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Sep. 21st, 2015 09:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darchildreHey guys, it's the Autumnal Equinox!* Which is...not really a thing, in heathen circles, but I enjoy the symmetry of the Wheel of the Year, so I like to keep it as a holiday. I tend to think of it as good day to honor Idunna, since it falls during apple harvest time. So I am making stewed apples today and have decided to tell you a story.
This is the only myth about Idunna that we really have. It's in the Prose Edda, if you want to read the original. (Though I'll admit that it's been long enough since I read the Prose Edda that I'm just telling the story the way I remember it and like to tell it. So there may be differences, I don't know.) It is also a Loki story, because all the really good stories are.
So. One time, three gods went wandering through the nine worlds: Odin Wayweary, Loki Skytreader, and Hoenir the Silent. These were gods that were wont to wander - to go here and there throughout the worlds, poking their noses in and finding things out. But they'd been wandering a long time and were hungry, so when they found some cows, they slaughtered one to eat. Loki built up the fire, and the gods set the meat to cook.
But it wouldn't cook. No matter what those three gods did, no matter how long they waited, the meat remained raw and bloody. Looking around, the gods saw a great eagle, perched in a tree above them. The eagle was beating its huge wings, making a mighty wind that kept the meat from cooking. "Unless you give me a share of your dinner," the eagle said, "it will never be cooked."
Well, what could the gods do? They agreed, and as soon as the eagle's wings were still, the meat began to sizzle. But soon as it was cooked, the eagle swooped down from the tree for his portion, and seized the whole thing in his beak.
Loki was very hungry, and now he was very angry as well. He picked up a stick and attacked the eagle with it, trying to get him to drop the meat and fly away. But instead, the stick stuck fast to the eagle's body and Loki's hands stuck fast to the stick, and the eagle flew away with the meat in its mouth and Loki dangling.
"Let me go!" Loki yelled. "I won't," said the eagle, "unless you do what I want. In truth, I am no eagle, but Thjazi, a jotun of Thrymheim. I want Idunna of the orchards and her golden apples. Promise to bring them to me and I'll let you go."
To lose Idunna and her golden apples would be a tragedy for the gods. For the apples were filled with a great power of renewal and restoration - eating them kept the gods young and strong. So for a while, Loki didn't answer. But Thjazi flew so that Loki banged against great rocks and crashed into trees and finally, he agreed. What else could he do? And as soon as he said yes, his hands came free and he fell to the ground. Bruised and limping, he made his way back to his friends and said nothing of what he had promised.
Some weeks later, back in Asgard, Loki spoke to Idunna. "Sweet lady," he said, "you will never guess what I've found. While I wandered in the forest beyond the walls of Asgard, I came upon a tree that is very like the trees of your orchard, and bears apples that are very like the apples you grow yourself. I wish that you would come with me into the forest, and bring your apples, so that we might compare them." Idunna was glad to go with him, for she would be happy to add this new tree to her orchards, if it were indeed of the same kind. So Loki drew her deep into the forest and there Thjazi was waiting. He seized her and bore her away with him to Thrymheim.
For a little while, no one in Asgard noticed Idunna's absence. (The gods are very busy, each with their own affairs.) But after a while, they began to age. Their hair grew grey, their faces grew wrinkled, and they were less strong than they had been before. Even mighty Thor began to weaken. So they held council together to discover what had happened to Idunna and her apples. It was told that she had last been seen leaving Asgard with Loki, and the gods made great and terrible threats against him, until he told them what he had done.
"What could I do?" asked Loki. "I had given my word. But now, I give my word to you that I will get her back." The gods grumbled and made more threats of what would happen should he fail, but they agreed to Loki's proposal. He went to Freyja and asked leave to borrow her feather-cloak. She too was aging and had lost much of her strength, but her great beauty did not wither but only changed from gold to silver. She lent him the cloak gladly and he put it on, taking the form of a falcon. In that form, he flew out of the world of Asgard and into the world of Jotunheim, to Thrymheim where Thjazi lived.
Thjazi was away from home, fishing, and Idunna walked up and down in the room he had given her. It was a small room in a tall tower, with only one window to the outside. She clutched her basket of apples to her, for she would not willingly give them to the jotnar and without her blessing, they had no virtue.
As he flew, Loki saw Idunna through the window and flew into her room. There, he cast off the feather-cloak and took his own form again. "I've come to take you home," he said. At first, Idunna was reluctant to trust the tricksy god, whose deeds had led her to this cold room surrounded by enemies, but what else could she do? She nodded, and Loki transformed her into a nut. He put on the feather-cloak again and took the falcon's form, grasping the nut in his talons. In this way, the two of them left Thrymheim.
But Thjazi had come home sooner than expected. He saw the falcon flying with the nut, and knew at once what had happened. Quickly, he put on his eagle form and set out after them. The falcon was fast but the eagle was stronger and though Loki had a good start, Thjazi soon gained ground.
They flew out of the world of Jotunheim and along the Rainbow Bridge, to the walls of Asgard. Heimdall was standing upon the walls and though he was old and weary, his eyes were still as keen as ever. He saw the falcon clutching the nut, and the great eagle close behind him. Heimdall called to the other gods and they piled brush and tinder atop the walls and built great fires there. They lit the fires just as the falcon passed over the walls and they blazed up around Loki and Idunna, but they were unhurt, for what flame can injure the Fireweed? But Thjazi saw the flames too late and could not stop. They caught him and his feathers smoked and flared, burning him till he fell from the sky, dead.
Panting with exhaustion, Loki cast off the feather-cloak and restored Idunna to her true form. She went at once to her orchards to fetch apples, and the gods held a great feast. Youth and strength was restored to them and they rejoiced to have Idunna among them once more.
So, it feels a little weird to stop there and not tell the aftermath of Thjazi's death, but that's a different story that Idunna's not in at all, so maybe we'll save that for another time.
Happy Autumn, everybody!
*Or the Vernal Equinox, if you live in the south. Sorry, I don't have a story for you guys today.
This is the only myth about Idunna that we really have. It's in the Prose Edda, if you want to read the original. (Though I'll admit that it's been long enough since I read the Prose Edda that I'm just telling the story the way I remember it and like to tell it. So there may be differences, I don't know.) It is also a Loki story, because all the really good stories are.
So. One time, three gods went wandering through the nine worlds: Odin Wayweary, Loki Skytreader, and Hoenir the Silent. These were gods that were wont to wander - to go here and there throughout the worlds, poking their noses in and finding things out. But they'd been wandering a long time and were hungry, so when they found some cows, they slaughtered one to eat. Loki built up the fire, and the gods set the meat to cook.
But it wouldn't cook. No matter what those three gods did, no matter how long they waited, the meat remained raw and bloody. Looking around, the gods saw a great eagle, perched in a tree above them. The eagle was beating its huge wings, making a mighty wind that kept the meat from cooking. "Unless you give me a share of your dinner," the eagle said, "it will never be cooked."
Well, what could the gods do? They agreed, and as soon as the eagle's wings were still, the meat began to sizzle. But soon as it was cooked, the eagle swooped down from the tree for his portion, and seized the whole thing in his beak.
Loki was very hungry, and now he was very angry as well. He picked up a stick and attacked the eagle with it, trying to get him to drop the meat and fly away. But instead, the stick stuck fast to the eagle's body and Loki's hands stuck fast to the stick, and the eagle flew away with the meat in its mouth and Loki dangling.
"Let me go!" Loki yelled. "I won't," said the eagle, "unless you do what I want. In truth, I am no eagle, but Thjazi, a jotun of Thrymheim. I want Idunna of the orchards and her golden apples. Promise to bring them to me and I'll let you go."
To lose Idunna and her golden apples would be a tragedy for the gods. For the apples were filled with a great power of renewal and restoration - eating them kept the gods young and strong. So for a while, Loki didn't answer. But Thjazi flew so that Loki banged against great rocks and crashed into trees and finally, he agreed. What else could he do? And as soon as he said yes, his hands came free and he fell to the ground. Bruised and limping, he made his way back to his friends and said nothing of what he had promised.
Some weeks later, back in Asgard, Loki spoke to Idunna. "Sweet lady," he said, "you will never guess what I've found. While I wandered in the forest beyond the walls of Asgard, I came upon a tree that is very like the trees of your orchard, and bears apples that are very like the apples you grow yourself. I wish that you would come with me into the forest, and bring your apples, so that we might compare them." Idunna was glad to go with him, for she would be happy to add this new tree to her orchards, if it were indeed of the same kind. So Loki drew her deep into the forest and there Thjazi was waiting. He seized her and bore her away with him to Thrymheim.
For a little while, no one in Asgard noticed Idunna's absence. (The gods are very busy, each with their own affairs.) But after a while, they began to age. Their hair grew grey, their faces grew wrinkled, and they were less strong than they had been before. Even mighty Thor began to weaken. So they held council together to discover what had happened to Idunna and her apples. It was told that she had last been seen leaving Asgard with Loki, and the gods made great and terrible threats against him, until he told them what he had done.
"What could I do?" asked Loki. "I had given my word. But now, I give my word to you that I will get her back." The gods grumbled and made more threats of what would happen should he fail, but they agreed to Loki's proposal. He went to Freyja and asked leave to borrow her feather-cloak. She too was aging and had lost much of her strength, but her great beauty did not wither but only changed from gold to silver. She lent him the cloak gladly and he put it on, taking the form of a falcon. In that form, he flew out of the world of Asgard and into the world of Jotunheim, to Thrymheim where Thjazi lived.
Thjazi was away from home, fishing, and Idunna walked up and down in the room he had given her. It was a small room in a tall tower, with only one window to the outside. She clutched her basket of apples to her, for she would not willingly give them to the jotnar and without her blessing, they had no virtue.
As he flew, Loki saw Idunna through the window and flew into her room. There, he cast off the feather-cloak and took his own form again. "I've come to take you home," he said. At first, Idunna was reluctant to trust the tricksy god, whose deeds had led her to this cold room surrounded by enemies, but what else could she do? She nodded, and Loki transformed her into a nut. He put on the feather-cloak again and took the falcon's form, grasping the nut in his talons. In this way, the two of them left Thrymheim.
But Thjazi had come home sooner than expected. He saw the falcon flying with the nut, and knew at once what had happened. Quickly, he put on his eagle form and set out after them. The falcon was fast but the eagle was stronger and though Loki had a good start, Thjazi soon gained ground.
They flew out of the world of Jotunheim and along the Rainbow Bridge, to the walls of Asgard. Heimdall was standing upon the walls and though he was old and weary, his eyes were still as keen as ever. He saw the falcon clutching the nut, and the great eagle close behind him. Heimdall called to the other gods and they piled brush and tinder atop the walls and built great fires there. They lit the fires just as the falcon passed over the walls and they blazed up around Loki and Idunna, but they were unhurt, for what flame can injure the Fireweed? But Thjazi saw the flames too late and could not stop. They caught him and his feathers smoked and flared, burning him till he fell from the sky, dead.
Panting with exhaustion, Loki cast off the feather-cloak and restored Idunna to her true form. She went at once to her orchards to fetch apples, and the gods held a great feast. Youth and strength was restored to them and they rejoiced to have Idunna among them once more.
So, it feels a little weird to stop there and not tell the aftermath of Thjazi's death, but that's a different story that Idunna's not in at all, so maybe we'll save that for another time.
Happy Autumn, everybody!
*Or the Vernal Equinox, if you live in the south. Sorry, I don't have a story for you guys today.
no subject
Date: 2015-09-22 05:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-22 11:33 pm (UTC)I've never seen The Almighty Johnsons - maybe I should put it on my list.
no subject
Date: 2015-09-23 06:10 pm (UTC)