The means of rescue; borrowed power of flight that allows Loki to reach Jötunheimr and return |
| The Nut (or Seed) | The transformed shape in which Idunn is carried to safety |
| The Fire at the Wall | The trap that destroys the pursuing giant; collective action by the gods at the critical moment |
| Thjazi’s Eyes in the Sky | The final memorial of the giant; a permanent reminder of the settlement |
Important Figures
- Loki – The god who is coerced into luring Idunn away and later forced to rescue her
- Idunn (Iðunn) – Keeper of the apples of youth; the central figure whose abduction causes the crisis
- Thjazi (Þjazi) – The giant who abducts Idunn and is later killed in eagle form
- Odin, Hœnir and the Æsir – The gods who face aging and then compel Loki to act
- Freyja – The goddess who lends the falcon shape essential to the rescue
- Skaði – Daughter of Thjazi who demands compensation and chooses Njord as her husband by the sight of his feet
Cultural & Historical Context
The story is preserved chiefly in the Prose Edda, written by the Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson in the early thirteenth century. Snorri’s account draws on older poetic traditions and on oral knowledge of the myths. References to Idunn and her apples appear in earlier skaldic poetry, showing that the core ideas were already well established.
In modern times the episode is often included in popular retellings of Norse myth because of its clear narrative arc, its suspenseful rescue, and the memorable image of the gods suddenly growing old. It also provides the background for the later story of Skaði and Njord, which has its own interest as a tale of cultural and temperamental mismatch.
Sources & Ancient Texts
Primary Sources:
• Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda (Skáldskaparmál and related passages in Gylfaginning) – the main continuous account
• Allusions in skaldic and Eddic poetry to Idunn, her apples, and the giant Thjazi
Note on Approach
This retelling follows the Prose Edda narrative and supplies explanations of names and terms for clarity. It presents the story as a traditional Norse myth rather than as a historical or doctrinal claim.
The story of Loki and the theft of Idunn’s apples ends with the goddess restored, the gods young again, and a giant’s eyes shining as stars in the night sky. The crisis that began with a forced oath in the wilderness has been contained, yet it has also produced new bonds and new tensions—most notably the uneasy marriage of Skaði and Njord. In the Norse mythological vision the security of the gods is real but never absolute, and the same figure who endangers it is often the only one who can set it right. That pattern of risk, rescue, and lingering consequence is what gives the episode its lasting force.