United States or Bouvet Island ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Idun gathered up the golden Apples and went out of Asgard, carrying with her all that made it heaven.
If there was one thing which the gods prized above their other treasures in Asgard, it was the beautiful fruit of Idun, kept by the goddess in a golden casket and given to the gods to keep them forever young and fair. Without these Apples all their power could not have kept them from getting old like the meanest of mortals.
Without these Apples of Idun, Asgard itself would have lost its charm; for what would heaven be without youth and beauty forever shining through it? Thjasse told Loki that he could not go unless he would promise to bring him the Apples of Idun. Loki was wicked enough for anything; but when it came to robbing the gods of their immortality, even he hesitated.
He took the fruit in his hand, bit it, and gave it back to the good dame. She put it in its place again, closed the lid, and locked it with her usual care. "Your apples are not so good as they used to be," said Loki, making a very wry face. "Why don't you fill your box with fresh fruit?" Idun was amazed. Her apples were supposed to be always fresh, fresher by far than any that grow nowadays.
He took the fruit in his hand, bit it, and gave it back to the good dame. She put it in its place again, closed the lid, and locked it with her usual care. "Your apples are not so good as they used to be," said Loki, making a very wry face. "Why don't you fill your box with fresh fruit?" Idun was amazed. Her apples were supposed to be always fresh, fresher by far than any that grow nowadays.
Struggle as she would, she could not free herself. High up, over wood and stream, the giant carried her; and then he flew swiftly away with her, toward his home in the chill Northland; and, when morning came, poor Idun found herself in an ice-walled castle in the cheerless country of the giants.
Idun gathered up the golden Apples and went out of Asgard, carrying with her all that made it heaven.
And in the evening, when the party were seated in King Gunther's hall, Siegfried, at the command of the May-queen, who was none other than Kriemhild the peerless, amused them by telling the story of Idun and Her Apples. It is a story that Bragi told while at the feast in AEgir's hall. Idun is Bragi's wife.
Loki, after keeping his promise and delivering Idun into the hands of the giant, strayed back into Asgard as if nothing had happened. The next morning, when the gods assembled for their feast, there was no Idun. Day after day went past, and still the beautiful goddess did not come.
In an instant the fires have been lighted, and the great flames roar to heaven. The eagle sweeps across the fiery line a second later, and falls, maimed and burned, to the ground, where a dozen fierce hands smite the life out of him, and the great giant Thjasse perishes among his foes. Idun resumes her natural form as Brage rushes to meet her. The gods crowd round her.
Word Of The Day