It also reinforces the in-betweeness of Loki, who can only assume the powers of the greater gods by borrowing a form from a goddess, here and in the myth of Gerrordr, who imprisoned Loki until he agreed to bring an unarmed Thor to him. (See the first section for more on this story, as it forms the other half of Hst, and clearly parallels it.) I discuss Loki's use of women's plumage in a later chapter but it is worth commenting here that clearly more than one kind of in-betweeness is intended.
Idunn
Stephen King once observed of Job that he was the Astroturf in a game of football between God and Satan. Idunn could be said to be the football between Thiazi and the Aesir. In this, her only myth, she plays a remarkably passive role. We never learn if her time among the giants had any effect on her, or if there were any consequences. Idunn is treated essentially as property in this story. (This has affected retellers of her tale; she is often referred to as "stolen" or her kidnapping as a "theft".)
The basics on Idunn are: married to the poet-god Bragi, no known children, accused by Loki of sleeping with her brother's slayer, but no known myth to substantiate it. (Also, since Bragi is exposed as a coward in the same poem, Lks, it seems unlikely that he was the guilty party.[128]) Other than that, the most famous thing about Idunn is her apples.
Apples
Idunn's function in Norse myth is to keep the apples of immortality, without which the gods begin to age. As Snorri tells us in Gylf:
'His wife is Idunn. In her private wooden box she keeps the apples, which the gods bite into when they begin to grow old. They all become young again, and so it will be right up to Ragnarok.[129]
The apples are often said to function as fertility symbols, and indeed in another myth a childless king is visited by Frigg's servant, who gives him an apple for him and his wife to eat. The magic is effective, and they have a son. (More on this story below.)
Apart from that, apples have been found in graves, sometimes along with wooden buckets, and occasionally along with nuts (which are also significant for Idunn). In an eleventh-century poem Thorbiorn Brúnarson says that his wife gives him "apples of Hel", implying that she wants him to die.[130] The apple has a somewhat double-edged meaning in this regard: in Celtic and Greek myths, the apple is the food of immortals, and prolongs life, but only as long as one stays in the otherworld.
There is, for example, an Irish story in which a fairy woman gives a man named Connlae an otherworldly apple that satisfies all hunger and never diminishes. The woman tells Connlae that she comes from tír inna mbéo ‘the land of the living ones’, and eventually he joins her there, thus gaining immortality. [131]
We know of other magical apples in various traditions, usually heavily guarded, such as the apple of the Hesperides, in Greek myth, and the ones in the Irish story of the Sons of Tuireann. Both are far-off, and well protected.
The story of the sons of Tuireann is an interesting one for us, because it has many of the same motifs as the Idunn story, but jumbled about. Shapeshifting is an important part of this story, as it begins with a terrible mistake. The three sons of Tuireann are out hunting, and kill a pig, which as it dies reverts to human shape; the body is that of the god Lugh's father. Lugh then lays a fine on the three brothers, who have to get him various precious objects from all over the world. He disguises this at first by simply saying he wants three apples, a pigskin, etc. But then he explains:
"The three apples I asked of you are the three apples from the Garden in the East of the World, and no other apples will do but these, for they are the most beautiful and have most virtue in them of the apples of the whole world. And it is what they are like, they are of the colour of burned gold, and they are the size of the head of a child a month old, and there is the taste of honey on them, and they do not leave the pain of wounds or the vexation of sickness on any one that eats them, and they do not lessen by being eaten for ever..."[132]
And of course the other objects will prove equally unusual and hard to get.
The Brothers set sail for the Garden in the East, and when they get there, decide that rather than risk an encounter with the local king's fighting men, they will use their Druid rods, and turn themselves into hawks, and carry off an apple each in their claws. The news spread that the apples were being stolen, and the king's three daughters took the form of ospreys, sending flashes of lighting at the Brothers, which scorched them. The Brothers turned themselves into swans and took to the water, so losing the ospreys.
The Hesperides, however, were located in the West. (The location of their island was never stated, and sources differ on whether it was a single tree or an orchard that grew there.) The apples were once again golden, and they were a wedding gift from to Zeus and Hera from the earth-goddess Gaia. Hera did not trust the nymphs who guarded the tree to stay away from the fruit, and set the dragon Ladon to guard the tree. The story peters out after this, as there is no shapeshifting or chases involved in Hercules' theft of the apples. He did trick Atlas into getting them for him, and then tricked him again when he returned by fooling him into resuming the burden of the world. (This could be vaguely connected to Loki's back-and-forth with Idunn.)
Another connotation for apple might support Clunies-Ross' contention that it is Idunn, and not the apples, that was the magic rejuvenator:
In Graeco-Roman literature, the apple was used as a metaphor for beauty and love. Sappho likened a young bride to a ‘sweet apple’ (gluku’malon) (Powell 2007, 27). The word μήλων (mēlon) was a widely-used metaphor for courtship and marriage rites in Greek art and poetry (Winkler 1996, 104). The gift of a fruit (particularly an apple) was a symbol of courtship in many cultures, such as Greek, Roman and Byzantine (Littlewood 1967; 1993). It symbolized fertility, by means of the distribution of seed through the sharing of the fruit.[133]
There are also many instances in Irish literature of apples as love-tokens.[134] One final point about the apple in these stories is that the sweet apple came north with the Romans - native varieties were more like crab apples.[135] I suppose you could choke them down in return for immortality, but a forever of small, bitter apples is not something to look forward to.
Nor has the apple's association with love and fruitfulness gone away. Most of us have twisted an apple's stalk to learn the initial of our husband-to-be, and apparently if you take the seeds from an apple in your hand, and then clap your hand to your forehead, you can tell your fortune from the number of seeds that stick to your face. And of course there's peeling an apple as one long piece, then throwing it over your shoulder to see your true love's initial.
Nuts are also associated with Idunn, thanks to Snorri's information. He tells us that Loki brought Idunn back to Asgard in that form, and we can't help but notice that while nuts are small, and easily concealed, they are also fertility symbols. Nuts are, after all, seeds. Throwing nuts at weddings is a common custom, even if rice is less likely to bruise. Fruit and nuts have also been found in graves in southern England and mainland Europe, presumably as food for the afterlife.[136] Incidentally, if Loki turned Idunn into a walnut, as one modern retelling has it, it might be noted that walnuts are the "most masculine"[137] of nuts. In a story where everyone else gets to gender-bend, this could be Idunn's moment.
Notice also, that Loki was thinking very clearly when he turned Idunn into a nut. A nut may be a fruit, same as an apple, but a hard shell protects it.
Rejuvenating One
Both Clunies-Ross and Lindow argue that it was Idunn, rather than any magic apples, which carried the secret of eternal youth. Her name, "Ever-Young", tells us that. In fact, Hst refers to her as the "maiden who understood the eternal life of the Aesir" but without any mention of apples.[138]
Kristensen, in his paper "Why Was Odin Killed by Fenrir?" observes that Idunn's loss is treated as seriously as the loss of Freyja and the sun and moon would be in the MasterBuilder myth, and the loss of Freyja in Thrym. The latter is an instructive parallel, since both Thrym and Thiazi try to take from the Aesir some o
f their most precious powers: the power of sexuality in Freyja, and the power of immortality in Idunn. In both myths, the giants' lust for the goddesses motivates the action, and in both myths Loki, of mixed heritage, acts as a go-between.
Clunies-Ross in particular sees Idunn's power as that of sexual reproduction, which ensures the eternal life of the family, even if individuals must die. This would be an extremely dangerous thing to let fall into the hands of the giants, as it would be to the gods' detriment. You will notice that when giants steal one of the goddesses, or threaten to, it is almost always Freyja, the sexual principle incarnate, that they want. Stealing Idunn moves the focus from sex to its probable result, but it is the same thing. The giants would be able to reproduce, while the Aesir would not.
Further, in Grundvig's translation of Skirnismal, he changed the relatively meaningless "eleven" (ellifo) apples Skirnir offers Gerdr into "of medicine for age" (ellilyfs)[139]. A lot of people accepted this emendation because it makes a lot more sense - Freyr, the god who was known for his sexuality, would offer Gerdr the apples of immortality, in both senses: continuation of family and life among the Aesir with an unending supply of such "medicine". Skld 22 and Hst 9 also use the word ellilyfs to describe Idunn's apples.[140]
We've already discussed apples as fertility symbols, but one instance from Norse myth itself illustrates the point I am making. In Chapter Two of the Volsunga saga, King Rerir goes to a mound to pray for a son, because he and his wife have no children. Frigg hears his prayer and sends one of the valkyries to drop an apple into his lap. He and the queen both eat some of the apple, and after six years of pregnancy, the queen has a caesarean, and a nearly full-grown boy is cut from her before she dies. He is named Volsung.[141] (Note that the widely-available William Morris translation turns Frigg into Freyja.[142]) The fact that he was sitting on a mound (presumably a burial mound) is suggestive; it makes a very economical point about family continuity, among other things.
This is precisely the point about Idunn. Whether she herself or her apples are the rejuvenating element is almost beside the point, although to a human audience the continuity of family line would be one of the few forms of immortality they could hope for. If Hoenir stands for eternal life through poetic commemoration, Idunn stands for reproduction and the family.
Given all this, we should not be surprised when, in Gylf, Gangleri expresses concern that such power is in the hands of a woman; he says, "Of great importance to the gods it must be, it seems to me, that Idun preserves these apples with care and honesty." (Gylf 26) Motz compares the stories of Idunn and the giantess Gunnlod, who kept the precious mead of poetry. Odin, like Thiazi, deceived the woman and stole the treasure, but unlike the giant, Odin got away with it.[143] Also, we suspect that Idunn was not weeping when she went back to Asgard. Whether Idunn and Thiazi had sex is something that Snorri keeps silent about.
Traffic in Women
If, as Levi-Strauss posited, "the exchange of women [is] a fundamental principle of kinship", then the control of the flow of women is important to make sure the right people are kin.[144] (Levi-Strauss seems to agree with retellers of this myth who view Idunn as merely property to be exchanged or stolen.)
So the Aesir have to make sure that the giants do not get hold of any Asyniur, as that would bring them into a relationship they do not want. Fair exchange is the last thing on the gods' minds. Of course, if you view the giants as unqualifiedly evil, you will feel that this is fair and just. (No doubt that would be Thor's view.) Anyone who's read this far has probably worked out that my view is somewhat different.
I've discussed this theory elsewhere, but briefly, Aesir men marry Aesir women, and no one else does. Vanir cannot marry Aesir, and seem to have shortage of potential spouses, so they marry "down" to the giants. Giant women might marry a Van, but giants can forget about Freyja, and they'd better not even consider an Asynia. (This apparently goes for dwarves as well, as Thor shows in Alvissmal, where he tricks a wise dwarf into being turned to stone, under the guise of a suitor test.)
Hst expresses the situation when this flow is reversed succinctly:
The bright-shield-dwellers [giants] were not unhappy after this, now Idunn was among the giants, newly arrived from the south. All Ingi-Freyr’s kin [Æsir] became old and grey in their assembly; the powers were rather ugly in form...
(Faulkes' trans.)
The giants were prospering, and the gods were growing old and feeble. Not too feeble to threaten Loki with dire punishment if he didn't get her back, however. The gods were facing one of their most dangerous moments, with immortal giants ranged against suddenly aging (and presumably weakened) gods.
In this context, it is interesting that Skirnir offered the giantess Gerdr golden apples if she would marry Freyr. It might seem like as much of a capitulation as when Freyr hands over his sword, but it could also be read as an endorsement of Skadi's way of getting what the gods have: marry one. Gerdr refuses, whether because she thinks Skadi got a poor deal, or because she does not want to reproduce the line of the Vanir, is unknown. How Skirnir and Freyr got hold of Idunn's apples (if they are hers, and not just random golden apples) is also unknown.
Balder
Picture this for a moment: a heroic character takes up their armour and weapons and makes the arduous journey to another world. When they get there, they force their way in among alien people, and demand a spouse. Their eye lights on one known for beauty and goodness. The father, however, insists on a test - you have to choose by looking at their feet. Our would-be suitor makes the wrong choice, and everything goes downhill from there, ending in divorce.
Sounds like every bridal-quest narrative you've ever heard or read (except for the ending)? The only thing missing is a dragon or other monster. But it's the tale of Skadi's journey to Asgard, which for a giant was probably just as heroic as Thor and Odin journeying to Jotunheim. And doesn't Balder sound like any attractive young maiden about whom no praise is hyperbole? (Think of the descriptions of princesses in Grimm's tales, for example.) Like those princesses, Balder is completely passive, although unlike them, he was probably hoping to dodge the bullet on this one. (Although you have to wonder sometimes; imagine the king telling his daughter, "Guess what, darling, that smelly swineherd has saved the kingdom, so I've promised him your hand in marriage.")
Because this is known as a myth about Njord and Skadi, it is easy to forget that Njord was never her intended target - she wanted the chief god's only son, Balder. That is presumably part of why the marriage failed; Skadi didn't get what she wanted, and Njord probably didn't appreciate being treated as the booby prize. What woman wouldn't choose a young, good-looking, well-connected husband over a man old enough to have grown children?
The other point to make about Skadi's desire for Balder is that she was trying to accomplish what her father did not. He stole from the gods the power that kept them immortal; his daughter planned to marry the god who would survive Ragnarok, the god who was the only legitimate son of the chief god; in other words, the highest-status god on offer.
She was playing for high stakes. (Of course, there's always John Lindow's theory that she was just blown away by a beautiful foot, just as Freyr was by Gerdr's arms.) So were the Aesir, since it wasn't in their interest to marry their best and brightest god off to a giantess. Clunies Ross thinks that this was the whole point of the Cinderella-style line-up: there is a similar story involving the whitest hand, which turns out to belong to the blacksmith. She thinks that a sea-god would similarly have the whitest feet, and so in both cases occupation trumps gentle birth, and fools the woman making the choice.[145]
In the event, Balder married Nanna, known mainly for dying of grief and being laid on his funeral pyre. Fittingly, like him she exists to die.[146] And, since she is listed among the Asyniur, or goddesses, Odin must have pleased about their marriage.
Oosten notes a structural opposition between the myths of Skadi's marriage and Baldr's death:
The opposition between
alliance and war, marriage and death is also expressed in the relations between the myth of Balder and the myth of the marriage of Njord and Skadi. Skadi wanted to marry Balder but chose Njord instead. Her condition, that the gods should make her laugh, is in direct opposition to the demand made in the myth of Balder, that all beings should weep. Weeping and laughing express contrary emotions, but the expression of emotions in itself can be considered as an expression of life, while the refusal of emotions can be considered a denial of life. Marriage establishes a social relationship between two groups in order to create new life.[147]
(He also considers the Saxo version of Balder's death, in which Balder and Hoder are rivals for Nanna, and fight for her. He puts this beside the myth of Skr, and points out that when you substitute either Van for Balder, the result is marriage and life instead of death.)
To return to the Cinderella theme, it is usually Njord's feet that get the attention, but surely Balder's feet deserve as much. You would think that the god who was always depicted as "shining" and beautiful would have nice feet. I've always wondered if Odin sent him to rub mud on them or something. I suppose you could say that in this version of Cinderella Skadi ended up with an ugly stepsister, although that seems a little hard on Njord.
One final note on the theme of male passivity: it is interesting that in this myth, all the gods are passive: things happen to them. On the other hand, the giants and half-giants are active, and move the action forward. Thiazi enchants the cooking-fire, Loki strikes him, the two of them chase each other across the sky, then Skadi travels to Asgard, where she gets her pick of a husband (even if the choice is rigged), and later she leaves Njord. Perhaps this is one of the ways in which this myth is meant to be a burlesque, but it is unusual.
Njord and Skadi Page 9
